Steal

Mike took a deep breath. He no longer had the energy to care about the situation of others now that his situation was supposedly near certain death.

"So what's the deal now? Should I even try to struggle?"

Stanley let out a giggle, while the doll put one hand above her mouth as though laughing as well.

"I'm glad you asked! Although personally, I'm not the biggest fan of cards, that's just how things work around here. I prefer dice, but this game is close enough."

Another screeching pulley lowered something else down from the ceiling. This time, it was a rather large deck of cards.

"With each point that you have gathered, you will be given an opportunity to draw a card from the deck! So long as the total value of your cards is at least ten, then you win, with the Ace counting as an automatic win! The 10-point limit will no longer be in effect, and if you wish to gain points, then you can give up a limb to gain one point per!"

Stanley narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Though keep in mind, this won't be the only game you are going through! Although you could make do with only one point, you would be putting most of your faith all into luck. Now is there anyone that wishes to take part in this offer?"

His eyes were on Mike while he was saying that. It was clear who his words were targeted. In response, Mike only sucked in a cold breath before speaking up.

"...I'll give up my left arm and my right leg."

Stanley let out a sadistic laugh.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Look at how committed our contestant here is! Such a strong desire for survival. Now, let's take him up on that wish!"

A crunch resounded, before Mike let out a scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

He calmed down a few moments later, though his eyes were glazed over and his breathing was hoarse. From there, the bindings removed themselves from the left arm and right leg before they were removed.

Some blood seeped out, but the bindings put themselves back around. It was definitely not comfortable, but at least he didn't have to worry about dying from blood loss.

The two limbs were held up by some thin wire from the ceiling, while cards lowered in front of both Jessica and Mia.

In front of Jessica was a 2, 3, and 4, while Mia had three 2's and a 3.

Stanley chuckled before speaking up.

"Now, who wants to start? Just choose one of the cards or limbs in front of you to begin drawing!"

Mia blinked a few times before speaking up.

"I'll use one of my 2's."

Stanley nodded. From there, the two was wheeled up before two cards were drawn from the deck, revealing a Jack and a 4. Naturally, that was more than enough to surpass a 10.

"Ah! How lucky, one of our contestants has already succeeded on their first try!"

Jessica was encouraged by that fact and spoke up as well.

"I will also use one of my 2's!"

After the two reeled upwards, two more cards were drawn, revealing a Jack and a 10. Upon seeing this, Stanley let out a gasp.

"Oh wow! How lucky! Since you've gotten double the amount required, as a secret prize, your investment has been refunded!"

The two that were wheeled up came back down again. From there, only Mike was left. However, he was in a daze, still finding difficulty even registering the situation around him as everything occurred. In fact, it seemed as though he was going to fall asleep at this rate.

Stanley let out a disapproving hum after seeing this.

"It appears some of our contestants are lacking enthusiasm... let's encourage him with a controlled shock!"

Suddenly, a frightening amount of voltage surged into Mike, prompting him to yelp and spasm violently. His hair stuck up awkwardly, while his mind appeared to be quite frazzled. Though Stanley didn't wait to speak up.

"You need to choose which limb you want to use to draw a card! If you take too long, then I'll just take nothing as your choice!"

Mike could hardly understand anything but still spoke through jitters.

"T-T-The leg."

From there, the leg was reeled upwards, while another card was revealed from the deck. Unfortunately, he didn't have the same luck as Mia and Jessica, as the card revealed was a 3.

Stanley let out a hum.

"Aw, unfortunately, that is not a 10! However, you did give yourself two chances, so let's see if this next one will save you!"

As the arm was also wheeled up into the darkness, another card was revealed from the deck.

Although it was a moment that determined his life or death, Mike's eyes were still drooping. At this point, it seemed quite clear that even if he was alive right now, he wasn't exactly far from death in the first place.

And the card that came was a 7.

He was just barely safe, by the skin of his teeth.

Stanley clapped a few times after seeing that.

"Wow! What good luck! Our contestant here just barely scraped by with his only two chances, just barely netting himself a score of 10! Now that is exciting, isn't it?"

He then looked over at Jack.

"And as a reward to our audience member, since two limbs were offered as tribute, the prize is a 6! However, because there is only one donor with double the maximum donation, the rank increases and they will be given a 7!"

As an unexpected reward, Jack found himself with a 7 of diamonds that was lowered from the ceiling before it let go, falling onto his lap. Elise looked over with widened eyes before mumbling to herself.

"...Ah, so that's why he donated. He knew that there would be a reward."

Blake smiled bitterly.

"Guess things are never that simple..."

Stanley let out a long and scratchy sigh.

"Unfortunately, it was only the limbs that were lost in this little game! Otherwise, our audience member would've gotten two special cards he's probably familiar with, had there been some death... But alas! We shall move on to the next game! There will be plenty of chances there."

The doll on his shoulder clapped a few times while bobbing her head from side to side. Stanley then roughly cleared his throat before continuing on.

"Now that we've all gotten our opportunity to donate, to show how kind our hearts are, now comes the second game, Steal! This time, each of our contestants will choose a nominee from the audience! And contestants are allowed to choose the same audience member if they wish."

Stanley tilted his head to the side.

"For each contestant, their chosen audience member will draw ten cards. But before they do, both will declare a card for the other, and whether or not they need to steal it, or if that card is a guard."

He raised a metallic finger.

"Within those ten cards, a person will only win if the card contains one of the stolen ones, or doesn't contain the guard depending on what the other declared for them. Along with that, the contestant is allowed to use their points to either reduce how many cards are drawn or increase them. However, nobody is allowed to choose the same card, and the audience member chooses first. You can communicate with each other before confirming your choices."

After he finished explaining the rules, Jack immediately stood up and waved with both of his hands, while Seedy matched his energy.

"Oh, pick me, pick me!"

Jessica and Mia looked at Jack with a bit of trepidation. Realistically speaking, he was the best choice considering how things went last time, but at the same time, it was hard to trust a person that seemed so volatile.

Jessica spoke up timidly.

"A-Are you willing to risk your life to help us again? But why?"

Jack let out a giggle.

"Didn't I tell you? I already said that I like you guys! Choose me!"

An uncomfortable expression formed on Jessica's face.

"A-Ah, I see... Then I suppose I will rely on you once more. It sounds like it's better if we choose the guard card. I will use all my cards to reduce the cards drawn."

Mia blinked a few times.

"I'm not sure if you're motivated for other reasons, but if you're willing to help us, then I thank you for that. I will use everything to reduce the cards drawn and hope that I won't be killed in the process."

As for Mike, he remained silent, with his mouth slightly ajar. He either had no intention of talking or simply didn't have the capacity to anymore.

On the other hand, Blake, Elise, and Myra only looked at each other. Eventually, Myra spoke up.

"Should we try to help? It seems like there's a chance to get cards if we do."

Blake narrowed his eyes.

"...I don't think we should. At the end of the day, we don't really understand how these games work, even if there are good potential rewards. It's not worth risking our lives over."

Elise gave a small nod.

"I agree. Although it's a shame, it's better not to dip our toes into unknown waters."

After a few moments of silence, Stanley spoke up.

"Alright, since it seems discussions are over, we will continue on with the game! Now, Jessica, which one of these lucky audience members would you like to choose from?"

Jessica took a deep breath.

"I... will choose the one with the mask and bells on his clothes."