"Eh?"
Garett's palms began to sweat profusely.
He looked at Daniel with a shocked face, and his mind filled with confusion.
'Why would you keep your minus card and even go through the trouble to risk getting a worse hand just to reject my trade proposal!?', Garett thought.
It didn't make logical sense. If Daniel was only looking out for himself, he would have accepted the trade in order to receive a better score, and a better chance at getting 2nd place.
2nd place...
As opposed to a potential 3rd or 4th place...
4th place...
Wait a minute.
The loser in this game is the 4th placer.
There is no merit in getting 2nd place as opposed to 3rd place, however there is great merit in getting 3rd place as opposed to 4th.
By rejecting the trade offer, Daniel had eliminated the chances completely that he would come in 4th place, by ensuring that Garett would come in 4th place with a score of -4.
Not only this, but if he had not suggested a trade in the first place, Garett would have simply traded out his entire bad hand for a new one. The chance of Garett receiving 2 minus cards on his own was low, but if Daniel pretended as if he was going to make a trade with Garett, he was inviting Garett to take the seemingly low risk.
There would be 0 chance of Daniel coming in first place if he made the trade. There would be a possibility that he would come in last if he made it.
Could Daniel have strung him along this entire game?
That had to have been the case. It wouldn't make sense otherwise.
Defeated, Garett placed his cards down- prepared to lose.
He hung his head low.
'This truly is my own defeat. If I had been able to figure out that Daniel would betray me like this, I may not have lost.'
But wait.
The hand he received.
The order of the cards.
They were all too perfect.
If Daniel had planned to betray Garett like this, wasn't the situation a bit too convenient to do so?
Garett then thought back to when the dealer was distributing the cards.
During the practice round, he went slowly and Garett could easily read his movements, however during the actual round he went so fast that Garett could not even see what he was doing.
'Is it possible that the dealer planned this out?!'
However, there was no point thinking about this.
The four men all placed their cards down, and revealed their hands.
Daniel ended with +1, Garett with -4. The short man revealed a score of +3, 3 pluses and 2 zero cards, and the man with the glasses revealed a hand of +-0, with a plus, 3 zeroes, and a minus.
"Mr. Garett, if you will please come this way, I will begin to introduce you to our line of work."
Garett stood up quietly. He didn't plan on rebelling, or accusing anyone of cheating. The fact that he had come here and not realized what was going on was a gamble that he lost.
However, as he was standing up, he felt a sharp sting in his back.
Daniels hand had gave him a pat, and when he looked over he saw Daniel making a sinister face.
He looked over to see the older man, who had also placed his hand on the shoulder of the man with glasses, laughing.
'You too, eh? It looks like i'm not the only one who lost the gamble.'
Garett felt woozy, and before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.
----
When Garett awoke, he was in a dark place. He tried to feel around, but couldn't.
"Where am I?"
Garett tried to speak but no words came out.
The last thing he remembered was losing the gamble.
It felt almost like he was in a lucid dream right now. He couldn't control his movements, but he could think freely.
All of a sudden, a screen popped up in front of him.
[Game over]
[Would you like to try again?]
[Or would you like to play a new game?]
"..."
"What is this?"
"Game over?"
Garett let out a theoretical sigh before randomly thinking that he would select the [Try new game] option. As if responding to his will, the option was selected.
[You have selected to play a new game]
[Generating world]
[Generating characters]
[Locating players]
[Generating Items and Skill trees]
[Loading complete]
"Whats going on here?"
Garett's thoughts were jumbled, and he couldn't think straight.
"Am I playing some sort of game? Where did the casino go? Don't I have to work for them?"
Garett's questions were soon answered as a message popped up on the screen in front of him.
[In your previous life, you were sold off as a sacrifice. After being killed, you have now selected the option to play a different game, as opposed to returning to the previous one for a new playthrough.]
Garett was still confused, but he decided to give up on thinking too hard and focus on the situation in front of him.
He knew one thing for sure. Daniel had betrayed his trust, and the casino was much more fishy of a place than he was let on.
Some feelings of anger pent up within Garett, but in the end he decided on one thing.
"From this point on, I won't lose to anyone. If it means cheating, lying, stealing, deceiving, even killing. Even if I become a monster or a demon, I refuse to lose."
With that, another message popped up on the screen.
[Character creation]
[Please design the character that you will play as]
There was a next button on the screen, which Garett imagined pressing, and it was then selected.
[Step 1: Choose your class]
A list of classes were presented to Garett.
[Warrior: Warriors are those who fight using melee weapons.]
[Rogue: Rogues use various tactics and tools to fight, such as stealth techniques, throwing weapons and ranged weapons, etc]
[Mage: Mages use various spells to attack, heal, or buff]
[Craftsman: Craftsmen are able to use materials to create various items, improving the overall strength of a party]
[Note: Each class has many sub-classes and specializations. No two players will end up with the same build due to the endless possibilities.]
Garett would have ran his fingers through his hair if he could.
"This is very similar to an RPG..."
Garett began considering the pros and cons between the classes. He immediately thought that warrior would be the best choice, given that if he was alone he would still be able to defend himself.
The other classes seemed interesting and useful, however there was one that he stared at for a while.
[Craftsman]
'I wonder what the potential of this class could be...'
Before he could even finish his thoughts, as if the system was responding to his curiosity, a message rang out.
[The craftsman class has been selected]
"Eh!? Wait a minute! I didn't want to select that one! Go back!"
[Once a class has been selected this option cannot be changed]
The message rang out, almost mocking Garett.
"Why you...."
Garett eventually calmed down and let it go.
Who was he getting mad at anyways? A computer?
I suppose I'll just have to play through and find out what this class can do.
----
Please select a subclass
Sub classes:
[Blacksmith]- Your focus is on crafting weapons and armor
[Enchanter]- You can apply various buffs to items through the use of magic
[Alchemist]- you can brew potions and salves to assist your party
[Scholar] You use the laws of the natural world, and apply them in various ways to improve your party through innovation. This class is essentially a "Jack of all trades, master of none, as you can use the skillsets from all 3 types of craftsmen.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Just reading through the description, Garett knew which choice to take.
"I don't even know if I will have a party, and even if I do, I will likely be the only craftsman in the party. I should select the scholar class in order to be able to maximize the amount of skills and items I can use."
Typically in an RPG, selecting the class that allows you to use a whole variety of skills would make you unable to specialize and become extremely powerful in the later game, however Garett was unaware of this, as every time he played an RPG he would quit after a short while, never making it to the late game.
Once he imagined selecting the scholar class, the option was automatically chosen.
[Congratulations! You have gone against the typical decision to specialize in one specific area, and as a result you will be rewarded with the potential to become a master of all branches of crafting and technology! Crafting and Blueprint design experience +100%]
[New skill: [Craft item]. With a blueprint and the required ingredients, you are able to create items. Cannot be used during combat.]
[New skill: [Design blueprint]. If you gain knowledge about a certain topic, you can create blueprints in order to use that knowledge to design various technological and magical items. Cannot be used during combat.]
This message regarding "going against the typical decision" slightly confused Garett, as he thought the choice was obvious, but either way he was glad to hear that he made a good decision.
----
Statistics:
You have 5 Stat points that you may allocate
Current Statistics
[Strength: 0]
[Dexterity: 0]
[Perception: 0]
[Charisma: 0]
[Intelligence: 0]
Garett stared at this screen for a while, contemplating what to do.
He had played a few games similar to this before, not to a great extent however, but he understood more or less what these statistics meant.
"For now, I suppose I should put 2 points into Intelligence, you never know when I may need to outsmart my opponents. I'll leave charisma alone for now... the main priority will be survival. I suppose I'll put 2 into strength and 1 into perception."
Once Garett had decided on this, the screen flashed up with the new statistics.
[Strength: 2]
[Dexterity: 0]
[Perception: 1]
[Charisma: 0]
[Intelligence: 2]
Garett was slightly concerned at leaving some of the statistics at 0, however with only 5 skill points to start off the only way to avoid that would be to perfectly balance everything. Garett had given himself the skills to survive, so that was all that really mattered.
----
The next screen was a bit different.
[Personality test]
[Please fill out the following questionnaire]
1. You see an ad online that says "5 Singles want to meet you in your area."
How many singles want to meet you in your area?
'What the hell is this?', Garett thought. He almost let out a laugh when he saw this question, before coming back to the reality of the situation. 'I guess this isn't time to be leisurely joking around. How should I even answer this?'
[Answer in the way you truly feel]
A message popped up on the screen, and Garett let out a sigh.
'I guess truthfully. I'm not an extremely good looking guy but I'm sure there would be at least 1 person who would like to meet me. Maybe 2.'
[System processing. Retrieving 2 female players. Players have been added to the party. Party currently at maximum limit of 4 members.]
"..."
"Did I just doom 2 poor people to be summoned to this world with me..."
"Well shit."
Garett apologized in advance in his mind.
But wait a minute.
If the party is now at the maximum limit of four, this would imply that it already had 2 members before.
Who was the second member?
The next question appeared on the screen.
2. What hobbies do you have?
Garett immediately answered this one, without hesitation.
"I enjoy studying, calculating, and analyzing the environment around me in a mathematical sense. I play various strategy and probability based games."
[System processing. New skill: [Tactical Analysis] Lvl 1. You may now analyze the battle situation before making a decision. This is an upgrade of the ordinary [Inspect] Skill. You may notice things about the enemy formations that others will not notice. Action point cost: 3.]
[New skill: [Analyze]. Upgrade of the [Inspect] skill. You may use this on items in order to get a better understanding of the mechanics behind them. Action point cost: 2 (If in combat)]
Final Question: What do you wish to do with your life?
What a deep question this was.
However, Garett once more knew the answer the second he read the question.
At that moment, something changed in Garett. It was as if he had a sudden moment of reality. All the memories of Daniel betraying him flooded back into his head. All the times that he helped them out, or was used and he stayed quiet.
Anger- no, maybe even regret filled Garett. Regret that he allowed others to use him. Regret that in the end, he was unable to go against the will of others. Regret that he wasn't strong nor smart enough to win the gamble.
A creepy smile drew itself across Garrett face. His eyes filled with bloodlust, and he began to laugh to himself quietly in the darkness.
"I want to defeat anyone who stands in my path, fair and square. If someone uses deceitful methods against me, I will use deceitful methods against them.If someone plays fair against me, I will play fair against them. I will win against all others, only stooping as low as they do against me."
[You have been assigned an alignment. Lawful Evil.]
----
The screen displayed a message once more.
[Character creation has been completed]
[Displaying Player Status]
Name: Garett
Class: Craftsman
Subclass: Scholar
Stats:
[Strength: 2]
[Dexterity: 0]
[Perception: 1]
[Charisma: 0]
[Intelligence: 2]
Skills:
Active:
[Craft Item]
[Design Blueprint]
[Tactical Analysis]- 3 AP
[Analyze]- 2 AP
Passive:
[Scholar bonus]- +100% Crafting experience
Possible Actions:
[Attack]- 2 AP
[Run]- Uses all remaining Action points for the turn. Requires at least 3 remaining action points.
[Item]- Use an item. Costs 1 AP
Alignment: Lawful Evil
[Equipment:]- None
[Game has loaded. Waiting on other players]
----
Trevor was a salary man.
In his company, he was a top employee. He always got high figures, and spend his days working hard in order to ensure the success of the business.
However, despite these high figures, he was hated among his coworkers. He had moved up in the ranks of the company very quickly after he was hired, and even surpassed many people who were previously his higher ups.
Those who stand at the top are lonely. This was Trevor's reality, and he didn't mind it. Despite being the young age of only 25, in a few years, he had planned to take over the company in shares, essentially becoming the effective CEO.
Yet something happened.
One of his former bosses had invited him to a night of gambling.
Trevor was not a fan of gambling, however one could say that as a businessman that his entire line of work was simply deciding between risk and reward, so he was very familiar with the concept.
Trevor was the man with the square glasses who had been deceived by his higher up into attending that card game. And the result was...
Betrayal.
Trevor felt a sigh of relief after discovering that he had not come in last place, thus winning 500 dollars without needing to do much. Of course, he never showed this weak side.
Trevor was a businessman who had to deal with open insults and pressure from everyone both above and below him, and so even when he was scared- even when he felt like life was closing in on him- he was able to put on a bout of arrogance and bluff his way through these situations.
Because of this, even the harshest of negotiators would sweat in fear when talking with this seemingly cold hearted man.
Garett was no different.
He had put on an air of confidence during the entire gamble, and he could see that it worked on the student who seemed to be there for fun.
For one reason or another though, both the other student and his coworker did not seem to fear anything during that game.
Trevor did not know this, but it was because they had cheated.
The dealer had purposely given them very specific hands, so that they would both be presented a situation that would work out exactly as it would.
In that moment of vulnerability when the group was nerve-wracked after seeing the results, that was when both Daniel and Trevor's coworker had struck.
With a sleeping drug injection.
A double murder was committed on that day, and Trevor and Garett had both died shortly after.
This was a result that could never have been predicted.
Trevor did not have any family connections, so it wasn't difficult for the casino- which had a large amount of political power within the city- to cover this event up. Garett had already left his family to become financially independent, and moved multiple states away, and there was little connection with them these days.
However, what was the reason for their deaths?
Trevor's coworker had a grudge against him for taking his position, and making him look like a bad employee. On top of that, the coworker would benefit from the opening up of a position that he could take back.
But most importantly, these two had a large debt to the casino, and the casino had offered them an opportunity to completely be rid of their debts.
Daniel was 100,000 Dollars in debt- an outrageous sum for a student.
Gambling can ruin a man, and this casino had allowed him to continue playing- and continue wracking up debt until he was in a whole so large there was no way he could possibly dig his way out of it.
Trevor's coworker, Mark was 450,000 dollars in debt.
These were both outrageous sums that would take years if not decades- perhaps even ones entire life to pay off.
On top of that, their interest rates were compounded at 5% every month.
This sealed their fates, as they would never even be able to keep up with the interest rate- much less pay off the principle.
But, the casino had connections.
Connections with the black market.
The casino made an offer to each of the men that if they could invite a guest and put them to sleep with an injection during that moment of tension, that their organs would be harvested and sold and the casino would free the men of their debts.
The two men were not informed that the subjects would be harvested for all they were worth, however this mattered little to Daniel and the coworker of Trevor. At the end of the day, they had both deceived a former comrade into paying for their own debts with their bodies.
And so it went.
Trevor now found himself looking around in a dark area, and he couldn't feel his body.
Suddenly, a message popped up in front of him.
[Game over. Would you like to play again, or try a new game?]
In a state of ecstasy, Trevor laughed after realizing his own position.
"Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! STUPID!!! I am so stupid!!"
His eyes would have turned bloodshot and he would have run his hands through his flowing hair, but instead he reprimanded himself.
"How could I, a genius businessman, who has never once read someones intentions wrong, have been deceived by that piece of scum? I deserve this fate."
At that moment, somewhere in his mind, his curiosity sparked, and the [New game] option was selected automatically.
----
[You have selected to play a new game]
[Loading world]
[etc]
[You have joined an existing party]
[You are not the party leader. Information has been restricted. Personality test to determine character creation commencing]
Trevor watched as these messages flew by on the screen one after another.
He was a tech savvy person, however he had close to no experience with games. At that, he was still holding a great sense of annoyance with himself, so he couldn't fully focus on what was going on.
But he realized something.
'Am I dead?'
'Regardless of whether I'm dead or not, I had better pay attention and figure out what to do from here.'
He then focused his full attention on the screen. He didn't want to commit any more blunders as a result of being thrown off from his previous mistake.
Question 1: You see a young man forcing himself on a woman. She is clearly uncomfortable, and the man seems to be insisting that he come with her. What do you do?
If Trevor was the protagonist of a novel, then he would probably say something like "Of course I would save her!"
Trevor wasn't the protagonist of a novel.
Trevor was a businessman. His ability to cut losses and avoid being held back by morals, while still looking good in front of the public eye was one of his greatest abilities.
What benefit would he have in helping this woman? Trevor wasn't one to be easily motivated by lustful desires. Nor was he willing to risk fighting the man for such a reward. Even if he could potentially get money out of the deal, this wasn't worth the risk.
However, he did think one thing.
Contacts.
This was the sole benefit of assisting the woman.
By making someone owe him a favor, he could easily expand his influence within society.
So he thought this.
"I would try to reason with the man at first. Negotiate with him, and see if I can convince him in some way to leave the woman alone. If things don't work out from there, I would most likely flee the scene, but if I can get the man to leave- even by paying him off, I could begin to establish a social network and expand my influence with those affiliated with the woman."
[Answer processed]
[You have been assigned a class- Rogue]
"..."
A rogue... was that not a thief, or a trickster?
Trevor was confused at first, but didn't give too much thought to it.
"Whatever is going on seems to be out of my control. For now I'll simply sit back and see where things go"
If he actually had a body to sit back with.
Alas, he didn't
Question 2: If you were to fight someone, which would you prefer among the following choices:
A. Fight from far away, behind those you trust.
B. Fight while gathering information about the enemy from a distance.
C. Fight up close.
D. Assassinate the enemy before they are aware of your existence.
Trevor thought only for a second before deciding.
"Of course, it would be B. Information is a more powerful weapon than a gun or a sword. Lack of information is the reason why I was killed by my own co-worker."
[You have selected option B]
[You have acquired subclass ranger]
[New skill: Track enemies- You can distinguish enemy movements. Not usable in combat]
[New skill: Passive skill. Beast Slayer [Lvl 1]. +25% Damage against beast enemies]
[New ability. You can use a bow and arrow to attack enemies]
[Subclass options that you did not select: Archer, Thief, Assassin]
[Skill points available: 10]
[Statistics:]
[Strength: 0]
[Dexterity: 0]
[Perception: 0]
[Charisma: 0]
[Intelligence: 0]
"What is this? I suppose I should focus on deciding what is important here..."
Trevor had never played an RPG, and had never seen anything like this.
Naturally, his businessman instincts told him to put skills into Charisma and Intelligence. He also was interested in Perception. He allocated 3 points to the first 2, and 2 to the second, and finished off with 1 of each of the others to yield this result:
[Statistics:]
[Strength: 1]
[Dexterity: 1]
[Perception: 2]
[Charisma: 3]
[Intelligence: 3]
A Ranger without much dexterity.
This didn't bode well, but how was Trevor to know this?
Finally, the system finished off with a one more question.
Final Question: You're jamming along to your favorite tune at a party when all of a sudden somebody changes the song.
What is your response.
"What a stupid thing to do. If someone changes the song from one of my favorites to their own personal garbage then they clearly have a few screws lose. Only an uncultured swine or an incompetent baboon would even attempt to do such a thing, and if they did I would shut them down before they cause a disturbance among society by giving them a harsh scolding on their questionable tastes."
[Passive trait acquired: Excessive confidence. You are immune to panic and fear attacks due to your ridiculous ego]
[Alignment assigned. Lawful Neutral]
[You have finished character creation. Waiting on 2 other players.]
Name: Trevor
Class: Rogue
Subclass: Ranger
Stats:
[Statistics:]
[Strength: 1]
[Dexterity: 1]
[Perception: 2]
[Charisma: 3]
[Intelligence: 3]
Skills:
Passive:
[Excessive confidence]- Panic and Fear Immunity
[Beast slayer (Lvl 1)]- 25% Damage Bonus to beasts
Active:
[Track enemies]- Analyze surroundings to find probable enemy locations.
Possible Actions:
[Attack]- [Bow shot] Costs 2 AP Requires bow
[Run]- Uses all remaining Action points for the turn. Requires at least 3 remaining action points.
[Item]- Use an item. Costs 1 AP
[Equipment:]- None
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
----