Such a childish decision made Ian's gaze become blank again. Before he had time to react, the cold sweat on his body faded, and the stiffness and pain at the back of his neck also completely disappeared—he had returned to health.
Ian dazedly lowered his head; that deck of poker cards, without knowing when, had returned to his hand, restored to its original appearance.
The last trace of fear in Ian's heart also vanished, leaving behind only a dead silent calm.
This miraculous scene far exceeded Ian's understanding of the extraordinary. He realized that it was no longer a matter of whether or not he could resist—in the worst case, he might die and no one would even know.
That's why she could naturally say, "Just kill them all."
Ian had considered begging for mercy, but Alice's displayed personality clearly didn't follow common sense. In Ian's view, begging for mercy would only backfire.
Resolutely going to his death might perhaps pique her interest a little, and let her spare me a life… Ha.
"Alright," Ian closed his eyes, exhaled a breath, then calmly said, "What are we playing?"
Eh, seems like the effect was counterproductive… Alice fell into thought.
Things seemed to spiral out of control from the moment she whimsically caused Ian to twist his neck.
Ian mistakenly thought that was a threat, while Alice, who was just making a bad joke, ultimately didn't explain herself, preserving her own image, and using that image to achieve her goals.
But Ian's attitude grew more and more terrified, even to the point of utter despair—Alice felt that she had left this child with a serious psychological shadow.
But, if she suddenly tried to comfort him now, wouldn't that be slapping herself in the face?
With that kind of mindset, she made the choice just now—using a childish and absurd proposal like "let's bet on it" as the conclusion, and then used "restart" to heal Ian's twisted neck.
But, Alice felt that Ian's psychological shadow seemed to grow even deeper.
Moreover, it felt completely beyond saving now… If I comfort him now, it probably won't help at all, and might even ruin my image…
Alice really wanted to sigh, but held back. After thinking for a bit, she replied:
"Let's keep it simple.
"Draw five cards, add up the values, whoever's higher wins… no, let's just draw one card each, whoever has the higher one wins.
"Actually, using dice might be better this way… forget it, let's go with cards.
"Mm… just 1-2-3-4-5 like that, J-Q-K count as 11, 12, 13.
"To be fair, you shuffle."
Though who shuffles doesn't really matter, I can decide who wins anyway… Alice added this in her heart, but on the surface she looked at Ian with a smile and said:
"Shall we start?"
Ian silently began shuffling the cards.
He actually knew a little sleight of hand—not very good at it, but if the opponent was just a regular person who knew nothing, he figured his sleight of hand could still be useful.
But this one…
After shuffling, Ian glanced at Alice and found that she didn't care at all what he was doing or how he was shuffling.
Alice was using her fingers to trace the patterns on the table, looking very focused.
She doesn't care what I'm doing… why? Ian pressed his lips together, gave a light cough as a reminder, then pushed the cards forward and said:
"To be fair, you deal."
Ian had seen such casual people at card tables before. Usually, such people had two possibilities: either they were certain of the outcome already, or they simply didn't care about the result.
No matter which, cheating wasn't a good idea—especially since Ian wasn't confident he wouldn't be caught.
Alice glanced at him in slight surprise. She suddenly realized that leaving everything to Ian wouldn't meet the appearance of fairness—after all, Ian was also a player, not a dealer.
Originally wanting to slack off, Alice didn't object, silently accepted the cards, lowered her gaze to keep Ian from seeing her eyes change, then reached out and drew two cards.
Afterward, she pushed one card across the table to Ian with a smile, inviting:
"Take a look?"
Ian lifted the card. His face instantly turned pale—it was a 2.
Eh, even if one is prepared to die, when death really arrives, they'll still be afraid…
Alice looked at Ian's expression, a bit of surprise showing in her eyes. Then, she revealed an Amon-like teasing smile and, imitating Amon's tone, said:
"Oh my, what to do? Looks like you're about to lose?"
She was satisfied to see Ian sitting dazed in place, the light seemingly gone from his eyes.
Alice then turned over her own card, revealing an A, and with a smile but a tone of regret said:
"Oh my, what a pity—it seems I'm the one who lost.
"Looks like I really shouldn't get smug too early…
"Anyway, congratulations. You've won.
"Happy?"
—She did it on purpose.
Ian read that meaning from Alice's expression. After the emotional rollercoaster, his body felt drained and weak, but his mind had become all the more calm. He looked at Alice, not speaking for a long time.
This made Alice impatient. She leaned forward and asked, "Are you using silence to express your anger?"
Ian stayed silent for a few seconds, then looked down at the card in his hand and asked:
"Would you even care about a toy's feelings?"
"I didn't treat you like a toy," Alice exaggeratedly widened her eyes, "I'm not… mm, anyway, I clearly didn't do anything excessive, right?"
After a pause, she suddenly seemed unsure. A little hesitant, she asked:
"Probably not… you weren't actually hurt, right?"
Ian opened his mouth, suddenly unsure what to say. He closed his eyes and didn't answer the question, but instead asked:
"What do you need me to do?"
There was confusion in Alice's eyes. She was still caught up in the earlier question: "When did I ever treat you like a toy? I… I just teased you a little… just a few times."
After a few seconds of silence, Ian softly said:
"When my life is completely controlled by another person, how she thinks no longer matters.
"The truth is, I am her toy. Whether I live or die depends on which outcome she finds more fun."
Alice froze for a moment, looking at Ian in a daze. She suddenly recalled that joke she made earlier that made Klein angry.
To humans, life isn't something that can be taken lightly for amusement… Alice blinked, and belatedly realized this.
Yes, to humans, life is a very precious thing—and precious things… shouldn't be used as a joke.
Alice pressed her lips together, looked at Ian, and her expression suddenly softened. She gently said:
"Thank you. And also… I'm sorry."