Old Maid

Jack blinked a few times while staring at the prompt in front of him. Upon seeing the challenge, he interpreted it as the guy across from him wanting to play a game with him. Though before he accepted, the status panel shifted.

[If you would like to decline this challenge and all further challenges, you may pay a three.]

There were a few different prompts underneath, asking whether or not he wished to accept or decline.

"Ah, you want to play a game? Ok!"

Jessica furrowed her brows. She didn't exactly understand what was going on, but that didn't stop her from assuming the worst.

"Wait! Don't just accept whatever you see, it could be a trap."

Jack already had his finger just a few centimeters away from the accept button. He turned to Jessica in confusion.

"Huh? How is this a trap? He just wants to play a game! He's a nice guy!"

The gangster, or more accurately, Austin raised an eyebrow. However, a smile formed on his face shortly after.

"Exactly, girl. Chill out, we're just trying to have a fun game. Now press that accept button little guy."

Hearing that, Jack naively went to press the accept button. Jessica panicked a little.

"Wait, don't just-"

However, despite crying out, Jack decided to trust the random stranger instead of her and pressed the button. That's not to say that Jessica wasn't a stranger as well, but it was one that he had known for longer and went as far as to help him.

And with that, both he and Austin had suddenly disappeared, leaving Jessica simply standing in the middle of the hub awkwardly.

"...That fucking stupid kid."

On the other hand, Jack suddenly found himself sitting at a small mahogany table while Austin was across from him. All around them was a slowly moving wall that consisted of various different card designs.

[Welcome to the challenge! As per the unique challenge coin provided, the game will be Old Maid. Challenge modes have different rules compared to classical ones, especially in terms of punishment and reward. Make sure to pay attention!]

[1 - As per the standard rules, the last person holding onto the queen is deemed the loser. Players will be required to discard any pairs that they have within their hands. Players will take turns taking one face-down card from the other person's hand until someone wins.]

[2 - Additionally, if a player has a pair within their own playing deck, they can use that pair to deal one card to both themselves and their opponent once per turn. (Exception Detected) Jokers can be played singularly, and given to your opponent. So long as the opponent has a joker, they are unable to win. However, they can choose not to take a card and give the joker back to the original player.]

[3 - The winner will be rewarded with random cards equal to the total number of pairs they discarded. However, the loser will be punished by random cards equal to the number of pairs they discarded.]

[4 - At any point, a person may choose to forfeit, but their punishment will increase the number of cards discarded. The reward of the winner is unaffected.]

[Have a fun duel!]

Austin observed everything with a very serious expression. It appeared that it was also his first time playing. Jack had a bright smile on his face and raised both hands.

"Oh! I like this game a lot! Though... I don't really win that much. Um... have I won before?"

Austin smirked after hearing that. While he was already confident in winning against a literal child, he was now double confident after hearing Jack declare his poor win rate in the game.

"Haha, it's a game based mostly on luck, so it doesn't really matter."

Jack frowned and rubbed his chin.

"But it doesn't feel like one! My dad is always able to guess the right card..."

Austin let out a confident laugh.

"Ah, don't worry about it. You just got unlucky! Now, let's play."

While they were talking, a deck had shuffled in mid-air before dealing the cards to both players.

Jack was dealt six cards while Austin had gotten five.

Jack then looked through all of his cards.

2 of hearts, 3 of hearts, 4 of diamonds, 5 of diamonds, 6 of hearts, queen of hearts.

Surprisingly enough, there wasn't even a single pair to start with. While observing his cards for a little while, a blue circle lit underneath him, indicating that it was his turn.

Austin raised his eyebrow while looking at the cards in his hands. After a little while, he moved them around before holding out his hand of cards

"Take your pick. It doesn't matter since you have the queen anyways."

Jack nodded and took one of the cards in Austin's hand.

It was a four of hearts, prompting him to discard the pair. Then the glowing blue circle shifted to Austin. Similarly, Jack shuffled his cards before holding them out. Austin reached out to take a card but didn't do so immediately. Instead deciding to focus on his expression while hesitating over which card to pick.

Naturally, he was trying to look for an emotional shift in Jack. However, there was an utterly stoic expression opposite to him. In fact, it kinda looked as though Jack had literally transformed into a statue. After a few more minutes of trying, he clicked his tongue and decided to pick at random.

It was the 3 of hearts.

After discarding the pair, it then shifted to Jack's turn once more.

He drew a 5 of hearts.

Then it changed to Austin's turn. He rubbed his chin for a while, pondering over his decision for a good amount of time. But then, he took out a pair of twos, giving one to himself and one to Jack.

And as such, they both discarded a pair.

Now that Jack only had a queen of hearts and a six of hearts in his hand, he was put in a pretty bad situation. If Austin ended up drawing the six, then he would lose right then and there.

Jack held up both cards and kept his stoic expression on. Austin smirked as he reached over.

"You do realize if I get the six, then it's game over for you right? But still, it's still a fifty-fifty, so the entire game could just end right here."

He said that in an attempt to get a reaction out of Jack. However, he was simply greeted by the same statue face. Austin ended up getting a bit frustrated, furrowing his brows.

However, since this decision mattered quite a bit for the game, he decided to keep on trying.

"How would you feel if I took this card? Or maybe I should take this one instead? Which one of these is the queen, huh?"

However, despite the amount of goading that he did, Jack's expression hadn't changed even slightly. Eventually, a status panel popped up.

[If you do not select within the next thirty seconds, you will automatically forfeit!]

Seeing that, Austin grit his teeth and just picked a random card.

And it was the queen of hearts.

He cursed under his breath, but let out a sigh soon after. It was a fifty-fifty after all. When it switched to Jack's turn, he paused for a little while, deliberating over his actions. He mumbled to himself.

"Dad said not to lose it... but I will get it back, right?"

Then, he took out the joker from his playing deck and tossed it to Austin. At first, he didn't have much of a reaction, however, soon Austin's eyes widened all the way.

"What? The game gave you a joker? How is this even fair!"

He had assumed that it was simply an extra mechanic in a game, and not that Jack had actually acquired one. Now if Jack drew the six, he would be the one winning the game. However, Jack didn't raise a fuss about it and instead reached over to take a card.

Unfortunately, he drew the joker that he had just given away.

Austin raised an eyebrow before letting out a sigh.

"Well, guess that didn't really help you there, huh?"

Jack's expression didn't change despite that. Austin gave it one last chance to test the reaction before just selecting a random card.

Unfortunately, he took the joker back.

His facial expression turned for the worse seeing that. Now he was in the same position once more. Jack did not waste time in selecting a card.

And he got the six, winning the game.

Austin's eyes had widened all the way.

"What? Impossible! I lost to some kid?!"

Jack let out a gasp.

"Wha! I actually won?"

Though before the two of them could talk more, the system had made it clear who won.

[Congratulations to Jack (ID: 00000001)! You have been awarded four cards for the four pairs discarded!]

[But before we hand out the rewards, first comes the punishment!]