“First off, on behalf of the House I would like to congratulate all of you for making it to the final stage.”

“Thanks.” Fi said, grabbing the red martini glass in front of her.

“Wait, when did you get here?” Chance asked bewilderedly.

“I’ve been around, getting things ready for the final challenge of course. Please accept these complimentary drinks as my apologies for not arriving as soon as the third contestant appeared. I would have arrived sooner, but things took a little longer to prepare than expected.”

“What? You weren’t expecting us so soon?” Fi asked, holding her red martini glass under her nose.

“Actually we didn’t expect you to be so late, in fact. Calibration with the inert time dynamic can cause a minor anomaly in the real time perspective.”

“What?” Cee asked.

“He’s saying people weren’t playing fast enough, like speed chess and regular chess.”

“Quite astute, Ms. Player.” He bowed his head as she tipped her glass. “Suffice to say, we are still having some momentary delays so I’ve been instructed to keep you occupied for the next ten minutes and explain any details that you may inquire for this final challenge.”

“Well, what is it?” Cee inquired.

“A simple contest between the three of you and the house manager himself, using whatever resources you have remaining at this stage.”

“Is it another blessing?” Chance asked.

“Not the manager is a player such as yourself, but of great experience, and because of that all of your skills will be temporarily authorized at the highest level of achievement.”

“Whoa, ho, a super charged serum.” Fi comments while staring at the red liquid in her glass.

“Only for this particular event, after which all your stats will be reset to their original state.” Midnight clarified.

“Someone going through this much trouble, why exactly do they want to fight us?”

“I’m afraid my information is limited, but I suggest you enjoy these fine cordials before they lose their potency.”

“I’m not even legal to drink yet.” Cee said, staring at the green liquid in front of her.

“It’s not alcohol.” Chance clarified. “It’s a representation of a quantifiable effect interpreted by your brain's interruption.”

“To me it tastes like sparkling apple cider.” Fi said, sniffing her glass.

“I’ve been to a bar, but to me it tastes like the worst beer I’ve ever had.”

“You’ve been to a bar bunny boy.” Fi said in surprise. “How very retro, I didn’t know anyone still did that.”

Chance picked up the yellow glass as Cee reluctantly picked up the green glass and together they reached their glass for an improved toast.

“To health,” said Fi.

“To victory,” said Chance.

“To...plus one,” said Cee, awkwardly.

CLINK! Together they clinked their glasses and sipped their beverages together. A strange aura of each color they drank sparkled around their bodies as a new window appeared above their heads.

[ Your active skills have been temporarily raised. ]

“Hmm...tastes like ginger and cherry soda.” Cee commented on the taste.

“Yeah, that hits the spot.” Fi said.

“Terrible, but you were kidding about these effects.”

Although Cee couldn’t read the screen he had pulled up, she could tell by the expression on his face that all these skills had indeed been raised.

“Now that has been resolved, I shall leave you alone to devise your strategies. A reminder you have 7 minutes remaining until the final challenger arrives. At which time, this area will be transported to the final stage. May the spirit’s guide you.”

POOF! A portal of black smoke appeared behind Midnight which had kindly stepped backward into whipping his black tail behind him as he vanished from their sight.

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Cee said.

“Plan?” Chance said. “You talk as if we’re part of the same team.”

“Then why were we toasting a minute ago?”

“It’s for mutual sportsmanship, but remember there can only be one winner.”

“Then why do you keep Fi around if you’re a loner?”

“I don’t keep her, she literally follows me around like a stray, and refuses to leave.”

“Come on bunny boy, you know I’m your good luck charm.” She said with her fingers on her cheeks.

“This isn’t the time to be cute, bubble head, it’s every man for himself winner-takes-all world.”

“Wait,” she said, holding her hand. “I may know this world, but I’ve learned a few things while taking these trials.”

“Like what?”

“Like it’s not what you have, but how you use it, so maybe I should show you what I have to offer before you dismiss the idea of team fight.”

“Wait, you mean your passive skills?” Fi asked. “I didn’t even bother to ask what they were.”

“What have you told me about sharing information, bubble head.”

“Hey I’m willing to share if you give me the chance.”

“Alright, then let’s see them.”

It took a few moments for Cee to figure out how to make her stats visible to other players but when she did they were slightly impressed by the full list of abilities she had achieved.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

[ Encouragement (Lv. 1) ]

[ Magic (Lv. 1) ]

[ Reinforcement (Lv.1) ]

[ Two Acts (Lv.2) ]

[ Intuition (Lv. 1) ]

[ Cooperate (Lv. 1) ]

“Now, we know that special drinks don't affect passive skills.” Chance criticized.

“Hey, even at level one, these are some pretty impressive stacks. Cooperation, Reinforcement, Encouragement...”

“Anyone can get Cooperation.”

“And I have Encouragement and you have Reinforcement, but look at the other skills. Magic, Intuition, Two Acts, these are some pretty rare skills.”

“All our active skills are already maxed out to level seven, I fail to see how Intuition will come in handy.”

“It says ‘perform skills,’ it doesn’t say anything about it being passive or active.”

“She’s right.” Cee confirmed. “I used two passive skills during a challenge.”

“You see Chance, normally you could only use one passive skill but before or after a challenge. With the right group strategy we could make a pretty decent troupe.”

“Is that like a team in an RPG?”

“Exactly.”

“There’s a few name changes, but if you’ve played any RPG it’s pretty much the same group dynamic. Instead of Attackers, Tankers, and Supporters, you’ve got Big Blind, Small Blind, and Button players, just like poker.”

“It’s little more complicated than that, bubble head.” Chance chimed in to explain. “The Big Blind player takes on primary offense, they take on the full frontal assault of a challenge. The small blind, is the primary defense not only for the attack but the supporter as well, they’re the middle ground that protects everyone else LP count. The button is mostly supported but their job is to mostly stay out of harm's way...”

“So, then the button, is just someone who doesn’t contribute anything?”

“No, the button is the most important roll of all. They contribute their passive skills to other players, but also they use up a lot of their resources. In a team sport LP and KP are pulled and then divided amongst everyone’s contribution, give blind gets 40 percent, small blind, 30 percent, 20 percent goes to the button. That means they only have limited supply to work with in defense or offense when helping other players.”

“Like a good luck charm.”

“What about the other ten percent?”

“That’s what you might call a reserve or a Luck pool.” Fi said. “By the end of the team sport, ten percent is saved and then divided equally amongst those who are still standing at the end of the match. Also ten percent of your team G$ is included as an incentive to the top performer.”

“Isn’t that a bit risky?” Cee argued. “I mean, what if your other team takes you out and claims the sand dollars?”

“Well if they did they would be very stupid. The system will immediately retaliate from the wrath of the spirits themselves.”

“She’s not being metaphorical,” Chance classified. “You know how everyone has told this game, it literally attaches them to a representation of a physical game mechanic. No one’s seen it directly in real time, but there have been numerous video interviews about players who broke the rules and turned on their fellow players. Not only did their attacks fail but were stuck in inert time to face judgment from their spirit guardian, essentially a game monitor but more omnipotent. Supposedly it’s like solitary confinement, stuck so that every second could be days until you either pay the consequences or forcibly log out from seer fright, either way you’ll pay the price and be booted out until the following day.”

“I’ve seen those videos too.” Fi added. “Some guy compared it to some old film about a guy playing a chess game with death, the outcome was enviable or something. Some even say it’s inhuman and that being trapped in inert time is worse than anything, but I think it just ‘encourages’ people to make the right play.”

“So, if we team up, how do we settle who gets the grand prize?” Cee pondered.

“How about we just draw for it?”

“You can do that?”

“Sure, it’s not like a skill or anything, it's more like a game of high, low. We each draw for the highest card out of 54, in the event of tie we go again until a winner stands on top, Joker being the highest.”

“I’m good for that if you are.”

“What do you say, bunny boy?” Fi and Cee turned toward his pondering face.

“...I don’t like it, but with the odds stacked against us I suppose we got no better ideas. If we’re going to do this, we gotta play it right. I’ll play big bind, Fi will be small blind, you take the button position.”

“Why do we have to do that?”

“Because my skills are cooler and heater related, good for challenges, Fi has wheeler and magician skills that are good for defense, but since you have a rather diverse set it means you’ll be good for support.”

“How will I even know when to support you?”

“Do you know how to communicate in inert time?”

“I-I’ve dabbled a bit.”

“It’s a little weird with everyone talking in your head at once, but I think it's like texting. Take your time, check your spelling and then when you’re ready just let your thoughts go.”

“Just remember inert time is undefined, so you literally have all the time in the world, no need to rush.” Fi said.

“Don’t think about the outcome, just go with the results.”

“What does that mean?” Cee asked.

“You’ve seen the deck of fate before right?”

“You mean that deck with all the cards?”

“Yeah, it’s just a game mechanic, but people get distracted and shuffled and they lose sight of the outcome. If you spend too much time thinking about a second can feel like an hour of indecision.”

“...I realized that a few stages ago.”

“Good, then everyone caught up.” Fi smiled.

[ 1 minute, until main event. ]

“Alright, let’s get this team started.” Cee said as she heard the window chime in.

“Do you know how?”

“I assume it’s like adding friends, you know with a handshake.”

“See, she’s not so green after all.” Fi nodded. “Hands together then...Team?” She stretched her hand out.

“Team.” She put her hand over hers.

“...Team.” Chance joined as the final hand.

A glimmer of golden light shined on all their hands as the aura around them began to alter into the shape of their individual spirits, a goldfish, a frog, and rabbit flashed to created a golden window appeared under the update of her new stats.

[ Your team resources have been divided accordingly. ]

[ C-Note:

Luck Points: 4

Karma Points: 25

G$: 20,642,211 ]

[ 10 percent has been divided into a Luck Pool:

+ 4 Luck Points

+ 14 Karma Points

+ G$ 11,321,106 ]

“Wow, that’s 10 percent,” Cee said looking at her updated resources.

“It’s mostly from her you know, she puts in a major bank for this game,” Chance said.

“Well it makes sense, since the system grants high privileges to people who invest in its stability.” Fi was admitted with an heir of pride.

“Big whoop, the Luck roll turns caps at 13 to 100. You’re still not guaranteed to make a max payout.”

“That’s why it’s a game of chance, Chance. Maybe if you did more you’d have more opportunities than the average player.”

“I keep playing those dollar bets, I’ll stick the penny antes.” Chance said as he adjusted his rabbit ears.

[ 30 seconds, until main event. ]

“Anything else I should know before this starts?”

“Yeah, if you believe in true luck then I suggest you pray we have some in this match game.”

“By my count we have a total of 19 LP and 112 KP between us.” Fi estimated. “It could be worse right?”

“Hey frog legs, I don’t know if you know what the difference between a lucky dog and lucky devil is, but whoever pulls this off, might actually be considered a lucky star.”

“Um...thanks I guess.”

The windows appeared and disappeared after another counting down the time left until the main event.

[ 11 seconds. ]

The furniture started to fade away.

[ 7 seconds. ]

The bar table and seats faded as well.

[ 5 seconds. ]

The walls start to turn transparent revealing only darkness behind them.

[ 3 seconds. ]

The floors vanished and were replaced with darkness.

[ 2 seconds. ]

The entire room had vanished leaving only the three players in a wide vacant void of oblivion.

[ 1 second. ]

A spotlight appeared from the air shining down like a super moon on the darkest night.

CLANK! The tap of black cane stepped into the light and with it golden eyes of new strangers walk from out of the void.

[ The main event has begun. ]