Mike kept messaging back and forth with Bill. Bill insisted that Mike was worrying too much about and that there was no reason to doubt anyone here. He did think the middle age man was potentially a bit of a scum bag but nothing out of the ordinary. In the end he promised he would keep an eye out, mostly due to Mike's insisting. Right after sending that message a box appeared.
*Level two selected. Points for game will be level squared multiplied by players. Points available for this game are determined to be 16 which will be divided to all players who pass the game rounded to the nearest whole number. Difficulty for game set to level 2. Please enjoy your game!*
Dollars game will now begin. Rules: All players start the game with 3 dollars. During the course of the game you may bet any amount of dollars you have on any of the 10 challenges you attempt. If successful, you double your dollars bet. If you fail, you will lose all dollars bet. At the end of the game any player who has not bought a 10 dollar ticket to enter the safe room will have failed the game. During the game, bonuses or items to assist a player may be used if purchased.
Players are allowed, if they so wish, to gift other players their own dollars. If at the end of any round a player has zero dollars that player will have failed the game. Once a player selects a challenge that player must receive no help. If you try to help a player you will be eliminated from the game. The time limit for this game is 45 minutes. The countdown will start now.*
Mike looked up and the countdown started... 45:00, 44:59, 44:58. A wall in the room they were in lifted up and granted them entrance to another room. What was the most unnerving thing about it is how silently the wall rose up and how seamlessly it went into the ceiling. In this new room were 10 small pillars, each with a box on them. Mike looked them over. They all listed some different challenge on them.
In this room there was something like a vending machine with several options with various dollar ranges.. 5 dollars for a 10 point skill gift card. 10 dollars for a 10 points. 15 dollars for 20 points. 3 dollars for eliminate 2 random multiple choice answers. Some of the more expensive items seemed particularly amazing.
There was also a door in the wall and a ticket dispenser by it. It read “put 10 dollars insider here to buy a ticker. With it you can open the door and wait in the safe room. Anyone who doesn't hold a ticket will not be able to enter. If you try to enter without a ticket you are eliminated from the game. If multiple people try to hold on to the same ticket and enter they will be eliminated from the game. Remember, the best games are the ones you play fairly!”
Mike wasn't sure what do to at this point. Questions and mental challenges were certainly not his specialty. He could at least do basic math though. He would need to get at least 2 questions right to get out of here and that is if he risked his very life on one of them. If we messed up he would need even more questions to come back. It seemed impossible they would all pass considering the situation unless they somehow got every question right.
“Listen up everyone, I have an idea.” Will seemed to be pretty excited with it. “I know this seems tough but I know how all of us can pass. We're allowed to gift dollars aren't we? How about this? All of you give me 1 dollar and I'll bet those and one of my own If I get it right, that gives us 8 dollars. That be more than what any of us could win just betting the dollars we only have ourselves.”
“That's a good idea, but if you lose we'll be in a horrible spot. Why should you get to answer it and not me?” The 40 year old man seemed annoyed. Mostly cause he didn't think of this idea first.
“Well, someone has to do it. If anyone is supremely confident answering any question or completing any challenge I invite them to step up and give it a try. As for myself, I see one I know I can do. If anyone else wants to bet on it I think it be a great chance to pool our resources and get a lot of dollars.”
“What if you decide not to give them back after we give them to you?” Lisa said this quietly behind the 40 year old man. Bill didn't see why she would say this. It would just cause doubt between them when it was clear they all needed to work together.
“I promise, I'll give any winnings that belong to you back. If we don't do it this way then it'll be very difficult for all of us to get the points we need. It's up to you to decide what you want to do.” William seemed to be done talking and was waiting for their decision. He had an eye on the count down and was not in the mood for long conversation. They would either do it or they wouldn't.
Ever since this style of game was announced Mike knew he was going to be hard pressed to get any dollars. He quickly read every single challenge on the boxes when he first came in and decided there were very few of them he would even dare to attempt. But he did have a good feel for people and knowing if a idea was good on not.
“How sure are you that you can do this challenge Bill?” Mike wanted to get a measure of his confidence before he decided if he wanted to give him any dollars.
“I'm 100% confident. You saw the challenge that said to solve a rubix cube in 5 minutes right? I've done there for years. It will be no problem.”
“Okay, then I'll give you two of my points if you're sure you can do it.” Mike handed over 2 dollars. He might have done all 3 but he wasn't sure if that would count a him having none by the end of the round so he decided against it.
“Why two? I think one is fine. Why do you want to risk so much on one question. If I mess up you only have one dollar left and if you lose the next challenge you play then you're out of the game.” Bill thought talking anyone into one dollar would be hard. Mike may very well be betting his life on this right now.
“You said you could do it for sure right? In that case why would I hesitate when the next challenges may not be as easy? It seems to me it may be just as big as a mistake to be too careful than too risky in this situation.” Bill thought maybe he was right. He just couldn't get his head around how someone could risk so much in a single game. It wasn't like he knew him that well. Wasn't he worried that his dollars may not be given back or that he was lying?
It seemed like too big of a risk and Bill himself wouldn't dare take it. Of course he would give him back the dollars but how could he really know for sure? Did Mike trust his read on him that much? Bill kept thinking of all the risk and things that could go wrong. That kind of risk averse thinking was smart in day to day life, but this was not day to day life. They were already in a risky situation. All that fear would have made him hesitate in the same situation and lose track of the fact that this was a very safe bet for a large return. Mike didn't consider this that deeply though.
In the end the middle age man gave no dollars, Lisa gave one after careful examination and hesitation, Bill bet one of his own dollars. Mike gave Bill 2 of his to bet. Bill walked up to the box and put 4 dollars into the slot. There was a click and the front end of the box fell down. The sides flipped open and the top and back fell toward the back of the cubed shaped pillar. On a stand stood a mixed up rubix cube and a timer. 4:59. 4:58, 4:57...
He quickly grabbed the cube and frantically went about solving it. Slowly he began to make the familiar cross shape on all the sides. He kept looking over to the clock which slowed him down a little. He would have done better if he had just solely focused on the cube. As it turns out he solved it with 1:25 left. It was a little worse than he expected but not too bad.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Congratulations. You're a winner!*
He now had 10 dollars total to his name. The 2 he didn't best and the 4 he did bet which now was 8. The thought crossed his mind that he could walk away right now and no one could stop him. If he stayed he might actually die. Wouldn't walking be the smartest thing to do in this situation even if it was cruel? In the end he couldn't do it. It was never really a serious thought anyway. Why panic so soon? They had 9 challenges left and plenty of time.
As it stood now Mike had 5 dollars, Bill 4, Lisa 4 and the middle aged man 3.
There was a break in the action now in which everyone studied the challenges carefully one by one. In this down time Mike took the chance to look more into the gaming system to see if there was anything in there that could possibly help him. He had nothing else to do at the moment until someone else wanted to pick a challenge. As he looked around his status screen he again noticed his unused points again.
It didn't occur to him until now he could have added them into his intelligence. He tried to do so now but it wouldn't let him do it. It seems it was only something you could do before a game officially started or after it was over according to the notifications that popped up.
Can not spend points to level up your stats 5 minutes after the game started.. Once the 5 minute grace period has passed your stats are locked in for the remainder of the game*
It had been just a bit over 5 minutes since this game started! If only I had looked closer or caught on faster. He still believed one of the other 2 players had lied about this being their first time playing. If that is the case, why didn't they encourage me to spend my points? Could it really be they want me to die or didn't care at all if I did?
Lisa stepped forward to one of the boxes. This challenge was called 'count all the triangles in this shape'. “I can do this one very easily I think. If any of you want to give me a few dollars we can earn a lot on this challenge.”
Mike was the only one hesitant to do so. The middle aged man was quick to hand over a dollar. Mostly because he probably had a thing for much younger girls, Mike assumed, but part of it might have been he wasn't particularly smart himself. Maybe he already read all the challenges and didn't think he would do well at them himself. Bill had an extra dollar already and felt more relaxed about handing over 2 instead of 1 at this point then he may have been had he just 3 instead of 4.
Mike decided to hand over two dollars. He figured even if she did plan to betray them somehow she probably wouldn't do it too early. She probably wanted more of their dollars and planned to wait for a better chance if that was the case. Right before she started the game she quickly glanced at the vending machine with the bonuses and items inside it. He noticed her do it a few times since they've entered the room. He got the feeling there might be something she wanted to get that was inside it.
She took 2 of her own dollars and 5 from the other players for a total of 7 and inserted them into the slot. The box opened just as the last one and they saw a piece of paper with a drawing on it that looked like a pentagram. It had 5 dots with each dot connected to the every other one in a perfectly straight line. Below it was the writing in plain text 'find every triangle in this shape'. The clock started at 3 minutes.
Mike instead of trying to count himself took a look at Bill and the older man. Bill was clearly trying to count them as well. Not that he would be allowed to help of course. If he did there was some sort of penalty. The older man tried to count them as well but he seemed to be having a tough time. He eyes fell on the young girl's firm ass in the fairly tight outfit she had on. Mike wasn't new to seeing a guy check out a girl but the pure deliberateness of his look made him feel uncomfortable.
Mike turned his attention to Lisa now. Not the triangles or her ass. He walked around a bit to get a better look at her face and eyes. She looked young but something about her eyes seemed beyond what should be seen by a 16 year old as she counted. It was like they pierced through the paper and dissected the drawing into clean chunks. Her eyes had a very methodical movement as she examined.
Whenever Mike had a lot of numbers to keep track of he had this habit of moving his mouth. Her mouth never even twitched. He got the feeling any information she was gathering was being easily and precisely locked away for quick access in the future. He expected Lisa to take near the full 3 minutes just to double check. After all these puzzles could be tricky at times.
She looked at the multiple choice options of 25, 30. 35 and 40. She pressed 35. The machine gave her 14 dollars back for correctly answering the question. It took her 54 seconds. Was that normal? It seemed a good deal faster than most people would do it. After all, there were still over 2 minutes left. Plenty of time to double check just to be sure.
Congratulations. You're a winner!*
Bill and the older man both complimented her. She acted bashful and shy as she gave them each back double the amount they gave her.. When she walked over to me I held out my hand. Her smiles have been small and reserved all this time. For the first time she showed a bit of her clean sharp teeth as she extended her hand with 4 dollars in it.
Her eyes were locked on mine. Her manner was completely friendly and relaxed. Yet for some reason I felt like to stick out my hand to take the money was like sticking out my hand to a poisonous snake. I instinctively pulled back.
“Is everything okay?” Her face had a look of concern but the eyes were examining. As if trying to look into my mind. That fake smile didn't touch her eyes in the least.
“Yes, of course. Good job by the way.” I quickly took the 4 dollars in her hand. An extra fraction of a second past in which I felt like a lamb being stalked by a wolf. A wolf who was considering if now was the time to pounce or not.
The fraction of a second passed and she looked away and went back to a corner of the room. The older man heaped flattery on her. As of now I had 7 dollars, Bill 6, Lisa 6 and the other man 4.
The next 3 games played out. Of those Bill played one, Lisa played one and Bill played the last one. Most everyone bet 1 dollar on each game. The only person who bet more was Lisa who bet 3 on herself instead of 1 on herself and me who bet 2 on Bill in a challenge he was confident in. When asked why she bet 3, she simply said she was confident she could complete the challenge and the extra dollars may come in handy if someone came up a bit short.
This brought sequence brought me to 11, Bill to 9, Lisa to 11 and the older man to 7. I gave one dollar to Bill to bring his total to 10 along with mine. I tried to be as subtle as possible as I sent him a text message over our party feature.
“We should both go buy our tickets now and wait in the safe room.”
“Why should we do that? What if they need our money to gamble with?” Bill seemed to think we should all wait till we could exit together.
“I have a bad feeling about this. If they win the next game that is enough for everyone to leave. I have a bad feeling about waiting that long. I can't explain why, but I don't think one of them is going to want us to leave. They may be in on it together for all I know.”
Bill wasn't hiding his typing well and it was noticed by Lisa whose face was turning angry. “together in what? You're being paranoid. Just relax, we're almost done here. We have plenty of time.”
“What are you two messaging each other? You look pretty angry about it Bill, is everything alright?” Lisa's eyes were fixed on me. Something was definitely off about her. The more I saw her the more I became convinced she was the one who was a problem. For a moment it looked like she was about to pull someone out from under her shirt.
“He is just getting a little spooked and wants to get out of here is all. It's fine. Don't worry, we aren't going anywhere. We're all getting out of this together I promise you!”
Right as they were talking the older man decided to bet 2 dollars on a game. For the first time Lisa showed an emotion besides shyness or mild happiness.
“Why did you decide to play that game!” She walked to him in anger.
“Why do you think? I need 2 more dollars to make 9. If I get this then you can give me 1 dollar and we can get out of here. It' okay. I think I can do this one.”
It was written on her face for everyone to see. The old man saw it as her being worried and angry that he tried to do this alone without letting them share the risk. Bill saw it as her being annoyed that one of the not smart crowd was going to gamble and maybe get himself in a hole that he and Lisa would need to get him out of.
I read the situation differently. Lisa saw the old bastard as fucking up her plan. He was blowing dollars she wanted and wasting a challenge that she could use to increase her dollar amount. Lisa never intended to let any of our dollars be spent on tickets for the door. With the messaging between me and bill and the older man using dollars on a game himself she felt things were going out of her control.
Mike could tell Lisa wouldn't stand for that to happen. He looked at the count down for the game clock that started at 3 minutes. He felt confident now that if he wasn't in the safe room at the end of those 3 minutes he wouldn't be getting in at all.