Chương 2: 1. Welcome to the GRAND ARCANA!

When the alarm went off, I had already been awake for three hours. Part of me desperately hoped that all my past memories actually were a particularly vivid nightmare. Sadly, at precisely eight o'clock, the confirmation came in the form of a viral video on YouTube. In itself, the video was nothing special: a twenty-second clip of someone recording the clouds from a phone. From a particular angle, the clouds formed a shape that resembled a triangle on top of a circle.

The image was prime meme material, flooding all social media. I had probably found it funny at the time as well. Not anymore. The clip was an indicator that I had about twelve hours before the event—not much time to prepare at all, especially on a Sunday.

"Twenty-twenty-two—the year the ball starts rolling," I said, then got up. Using my tablet, I made a search for coin shops and jewelers in the neighborhood. One of the things that people quickly found out during the start of the trial was that not much could be transferred from our world to whatever dimension we were taken to. There were two notable exceptions: water, even if it was wrapped in plastic, and precious metals. There were three coin shops nearby.

Opening each of their main pages on a different tab, I went through their offers. As expected, today wasn't the best time to buy. Even a small gold coin was way more than I could afford with my current funds. My parents had made a point to give me a card for emergencies, but it only had a few hundred bucks in it. If I added what I had on hand from my part-time jobs, I could probably make it to a thousand.

If I had more time, I'd instantly sell my game collection, plus all my consoles, but eBay wasn't going to give me the money in the next five hours. By my calculations, all I'd be able to get was silver; not too bad, all in all.

"Gregory, Ginny, time for breakfast!" my mother shouted. Usually, she didn't, but given today was "family day" she wanted to make sure that we were aware. I went through my drawers for a pen and something to write on, then copied the coin shop addresses. It would have been easier to send a map link to my phone, but I'd spent so long without one that I had forgotten how to use it.

"Gregory!" my mother shouted again—a reminder that I was the only one absent.

"Be right there!" I finished jotting down the address and put it in my pocket. Breakfast was okay, but the company filled my heart. There was a time when I'd use any excuse to avoid family events. Now, I wished breakfast would never end.

"So," my mother began as she placed a jug of orange juice on the table.

"Your father and I decided it might be a good idea to visit the new aquarium this afternoon. What do you think?"

"An aquarium?" My sister rolled her eyes. Two years younger, she was in the middle of a difficult phase and wanted to be seen even less with my parents than I did.

"Seriously, Mom?"

"It's supposed to be the biggest one in the state," Mother insisted.

"You can think of several school projects just by looking." Ginny rolled her eyes again, along with an audible "ooof", then went back to stirring her scrambled eggs with her fork. This was my cue to let them know of my plans.

"I need to head out for the morning," I said.

"Oh?" My father gave me an inquisitive look.

"There are a few things I need to buy for next week. It was sort of unexpected. I'll be back by lunch." There was an audible silence.

"I'm not in any trouble," I said, guessing what their concern could be.

"It's just some new clothes and other stuff."

"Ah." My father smiled, as if he understood what I was about to do.

"Sure, go ahead. Just don't be late."

"I need to go out too," Ginny said instantly. Everyone looked at her.

"If he can go shopping, why can't I?" She crossed her arms, fork still held in one hand.

"I don't see why not," Mom said, just as Dad was about to speak.

"As long as your brother keeps an eye on you." That wasn't ideal, but there was no time to argue. If I wanted to start the game with an advantage, I had to act quickly, and being in the company of my little sister wasn't going to be an issue. As long as I got what I needed, it didn't matter what she knew. There'd probably be enough panic once I vanished, either way.

"Sure thing. But I'm not paying for her stuff," I said firmly. This pretty much ended the matter. Breakfast continued for another ten minutes, during which Mom made a few attempts to create the impression she was still in touch with "the current generation." Most of her references didn't ring any bells, but I nodded nonetheless. It was sunny when I got outside. Smells and noises typical of a city surrounded me. It was strange that I had missed those.

"See ya at noon," my sister said, turning around. Instantly, I grabbed her by the shoulder. Surprised, she turned her head, giving me a sideward glance.

"Nice try." I was still smiling, but my tone let her know that I was adamant on the matter.

"We're going through a few places. After I'm done, we can go wherever you want."

"Whatever." She tried to shrug my hand off. No luck. Casey's Coin Shop was the first one we went to. Of all three, it had the highest rating. That gave me reasonable assurance that I wouldn't be cheated. The owner—if one could assume he was the owner—gave us a weird glance when we walked in, but didn't say anything.

"Silver eagles," I said directly.

"Five tubes." From what I'd seen online, a tube held twenty-five coins, making for a hundred and twenty-five in total."

"You sure?" I placed all the cash I had on the counter, making both the man and the sister stare.

"I've decided it's time to get into silver," I said in an arrogant voice. That did the trick. Seeing me as a kid getting into something I knew nothing about, the man gave a nod to one of his assistants. The young clerk returned with five sealed plastic tubes.

"That all?" the man asked.

"And one coin for my sister," I said, looking at the cash.

"Will this be enough?"

"Yep." He collected the bills, after which he returned two tenners and change, as well as a single coin in a plastic case.

"Getting into stacking?" The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Something like that." I handed my sister the coin and put the tubes in my pockets.

"Nothing wrong with that. Just one piece of advice. It's always better to have the stuff checked when you buy it."

"Why? I trust you." I smirked.

"If it turns out I'm ripped off, I won't come back for more." The man laughed, then handed me his business card. He probably thought this was going to become a habit of mine. I feigned interest as I put it away. Moments later, we were out of the shop.

"What's this?" Ginny asked. The silver coin had only managed to keep her interest for so long.

"I just thought it's time to act responsibly," I replied.

"Onto the next stop." The second shop we went to was one that Ginny could approve of. It sold clothes, so it was all good in her book. I took the time to buy some sturdy shoes, a warm, waterproof jacket, and a camping backpack. Basic clothes were another thing that was transported between worlds. No tools or weapons, though. One of the participants I'd met later on had been snatched while camping and had his knife, compass, flashlight, and even food vanish.

It's thanks to him that I knew that backpacks and bottled water could make it through. All in all, it took me five minutes to buy what I needed. Ginny, in contrast, took over an hour and ended up buying nothing whatsoever. I couldn't remember if that was normal, but decided not to say anything.

"So, what's up with the silver?" she asked again.

"I told you."

"Bullshit! You've bought nothing but games and junk! Now, you spend everything you have on silver. Something's up." I grabbed her by the arm, rushing out of the store.

"Hey!" She pulled free moments later.

"What's wrong with you?!"

"Shouting out questions like that isn't smart." I gave her a stern look.

"What question—" she stopped midway.

"Oh." She looked away, slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry. What's it for, though?"

"Think of it as a good luck charm." I seriously hoped she'd never have to find out. There were several players whose family members had joined the game a few years later, but I'd never learned if my sister had been among them.

"And don't tell Mom and Dad."

"Pfft! As if! It's your money. You can do what you want with it." Once that was over, I spent all the money I had left on the cheapest bottled water I could find, stuffing my backpack until it could hold no more. Part of me was tempted to shove a silver coin in every bottle, but I decided against it. There would be time to do that once the game started.

"Want some ice cream?" I asked, looking at the change I had left.

"No," my sister said, then glanced at the coins I had.

"And if you think you can buy anything with that, you're crazy."

"Yeah," I laughed, ruffling her hair with my free hand.

"I probably am." Not a word was said when we got home for lunch. As far as my parents were concerned, we'd gone shopping. My father even complimented my decision to go hiking. Being someone who had never done it himself, he was constantly urging me to "get out of my room and see the real world." Soon, he would have his wish come true.

"Is there anything you'd like to see while we're there?" my mother asked.

"It's a rather big place, so some prioritizing would be a good idea."

"Whatever," my sister mumbled, focused on her mobile.

"Whatever you choose is fine, Mom," I was quick to add.

"Is everything all right, Greg?" She gave me a concerned look.

"It's fine." I forced a smile.

"The nightmares gave me a new appreciation of things."

"Hmm. And you still don't want to talk about that?"

"I don't remember much," I lied. No one in the room believed me, but they decided to let it go. The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye. There were so many things I wanted to say, but I knew I couldn't. Telling someone about the game was the same as inviting them. Instead, I spent the last few peaceful hours of my life looking at fish, dolphins, and manatees. It would have been nice to say that I didn't think of the game, but that wasn't true. The closer I got to the allotted time, the more I worried.

"How about we check out the aquarium restaurant?" my mother asked.

"They say they have the best seafood there is." I had my doubts.

"Sure," I agreed. Last time I hadn't. Not that there would be any difference. In a few minutes, for all practical purposes, I'd be no more. This time, my last moments with my family weren't going to be mired by a vicious argument.

"I'll just go to the bathroom and be right back." I rushed off. Behind me, my mother yelled to leave my backpack. I pretended not to hear. Turning the corner, I went straight for the public bathroom. The moment I opened the door, I vanished. Welcome to the GRAND ARCANA! We hope you have a long and eventful stay!

"Look, there's another one," someone whispered. I found myself in a large, white room. Half a dozen other people were already there, looking around scared and confused. A faint smell of ozone filled the air, mixed with strong perfume. Looking at the arrivals, I saw that Cathy was already here, wearing a glitzy party dress. Last time, her appearance had tricked a lot of people into believing she'd be weak. In truth, she was a professional gymnast with aspirations to make it to the Olympic team.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Carl asked. He was a skinny man in his thirties who worked as a manager in some software company. I never liked him, and neither did anyone else.

"Err, no," I feigned ignorance.

"What's this place?"

"Welcome to purgatory," someone laughed. Glancing to the side, I saw the word scribbled in large block letters on the white wall. It was just like last time.

"Listen, do you have a phone?" Carl whispered.

"I just need to make an urgent call to—""Give it up, Carl," a man in a tourist shirt said. I vaguely remembered him from before, though not that much. I wasn't sure he made it past the first trial.

"No one has a phone."

"How can you be sure?" Carl asked.

"We have our clothes on. Someone must have a phone!" Thankfully, another unsuspecting victim materialized in the room, causing Carl to rush towards him. Some things never changed. I took the opportunity to move away from the center and look around. With the exception of Cathy, most of them amounted to nothing much. Although there was one person I had to be cautious of: Marcus. He had the appearance of a university student who'd entered on a sports scholarship.

Muscles bulged beneath rolled-up sleeves, making it clear he wasn't someone to be messed with. What no one knew was that he was part of a notorious circle of hackers and a master at gaming systems. Half of the player discoveries were largely thanks to him. The only problem was that even now I wasn't sure whether he was friend or foe. There were times in which he helped me and others in which he'd acted against me. Regardless, he was useful either way.

"Hey," I said casually, leaning on the wall beside him.

"Who was the first to arrive?" That grabbed his attention. Marcus had no patience for time wasters, but was inclined to give people who piqued his curiosity the benefit of the doubt.

"Not me." He glanced my way.

"Why?"

"I'm curious who wrote the message on the wall. And with what."

"It's coal." He looked away. I could hear the disappointment in his voice.

"Only tech vanishes."

"When's the last time someone walked about with coal in their pockets?" I asked. The question had the effect I had hoped it would. Marcus turned his head in my direction, gave me an evaluative look over, then extended his hand.

"Marcus," he said.

"Greg." I grabbed his hand. The moment I did, a message appeared before my eyes. HARLEQUIN SIGHT Activated! Marcus Reily Level: none Cards: none Special: Intuition That was unexpected. All my skills and talents were supposed to have been reset by the Joker. And yet, clearly, they weren't.