Before the ninth draw, the exchange began. As both sides were considering the exchange, it was as if they had noticed something.
The Elites
"Impossible!"
"Huh? What happened?"
"The game is ruthless! It's set a trap for both sides!"
"What trap, damn it?"
"Look! Who has the selection turn on the ninth draw? It's Rei himself. That means the tenth draw is the second Rei's, the eleventh is the real Rei's, and the twelfth is the second Rei's again. So the player who goes second is the one selecting cards in all three instances of the six-draw rule across the twenty-one draws! This means Rei can never be the one selecting the card in any of these three occurrences of the rule! He can't create a winning opportunity for himself with this rule, because the card selection turn never comes to him every six draws! In fact, every single time, the second player gets to be the one selecting under this rule. So the second player gets three winning opportunities—the first player doesn't get even one!"
"WHAAAAAT? BUT THAT'S COMPLETELY UNFAIR! THE GAME IS PRACTICALLY DESIGNED FOR THE SECOND PLAYER TO WIN!"
"That's the thing. The rule is so unfair that even we, along with both Rei and Rei's copy playing the game, thought the system would count the sixth draw itself—and assumed it would be extremely biased this way. But the system doesn't count it like that. Normally, the selection turn on the sixth draw should go to the second Rei, the twelfth to the real Rei, and the eighteenth to the second Rei. Even that way, it wouldn't be completely fair, but he'd still have a chance. But now that the real rule is understood, all three selection rights fall to the second Rei!"
"But then how is Rei going to win? It's like the game was literally made for the first player to lose!"
"I don't know how Rei will win now. But the main reason the system considers this fair must be because the copy isn't a real living being. So for the system, this isn't an injustice—it's the game's own hidden difficulty. Because the player isn't facing a real living being, the system deems this fair. The game hid this secret rule so well under an image of justice that everyone here, including us, is only just now realizing it. Even the players didn't expect it to be this unfair. Until now, everyone had built their strategies based on the rule they thought existed. But now everything has changed once again. The system's hidden trap for Rei has been revealed. Now the second Rei doesn't have to give the joker to Rei during the exchange. It no longer matters whether the second Rei has the joker when the six-draw rule comes into play, because the selection turn will always be the second Rei's. The game has become overwhelmingly easier for the second player. Come on, Rei—it's adaptation time! Show us how you'll win in a situation where victory is nearly impossible!"
Rei's Side
When I learned the rule, I began grinning to myself. My body was now trembling slightly. My face, my arms—even in this cold room, I had begun to sweat. I wouldn't die if I lost, but it felt as if I would die because of the things I valued. My body was growing warmer and warmer. I placed both hands on the table and continued grinning.
"There we go! I was wondering where the thrill of this game would come from! Hahahahahh!"
When the exchange began, the second Rei swiftly extended the joker card to the left side of the surface. I placed a random card on my own left side. After the exchange was completed, since the joker was now with me, I drew a random card from the second Rei. I now had four cards.
"We have moved to the tenth draw—three rounds have ended. Your turn, second Rei!"
I quickly took the detail-free piece from the center and put it in my pocket.
Seeing my action, the second Rei understood what I was trying to do. His eyes sharpened because he hadn't anticipated it—but I could see in his eyes that he had found a solution to this as well. On the tenth draw, the second Rei took a random non-joker card and placed it face up on the table surface.
On the eleventh draw, it was my turn. There was nothing I could do, so I drew a random card from the second Rei's cards and placed it on the table surface. I had four cards once again. Before the twelfth draw, the joker was with me, and the second Rei had two cards.
"The twelfth draw has begun. Select a card, second Rei!"
The second Rei quickly took the joker card and placed it among his own cards. My punishment was beginning.
"Before the thirteenth draw, Rei's eyes will be closed!"
Another small portal opened, and a blindfold emerged from within it. The blindfold floated over and tightly fastened itself over my eyes on its own. I couldn't see anything. The moment I lost my vision, I could hear the second Rei shuffling the cards. Shortly after, I was ready for my thirteenth draw.
We both had three cards, and the joker was with him. I didn't know where the joker was. After drawing a random card with my eyes closed and placing it down, when we moved to the fourteenth round, my eyes were uncovered. I now had four cards again. I didn't know who had the joker.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that to prevent me from using the piece, he had torn off half of the torn section of the two cards in his hand and put the torn pieces in his pocket. This way, I couldn't compare his cards using the piece I held and the torn pieces to identify the joker.
First, I checked the card I had drawn against the detail-free piece. The torn section of the card didn't match this detail-free piece, meaning the card I had drawn was not the joker. The joker was with the second Rei—it was one of those two cards. On the fourteenth draw, the second Rei quickly took one of my random cards. We both had three cards again. He similarly tore off half of the torn section of the card he'd taken and put it in his pocket, but I remembered that card was not the joker. The joker was in his hand.
Since it wasn't disrupting the game to a breaking point, even tearing this much still wasn't considered a rule violation. We had moved to the fifteenth draw.
"The exchange time has begun!"
The second Rei swiftly extended the half-torn card he remembered as the joker to the left side of the table. After I placed a random card of my own, the exchange was complete. Now the joker was with me. He wouldn't take the joker from me. On the eighteenth draw, he would take the joker back from me and change its position while my eyes were closed. There was no probability of me getting it by chance. While my eyes were closed, as I reached out my arm to try to take it, he could move the joker wherever he wanted in the direction my hand was going. I had no chance this way.
"The fifteenth draw is beginning. It's your turn, Rei!"
The Elites
"How is he going to win?"
"I don't know. In this impossible situation, how will you create a path for yourself? Show us, Rei!"
Rei's Side
I knew the joker was with me. I quickly took one of the second Rei's cards and placed it beside my own cards. I had four cards, while the second Rei had two. The joker was with me.
"The sixteenth draw has begun. Select, second Rei!"
The second Rei quickly took one of my non-joker cards. His hands moved swiftly; he seemed relaxed. Even though he wasn't human, I could sense his ease. Once again, we both had three cards, and we were moving to the seventeenth draw.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"The seventeenth draw has begun. Select, real Rei!"
He had given me the joker during the exchange instead of keeping it himself, because he was aware of the second thing I would do to identify the joker. When I examined the torn sections of the cards he had torn, I could tell which one he had torn more carelessly—which one he had torn while thinking it was the joker. He couldn't tear them perfectly, because I wasn't skilled with handiwork. He could have tried to tear one in a deliberately more exaggerated manner to make me think it was the joker, but since I wasn't good with handiwork, he wouldn't be able to do that. Even if he tried, he'd only be able to make an exaggerated difference, not a subtle one. And if he did it that way, with almost no card left, it was uncertain whether it would count as a rule violation. That's why he opted for the guaranteed second strategy. He would take the joker from me on the eighteenth draw, rearrange or shuffle it while my eyes were closed if needed, and then slowly win the game with the joker in his possession. Because I didn't know the joker's location—it would all come down to chance.
I took a deep breath. The joker was with me; we both had three cards. I brought my arm to the corner of the table and began striking the sharp corner edge repeatedly until it bled. The second Rei seemed surprised by what I was doing for the first time. When my arm started bleeding, I took the blood with my finger and smeared it all over the card I remembered as the joker, covering every part of it. Then I looked at the second Rei.
"The game is over."
"Ha?"
"The game is over. I'm going to win."
"What are you saying?"
"Even if you cover other cards with your own blood, I've already etched the shape of the blood on this card into my mind. It's nearly impossible for you to replicate it. You can't tear the card any further—the blood has covered almost every part of it. If you tear it, you'll probably lose the game. There's nothing left for you to do."
The second Rei looked at my bleeding arm first, then at the bloodied card, as if not understanding. Eventually, he understood. The moment he did, his eyes opened wide with immense shock for the first time.
The Elites
"What's going on? How is Rei going to win?"
"IMPOSSIBLE! NOW I UNDERSTAND!"
"What's happening? What did Rei do?"
"After everyone realized the rule before the ninth draw, Rei adapted to this impossible situation. Everything since then has been his plan!"
"How?"
"When the rule was discovered on the ninth draw, Rei's situation seemed nearly impossible. His only winning condition was to take the joker from the second Rei at an appropriate time and win the game. But even that was becoming increasingly impossible, because his eyes would be closed twice in a row, and he would begin to forget the joker's location. The situation seemed hopeless. When there was no way out, he created his own way out!"
"His first move—taking the piece—was a move to divert the second Rei from his real move and steer the second Rei into tearing off half of the torn sections of his own cards. By taking the detail-free piece from the center, Rei signaled to the second Rei that even if he forgot the joker's location, he could compare the torn sections with this piece to identify the real joker. In response, the second Rei took the message and countered by tearing off half of the torn sections of his cards. This way, Rei couldn't compare the second Rei's cards with the piece in his hand and thus couldn't identify the joker's location. Rei deliberately steered the second Rei into doing this. This made it harder for the second Rei to think about his real move, while also pushing him in the direction Rei wanted."
"Then Rei used the piece in his hand to check whether the card he had drawn was the joker. During the exchange, the second Rei gave the joker to Rei because he himself knew how intelligent Rei was and was aware that Rei lacked handiwork skills. Since Rei remembered the cards, there was a chance he could find the joker by analyzing the tear patterns in detail for ten minutes. That's why the second Rei opted for a more guaranteed strategy: after taking the card from Rei on the eighteenth draw, he would rearrange or shuffle the cards while Rei's eyes were closed on the nineteenth draw. Since Rei's eyes would be closed again, he wouldn't remember the joker's location once the cards were shuffled. Rei was fully aware that the second Rei would think this way."
"Until the seventeenth draw, the game continued with the correct moves as they were. On the seventeenth draw, the selection turn was with Rei; both had three cards, and the joker was with him. The second Rei would take the joker from Rei on the eighteenth draw and have Rei's eyes closed as a penalty. Before the eighteenth draw arrived, Rei began executing his real move. Since the corner of the table was sharp, after taking a few hits, his arm would start bleeding. He transferred the blood from his arm onto the joker. This way, no matter what happened, the joker was now identifiable. Even if his eyes were closed and the cards were shuffled, it wouldn't matter—because the joker was now distinguishable by the blood. Mixing his own blood with other blood would be unnecessary, because Rei had already etched the pattern of the blood flow into his mind, and he could absolutely tell the difference. Tearing the bloodied card was impossible—the blood had spread over almost every part of the card, and you'd have to tear it almost to the point of destroying the card, which would now count as a rule violation since it would damage the game itself."
"This is where the real point begins. Whether the second Rei believed the bloodied card was the joker or not, whether he took the joker on the eighteenth round or not—IT DIDN'T MATTER! Because after smearing his own blood on the joker, the card selection turn on the seventeenth draw was Rei's. After drawing a random card from the second Rei, even if the second Rei took the joker on the eighteenth draw and blinded Rei on the nineteenth draw, when Rei couldn't draw the joker while blind on the nineteenth draw, the second Rei—since the joker was with him—would draw a random card from Rei on the twentieth draw. Now Rei's eyes were open, and nothing could be done to prevent him from identifying the joker. After the second Rei drew a random card on the twentieth draw, when they reached the final draw—the twenty-first draw—the card selection turn would be Rei's. Even though the joker was with the second Rei, he couldn't hide it because of the blood stain. When Rei easily took the joker on the twenty-first draw due to the blood stain, the joker would remain in Rei's hand at the end of the twenty-first draw. Rei would win the game."
"Likewise, even if the second Rei realized this and deliberately didn't take the joker on the eighteenth draw, Rei—with his eyes open on the nineteenth draw and the joker with him—would draw a random card from the second Rei. The card selection turn on the twentieth draw would be the second Rei's. If he now drew the bloodied joker, the joker would be with him on the twenty-first draw—but the twenty-first draw hadn't ended yet. On the twenty-first draw, the card selection turn would be Rei's again; he would take the bloodied joker from the second Rei and end the twenty-first draw. The card would end up with Rei again, and he would win the game. If the second Rei again deliberately didn't draw the joker on the twentieth draw, the joker would be with Rei on the twenty-first draw. Since the card selection turn was Rei's again, he would draw a random card from the second Rei, the twenty-first draw would end, and since the joker was with Rei, he would win the game again."
"In fact, the same applies even after the second Rei takes the joker and blinds Rei: even if the second Rei deliberately let Rei take the joker on the nineteenth draw while Rei's eyes were closed, the card selection turn on the twentieth draw would be the second Rei's. The bloodied joker wouldn't be with him. If he didn't take the joker, the card selection turn on the twenty-first draw would pass to Rei again; Rei would take another random card from the second Rei and end the twenty-first draw with the joker in his hand, winning the game. If the second Rei did take the joker on the twentieth draw, the card selection turn on the twenty-first draw would pass to Rei once more. This time, since the joker was still identifiable by the blood stain, Rei would take the bloodied joker, and the twenty-first card selection would end. Since the joker was now with Rei, he would win the game once again."
"Rei created his own winning condition in a situation where victory was nearly impossible. He created a condition such that the moment the opponent fell into the trap, no matter the probability, even in an unfair position, he would win the game. Rei surpassed his own cognitive limits—when he learned the rule on the ninth selection, he adapted to the situation and developed this strategy with all its details. Since he realized it on the ninth selection, Rei calculated twelve moves ahead, from start to finish, within that very round, complete with all the details I've described. In a nearly impossible situation, he surpassed the cognitive limits of his own self and created a winning condition from within impossibility where he would win no matter what. Rei has now definitively surpassed himself!"
Rei's Side
Understanding the situation, the second Rei realized there was nothing he could do. Rei had the joker on the seventeenth draw; the selection turn was his. After drawing a random card from the second Rei, they moved to the eighteenth draw. On the eighteenth draw, the second Rei knew he would lose no matter what he did, but he had to keep playing. He took the joker from Rei.
"Before moving to the nineteenth selection, Rei's eyes are being closed!"
Rei's eyes were closed. The joker was with the second Rei. It didn't matter what Rei took—he drew a random card with his eyes closed. When they moved to the twentieth draw, Rei's eyes were opened; he hadn't drawn the joker. The bloodied joker remained with the second Rei. The second Rei drew a random card from Rei. They moved to the twenty-first draw. On the twenty-first draw, the card selection turn was Rei's, and the bloodied joker was with the second Rei. The second Rei wasn't even trying anymore. Rei simply took the bloodied joker from the second Rei. The twenty-first draw ended; the rounds of the game had ended. The bloodied joker remained with Rei. The winner was Rei.
THE GAME HAS ENDED! WINNER: THE REAL REI!
Digital blue screens began appearing everywhere, and all the elites were shouting at the top of their lungs with excitement. When I won the game, the Rei across from me—staring at the table with an expressionless face like a piece of glass—shattered and vanished. There was no one across from me anymore. I had won the game. I could hear the shouts, but I continued sitting at the table in silence, simply staring at the table, just like the fake Rei had done at the very beginning. The game had ended.