Mia walked closer to the corpse that was cut up and eaten in most parts and saw a strange rectangular bulge at the waist. After a bit of hesitation, she went over to rip it out, and after peeling the flesh off, it revealed a red pack of cards.
She muttered to herself after blinking a few times.
"Ah... this thing used to be a person. These are the cards that were left behind."
She opened it to reveal full sets of 2's, 3's, 4's, and even 5's. There was also an extra 6. Spurred on by this, Mia attempted to look for the storage deck as well but was unable to find anything.
An awkward smile formed on her face soon after though.
"Well... since you guys worked on beating the monster, then I guess you should split it."
Jack tilted his head to the side.
"Eh? But we shouldn't take things from people like that!"
Mia blinked a few times.
"Well, it's not really taking it when they are like this. Whoever this person was, they are dead now."
Jack let out a gasp.
"Oh no! Did we kill him? That's a bad thing..."
A bitter smile was on Mia's face.
"Well, sometimes there are situations where it's better to put people to rest."
Jack tilted his head to the side, rather confused.
"But my Dad said it was bad to kill people!"
Jessica walked over with a gentle smile.
"Yes, it is, but the person that we killed wasn't actually alive. We simply put their soul to rest."
Jack put a finger to his chin and went into thought.
"Does that mean... it's ok to kill when they aren't alive?"
Ignoring how little sense that sentence meant, Jessica let out a small laugh.
"It's more than just ok. Something like that is mercy. Killing them is what a good person would do."
Jack looked quite excited.
"Ah, I get it!"
However, he quickly grew frustrated, furrowed his brows, and scratching the back of his head.
"Um... how do I know if they aren't alive?"
Mia blinked a few times. She felt like something troublesome was brewing, and thought quickly of a way to remedy the situation, if only temporarily.
"W-Well, that's not something you should assume. It's something you come to learn gradually."
Jessica let out a soft hum.
"I suppose if you find it hard to understand now, you should get it after growing up."
Jack had his mouth slightly agape in aw, fully believing them as his very impressionable self.
"Wow! I really want to grow up soon. But it takes a really long time..."
Jessica giggled before patting his head.
"Don't think about it too much. The days as a child are just as worthwhile as when you grow up, so don't try to rush things."
Jack pouted at first, but smiled rather brightly afterwards.
"Alright! I will listen!"
Mia felt a little bit strange. She felt like the words being spoken were rather nice, but they just didn't really fit their current setting. After taking a deep breath, she spoke up with a small smile.
"Do we need to go back to clean up? You guys are a bit covered in blood. Some more than others."
She glanced at Jack, who was covered from head to toe in blood. Especially so for his mouth, which was covered in blood like some kid that went too hard on some strawberry jam. It also made his hair stick together, causing all of it to go flat onto his head.
Jack let out a small laugh.
"I feel great! I don't need to clean up at all."
Mia blinked a few times. She really wanted to retort as she looked at him, but didn't in the end. As for Jessica, she did have blood on her clothes, but it wasn't all that big of a deal. She had a smile on her face.
"This much isn't anything special considering our clothes aren't very clean in the first place. Besides, we can't afford to waste cards like that. We should continue on."
Seedy let out an approving growl. While he should've been the most blood out of the group, all the blood that was on him was instead absorbed into the skin. He was the cleanest out of all of them, considering Mia's hands were a bit bloody from ripping into the corpse to take out the deck.
She then smiled and held out the cards.
"Anyways, you should split it between the two of you."
Jessica tilted her head to the side.
"Ah, but what about you? I imagine you should also take some as well."
Jack gave an energetic nod.
"Yeah! You were the one that found it. If it weren't for you, then we wouldn't have gotten them in the first place!"
Mia blushed ever so slightly. The feelings of rejection, that she should abandon the group for the sake of her own safety, were just about to rise up again. Yet, right when they did, those feelings sunk down once more. She began smiling rather brightly.
"Thank you, guys!"
In the end, they split it by giving Jack a 6, and a pair of 2's, 3's, and 4's. From there, Jessica and Mia split the rest in half between themselves. Jack was pretty happy getting a step closer to obtaining a full deck of cards.
Seedy wrapped himself up into a ball, seemingly digesting all of the flesh that it ate as its body regularly pulsed every now and then. By the time they finished their conversation, it unraveled itself and appeared a bit bigger than before.
Seedy leaned down next to Jack, prompting him to pet him with a giggle.
"There, there. Good Seedy!"
In response, it waggled its vines around and leaned the head into Jack's hand. After that, Jack put a finger on his chin as he looked at Seedy.
"Can you walk with us?"
Seedy scratched the petals of its head with a vine before it began running forth. Or, at the very least trying to. Unfortunately, his pace was even a bit slower than just normal walking still.
Jack let out a soft hum.
"It looks like you will have to be carried along."
Seedy looked a tad bit reluctant, but moved its head up and down to express its approval. After Jack took him back into the storage deck, Mia continued to lead the way. After their last experience, she felt a lot less threatened, since the group was able to deal with a monster fairly easily.
In fact, it would probably be a good thing, as they might be able to salvage a few cards here and there.
Though they hadn't met another soul despite traveling for multiple hours on end. Thankfully, it wasn't a complete dud as they eventually saw bright flashing neon lights in the distance. They encountered another game. It was called "Slay the Royalty Again".
Under the rewards, it stated, "Three Cards, 5 and 6 Guaranteed."
As for the punishment, it was a 5.
There were a total of four different slots to insert cards, but there was a section written like fine print stating that the total players ranged from two to four. Jack put a finger on his chin as he looked at the big sign.
"I think we've played this before, right?"
He turned to Jessica, who tilted her head to the side ever so slightly.
"Hmm... the title is quite similar, except for the part that says again. Maybe it's a more advanced version of the game."
Mia narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Oh, how does this game work?"
Jessica briefly explained things, which made Mia felt a tad bit relieved.
"It's a co-op game? I didn't think that there would be one... but that's a good thing."
Jessica continued to explain the basic strategy, and after Mia repeated it back to her, the three of them inserted their playing decks into the indents on the wall. For a brief moment, nothing ended up happening.
But a few seconds later, they all disappeared into a flash of light.
Everybody looked around to take in their surroundings, though both Jack and Jessica were surprised by it. Unlike before, there was no longer the smell of flesh and blood. Instead, they were in a far more modern place. They appeared to be inside an internet cafe, with many lines of chairs and computers all over the place. There was even a stand where drinks and food were supposedly served, though nobody was manning it.
Although the lights were on, the fact that nobody else was there made it feel like they were in the place while it was closed.
Jessica looked around for quite a bit, a little unsettled by how it felt familiar. While she was rarely ever in an internet cafe, she knew about their existence. Mia furrowed her brows slightly.
"An internet cafe?... This wasn't what I expected."
They were sitting in a row beside each other, all in front of a computer. Jack poked the computer a few times before pressing his hand against the monitor.
"Eh? What is this thing?"
Mia looked over in surprise.
"Huh? You don't even know about computers? You must've had really strict parents..."
Jack let out a gasp acknowledging that fact.
"Oooh! So this is what a computer looks like. I thought that it would look different."
Mia let out a small sigh.
"If only we weren't here, then I would show you all the cool games, but I guess there isn't much we can do about it."
Jack was confused, but before he raised the questions, all the computer screens suddenly turned on. This time, instead of an announcer, all the instructions appeared on the screen itself.
[Welcome to Slay the Royalty Again! In this game, a band of adventurers gets together to slay the Queen! And you all will now be playing it online. Those that are familiar with a similar game, know that most of the rules are the same!
For anyone unaware, there will be a Queen you must slay that has two cards for defense and one card as a weapon. Each player will also receive cards of their own. Players will take turns attacking, using a card to deal damage.
But along with that, they will also have to use cards to protect themselves!
If suits match, the Royalty will have the advantage, either not taking damage, or going through the card used to block.
Players will be allowed to use cards from their playing deck to either attack or defend. Jokers nullify suit advantages.
That is the summary of the game! But for the sequel, the actual attacking process will be changed slightly. Instead of everything being automated, the cards you use define the types of armor and weapons that you will use in a fun fighting game!
Take too much damage, and it will turn into the next person's turn. However, if a person dies without any armor on, the game will immediately end, and all players will receive punishment.
Have fun everyone!]