"You are unaware that she is also a player, then." He sighed, "Let's just get this over with. You're just bait for her anyway."
As soon as snow and thunder collide,
Please be a sword and show us the light.
"The command to summon the operator, huh? As suspected, it's a blue zone."
"Oh, you seem so composed all of a sudden. Have you given yourself to your fate at last? "
"I have, you will win this game. I will assist you, but in any case, where is she? It's been a minute since you spoke those words."
"She appears after a total of 1 minute and 30 seconds; so, it's about time......Yes, there she is."
Following the direction of his finger, it came as a surprise to me to notice that something was taking form from nothingness.
I'd heard about other players' initial encounters on the portal forum, but seeing it firsthand was a whole new dynamic.
Moving out of the blinding light that engulfed her, the enigmatic figure with pupil-less eyes paused in front of me and examined me up and down.
And, while I wanted to ask her the reason for doing that, I couldn't since I had a sudden, strong sense of drowsiness.
"Don't bother asking her; it's the only query she won't respond to. She does this all the time before a match to both players, so it's better if you get used to it."
"Reading my mind again?" I've already given up, so it'd be great if you could put a stop to it."
"It's not like I can change it; after all, it's permanent."
"Right"
"Now that it's my turn to be analyzed, let's converse during the game."
And so, with that, the wait for the match was already over.
Attention: the match between the following two players will now commence.
Challenger Vs Challenged
STRANGER THINGS/ MINDLESS ZOMBIE
The game for this round will be "Uno Mistimed."
The objective of this game is simple: you will play a match of the iconic card game Uno in order to pause the time on your respective clock before it goes to zero.
The clocks are now fixed on the table where you will be playing the game.
There will be concurrent operation of both clocks, neither of which has a manual stop button.
Rather than using the standard seven cards per player distribution, we will use eleven cards, three of which will be special cards for both of you.
You will have a total of 10 minutes to complete the task, and no blatant cheating will be tolerated.
Needless to mention, the winner receives the item "Truth of the World" in recognition of his efforts.
Players may now raise their hands and ask any queries they may have, or else they may take their seats.
"I have two questions. The first is: What is this Truth of the World item you mentioned?"
Player Mindless Zombie, this item will reveal the reality of this world you live in, and the knowledge it contains will be very useful to you in the decisive round.
"It will come in handy for you, Stranger Things. Well, coming to my second question, can I surrender?"
That is not possible.
"It appears that there is no choice but to play and fail then."
"Yeah, there is no other option. If surrendering was conceivable, I would have told you about it by now to save you time. "
"I understand; let's get started."
The first two minutes of the game went as intended; by not playing many of my cards even after I had a match, I pulled cards from the draw pile and gave my opponent an insurmountable advantage.
Nevertheless, because the other side kept stringing out the game, it did not end as swiftly as one might imagine.
"Hey, do you care if I go to the lavatory for a moment? You see, I have an upset stomach today. " He asked, his face strained.
"I don't see why I would, and in any case, the operator is the one who will likely be annoyed, so ask her."
"I believe you are uninformed that in games such as this, where a player has no justification to move and therefore cannot, it is still permissible if both players agree on it."
"Does it have a limit?"
"Yes, one time."
"Okay, suit yourself; we can't ignore nature's call."
"Ha-ha... Thanks"
"Shuffling hands, I don't fathom the necessity of doing it because I believed you were trying to save me time."
"I just changed my mind. I thought it was cruel that you had no odds of succeeding against me, so I opted to make things slightly harder for myself."
"That was really thoughtful of you."
"It's no big deal."
Congratulations, you're about to win; only two more cards to go." I spoke.
"Yes, I will, but this is not the appropriate way to go about it." With a sneer on his lips, he added, "This is the way," while tossing a swap hands card onto the discard pile.
"Swap hands?"
"I had my reservations when you repeatedly stated that you were going to give up, but later it was proved that I was right due to the clue they supplied to me on the blank card. Yes, do you think I wasn't aware that letting your opponent win is the first of two keys to beat the game? "
"Then what about the second key?"
"While shuffling our cards, I noticed the clue on your blank card as well, so I just had to set up a scenario in which you were unable to draw any more cards from the stack. So, after we have switched now, you are only left with my blank card, and hence the game cannot proceed... FURTHER. " He laughed sinisterly, slamming his hand on his seat.
At that point, the game was definitely done as our playing cards dissolved in front of us, but there remained one last step before the winner could've been revealed.
Although it was something that I tried to prevent, I must admit that I was relieved when I couldn't.
Because I was scared that if I succeeded, I might come to regret it in the future.
"This is a single-barrelled shotgun with a barrel length of 453mm and a typical reach of 604mm. Amazing. This weapon also makes use of an a.360-gauge calibre. So, this is my gift to commemorate my final triumph in this game. "Such a lovely present, but I feel so bad for Emma..." remarked the player.
"Wait, Cain... it's not what it seems to be!"
Bang!
Attention: the match between the following two players has now concluded.
