"When the ten minutes are over, will we no longer be playing the game?"
Jack spoke with a bit of disappointment. He was clearly enjoying the game. Brian let out a small chuckle after hearing that.
"Of course, this game will end, but there will be plenty of games for you to play when you reach the second floor. To be frank, there might even be too many of them."
Jack let out a gasp and balled up his fists in excitement.
"Wow! Really? But there were so many games on the floor before too!"
Brian nodded a few times.
"Trust me, the first floor is practically barren compared to the second one."
Jack raised his hands and waved them around.
"That sounds so exciting!"
Brian paused for a moment as his voice dropped slightly.
"Indeed... it is quite exciting."
He suddenly raised an eyebrow.
"Ah, speaking of exciting, it appears the transformation is beginning."
Brian turned to look at Donald, prompting Jack to do the same. At this point, there were clear trails of tears underneath Donald's eyes. There were also distinct blood vessels all across his body, which almost made it seem as though he would blow up at any moment.
He himself began to spasm uncontrollably, while bulges began forming all over his skin, and even parts that weren't supposed to bulge like his eyes.
And then, fingers burst out from those bulges, splashing around some clear liquid as well.
They pushed themselves out and flailed with quite the amount of energy, flinging droplets of what seemed like water all around. It made quite the contrast considering their host was just sitting there like a ragdoll.
As for the actual body, it gradually began to degrade, almost like someone was aging and becoming malnourished at the same time. His body warped, greatly changing his proportions until it was no longer humanoid, opting to instead become longer and thinner.
It was quite difficult to even tell that the thing in front of them used to be human at one point.
Both Brian and Jack watched the entire thing happen with smiles on their face, neither showing the slightest bit of disgust. When the whole process finished, the monster was pushed out of the room, through walls that apparently weren't solid. Brian then closed his starry eye and with that everything went back to normal.
Well, except for the blood splattered all over the table. But things were relatively normal now.
Brian let out a small sigh.
"Unfortunately, despite betting that three, you won't be getting it since he didn't provide compensation. However, because someone owed you something and didn't pay for it in the traditional way, there will be a different kind of compensation instead.
A smile formed on his face as he snapped his fingers.
Then, a strange card was beamed down from the ceiling in front of Jack. Though while it did have the shape of a card, it immediately stood out as something different.
That was because the materials that made up the card were all made of human body parts. Some parts of it were just plain skin, and others exposed flesh. One tiny section had the texture of the inside of a lung, looking not too different from broccoli. Another had parts of a heart and brain. In fact, there was even an eye on one side, making it look like it was alive.
Jack grabbed it, unperturbed by how fleshy it felt.
"What is this?"
Brian smiled and gestured.
"That is a blood card. Unfortunately, it can't be used as a playing card. However, you can use it to create one body part of any kind, except a finger. If there comes a time when you need to pay compensation, you can use this instead to make up for one of them. There are also certain places that use this as a currency, though I recommend that you hold onto it rather than spending it."
Jack scratched the side of his head before tucking it away.
"Ok!"
Brian clapped two times before pulling out a golden card from underneath the desk.
"Now, I will give my congratulations as the winner! From here on out, you will be a resident of the second floor. Though, before I hand this over, I would like to see you in the future."
Jack tilted his head to the side and nodded with beady eyes.
"I think so too! It was really fun talking to you."
Brian chuckled.
"I'm glad you think that. Unfortunately, I am not on the second floor. However, when you do reach the third floor ask around for Asmodeus. If you persist long enough, then you naturally will be able to find me."
Jack gave a thumbs up.
"Ok, ask for Asmodeus and persist!"
Brian handed over the gold card with a smile.
"Yes, exactly. I hope to see you soon."
Jack reached out to grab the card, but stopped before he did so.
"Is this... goodbye now?"
A gentle smile was on Brian's face.
"Only for a little while, Jack. Only for a little while."
Jack pursed his lips, clearly a bit torn. It reminded him of how his father decided to leave one day. However, in the end, he did reach out to grab the card.
"Goodbye, Brian!"
"See you soon, Jack."
[Entering Hub. Resetting Protection timer. 10 hours remaining, resets in 24 hours.]
With a bright flash of light, Jack once again found himself inside a hub. The only difference was that this one was nearly twice as large, and had even more of a casino feel to it due to the bright flashing lights all over the place.
What Brian said was not a lie.
Although there were still several different booths to play solitaire, there were also more options like slot machines, a roulette table, and even blackjack.
However, what stood out most, was the section that had a far larger sign than the rest, showing the words "Poker". Underneath was a large poker table that already had several different people sitting down playing.
Unlike the first floor, there were a rather large number of people, using roughly half of all the machines laid out along the place. Though before Jack could do anything, quite a few people had come up to him, young, old, male, and female alike.
"Hey, for some cards, I'll give you a tour of this place."
"No! Don't listen to him, his tours are terrible and don't really show you anything. Choose me won't you?"
"Jack! Over here!"
Several people hounded him for some cards, promising a tour. All of them had quite the fervor in their gaze, clearly desperate. Those that were regulars at a casino would recognize them immediately as gambling addicts that had lost everything.
Though, from those voices, Jack locked onto the familiar one in the distance, and the hand raised. With a smile, he roughly pushed through the crowd.
"Jessica!"
The people asking for cards immediately became crestfallen.
"What? He already knows someone?..."
Jessica let out a sigh of relief when she saw Jack rushing over to her. Right after, she reached out to give him a hug, which confused Jack. Though before he had time to think, he was hoisted up into the air.
Jack let out a gasp.
"Wah!"
He felt it was a tad bit strange, but he didn't hate it. Eventually, Jessica put him down with a bitter smile.
"Thankfully the promotion mission wasn't anything too difficult. The fact it was against someone else was a bit scary, but thankfully both of us could win. Though I was still worried."
"Eh? This is the person you kept me waiting for all this time?"
Next to Jessica, was another girl who wore a condescending glare. Unlike Jessica with long blonde hair and blue eyes, this one had short black hair and hazel eyes. She had a frown on her face after seeing Jack.
"Is this guy your niece or something? Girl, don't tell me you're into little boys."
Jessica's face twitched.
"What? No, no, it's not like that. This guy just lost his father, and I was helping him search for the damn person. Though we have been through quite a bit together, so he's kinda like a teammate."
Jack tilted his head to the side, looking at the other girl with curiosity.
"My name is Jack! What is yours?"
She stared back for a while, holding that same condescending glare. In response, Jack only stared back innocently with his beady eyes, not feeling any of the hostility. Though eventually, she let out a sigh and dropped some of her aggression.
"Mia. That's my name."
Mia proceeded to turn to Jessica.
"I guess I can see why you kept him around. He is quite cute. But still, we can't afford to support him until we find this father that we don't even know."
In response, she shook her head.
"Well so far, he's been able to hold out on his own... for the most part. I mean, it was a trade, but he's the only reason I was able to get the five for the promotion admission. For some reason, he always gets the high cards. Think of him as a good luck charm, if nothing else."
Mia clicked her tongue.
"Girl, you're being delusional... just say that you want to help the damn helpless kid."
Jack puffed up his cheeks, prompting Jessica to pat his head awkwardly.
"It's alright, she doesn't mean it. Mia is actually a really nice person. She was my partner for the promotion and let me come along with her."
She then blinked a few times.
"Ah, right. Speaking of, where is your partner? Did he not come with you?"
Jack tilted his head to the side with a finger on his chin.
"Oh, Donald? He left before me. I talked with the dealer a lot before I left!"
Jessica smiled bitterly and put one hand on her forehead.
"So that's why you took so long! I thought that something went wrong..."
After letting out a long sigh, she cheered up a bit and looked around.
"Anyway, let's show you around the place. I'll explain what we learned while you were away."
Mia narrowed her eyes.
"Jess, I'm telling you, that kid is just going to be..."
Suddenly, she cut herself off.
"...Wait, kid give me your hand."
Jack tilted his head to the side with a pout.
"But I like my hand."
Mia sighed and grabbed onto his wrist.
"Just bring it over here!"
She held it up and inspected it rather closely. Particularly, the bloody pinky. Jess was rather confused herself, but soon noticed as well.
"Jack! Are you alright?"
Jack blinked a few times before nodding.
"Um, yeah."