Trump

Everything feels different. The scenery. the people. This is all a dream... right?

“This boss is impossible to beat!”

30 times I've tried to crush this villain, and 30 times I've lost. I was in the middle of playing a computer game, and I finally made it to the last boss. Excited to see the ending, I fought to the best of my abilities, only to be left with the game over screen.

“ugh… I give up…”

I can’t take this kind of crap. Despite being over 20 levels over him, I still couldn't win!

I close out of the program and, out of frustration, rest my head on my desk.

I am Samuel Hsu (Shoo), 17 year old Asian, and an avid gamer. I've played every genre of gaming at least once, and out of the list, Fantasy RPGs are my favorite! I can create my own party, and play the way I feel the most comfortable with. I train a party that will eventually save the world from mass destruction. Grinding my levels alone is just so fun for me! Why the Fantasy Genre? Well, I am just so mystified by the world that I am dropped in. A world of powerful magic, and unique monsters, as well as the story behind the fantasy-based setting. It’s just so… amazing!

Though I think that, today just didn’t seem to be my day. Once I got home from school, I’ve attempted to play over 50 different games to ease my boredom, sadly, to no avail. I either give up from the dullness of the game itself, or from frustration from trying to beat the game.

I want a game that’s not too easy or too hard. Why doesn’t such a game exist?

I rested there for 10 minutes before getting back up. I decided to search for that perfect game that I dreamt of.

“...This icon. Why haven’t I seen this before?”

I spotted a pixelated card icon labeled "Trump" on my computer screen.

I should know every game I’ve downloaded, so why is this my first time seeing this one?

Out of curiosity, I double click the card. What appeared in front of me was a small black box.

What is your name?

Could this be a text adventure? I never got into these, but might as well give it a shot. I type my name and hit enter.

Sam

Clack

the text vanishes, and a new line appears.

What Job would you like?

I guess I pick my class, but It doesn’t provide a list of available jobs, so I was a bit concerned as to what to do. I decided to put my go-to class for any Fantasy game.

Mage

Clack

After I click enter, the question disappears and replaces it with a new one.

Pick a card: Ace  Jack  Queen  King

Pick a Suit: Spade  Club  Heart  Diamond

What’s this about? Perhaps it’s for an in-game feature? Whatever. Guess I should choose.

For the card, I will choose Jack. The term Jack makes me think of Jack of all trades. I honestly heavily prefer being a Jack of All rather than a master of one.

As for the Suit, Spades was the way to go. I didn’t have a particularly good reason, other than the fact that they appeal to me more.

After I typed my response, I hit Enter to progress the dialogue. What appeared was an explanation of the in-game setting.

There was a ridiculous amount of text, so I’ll simplify.

Basically, the game takes place in a world with four continents; Saya, Corunten, Hartnis, and Dianic. Saya housed people known as the Spades, Corunten the Clubs, Hartnis the Hearts, and Dianic the Diamonds. The Spades and Clubs created the Black Alliance, while the Hearts and Diamonds created the Red alliance. These two parties fight each other out of sheer hatred. Behind the scenes, a Demon king arises to use the war to his advantage. While the two sides duke it out, he sends out monsters to take over the world. I play as a hero sent by my home country to defeat the demon king, and the opposing alliance.

I suppose that was the meaning of the card suit? So I’m now a Spade?

Aside from this, the setting followed any general Fantasy outline, such as the existence of elves, dwarves, and the common mobs that appear in gaming.

“Eh?”

There’s more? I knew a text adventure was wordy, but this is too much!

The once black box was now full of white text speedily scrolling to the top of the screen. The text cycled fast. Then it cycled faster, faster, faster! My eyes were starting to burn from the bright white light.

“Argh!”

I unintentionally screamed in pain. Not just the pain from my eyes, but my chest also started burning. This pain spread to my arms, then my legs. My whole body felt like it was on fire!

“HAaAagh!”

I let out another agonizing screech.

Can’t my parents hear me? They should, but then why aren’t they calling me? Can I hear them? What’s going on?

The pain hastily worsened. I felt like I was dying. I continued to scream until I fell unconscious.

…

My back is aching. My whole body feels numb. I find it hard to get up.

“Hello?”

That means… I was sleeping, huh? Was I dreaming the entire thing?

“Um… excuse me…”

No harm in resting more. Guess I’ll just…

“GOOD MORNING!”

I was abruptly awakened by an unfamiliar voice. I still felt tired too… Regardless, I lift up my groggy body, and open my eyes.

“Finally you’re awake!”

What I saw was a woman who looked to be in her 20s. She was thin, and appeared to have a fragile body. Her bangs were long, but her hair was cut short. She wore a red silk dress that went down to her knees. I notice a heart tattoo on her left shoulder as well. In all honesty, she looked really weird. The fact that we were located in the middle of a jungle made her appearance stand out even more.

Wait… jungle? Why am I even here? Last I recall I was on the computer. Conclusion, I’m still dreaming. Well… I’ve had weirder. Guess I’ll go with it.

“Ah... Thanks for waking me up.”

I decide to respond casually. I wonder what I’m going to dream of this time?

I wait for the girl to respond, but she continues to stare at me.

“Um… is there something wrong?”

It feels really uncomfortable being watched. I turn my head from embarrassment.

“You. You’re a Spade, are you not?”

She asked me a question. I should respond, but I have no idea how to answer. What the heck does she mean by a Spade? Before that, talking with a stranger makes me feel out of place. I kinda want to leave now.

“I don’t know.”

“On your left shoulder is the Spade Crest, so you must be a Spade, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“... Do you know anything?”

“I… don’t know…”

I feel really stupid saying the same thing three times. Then again, when have I not been stupid? Wait, I just insulted myself!

“Oh dear, could it be memory loss?”

I seriously question my sanity sometimes.

“Jared! I need your help!”

Hm? She seems to be calling out to someone. I turn to face the direction she looks.

Rustle Rustle

A tall man appears from the denser parts of the trees. He was about 6 foot 5 inches, and wore an iron chestplate and leggings. He also wore the knight helmet that covered the face. In his right hand was a Longsword, and his left a large shield. In the center of his chestplate was a large heart crest, which made his attire, as a whole, look funny. Aside from that though, It looked like he came straight out of a Medieval Fantasy tale.

“What do you want Eliza?”

After he asks, The knight known as Jared turns to me.

“Eliza, stand back! A Spade’s about to attack you!”

Seriously, what’s with this Spade business? Are we playing cards now?

Before I could inquire on cards, the knight leaps between me and Eliza. He lifts his shield in defense, and points his sword at my throat.

Honestly, even though it’s a dream, I’m still kind of scared.

“To attack a maiden while her back is turned is something only a demon would do!”

So cliche. Is this a, Prince save Princess scenario? Am I playing as the evil monster who kidnapped the princess? How retarded. Why am I even dreaming of something like this?

As I ponder, I notice Eliza attempting to pull Jared’s sword back.

“Jared! He didn’t do anything!”

Oh, she’s defending me? Is this a plot twist? Well whatever the case is, if I don’t say anything now, I may just have my head chopped off. That sounds painful, even if this is all an illusion.

“In my defense, I’d like to say, I just woke up. I have no idea what happened.”

“Egads! Just… woke up?! Could it be… Eliza... you’ve been dirtied!”

Holy cow, this guy is retarded!

“No no! It’s not like that at all! Jareeeed! Listen to me!”

“I will avenge your lost chastity!”

“JAREEEEEED!”

SMASH!

Eh? I don’t know if I saw this right, but it appeared to me that Eliza, a frail-looking woman, picked up a boulder more than 5x her size, and threw it at Jared. The knight in question seems to have lost consciousness. I don’t know if I should be surprised at Eliza, or at the fact that the knight only lost his sensibility.

As I got up from the ground, I noticed the strange attire I’ve been wearing.

I am currently equipped with a Blue Mantle, baggy pants tied by a leather belt, and a black robe that goes below my knees, and leather boots. I also notice that there’s a giant rod strapped to my back.

Hm? Cloth Armor, and a giant rod… I’ve become a mage! This dream just got 10x better.

As I was imagining all the things I could do, Eliza appears in front of me, and grabs my attention.

“Please excuse my friend. He’s a bit… on the slow side…”

A bit is a huge under exaggeration, is what I’d like to say, but I refrained from doing so after recalling Eliza’s wild strength.

“Why did you even bother calling him…”

“I thought he could help you get your memory back. Oh! But if you’re an enemy, then having memory loss is actually better for us!”

“...So… there was no point…”

I see. This girl is an airhead. Well, can’t say I don’t have my idiotic moments. More like… I have too many of them. Must. Not. Remember.

“Well, so long as you don’t pose a threat, taking you to our hideout should be fine!”

So it’s fine to take me to your secret base? Well, dreams never did make sense.

“Alright, I’ll follow. What should we do about your friend?”

Eliza looks over at Jared’s body, then turns back to me.

“Hm… I’m sure he’ll be fine out here!”

She looked a bit ticked when she said this. Perhaps she was still angry at him.

… Why am I being so analytical about this? It’s just a dream right? Normally, my dreams don’t produce much conversation, and make far more illogical sense than this… could it be…

“Come on already!”

Eliza calls out to me.

Nah. Too much time on video games can have this effect. It’s all just my imagination... right?

Author's Note

Thought of this on the fly. I'm sure there's a bunch of grammatical errors. Sentence structures are also probably bad. Also intentionally left it unfinished/cliffhanged.

I'll write a continuation of it if anyone actually wants to read more of it.

Reviews

[Umbreomancer]

Oh, I get it. Trump, as in Trump Card.

[Alpha]

Really good story, and I would like to see it continued.