Flicker: The Game Of Chance

Epilogue

It was a warm day during the season of spring in the year of 2010. The region was somewhere around the north of the world, and often it would be cold even in summer, but thanks to luck the people of the region had lived to see a warm day.

Somewhere within the region, there stood a colossal spherical shaped building in which a monthly event was currently happening.

"Going once, going twice..."

The man spoke through a lavalier microphone which was connected to multiple speakers built throughout the entire structure.

"Aaaand, going thr-..."

Before the man could finish speaking, another voice somewhere within the mass uproar of people rang throughout the structure. This voice had also sounded like it had belonged to a man.

"FORTY THOUSAND EUROS!"

The mass uproar of people suddenly burst out in silent chatter and some even started to gasp at the unbelievably high amount of money that was offered; though, for the auctioneer, this was like a lifetime opportunity, it was like hitting the jackpot at a casino.

The auctioneer felt thrilled at the heart thumping measures that the bidders were willing to go to.

"Bidder 445 offers forty thousand euros for the item! Going once, going twice..."

The man on-stage waited a few moments before finishing to see if anyone else was willing to bid higher; however, after a few moments where the whole structure stayed silent like a rock, the man smiled and continued to speak.

"Aaaaand going thrice - sold to bidder 445 for forty thousand euros, congratulations!"

A huge round of applause echoed throughout the structure, along with a few shouts of happiness or annoyance, some groans and even some laughs.

"Bidder 445, if you could come on-stage and accept the item, it would be greatly appreciated."

The bidder nodded and started to slowly walk over to the red round stage placed right in the middle of the building.

The slow approach towards his victory made the non-victorious bidders around him feel like he was just doing that to create an aroma of tension rather than actually being naturally slow at walking.

However, as soon as he approached, the auctioneer immediately reached for the item and handed it to him. "What's your name, sir?", the auctioneer had asked.

"My name is... Aren. Aren Chris."

"And the painting titled "Mona Lisa" by artist Leonardo Da Vinci has been sold to Mr. Aren Chris! Please give a huge round of applause!"

The massive crowd of people yet again burst into a roar of applause and cheering, supporting Aren for the accomplishment he'd just made.

The auctioneer took off his lavalier mic before speaking to Aren again. "My name is Seungho, by the way. Pleasured to make your acquaintance, Aren", Seungho had said as he extended his arm out for a handshake.

'Huh? Why is the auctioneer introducing himself? Weird...', thought Aren, though that's not what he'd actually said to him. "Pleasured to meet you, too", Aren said as he grabbed Seungho's arm and shook it gently, yet strongly.

Aren was now walking through an alleyway that led to his apartment - it was quite the lucky day for Aren. He'd just won an extremely precious piece of art for a relatively small amount, and it was his decision what to do with it now.

It was completely upto him what happened to the painting, and it was also one of the most famous ones in the entire world - it was a big deal, and of course, because of these facts, Aren felt quite...

"..."

Aren's dissatisfaction could be clearly read through his eyes. "There goes my money again, for some worthless piece of trash." Aren sighed in a disappointed manner as he threw the painting away into a nearby trash can.

Aren was unbelievably annoyed at himself for letting his money fly away for another piece of worthless junk which he would never use; it was a common habit for Aren. When his brother, who was the owner of a multinationally succesful company, had died, he inherited all of his brother's money as that was apparently what was said in his will.

'What a joke.' That was what Aren had thought about that. Himself and his brother were both arch nemesis to each other from childhood, so he thought that his brother actually writing that in his will was complete bullshit.

And thanks to that one simple belief, he wasted away all the money he got on things he didn't need. Expensive clothes and food, multiple houses and apartments, and auctions like these. He felt that the money he got wasn't deserved, simply because it logically didn't make sense to him.

Reluctantly, Aren turned on his phone and opened an app that showed his bank credentials to see how close he was to his victory.

€212,740,000,000.

"GOD DAMN FUCKING SHIT!" Aren threw his phone onto the concrete floor, causing it to shatter completely beyond repair. It wasn't a problem to him, though; he had five more phones he could still use.

He squatted down on the floor, hands covering his head - he'd felt complete defeat and despair. No matter how many times he'd tried to bring his bank credentials down to a reasonable amount, it would never work. It was like a curse...

Aren had always wondered if his brother would be even more successful than this if he were still alive. He knew one thing about a multinational business, which was that the company is actually owned by shareholders. Shareholders have the right to get a split of the profit of the business, because they've invested in the business and own part of it.

Aren wasn't a shareholder.

'All this money... I haven't done anything to deserve it... Why would you do this, Chidi?'

All of a sudden, Aren felt a blinding, powerful drowsiness course through his entire body. The feeling was so severe and strong that Aren didn't even have time to yawn before he passed out.

A little after he passed out, a footstep approached his sleeping body.

Another footstep.

And another.

And one more.

Before the figure stood in front of Aren, there was another footstep.

"Aren Chris. Participant #16. Nationality, Nigerian. Birthday, 17th September 1991. Age, 18."

The figure approached closer to Aren's sleeping body.

"3 years before the second killing game, hm?"

The figure said as they scooped up Aren in their arms and then looked above as a small helicopter landed itself down on the alleyway.

"Good luck, Aren Chris."

The dark shade of the alleyway slowly panned out as the figure approached the helicopter, and the helicopter door was opened by a woman standing inside it.

"I believe you've got the 16th participant, Lady Leronzo?"

The figure looked up at the woman and nodded.

"You can just call me Veronica."