𝐒𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 // 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫ō 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

38

A/N: ...
Yoohoo !!...really sorry for the inactivity. I promise I'll try to update more this time!! Back from the dead!

Greediness, betrayal and lust were omnipresent in this world. Nobody trusted each other, but that was to be expected, right? After all, everyone would eventually succumb to the poison of 'hate'. But, to survive in this chaotic world, you must first rely on your capabilities to endure the most painful loneliness ever.

"Fine. I'll go all in." The Jack said, sliding 34 chips to bet on, earning a gasp from the unhinged man.

"34 chips?! You..!" He grit his teeth. "What are you trying at?!"

"Time is running out." You crossed your arms and stared at him condescendingly. "We'll have to eliminate at least one person within the time limit, or else it's game over for all of us."

The man with the weird hair nodded. "Basically, we have to reliably destroy one person at a time." His gaze darkened. "According to the rules, the bet limit is the number of chips that the dealer has."

He let out a small sigh out his nose before continuing.

"Now if you, the dealer, ends up with a bust, you'll have 0 chips..meaning you'll be the first one to leave us."

"Us non-dealers just have to keep ourselves from going bust." The elderly woman said with a cigarette in her mouth.

The unhinged man clicked his tongue. "So you bastards are trying to off me first, huh?!"

You smiled at him. "Well, yeah. I mean, you understand, right? After all, we're just keeping ourselves away from death."

He glared at you in response, gritting his teeth but not uttering a word. He looked away and fumbled with the deck of cards, his eyes flickering with fear and nervousness.

You stared at your cards and perked a brow, crossing your arms and slouching slightly onto your seat. "Stand."

"Stand." The man with the weird hair said dryly, staring lifelessly at his two cards.

You noticed the dealer grit his teeth and stare at the deck of cards in a thoughtful manner, making you smirk.

"In my store, people like you come in and out all the time." The Jack said, catching everyone's attention.

"From the Yakuza to the shopping district owner," he continued, "they overestimate the effectiveness of their own tricks."

His gaze was unmoving and intimidating as he spoke with a deep and lifeless voice. "But because you're using tricks, does it really make you a strong gambler?"

"Stand," he quickly said, looking at his cards.

"There was a crepe store owner that came into my store every night, clutching his earnings of the day.." the Jack added with a calm yet intimidating voice.

"The tricks up his sleeve were average, but one night, he began to fall into a large losing streak. He took a loan from the house and what followed was his tipping point. Eventually, he had only his own self to bet."

You hummed, amused by his little story.

"He was then quite literally wiped from the face of society."

The unhinged man's eyes widened, and you could see that he got goosebumps from such a small yet meaningful story.

"It was a shame.." the Jack looked down, almost in a sarcastic manner. "I realized I wouldn't be able to taste those delicious crepes again.."

You let out a yawn, covering your mouth before stretching on your seat and letting out a small grunt. Truthfully, you were quite amused by his little story. You could tell that the Jack disliked the unhinged man, which made you smile mockingly.

"Well, moral of the story: don't be a dumbass." You smiled, crossing your arms on the table.

The elderly woman looked at her cards, lighting up a cigarette. "Stand," her voice was muffled slightly.

"That crepe vendor relied too much on his tricks.." Amon didn't look up. "These chips, whether they be money or time remaining, in the end, it's your own life that you're betting with."

Finally, he looked up just slightly. "Unless you have the backbone to face death in the eye, tricks aren't going to help you for shit."

You could tell that Amon didn't like the job of being the Jack of Diamonds. He spoke so lifelessly and his stare was unmoving, the complete opposite of Matsushita when he thought he achieved victory. You rested your chin on your hand, smiling. Amon interested you. You looked at the unhinged man's face and realized his breathing got faster and heavier, as well as his eyes widened. Shakily, he took a card from the deck.

"Did you know?" Amon said, his gaze darkening even further.

Though he was still smiling, the unhinged man had tears in his eyes and was gazing at nothing, letting the first card from the deck fall on top of his two cards.

"The chance of a dealer bust is apparently 30%."

On top of the Six of Clubs card and the Jack of Diamonds card, there was a Kind of Diamonds card.

"Bust." You said simply, smiling at the unhinged man.

"The number of chips you have left is 0." Amon said, not looking at the man anymore.

You uncrossed your arms and continued staring, smiling mockingly before waving farewell to him.

And with that, the unhinged man's noose tightened and pulled him upwards, making him no longer sit on his chair anymore. You could hear him making choking noises as you stared at his feet kicking in the air. You tilted your head before looking back on the table, your expression indifferent.

ONE PERSON HAS BEEN ELIMINATED. IT IS GAME OVER FOR THEM.

"I'll destroy each one of you one by one." Amon said, his voice deepening further.

"The next dealer,"

"Is you."

He stared at you, and his gaze turned into somewhat of a glare. You could tell he didn't like you either. You smiled at him, flicking a chip in-between your fingers.

"O-kay." You said with some sort of enthusiastic yet lazy tone.

"Perfect."