The Card Trials
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Auction House
00:00:00
Noah
> CARD SELECTED: 3♦ – "The Auction House."
RULES:
– EACH PLAYER BEGINS WITH 5 TOKENS.
– ITEMS WILL BE AUCTIONED IN ROUNDS.
– BID WISELY.
– THE PLAYER WITH THE FEWEST TOKENS AT THE END… IS ELIMINATED.
BONUS TOKENS CAN BE WON THROUGH NEGOTIATION. OR TAKEN.
The room looked like a museum—marble pillars, velvet curtains, a long table where seven players sat under the cold gaze of a faceless auctioneer. His mask was porcelain, hands gloved in white. Silent. Unblinking.
Noah sat between a thin woman in her fifties (calm, calculating) and a tattooed man with twitching fingers.
A screen above the auction table lit up:
> ROUND ONE – BID ON: "Immunity from Final Elimination."
Everyone froze.
Item 1, first round—and already the game bent the rules.
The woman to Noah's left raised her paddle. "Three tokens."
Tattooed man immediately shot back: "Four."
Another player upped it to five.
Noah hesitated. He had 5 tokens too. If he bid all, he'd be broke. But if someone else had immunity, that meant everyone else was fair game.
He didn't bid.
The item sold for 5.
The tattooed man leaned over and whispered to Noah: "Bad move. That means one of us is dying now."
---
00:12:36
Round Two: "Share a Secret. Gain One Token."
No one moved at first.
Then a teenage boy stood. "I cheated in school. Planted drugs in someone's locker to stay top of the class."
> +1 Token granted.
Noah stood next.
> "I let my father die in a hospital bed alone. I pretended I was stuck in traffic."
+1 Token.
It was disturbingly easy.
---
00:19:07
Round Four: "Steal. Choose a Player. Take One Token. Cannot Be Blocked."
Noah's hands clenched.
He had 6 tokens now—near the top. But he was a target.
He watched the others. The tattooed man grinned and pointed to the teen. "Him."
The boy screamed, "Please!"
The auctioneer gestured. One of the boy's tokens vanished.
Now he was at 3.
Low man.
---
00:26:00
Final Round: "One Last Bid. The Highest Bidder May Choose One Player to Eliminate."
Silence.
Everyone stared at each other.
The tattooed man raised his paddle. "Four tokens."
The calm woman raised hers. "Five."
Noah raised his.
> "Six."
He heard the gasp.
He had become the top token-holder. Now he was bidding them all.
The auctioneer inclined his head.
> Accepted.
The room turned to him.
The calm woman locked eyes with him. "Don't waste it on me. I have intel. You'll need me later."
The boy was weeping.
The tattooed man was silent—just staring, smiling like he'd expected this all along.
Noah's mouth went dry.
Then, quietly:
> "Him."
He pointed at the tattooed man.
The auctioneer raised one hand.
The man didn't resist. Just stood up. Walked to the end of the room. The floor beneath him vanished.
Noah didn't look away.
> GAME COMPLETE. PLAYER 091: VICTORY. 3♦ OBTAINED. BONUS TOKEN GRANTED.
---
Later, Lobby
When Noah returned to the atrium, something inside him had changed.
He could feel it.
The power of choice. The weight of it. And the addictive relief of being on the safe side of the line.
Someone approached him.
A quiet boy in black.
"Face Cards want to talk," he said. "They noticed your game."
He handed Noah something.
A black card.
Unmarked.
Faintly warm.
> "You're moving up."