Eighteen.
Eighteen days the decision takes.
Because, really, it hardly seems like a decision at all.
There are nine cards, yet they seem to blend. They aren't clear. Each time your eyes drift over one of them, looking for a number, a word, an image, the card's colours drift around your eyeris, refusing to be focused upon.
A muttered “Damn it” is barely audible from beside you.
It has been eighteen days of much activity on the game board. The board state has changed. Pieces have moved with a will of their own.
And danger looms ever closer.
“Well then, I guess these are the cards.”
A decision was reached. After a final shuffling around of the cards, to bring each face into full view at the front, 3 cards are picked out from the hand.
Until a moment ago, the cards were unclear, a pattern unseen. Once they are placed on the smooth velvety surface next to the board, they become clear. Details fill out with every subconscious thought and consideration.
The card out is the first detail to stand out. That's often the most striking part of a playing card, giving the player an impression at the first glance. In the case of this card, the art seems to come alive. Its soul changes the room with the atmosphere portrayed in lines and colours.
Immediately afterward, the title gives name to the playing card.
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Gamer's Dream
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The view covers your vision. You are seeing into another world, one of bright green grass rippling across a hilltop, a living flag of hope.
In the corner of your vision are four parralel bars of colour - red, green, blue, and orange - set within stylised borders. By the way they overlay the near-tangible reality of the scene, you can tell they are not of this world.
They move with your head, like a hologram. Focusing on the detail of the coloured bars, you see swirling shapes pumping through the red - you feel your heartbeat more acutely.
The blue shimmers, but does not move - it is sealed within its border as if within a capsule.
The green strobes from left to right, like a pulsing muscle.
The orange is smaller than the rest, slowly filling the transparent space within the border.
Suddenly the vision is gone. You are once again looking at the game board atop the felt table.
An AI generates an image in your collections tab, to keep as a collectible.
It's not your card, so it is only a lower rarity approximation.
If and when you decide to choose a card of your own, you will have access to it at all times within your “MIND” tab.
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Effect: Control the game interface of your character.
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“This is brilliant! This basically means that I can gamify whatever I want! Let me show you.”
The figure on the board shifts slightly. Once your attention settles on it, its appearance has changed. It is now wearing articles of clothing and miscellaneous accessory items that were clearly not a part of the original model - added on using cheaper-looking material.
Not only that, but to the side of the board, on the table, is a sheet of paper. You recognise it as a character sheet, with a myriad of nonsensical fields filled in with pencil writing.
“It's like I can give my character isekai protagonist powers! It's actually an overpowered card.”
The next card is rotated horizontally and placed underneath Gamer's Dream, peeking out from under the long edge of the top card.
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Creator's Decision
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Leaning over the table to look at the card, you can see just over half of its surface, including the card art and a bit of text. The borders of this card are lined with filigree, dark and flowing like ink. The art itself shows an elaborate quill, made from a black and white patterned quill and shining with metal at the grip. The tip rests upon a page scrawled with blurred words. The image distorts ever so slightly, giving the quill the impression of writing.
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Effect: Your goal is to create, to bring about tangible results outside of yourself that change the world you live in. You are relied upon to do so.
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“So if I put this under Gamer's Dream… Oh, hold on, I just got a… a Quest! Hey, check it out!”
In your vision, holographic words appear to float in space, drifting seamlessly with the movement of your eyes.
Quest: Creative's Dream. Your path is progressed by the fulfillment of tasks of creation. Augment your Card Stack to accept a quest.
“Sweet, it's using my new ability. I think that means I need to put a new card under Gamer's Dream. These three cards have multiple sections for text, and they say they're goals. It looks like there's three levels. They’re not filled in yet, though… What weird cards. Okay, let's see what happens when I use this other card. I chose it ‘cause it looks creative themed as well. It's probably a good idea to use different cards of the same faction.”
The third card is also bordered by the intricately drawn filigree, similar to the second. It is placed lengthwise at the same orientation as the first card, directly underneath, so that only the bottom third is visible. Once the card is left in place and sitting perfectly aligned under Gamer's Dream, the empty text box flutters and then fills in.
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Journal of the Adventurer
Goal 1: Record your experiences, actions, thoughts, and travels. Do so once every day for a streak of seven times unmissed.
Type: Item
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In the dark ether, at the edges of this room, a buzzing sound of arcing electricity snaps and crackles briefly. It ends abruptly. After a few moments of silence you hear an electronic beep.
“Um… is that…”
A small, flat rectangle floats into the room and over the board game table, dark and sleek.
“It's… a phone! Woah what the heck!”
A bright flash fills the space for an instant, followed by the artificial sound of a shutter.
“Oh, right, a camera! I can record with video. I was expecting a book or something. I guess it's because I used the Gamer's Dream as the main card. It makes a weird sort of sense to post stuff somewhere like YouTube, even though we're playing a board game.”
You realise that, with a selection of nine cards, you too have the ability to form a combination like this. The game board is clearly structured for decision-making that crosses the borders of the game's mechanics. Further along the board's current path, there's more than enough space for tracks to cross and recross, and perhaps even branch further.
“Well then, are you going to take your turn? I'm excited to make my first move in my next turn!”
ns 15.158.61.16da2
