Mercy and Reyn wondered what Poki won. Reyn fell into thought, Poki had never specified what she wanted to win. What would the Host give for a game with an unspecified reward? Reyn knew Poki wanted to alter her body so would the Host give her the power to alter it?
A piece of paper appeared. “Your reward is an increase of 0.1 to all your stats. These are your new stats. Just for a reference, a bear has like 0.5 Strength.”
-
Poki
Strength: 0.2
Endurance: 0.2
Agility: 0.2
-
Poki stood up and moved her hand, she felt lighter, tougher, and full of energy. She jumped into the air as hard as she could and it was twice higher than before. The reward was satisfactory.
“Alright Host, next game.”
A piece of paper appeared. “Next game? It seems you’re having fun.”
Poki gave a grin and checked her arm. “It’s hard to explain but I feel healthier which makes me happy.”
A piece of paper appeared. “Oh? Alright then, let’s see….. Find me the coolest crab.”
Poki stared at the paper and looked around. The cute little critters crawled all around. The word cool was definitely subjective. Perhaps she should just test it out with any crabs first.
Poki dashed at twenty-five kilometers an hour and came upon a crab. She grabbed it and picked it up. The crab clicked its claws fiercely at her. It was a strange crab. She had never seen a crab click its claws. Usually they held their claws open till they could get a good grip to cut. “Is this cool enough?”
A piece of paper appeared. “All crabs are cool, I’ll increase all your stats by 0.1.”
-
Poki
Strength: 0.3
Endurance: 0.3
Agility: 0.3
-
Poki stared deadpan at the paper. “That was so easy though.”
A piece of paper appeared. “Shrugs, what can I say, some games are easy while some are hard.”
Mercy and Reyn added the new information about the Host to the back of their mind. It seemed the difficulty of the game were random. Perhaps it depended entirely on the Host's whims.
Poki sighed, “Alright I guess, give me another.”
A piece of paper appeared. “The next one is simple. Simply hold a pose for an uncertain amount of time. It could be days or years. You can stop whenever you feel like giving up. Interested in playing?”
Poki fell into thought, the game wasn’t simple. She had to have hope that it would end quickly. Reyn found the game to be tricky, she didn't like tricks. Mercy smiled, a game to test someone’s resolve to keep continuing not knowing what was ahead, the Host seemed to like testing people.
Poki stared at the piece of paper. She clapped her hands and a chair facing the sea and parts of the beach appeared. She sat down and became still. “I’m ready.”
A piece of paper appeared. “Great, let’s begin then.”
Mercy walked closer towards the two and Reyn stared at him warily. He snapped his fingers and a chair with snacks appeared. Mercy sat down and started eating as he relaxed while gazing at Poki. Reyn studied him carefully. She looked at her fingers and snapped them. A chair appeared and she sat in it. The two stared at Poki.
Poki felt a little embarrassment under their gaze. She calmed herself and continued sitting while studying the beach and sea. The palm leaves of palm trees swayed with the wind. The sun from the blue sky warmed her skin. She felt at peace and became peaceful.
Ten minutes passed and no one said anything. They all studied their surroundings trying to find interest in things. Twenty minutes passed and they started wondering how long this was going to take. Thirty minutes passed and Poki stared at a crab. Suddenly, Poki was filled with overwhelming fear.
Reyn saw the change in Poki’s expression. “Poki, are you okay?”
Mercy stared at Poki and at the crab she was staring at. He knew what people’s face looked like when they saw something fearsome. It seemed most likely that the Host gave Poki a fear of crabs.
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Mercy stood up and walked towards the crab. Reyn stared at him warily wondering what he was going to do. Mercy picked up the crab and threw it into the ocean. With the crab no longer in sight, Poki was filled with peace again. She looked at Mercy warily but thankfully, perhaps he wasn't as insane as she thought he was.
Mercy gave her a gentle smile. “Oh I’m still dangerous sometimes. Better to be alone than alone with me.”
The two women watched as Mercy sat back in his chair and relaxed. He snapped a coconut drink into existence and drank it. Checking a clock, Mercy found that it had only been thirty minutes. He wondered what other things the Host had in store for Poki.
Forty minutes passed, more crabs appeared on the beach. It was definitely unnatural. Reyn saw the fear in Poki’s face and knew what to do. She got up and started throwing the crabs into the ocean. However, more came.
Mercy stood up and walked up to Poki who looked more scared of the crabs than him. Reyn saw Mercy too close to Poki. “Atero! What are you doing?”
Mercy gave Reyn a smile. “Could you help me carry her chair into her mansion?”
Reyn became lost for words. “I…. yes.”
Reyn helped Mercy lift Poki’s chair, the two carried Poki toward her mansion. As they carried Poki, Reyn wondered how she could ever fear Mercy, especially when he seemed so nice right now, perhaps him eating his flesh was just a weird quirk.
They placed Poki inside her mansion and she looked at them thankfully. A piece of paper appeared in front of Mercy. “Mercy you cheater, I was going to have the crabs swarm her.”
Mercy looked sheepishly at the paper and smiled. Reyn stared at the paper gobsmacked. She became stunned at what the Host had planned. However, she could only sigh. “It seems you’re quite mischievous, Host.”
Twenty minutes passed and it became an hour. A piece of paper appeared in front of Poki. “Alright, you win, or did you? Just kidding, you actually did win, it’s been an hour. I’ll increase all your stats by 0.7.”
-
Poki
Strength: 1
Endurance: 1
Agility: 1
-
Poki smiled and stretched herself, she could feel her fear of crabs completely gone now. She also felt ten times stronger than when she first washed up on the island. “I can’t believe you gave me a fear of crabs, that was dirty.”
A piece of paper appeared. “Dirty indeed but oh so fun until someone ruined it.”
Reyn suddenly had a thought. “Why did you call Atero Mercy?”
A piece of paper appeared. “Shrugs, who knows, I never said you had to introduce yourself with your real name did I? Anyway, since you reached 1 in all base stats Poki, you get a Golden Ticket card.”
-
Poki
Strength: 1
Endurance: 1
Agility: 1
Card: Golden Ticket
-
Poki stared at the paper. “I have a general idea but what does it do?”
A piece of paper appeared. “It’s basically currency for players but you’re the only player. You can use it to gamble, a special challenge, or an auction if there’s another player with a golden ticket.”
Poki thought of her life, she remembered being a gambler. How she felt despair when she gambled all her money and lost it all. If there was one lesson she learned, it was patience. Unfortunately, it wasn't a lesson that stuck.
In the end, she gave up and wished her world ended so she wouldn't have to face her family with shame. Luckily, a meteor fell upon the planet and wiped out the majority of life along with hers. It was a meteor long foreseen but without much her world could do to stop it.
After washing up on this island, she was still a gambler and gambled again. Just like how she gambled to see what would happen if she became the first player. A golden ticket, did she want to gamble with it? Just for this moment, she did not want to gamble. “I’ll do the special challenge.”
A piece of paper appeared. “Alrighty, the difficulty ranges from easy, normal, hard, extreme, and brutal. Which one would you like to do?”
Poki saw brutal and the neurons in her brain fired. She was definitely cooked. The urge and itch to go all in was immediately there. Fuck it, it was time to ride and die. “Is there any consequences for failing the special challenge?”
A piece of paper appeared. “Nope, unless you want to increase the reward.”
Poki took a deep breath. Reyn and Mercy looked at each other. They both knew what Poki was going to say. “Hit me with that brutal challenge Host.”
The air became still, a malicious and sadistic energy suddenly filled the air. A piece of paper appeared. “Oh Poki Woki, you’re so adorable.”
The three disappeared and appeared on the beach. A piece of paper appeared. “Alrighty, let’s begin Poki. I’ll wash up someone who has just died and will reincarnate without their memories in ten minutes. All you have to do is not talk to them, you can talk to everyone else here except them. If you talk to them, I’ll send them back to their world alive without their memories of this island and also erase your soul from existence. If you don't talk to them by ten minutes, they’ll reincarnate without their memories, easy right?”
Poki felt chills for a moment. She looked within her heart and hardened it. “Yes. Also didn't you say there was no consequences?”
A piece of paper appeared. “Damn….. I guess I lied?”
Poki narrowed her eyes. “You….”
Reyn stared with shock and sadness at Poki while Mercy stared at her with understanding. The waves from the sea came upon the beach and revealed a young teen with white hair and blue eyes. Her name was Aren. She looked like a tough girl who knew how to fight.
Aren felt wet sand and got up. She looked around and saw two women and a young man. The last thing she remembered was dying to Demante. Fear came upon her, she needed to go back and save the world from the Demante or everyone would die. “Where am I, who are you?”
A piece of paper appeared. “Welcome to my humble Paradise Island, I am the Host, a being from beyond the stars, for now, you are a guest who’s on their way to reincarnation.”
Aren stared at the paper confused. Many thoughts went through her mind but the word reincarnation stood out the most. “Reincarnation?”
A piece of paper appeared. “Yep, reincarnation. You’ll reincarnate soon without your memories in ten minutes.”
Aren suddenly felt lost and fearful. “I…. That can’t happen, I need to save the world.”
A piece of paper appeared. “Shrugs, sorry kid, but you’re all outta luck. Well…. Not all outta luck. You just got to get that green haired girl over there or a player to talk to you and I can send you back to your world alive.”
Aren didn't understand anything fully but she knew this was most likely an afterlife as she couldn't feel her powers. She walked up to Poki, got on all four, and bowed. “Stranger, my name is Aren, I do not know your name. Please, give me your name so I can go back to save the world. There are many people who I need and want to save, please.”
Poki became terrified at the sight and wanted to speak but held herself as she knew she would be erased from existence if she did. Reyn looked at Aren with pity. “Aren, my name is Reyn. This here is Poki. I’m sorry to say, she cannot give you her name as she would be erased from existence if she did that.”
Aren became still and looked up with wide eyes. She saw the fear and apology on Poki’s face. “What?…... Is there no other way?……. Host?”
A piece of paper appeared. “It’s sad to say but nope. No other way. Nine minutes left.”