𝐒𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 // 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫ō 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐲𝐚 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

39

It's impossible to tell good from bad. A kind and peaceful demeanor is usually kept by someone, simply to silence the clamorous thoughts one wants to speak out. Though it is quite normal, as a body is simply a cage to imprison all the intrusive and desperate cries for help. But once you place your trust in this 'peaceful' demeanor, you are simply met with a face full of deceit. And that deceit would turn into obsessive hate, which would usually get carried all the way to one's death.

ROUND 2, START.

You stared at the dangling body who used to be the unhinged man with an indifferent expression before looking back at the table and taking the deck of cards. You paused for a moment to take a quick glance at everyone's faces, but nothing changed. All that changed was the atmosphere, which got even more tense than it was before. You could tell that everyone, except the Jack, got more nervous but they were trying to hide it by putting on a poker face.

TIME REMAINING: 22 MINUTES.

"Well," you thought to yourself, "I'd better hurry up. Dying by hanging is.. pretty lame." You scoffed internally, mixing the cards in the deck.

You slid a card towards the man with the weird hair. He paused for a second before uttering out a single word.

"Hit."

You observed the way he was looking at you, and noticed that he was trying to predict your movements and calculate you. A mocking smirk crept up to your face before you looked away from him and slid another card towards him.

"Stand."

He bit his bottom lip with a slightly nervous look on his face before looking up to you. "..Hey."

You let out a hum and met his gaze. "What?"

You tilted your head and furrowed your brows once he didn't answer for a few seconds. "Hurry up. None of us have all day."

"..How are you so calm?" He asked, his voice slightly wobbly for the first few seconds before he recovered. "I mean, you know.. you're about to get 'destroyed', right?"

"Huh." You mumbled in thought. "I dunno. I guess.. a human only has one life, right? Might as well have fun with it, even if it brings trauma and chaos."

He stood silent, not having a sentence to counter your answer. He looked away before the Jack of Diamonds started speaking again.

"It's about time," Amon said, "for the showdown."

"Oh really?" You hummed mockingly, flipping a chip in-between your fingers. "Okay. Bring it, then. Show me what you mean by 'showdown'."

"..I'm betting the max." He spat with venom.

You smiled and distributed a card to everyone, to be met with a series of 'stand'. Though you weren't surprised, as everyone was far from against the idea of killing anyone just for their own survival.

You let out a yawn as you placed 2 cards in front of you. You felt the gaze of the elderly woman set down on your cards, as if she was analyzing your next move.

"I like how they've been trying to analyse me." You thought to yourself and smiled. "But I'm pretty unpredictable, if I'm allowed to say that about myself."

"Well then," you hummed and stretched out your right hand towards one of your cards on the table while holding the deck of cards on your left hand. You tapped the card a few times, with a calm and sly smile on your face.

"..What are you doing?" Amon asked, observing your right hand.

"I'd be in a little bit of trouble if I don't get a low card, right?" You smiled and continued to tap the card a few times. "This is my good luck ritual."

He clicked his tongue. "You don't know how to take things seriously, do you?" He balled his fist angrily. "Stop fucking around and hurry up."

"Whatever you say." You spoke in a bored and nonchalant tone before sliding a card towards your own cards.

Finally, you smiled upon seeing a 7 on top of a 9 and 5, summing your cards up to a total of 21.

"Oh, would you look at that." You stared at your cards and set down the deck on the table. "Looks like my ritual worked, huh?"

"Huh..? How?!" Amon grumbled, his eyes widening at the sight of your cards.

"21." You uttered simply. "Dealer takes all."

"Was that a fluke?!" The elderly woman asked with shock in her tone.

"A turnover!" The man with the weird hair gasped, staring at you in awe.

"You're supposed to be the Jack of Diamonds, Amon." You smiled mockingly. "But you seem to lack perceptiveness and intuition. Not too perfect yet, huh? You'll get there someday."

He grit his teeth and glared at you, not uttering a word.

"So, what will you do?" You asked, tilting your head slightly. "Bet the max again?"

You left out a half-hearted laugh. "But you should know that if I win this time, I'll have more chips, and the one being hunted..will be you."

"..."

He stood silent and hung his head low, but you could sense his dark and infuriated aura that surrounded his whole body. You could see that your words irritated him and are probably provoking him to show his true power— or intelligence, if you'd call it.

"..Firstly, I refuse." He finally began speaking again. "From here on, I will not allow the slightest trick get past me." He looked up, and his gaze was menacing and intimidating.

"If any of you even try to fool me with your silly tricks again, consider yourself DEAD." He spat with venom, glaring at you specifically.

His words made you smile, as the game was finally going to start seriously. You collected all the cards and mixed the deck up before stretching and crossing your legs as you sat back normally. You passed the deck to the man with the weird hair, as he was the next dealer, and look a glance towards the Jack of Diamonds who was observing your every move.

"Finally. I was waiting for a little bit of entertainment."

You let out a scoff, smiling mockingly at him before looking away and waiting for the next round to start.