Vayunesh's fingers paused mid-movement as he pulled out another card from the deck on the steel table. Unlike the others, this one was bordered in crimson—its edge jagged, almost torn, as if the system itself hesitated to reveal what was on it.
His eyes flickered across the lines of text, and his smirk slowly faded.
Confidential Record: Subject – Jaya Widagdo (Linked Individual: Marsha Widagdo, Mother)Incident Type: Criminal Assault (Serial Killer Involvement)Details: Marsha Widagdo was the target of a brutal attack by a known serial offender. During the assault, minor Jaya Widagdo intervened, disarming the criminal and stabbing him seven times in a desperate attempt to protect his mother.Outcome: The attacker died on site.Mother sustained critical internal injuries due to abdominal stabbing.Current Status: Still hospitalized. Life-threatening condition. Urgent surgery required.Financial Support: None. Jaya is actively searching for funds to pay for her mother's operation.Living Conditions: Single-parent household. No extended family support.
Vayunesh stared at the card. His gaze darkened—not with anger, but with something far deeper: realization.
He leaned back in his chair slowly, processing the enormity of what this card implied.
So this was the full picture… Jaya wasn't just a desperate player clinging to survival for his own sake. He was fighting for someone else—for someone lying in a cold hospital bed, her life slowly ticking away as medical bills loomed like silent executioners. And Jaya had carried all that pain behind pleading eyes and trembling hands.
The calm amusement that had earlier danced in Vayunesh's tone was now gone, replaced by quiet contemplation. He remembered the desperation in Jaya's voice during their last exchange—the way he'd begged to live, to survive, not for himself but for something more.
"Please… I want to leave. I can't die this soon… Please, try to understand me, Vayunesh…"
And now… he did.
Vayunesh turned the card over and placed it face down on the table, fingers tapping once as if sealing its significance. He gazed blankly at the opposite wall, where Jaya sat in his own chamber, unaware that his truth had just been unveiled.
"He doesn't want to win this game. He needs to."
Vayunesh clenched his jaw.
He had never cared for backstories—everyone here was tainted, broken, or worse. But this… this wasn't the profile of a criminal. This was the story of someone who had tried to be a hero and paid the price ever since.
He stood up suddenly, the legs of the chair screeching slightly against the concrete floor. He walked to the wall of the room, placing his palm against the wall that divided him from Jaya's side. His voice, calm but different now—grounded—echoed through the comm.
"Jaya," he called.
Jaya flinched, startled. "Y-yes…?"
"You stabbed that serial killer seven times."
Silence.
"…How do you know that?"
"I read your mother's card."
A long pause followed. Then Jaya's voice trembled. "So now you know everything."
"More than before," Vayunesh replied, expression unreadable. "But you know… something still confuses me."
"What?"
"You still haven't given up. Not once. Not even after everything. Why?"
Jaya exhaled shakily, his voice fragile but steady. "Because… if I die, no one will be there to save her. The doctors said she has two weeks, maybe less. I thought maybe… just maybe, if I could win something in this game, I could finally afford her surgery."
Vayunesh closed his eyes.
"Life… really is a cruel joke," he murmured to himself. "But maybe you've been the only one laughing through the pain."
And for the first time since the game began… Vayunesh wasn't sure if he still wanted to win.
Or instead he probably just wanted to do something else..