“What the hell do you mean?! Something’s wrong—something is definitely wrong!”
Luke was on his feet now.
The confidence in his voice had shattered.
“Referee—ref—”
“There is no mistake,” the referee interrupted, calm and absolute.
“You lost.”
The verdict echoed louder than the table slap that ended the round.
Luke’s jaw trembled.
“No… That’s impossible.”
He snatched his cards again. Flipped them. Turned them over.
Activated his vision.
The outer cover vanished from his sight.
Joker.
Ace.
Exactly what he had seen before.
He scanned the remaining deck.
Ordinary. Clean. Untouched.
His breathing shortened.
That’s what I saw. That’s what was there.
His thumb slid along the edge of one of the discarded cards.
Something felt… uneven.
He paused.
Pressed harder.
A faint resistance pushed back against his nail.
Luke’s eyes narrowed.
Slowly—carefully—he forced the edge open.
Not the card.
The cover.
And from the inner surface of it—
A thin printed layer began to peel.
A sticker.
Placed between the cover and the card itself.
Luke stared at it.
His vision had never reached the real card.
It had stopped at the first image beneath the cover.
And that image…
Had been chosen for him.
Luke’s hand trembled.
Then—
“You bastard!!”
His voice tore through the room.
“You cheated! You tricked me!”
The masked man didn’t move.
“I did nothing wrong,” he replied calmly.
His tone wasn’t defensive.
It was steady.
Measured.
“I simply gave you what you gave her.”
Luke’s breath hitched.
“Half the truth,” the masked man continued.
“And false confidence.”
A pause.
“We are the same.”
The words struck harder than the loss itself.
Luke’s anger faltered.
Images flashed in his mind.
The innocent girl.
The incomplete rules.
The trap disguised as a fair game.
His knees gave out.
He dropped to the floor—not from defeat—
But from realization.
Overconfidence had consumed him.
The referee stepped forward silently.
Collected the payment.
Counted it once.
Then handed it to the masked man.
Without hesitation—
The masked man turned.
Placed the keycard back into Sofie’s trembling hands.
Then the money.
“All of it,” he said quietly.
Sofie stared at him, unable to speak.
He walked past Luke without another word.
And for the first time—
Luke felt small.
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The masked guy left.
Sofie hurried after him.
“Wait!”
He slowed, but didn’t fully turn.
“Thank you,” she said, clutching the keycard tightly.
“But… I don’t understand.”
He stayed silent.
“How did you win? He looked so confident. Like he already knew which card was which.”
The masked man finally glanced at her.
“He did know,” he said calmly.
Her brows furrowed. “What?”
“He can see through the outer cover of the cards.”
Sofie froze.
“…See through?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
“Then how did you beat him?!”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card.
“Normally, when he looks at a card, the outer cover becomes invisible to him. He sees the first printed surface underneath it.”
He held the card up slightly.
“So I changed what that first surface was.”
Her eyes widened slowly.
“You… changed it?”
“I placed a printed layer inside the cover,” he explained.
“Not on the card itself. Inside the cover.”
Sofie stepped closer.
“So when he looked—”
“He wasn’t seeing the real card,” the masked man finished.
“He was seeing the layer I placed there.”
She blinked.
“Then the Ace he picked…”
“Was never an Ace,” he said quietly.
A pause.
“He trusted what he saw,” the masked man added.
“He never questioned whether what he was seeing was the truth.”
Sofie looked back toward the arena.
“…So you didn’t stop his power.”
“No.”
He turned away.
“I simply gave it the wrong answer.”
Sofie stared at him for a few seconds.
“…I didn’t understand half of that,” she admitted honestly.
“Power? Seeing through cards? Gamble tricks? Whatever that was…”
He didn’t respond.
She hesitated, then suddenly realized something.
“Wait… you’re a player too, right? You had a keycard.”
“Yes.”
“And you helped me.”
He tilted his head slightly. “So?”
Her fingers tightened around the card.
“You said players survive in groups…”
A small pause.
“…Can I join you?”
He looked at her properly now.
“Why?”
She swallowed.
“Because you saved me. And I’m new to this island. I don’t know anyone. I’m alone.”
The word lingered a little longer than she meant it to.
For a moment, he said nothing.
“…What’s your name?” he asked.
“Sofie. Sofie Francis.”
Silence.
Then—
“…Prabhas Sharma.”
She blinked.
“Nice to meet you.”
He turned and began walking again.
“Stay close,” he said simply.
Sofie stood frozen for half a second—
Then hurried after him.
