"I'm Shadow Cat Kitty... uh... I'm nothing special, still in school." The girl exposed a slightly embarrassed smile.
The gaze of the other three fell on the silent man with green hair.
He seemed a bit uncomfortable with so many people staring at him—you could clearly hear his inhaling, and he stumbled a bit as he pulled his foot back from the wall.
He braced himself on one foot, but the other one seemed unsure of where to go. But, by flailing his arms in time, he managed to maintain his balance. After straightening up, he rigidly shivered in place and took another loud breath.
"Joker, call me Joker."
Katy flashed a brilliant smile and said, "Mister Joker, are you okay? Do you need my help to stand?"
Joker didn't say anything. He walked to the table with a slightly hunched back. His hands finally lowered, but it was as if something was pulling on his shoulders with a kind of overwhelming gloom.
"What about your professions?" asked Carol. "Okay, I don't want to brag, but you can think of me as a Cosmic Sheriff, I always seem to be busy with trivial matters."
"I am a..."
When Joker began to speak, both women sensed something weird. He seemed to be either inhaling or exhaling, with each word being forcefully squeezed out of his throat.
"I'm a freak," said Joker with a sudden undercurrent of laughter in his voice. "My profession is being a freak. But the strangest thing I just did was rob a bank."
Carol widened her eyes in shock and disgust. "You're not some supercriminal, are you? No, no... You don't look like you have any superpowers. Which prison did you escape from?"
Katy seemed quite anxious at the impending tension in the room. She fidgeted and stamped her foot, exclaiming, "Let's talk about the game for now. We're all players, right? We might even need to cooperate. What we did before isn't that important. My teacher once told me not to label anyone based on what's seen on the surface."
"Your teacher is right, Miss," Shiller said with a smile and a nod. "Humans are constantly changing. Even criminals can contribute their part in life-or-death situations. We should focus on the present."
"All of it... all of it...". Joker shook his head and then abruptly turned to glare at Shiller. Bending his neck almost at a right angle away from his torso, he looked sideways at Shiller, "Let's make a deal. I'll take off my mask if you peel off your skin."
"Joker, this is no time for jokes."
"I'm afraid I'm more serious than you think". Suddenly, Joker stepped forward—his rough hands reaching out to grip Shiller's throat, with his thumb pressed against the junction of his jawline and neck, leaving a bloody scratch almost instantly.
"Either I cut it open myself... or else cut it all open..."
Shiller looked at him with indifferent eyes. One hand reached for Joker's wrist, but Joker suddenly said, "No, Doctor, you can't resist, nor can you grab me and throw me out. You know exactly why."
"My God, what are you doing?! You…"
Carol suddenly sounded like a hen being strangled, her voice turning into a squeal because, to her horror, the man who called himself Joker slowly removed his mask to reveal a pale face scarred by chemical burns, and a bright red grin.
Katie took an instinctive step back, startled by his appearance. Although she wanted to intervene, she felt powerless to react.
Just when the impasse seemed insurmountable, a prompt sounded, "Let's move on to the game rules, please Duelists, pay attention."
Getting no response from Shiller, Joker suddenly lowered his head and started fishing around in his pockets. He clenched at the corners of his suit jacket and then patted the front and back of his trouser pockets. Suddenly, he barked furiously, "Where's my gun?! What have you done with my gun?!!! Where are my gun and money?!"
Shiller held his throat and watched everything coldly, but Carol stepped forward and tried to silence the man, "Quiet! Or we won't hear the rules!"
"Give me my weapon back! Damn it!" Joker was still screaming, spreading his arms and tilting his head back at an unnatural angle as he shouted, "I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!"
"In this game, using any aggressiveness tool or ability is prohibited. All related tools and abilities have been removed and will automatically restore upon the game's end."
With the sound of the first note of the prompt, Joker suddenly fell silent. When the prompt was finished, he lowered his arms and staggered towards the table. He flicked the hem of his jacket back with one hand and pressed the other onto the table, opening his mouth to say,
"Just look at them. These bastards are afraid of the tough and oppress the weak. If you aren't tough, they'll steal anything from you. That's money I robbed with great effort."
Carol found him even more revolting now, and she moved a step aside, aiming to stand in the same direction as Katy. But Katy hesitated and moved closer to her right, looking up at Shiller, she pointed at Joker and asked, "Doctor, is he a bit crazy?"
"Stop talking about me behind my back." Joker bent one knee and tapped the tip of his shoe against the outer side of his other foot, placing his elbow on the table, putting all his weight on this side, then pointed straight at Katy, "Cute girl, speak ill of me again, and I'll rip your mouth apart."
Katy looked utterly appalled, and just as Carol was about to explode with anger, Joker suddenly placed his hands behind his ears and swung his head vigorously, "What are the game rules? Hmm?"
"Alright, everyone. Now's not the time to argue," Shiller said calmly. "Let's hear the rules first."
With a click, a hole in the ceiling opened, and a charcoal-filled brazier slowly descended, appearing before everyone at the center of the round table.
The chain did not retract but merely hung loosely above the brazier. There was no visible fire in the brazier, only a few red-hot charcoal pieces glowing with the movement of air.
"'Game - Traveller's Fire' will begin shortly."
"Please have your matches ready, Duelists. When the game starts, starting with the duelist facing the door at the twelve o'clock position, throw your matches into the brazier in a clockwise fashion."
"Each person can choose to throw in from one to three matches per round, or choose to skip but cause the brazier to rise by 30 cm. The last duelist who finishes throwing their matches will be eliminated. The charcoal in the brazier cannot leave the brazier, and no object other than matches can be thrown into it. Violators will be eliminated."
"The game's designated area is within a one-meter radius with the round table at the center. Leaving the game area without completion will result in elimination."
"Friendly reminder, the building and furniture materials in this game area are all made of wood. Please handle fire cautiously and pay attention to safety."
With another clicking sound, the hole from which the brazier had descended closed. The material of the secret door was also flammable wood.
Everyone in the room had different expressions instantly— Shiller maintained his smile, Joker curled his lips inward, Carol looked bewildered, and Katy seemed slightly frightened.
"The game begins."