The Greed of Thieves

The lounge that the three of them found themselves in didn't last for very long. After declaring that the game was starting the chairs themselves suddenly took on a dull gray color while the walls and ceiling suddenly disappeared, turning into darkness.

The table also matched this dark hue as a candle materialized at the center, giving off a faint light that illuminated the place. As for the floor, it changed into cold hard stone at some point.

[Welcome to the Greed of Thieves! In this four-player game, all of you take on the role of thieves that are unable to stop themselves from stealing for one reason or another.

1 - The goal of the game is to continue stealing until you have at least 20 points, at which point you can decide to stop stealing. There will be four different piles of cards each with four cards within. They will be named the House Piles. If you find yourself with a number card, then you will gain points. However, if you find yourself drawing a Jack, then you will instantly lose all points and receive punishment for losing the game.

2 - The number of cards that you draw is dependent on the card you get from the Greed pile. You must draw the same amount as the value on the card before your turn passes or you choose to stop stealing. You will take turns drawing from this pile.

3 - There is a Side pile, where all cards consist of numbers that are safe to steal.

4 - You may use your playing cards to transform part of the value from your Greed card into another form of stealing depending on their value. Transformations can only happen once per turn and each transformation can only be used a total of four times. This value is shared between the players.

5 - The first transformation is the King's Tax, which lets you convert draws to the Side pile instead of the House pile depending on the value of your playing card.

The second is the Queen's Foresight, allowing you to convert draws instead to view the top cards in the house pile depending on the value of the playing card.

The third is the Ace's Mask, which allows you to convert the consequence of a certain amount of your draws onto another participating player, meaning they get any points, but also the punishment of Jacks.

6 - The Joker card shuffles all the house piles.

Have fun!]

Mia let out a small hum.

"The game seems simple enough... It shouldn't be hard to do this."

Jessica furrowed her brows.

"We should agree on not using the Ace power, right?"

The hoodie guy shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not like that's a good one in the first place."

A deck of cards appeared above the candle, just barely touching the flame before suddenly taking on an ashy gray color. First, the cards between 2 and 4 shot out from the deck and were shuffled on part of the table, with the word "Greed" labeled on it.

After that, the cards between 5 and 7 shot out to a separate pile that was labeled "Side". Then, the cards between 8 and Jack were all shuffled and put into four different piles, labeled "Houses". And finally, the Aces, Kings, and Queens were all put face up in a few rows.

The blue indicator showed that the first turn went to the person wearing a hood. He didn't wait to draw from the Greed pile, getting a 2 in the process. After a bit of thought, he took out a 2 from his playing deck and took the face-up queen.

Both cards disintegrated like ashes in the wind. After tapping the first two piles, the cards were magically lifted up to him and revealed. A moment later, they were put back down in their place.

"Hmm... interesting."

Jessica took a glance at him.

"Are they safe?..."

The hooded guy smirked.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

It then became Jack's turn. He drew a card, getting a 3. After a bit of thought, he got a 2 from his playing deck and grabbed the King, following the previous guy's example. After the cards disintegrated, two cards from the Side pile were flipped face up and brought to him, showing two 5's.

Then, he drew a card from the third house deck, which just so happened to be a 10. Although the draws from the side pile were on the low end, the value from the house pile was the best possible outcome.

Now he already had enough to call it a day, but he didn't.

Jessica called out in concern.

"Jack, you forgot to declare that you would stop stealing!"

Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"I want to continue playing! I only got one turn."

The guy in a hoodie let out a laugh.

"I like that mentality! Don't try to bring my guy down, man."

Jessica was rendered speechless. As for Mia, she shot a strange gaze before focusing on herself, as it had become her turn. She drew a card from the greed pile, and got a 4. She let out a soft hum before grabbing a Queen along with a 2 from her playing deck.

From there, she looked at the top cards from the third and fourth piles. After that, she used her two remaining draws to get both cards. She was able to get an 8 and 9, totaling to 17. While not enough to stop, it was a good start. With that, it became Jessica's turn.

With a bit of hesitation, she drew the greed card, revealing another 4. Her eyelid twitched, but didn't panic. Instead, she got a 2 from her playing deck and the Queen, copying Mia's actions.

She took a look at the third and fourth piles, which prompted her eyelid to twitch. After taking a 9 from the fourth pile, she turned to the hoodie guy.

"This... which cards are safe?"

In response, he only shrugged.

"If you're willing to take the chance, then do so."

Jessica sighed before deciding to try the fourth pile again, betting on her luck. Unfortunately, it was a Jack.

"Shit."

[Uh oh! You were caught! Please provide a 4 as compensation.]

After her 9 disintegrated, a container appeared in front of her, prompting Jessica to sigh and put in a 4. She was now out of the game. Then, the guy in the hoodie had his turn. Once again, he drew a 2.

After a bit of thought, he just got out a 2 playing card along with the King and drew a 5 and a 6. When it came around to Jack's turn, he ended up drawing a 4.

That was a pretty bad outcome considering it was dangerous to draw from the house piles. Since the guy with the hoodie saw the first two cards and opted not to draw from them was quite suspicious. As for Jessica, she made it pretty clear that the third deck had a Jack on top and was a huge no-go.

Jack thought for a little while before taking a King and a 3 from his playing deck. He drew from the side pile three times, netting him a 5, 6, and 7. After that, he decided drawing from the last card from the fourth pile had good odds, thus did that. Luckily enough, it was another 10.

Now, there were only three house piles, and Jack now had a total point count of 48. He already had more than double the amount he needed, prompting Jessica to call out to him.

"Just leave already, there's no point in staying any longer."

Mia also spoke up with a bitter smile.

"There's really no reason to continue unless you want to make it harder on the people still in the game and take risks for no reason."

Jack put a finger on his chin. He thought that their logic was sound, and nodded.

"Ok! I'm done."

The cards from his hand disappeared, becoming ash. However, there was a bold glowing 48 next to him. After that, it became Mia's turn. The remaining cards for transformation were reduced down to just one King, one Queen, and four Aces.

She drew a three, after which she turned to the guy in the hoodie.

"Hey, tell me what the first two cards are."

In response, he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And why should I do that?'

Mia spoke back bluntly.

"Or else I'm using the ace to force you to pick up a Jack, alright? Everyone here knows that the third pile has one."

The guy flinched, as a bitter smile formed on his face.

"Though you guys weren't planning on using those... Fine, you drive a hard bargain. The one on the left is a 9, and the one on the right is a Jack."

Mia crossed her arms.

"And you aren't lying to me?"

The guy casually raised both hands while doing a pout that expressed indifference.

"You can believe me if you want. I just did what you asked."

Jessica sheepishly spoke up.

"You are making conflict for no reason..."

Mia thought for a little while.

"Alright, if you're telling the truth, then this would only benefit you. And with that, she took out a two from her playing deck, and grabbed the Ace."

The guy's eyelid twitched.

"Wait, didn't you say you weren't going to use it?"

Mia shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, you said that the 9 was in the first pile, so you should feel glad."

She flipped over that first card, and in the end, it revealed a Jack. A smile formed on Mia's face.

"Looks like someone wasn't too honest, huh?"

Jessica and Jack watched on speechlessly, though one with shock and the other with excitement. As for the guy, a nasty frown was on his face.

"Hah... looks like you caught me, alright."

Mia then got the card from the third pile, which was also a Jack. After that, the cards in front of the guy disappeared, and two rusty containers appeared in front of him.

His eyes narrowed.

"Sure are ruthless, aren't you?"

Mia shot back with a monotone voice.

"You're saying that like you didn't lie to me."

A smirk formed on his face as he held out his hands.

"Looks like we can agree that we aren't getting along."

He took out two 4's to pay the proper compensation. Unfortunately for him, the punishments had the potential to stack upon each other. From there, Mia drew from the second pile, which gave her a 9.

She called it right there, and with that, the game was done.

[The game is over! Issuing rewards.]

Both Jessica and the guy with the hoodie disappeared, while the remaining Greed and Side pile shuffled together before dealing a card to both Mia and Jack. Luckily enough, Jack got a 7, while Mia ended up getting a 6 which was also pretty good.

Along with that, they were also both given a 4 and 5.

Though despite the nice haul, Mia had an anxious expression as she quickly tucked the cards away.

"Let's hurry up!"