My mind was cluttered. I couldn't think straight but I pieced together the puzzle pieces and came to a quick hypothesis; it wishes to help.
"Do you want to help me!?"
Rapid shuffling was heard all around me.
"Ỵ̷̡̛̟̱̑̍̀̉̿̿̉ẹ̷͓̺̰̽̍͛̉̐̔͋̓̚͜️s̵̛̳̍̃̏͆̏̂̎͌͘͝͝͝͝"
Its voice was dark, muffled and mysterious but despite that, I could tell whenever someone says yes.
"Then!...I'll play with you!"
A moment of silence followed. Before I realized it, the excruciating pain was gone.
I reflexively looked around in a daze, scanning for my nameless savior.
I shakily stood up and pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing not out of stress but out of relief.
However, a table, suddenly emerging from the floor broke my momentary relief.
"Aah! What the!?"
Taken aback, I stumbled down onto the ground, embarrassingly sitting on my butt.
*thud*
️"S̴̨̛͇̺͇͕̟̘͎̗͖̙͍̭̞͇̒͆̀͝i̵̢̢̡͚̩̞̥͕̜̻̫̩̐̈͘͜t̵̏͛̃̍́̈̚͜͝"
A chair followed up, appearing right next to me. I didn't acknowledge it before but, the table and chair's design was quite beautiful despite its simple design.
The table's surface was circular and seemed to be made out of blue marble. All of this is supported by one singular leg down the middle onto another slightly smaller circular base, keeping the structure stable at all times.
The chair beside me is also made out of this beautiful blue marble. It has four legs supporting it with a square base, completed with a backrest.
I heard that shuffling noise again, though now, much slower in comparison.
"️S̴̨̛͇̺͇͕̟̘͎̗͖̙͍̭̞͇̒͆̀͝i̵̢̢̡͚̩̞̥͕̜̻̫̩̐̈͘͜t̵̏͛̃̍́̈̚͜͝"
It repeated itself with its voice still being on the same tone as before.
I paused in response. Could this thing possibly be an evil entity? Could the price of saving my life be paid by a measely game? An old saying comes to mind; a magician never reveals their secret.
Nonetheless, I ended up dragging the chair back and sat on it. It felt uncomfortable so I adjusted my position. After all, I don't see any way I could escape.
In comparison to that woman, this entity is miles stronger.
I raised a question, with tremor rattling through my voice.
"What kind of game are we playing?"
Then, at the corner of my eye I saw it—the face of the entity.
I instinctively turned to its direction.
A crooked figure with arms hanging low and features veiled in shadow, stood right next to me.
This took me aback, causing me to jump out my chair slightly.
I shuddered in fear as the figure began to walk forward, its movement was sluggish and slow, like that of an old man.
The shadow-like aura that veiled it left trails, that soon, dissipated into the air.
My eyes were locked onto the figure, when it paused, a chair similar to mine was conjured on the opposing side of the table.
It dragged the chair back slowly, before sitting on it.
At the moment, I could feel my heart beating faster. Sweat dripped down my chin as I clasped my hand together.
My posture became hunched and I avoided making eye contact with whatever this thing was.
My gaze shifted between it and my clasped, cold, sweat drenched hands. Though, I gathered some confidence, breaking the moment of silence by repeating the same question.
"What... Game are we playing?"
This time, my voice was much slower and timid.
Then, the entity extended its right hand towards me.
The same shadowy aura that surrounded it, started to spin like a tiny tornado within the palm of its hand.
It stopped and a small gust of wind blew, fluttering the ragged fabric I'm wearing. There was now a thick deck of cards in its grasp. The back of the card was green and black in color, it had an opened eye motif right in the middle surrounded by some sort of aura.
"T̶̢̧̨̝̺̺̿̑͆̀͋̎̅̓͘̕͝o̶̯͎̱͐̇͋̅̃̈́͋̽̊̀̓͊̃́͋̓u̴̢̠͎̲̗̮̤̥̪̖̦͈͕͛̈́̀̒̒̄̚͠️c̸̛͕̯͂̐̓͗͊͛͝ȟ̸̨̯̲̝̳͓͎̭͖͊̄̔̽̓̂̋̇̋̀̕̚͜"
I gulped loudly. Now that its much closer, it's voice is more hoarse, like a zombie uttering out words.
I hesitantly reached out to its hand before touching the deck of cards, Jean the Peasant Orphan's rough hand perfectly covered the deck of cards.
Information surged through my mind like lightning, prompting me to touch my temple out of reflex.
This burst of information was much more tame, it didn't overwhelm me somehow. Perhaps my body's adrenaline rush from earlier was still in effect?
Anyhow, this information I received was an in-depth guide to the "game".
I retracted my hand from the deck of cards.
The game this possibly malicious entity wants to play is a game someone would play during a party, or maybe even at a carnival; a guessing game.
The entity lowered its head slightly as it took a few cards from the bottom deck, placing them on top.
It shuffled the deck in a clumsy manner, the cards almost slipping from the grip of its ghostly hands.
I spaced out at its messy shuffling, carefully thinking about what I'd want as a prize.
The entity's shuffling came to a sudden halt with the final few cards, placed on top. I broke out of my trance, finally realizing that it had finished shuffling.
The atmosphere was silent, only my breath quivered echoed through the silent room, followed by the thumping of my increasing heartbeat.
The entity took a card, placing it with its back facing upwards. It did the same with the second card drawn but, the card was placed on the right—the opposite of where the previous card was.
With this, the entity placed down the deck of cards on its left side.
Essentially, the game consists of three rounds. Two cards will be placed on the table beforehand, one on the left, one on the right.
Afterwards, a card will be placed in between. The guesser—in this case me, has to guess the value of the middle card, whether it is valued higher or lower compared to the other two cards. The guesser can choose to draw another card through the dealer—the entity, with a maximum of three draws.
Besides that, the guesser can choose to flip a coin to check one of the two cards on the sides. If the coin lands on either heads or tails—depending on what the guesser picks as a successful flip, they are no longer able to check for another round. However, failing a flip will be an exception.
With that aside, I was in a dilemma of what prize I should get, if I were to win. I was stuck between knowledge about this world and power, enough to defeat that woman and prevent my impending death.
"I could only choose one reward..."
I murmured, simultaneously biting the nail of my thumb... It tasted like dirt.
Frustration was painted all over my face, clear as day.
I need to think of something... Something that would have the two things I need in one singular prize...
My line of thoughts were broken by the gut wrenching voice of the entity.
"Ḩ̶̳̣̮̻̪̜͍̹̭͓͍̳̼̈́̅́̄̍̀͐́̊̽͌̊̂͂͠͝͝â̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽ṿ̷̮͚̤͊̋̐͊͊̑̅̇̊̎̚͠ẹ̷͓̺̰̽̍͛̉̐̔͋̓̚͜. Ỵ̷̡̛̟̱̑̍̀̉̿̿̉o̶̯͎̱͐̇͋̅̃̈́͋̽̊̀̓͊̃́͋̓u̴̢̠͎̲̗̮̤̥̪̖̦͈͕͛̈́̀̒̒̄̚͠. D̸̢̮̫̰̥̗̘̱͉͙͙̺̫̏͒̅̌ẹ̷͓̺̰̽̍͛̉̐̔͋̓̚͜️c̸̛͕̯͂̐̓͗͊͛͝i̵̢̢̡͚̩̞̥͕̜̻̫̩̐̈͘͜d̴̨̢̤̗̦͚̺̭̤͙̹̃̕ẹ̷͓̺̰̽̍͛̉̐̔͋̓̚͜d̴̨̢̤̗̦͚̺̭̤͙̹̃̕. R̴͇͌̀̆̍̽͝͠ͅ️ẹ̷͓̺̰̽̍͛̉̐̔͋̓̚͜ŵ̵̨̢̳̞̤̝̖̠̘̩̞̘̭͍̘̐́̈͑̈́̐̂̔̽̓͋̂̔ͅâ̸̙͐͑̌̿͛̽ŕ̶̛̰̱̈́̀́̑̿̾͛͂̈́͗̓̈́̒͘͝️d̴̨̢̤̗̦͚̺̭̤͙̹̃̕?"
My shoulders jumped slightly and I shook my head in denial before abruptly stopping, an idea came unto mind.
"What if..."