The Games We Play: Deck of Cards c1

Raynor pushed the double doors and entered the room.

It was wide, and there were pyres in the room to illuminate it.

Right in the centre of the room, there was a small throne. A goblin dressed in royal black and red robes resided on it.

The moment the teen entered the goblin stood up from the throne and summoned a staff in his right hand.

'Oh… he seems quite better than those noobs I have been dealing with.'

The goblin lifted his staff while murmuring to himself.  Three fireballs appeared above his head and beamed towards the teen. With a quick lunge, Raynor dodged the attack. He used one of the pillars of the hall as a cover.

He quickly opened his deck of cards and pulled out a card having a dagger symbol.

"...manifest."

With a soft bronze glow the dagger appeared in his hand.

He leaped away from the pillar and threw the dagger at the goblin boss.

The incoming dagger forced the goblin to walk, although he casually dodged it to the side. Seeing an opportunity, Raynor rushed at the mage with a holy sword in his hands.

However, he underestimated the goblin mage. With insane reactions the creature released another salvo of fireballs.

'Shit!'

This made Raynor run to the side and try to attack the goblin from there. But the creature had already jumped back and proceeded to unleash a heavy attack.

Lightning!

"F-Fuck!"

High voltage coursed through his body as he took a few staggering steps backwards and then a barrage of fireballs slammed into him.

'H-Hot!!!'

For a second he backpedalled and took a few steps backwards and with a burst of light, his fusion got undone.

The teen dropped to his knees as steam started to rise from his body. He was feeling like he was being cooked in an oven.

Raynor could hear a cackle coming from the goblin boss. It reminded him of Palpatine for some reason.

'He kinda looks similar, just a goblin version of it.'

The teen thought about it as his hand went to his card holder.

He slowly opened it and pulled out a card.

He looked at his front while pulling out the card. He could see the staff being pointed at him.

'Heh… so either I kill him now or he takes me down?'

That moment Raynor as if taking a second breath swiftly threw the card at the Goblin boss

This made the goblin instantly react to the projectile and he dodged it.

But this was where the teen just lunged at the creature and proceeded to start pummeling it with everything he got.

The goblin ended up being smashed against the ground and Raynor proceeded to deliver a mindless amount of beating to him.

*Bam**Bam**Bam*

By the time he was done he realised that he had put tremors on the ground as the creature was dead leaving behind a silver card.

With a sense of relief his haggard breathing consumed him as the adrenaline flow had stopped.

'Fuck this was close!'

He collapsed on his back and proceeded to lay down.

[Congratulations! You Have Finished (Basic Fantasy Universe) [Dungeon 1/10]!]

'A very generic system…but this is for the best.'

Raynor realised that there was no some sort of awareness in whatever this system is.

But that was for the best. He read too many novels and fanfictions to know how dangerous a system can be.

*Ding*

[Adventurer rank went up!]

[Rank 0 >>> 1]

[Rank is graded according to the number of dungeons you cleared! The bigger the rank the more companions you can have with you!]

[Your Total Upkeep went up by 1]

[Companion Deck Unlocked!]

'...hoh… of course… dungeon diving is usually done with a team…'

"...companions?"

A window popped up which reminded him of something similar to Yu-Gi-Oh's duelling table…

'...This is becoming more and more like a game…'

He thought to himself with his sockets wide open.

He had five card slots on top followed by another five slots below… exactly like in Yu-Gi-Oh where you have five spots for the Monsters and another five for spells or traps.

Though the big difference was the whole Upkeep… he only had one point…

'This reminds me of Fate Grand Order upkeep… where you can bring a Servant with specific upkeep…

In other words… I can only have a companion which I can upkeep…'

Thinking for a bit he sighed, and wondered where he can even get a companion.

Slowly he got up into a sitting position and looked around. He saw a silver card, he leaned forward and picked it up.

It was another staff. But this one was slightly better looking than that crude one.

*Sigh*

Not that I will be using this. He stashed it away and looked for his Lancelot card and his rusted daggers.

After collecting everything he looked around the room to find any sort of valuables.

Eventually, he did find a room which had two chests!

'Boss Room Loot! Hell, yeah!'

He opened the first chest and found a golden card inside of it.

As he picked it up he checked the illustration on the card. It looked like a magic book but it was surrounded by elements.

[Elementals]

'Oh… curious…'

He stored the card away and then went to the next chest.

It was a silver card.

And it had a wristband drawn on it.

[Mana Wristband]

'Oh…gear… neat!'

Without thinking much about it he manifested the card and put the wristband on.

At that moment he felt like his mana pool just went up.

'Cool…this means I can casually wear this as a wristband but in reality I would be having a boost in magic or something else.'

After all the wristband looked like it was from the Adidas store!

Doesn't stand out much! All the better!

Once he finished checking around he walked over to the double doors on the other side.

As he pushed the doors open blinding light consumed him as he tightly squinted his eyes.

As his vision returned he could see his room ceiling but… it was still nighttime!

His hand went to the side as he picked up his phone.

The time was… 3:47…

"...Fuck…I steamrolled that dungeon…"

But, then he recalled the last battle again the boss. It was close and quite dangerous.

After thinking for a bit he decided to get back to sleep.

Once his world turned black he once again saw the mist and the window manifested in his eyes.

[Continue Dungeon Diving?]

(Basic Fantasy Universe) [Dungeon 2/10]

[YES] [NO]

[Create New Dungeon]

'Hmm…'

Instead of pressing [Yes], Raynor pressed [Create New Dungeon].

[Do You Wish to Create a New Dungeon?]

[Yes] [No]

With a simple motion, he pressed [Yes].

Once the window disappeared the mist surged up like a volcano.

[To create a new dungeon you must decide where it leads? And what is its purpose? Think of these things when you create the dungeon.]

After reading the text Raynor realised that this is like those RPG maker games, where you build your fantasy setting.

This is why he had the book's letters printed and he got a modern wristband.

Because it was his choice!

'Fine… I get it… but do I have to choose my fantasy?' At that moment he recalled a white-haired girl from the game he used to play.

At that moment he focused on THAT specific franchise. He recalled the 'dungeon' over how it was built. Well it was more like a bunch research facilities.

Inhumane research facilities.

However… this worked. As he needed a 'dungeon' so he just selected that game setup. Because that stuff is like a dungeon, sort of…..

Slowly walls started to appear, they were not of stone or anything like that.

It was steel… dark grey, and the ground felt like concrete. The walls looked like cells made to keep research subjects locked up.

To top it up lights turned on one by one. It was the industrial style lights as they looked identical and had a specific distance.

'Now this gives me… deja-vu…'

He remembered a few chapters where he was in similar locations.

More like he ripped these out from Honkai Impact 3rd.

Regardless of that he finally finished 'constructing' or more like guiding his memories which resulted in the creation of this place.

"Damn… so I can make something like this?"

As he said that he pulled out his Lancelot card and proceeded to walk forward. The first room he came across was quite open and there were dual automatic doors in front which led to a corridor.

He still clearly remembered what he saw while 'building' the dungeon.

And in a few moments he encountered…one of them!

A honkai beast!

It was a humanoid zombie! It looked like a female with long white hair and a sword.

Unlike regular zombies, this one moved fast!

'Fuck!'

He swiftly brought the card closer to himself.

"Fusion!"

With a burst of light, he transformed into his armoured form but this didn't even slow its movements. Instead, it just dashed towards him even faster.

Raynor lifted his holy sword and intercepted the sword strike and then lifted his other hand to punch the zombie.

To his surprise, his punch pushed the zombified woman backwards which allowed him to stab her, turning her into dusty particles.

What she left behind was a bronze card.

"Hmm?"

As he picked it up he saw a purple image drawn on it.

[Honkai]

"...What the? I get honkai? What the fuck I can use this for!?"

He blinked a couple of times seeing this.

Is this dungeon going to be a dud!?

Truthfully, Raynor expected some advanced weaponry…

'Maybe I should go with Star Wars-themed stuff just for lightsabers?'

A thought for now as he proceed to walk forward.

"Hmm?"

He took a step back as he saw something on a wall.

It was a slightly opened cell so he slowly walked there and gently opened it.

What he found was a treasure room!

So early!?

'Well… it's a new dungeon so I doubt I will get a gold card or even a silver one.'

As the teen thought about it he walked into the cell and opened the chest at the end of the small cell.

What he found was a bronze card…

~~~~~~???~~~~~~

It was over…with her sacrifice, she will allow humanity to live without the horrors of Honkai.

She accepted it. It's in her blood to be the one who fights Honkai…and ultimately seal themway!

"...Though… it's going to be boring." She said with a sigh. No video games. No food…

"It doesn't have to be boring."

Her eyes widened. as she turned around!

That moment her surroundings fully changed. It was no longer space with starry skies.

But in an endless room with marble columns, a small amount of mist was rising from the floor. Just a few inches above the ground.

In front of her was a massive throne in which a white person was sitting in it.

The person was so big that she could only reach his heel…

"...What are you?"

"Right to the point. Good. We are between life and death…etc…"

He said while waving his hand casually. As if he was tired of saying the same shit over and over again.

"..."

"I am the beginning and the end. Regardless. I am here with a proposal."

"..."

"Your journey in an Honkai-infested world has come to an end. You will be sealed in this dimension for a very long time.

My proposal is for you to go on another adventure, in another reality."

"...Sounds…good but I will have to decline."

"...I knew you will say that. So I have a solution." With a snap of his fingers, the girl collapsed and right next to her collapsed form, another her appeared.

"Ehh? What was just now!?"

"I have just projected your soul into another body of 'you'. This way your original body which holds the seal will remain here."

"...You what are you? How can you casually make another body!?" The girl asked horrified as she had never seen anything like this before!

"Hmm… Think of me as the beginning of everything."

Her eyes widened for a second. She had a feeling that he was serious.

"In the realm of reality, there exists Order and Chaos, there is a thin line which holds the balance in between." He said that while showing two blobs connected between each other by a thin line.

"To keep the balance in the infinite cosmos I create avatars of Chaos and Order to keep an even Balance.

In other words I create humans with impressive powers."

"..."

"Powers which will make your Finality look like a costume for a party."

*Gulp*

She gulped down. Her instincts told her that he was very serious.

"This is where you will come into the play a s well"

"...What is you want me to do?"

"You will be the companion of one of the Avatars of Chaos."

"...Heh?"

This was not what she was expecting!

"...what you mean by that!?"

With a snap of fingers. Small windows appeared next to her as her gaze went to the side.

She saw herself… as a…video game character!?

"In Infinite Cosmos, your life and your exploits are told as video games, animes and manga. In a sense… it's a symbiotic relationship. One feeds another. One can't exist without another."

This was way over her head but… for some reason, she understood…is he making her understand this!?

Just how strong is his influence? She understands just because he wants her to understand!

"Because of this, you are known in many realities. One of them is the Avatar of Chaos. His name is Raynor Valeron.

Over countless realities, his variants have achieved many exploits of his own."

The windows changed as she saw this guy fighting in wars, fighting against Gods…casually throwing planets… wielding absurd powers…

"...If…he can do all that…"

"Hah! I know. But you will be joining him at his earliest."

"..."

She had complex feelings about this… though she guessed this guy didn't care.

"Now for your gifts."

"Hmm?"

He motioned something as orbs floated into her.

Eventually, they merged with her!

She could sense… her powers!?

But these were… all of them!? She could sense her void core, Flamescion…and Finality!?

All at once!?

And lastly… it was something else!?

"You can sense it. Do you? This is your connection to Raynor Valeron. If you have any sort of doubts you can just feel how he feels about you."

This made her blink a couple of times.

"...You…this… this can't be real!"

Her reaction was that of a Tsundere. She could feel herself being enveloped in something similar to affection. But it was not as strong.

It was obvious because for him she was just a game character.

But it was enough for her to exclaim with shock that something like this already exists.

"It's very real. Now then, off you go to a new adventure. And unlike your first one, this one will last…much much longer."

After saying that he snapped his finger and the girl was gone. He didn't allow her to say anything she wanted to say.

Instead, he just sent her off.

Once she was gone he made her original body sealed off. This time he improved the formula. Not even the Primordial will be able to lift the seal.

Maybe if they drop a galaxy or two on it they might crack it but this is the wrong universe. No one is throwing galaxies in this place.

~~~~~~Back with Raynor~~~~~~

As he picked up the bronze card he looked at the drawing on it.

His eyes widened as he saw Kiana Kaslana on the card! It was her in her basic battle suit.

She was pointing two guns at the holder. It was the same image you have when you select her battlesuit.

It was a companion card.

[Kiana Kaslana]

[Companion Card]

[Cost: 1]

[Type: Close Combat/Middle Range]

[Clasification: Evolvable]

'Fantastic…she can be used as my first companion! Goddam! It worked! My hunch of plagiarising a universe to access people or powers from that verse has worked!'

Without thinking more about this he opened his companion window which was like a Dueling table and placed Kiana's card in the empty spot.

This made a massive version of a card appear in front of him that acted like some sort of a warp gate as a familiar girl walked out from it.

She looked around… until her eyes landed on him.

For some reason, her cheeks instantly turned red as she looked away instantaneously.

"...W-Well!? Here I am… where are we?"

She asked him in a familiar voice. She even sounded like her!

'Goddamn…I am nearly at the point of having a brain meltdown.'

"...I-Its a dungeon based on some of the places from your world." He said while trying to sound as casual as possible.

"...I see…"

"I guess… as your…partner I am to help you with this situation." As she said that she pulled out two pistols from somewhere…

"...Cool."

"...By the way… medieval armour?" She pointed out at his Lancelot's armour get-up.

"... it's a template armour based on round table's knight."

"...Oh…sounds cool."

"I suppose. I could give you support from a distance?" She asserted as she looked around.

It was obvious that she was struggling with something. But he couldn't point it out.

Regardless, the pair walked out of the cell and into the corridor.

'This place… it gives bad memories…' Kiana thought to herself as she remembered the stuff Herrscher of Void played on her.

This place looked just like that place.

"Well, let's move forward. This place should follow a similar design as my first dungeon."

"Hmm?"

"Yes. One enemy at the beginning. Then it will be two. However, with you here their numbers will increase."

"...Makes sense… let's go then!"

As she said that she hurriedly moved to a corner where she saw familiar entities.

'Here we go again… I thought no more of these exist anymore…'

At that moment she realised that this dungeon is most likely based on her world. So she will be facing Honkai all over again?

Regardless, she opened fire and rushed forward to engage with the sword-wielding zombie girl. There was another honkai with a bow that shoots arrows with Honkai energy. Ryanor swiftly cut the arrow with his Holy sword and threw the card at his face!

'...Cards!? Really!?'

Kiana was baffled but then she saw the card morph into a dagger which stabbed into the head of the archer zombie killing it on the spot!

"Not bad!"

~~~~~~~~

[-Card Deck-]

['Lancelot' Template Card] {Gold} (Tier 3)

[Club x12] {Bronze} (Tier 1)

[Rusted Dagger x6] {Bronze}(Tier 1)

[Crude Staff x5] {Bronze} (Tier 1)

[Introduction to Sorcery x1] {Silver} (Tier 2)

[Mage Staff] {Silver} (Tier 2)

[Elementals] {Gold} (Tier 3)

[Honkai] {Bronze} (Tier 1)

~~~

[-Equipment-]

[Wristband] {Silver} (Tier 2)

~~~

[-Companions-]

[Kiana Kaslana] {Bronze} (Tier 1)(Cost 1)