The Innkeeper



The person sitting next to Lex looked him in the eyes. Although he had been scared and panicked when he woke up in his current predicament, he had calmed down enough to think. It was clear to him, and everyone else, that Lex was trying to do something.

Most likely he was trying to escape, which made the most sense. But he honestly saw no way they could get out of the situation. In which case, what he had to do was to make sure he didn't get dragged into any extra trouble.

"I think the more the merrier," the man managed to say without stuttering. "One person alone gaining an appreciation for living with purpose is just one person alone. How can he compete with more people?"

The man didn't know what purpose Lex had, but it seemed like he wanted to assure his own survival in exchange for giving up the rest, so he couldn't agree to what Lex said. But he did not realize that he had reacted exactly how Lex wanted.

"You know what, you're right. I was wrong. I was too caught up in the quality versus quantity thing, but there's no reason why it can't be both."

No matter how weak and hurried it was, Lex wanted to set a precedent for someone changing their views when encountering a better alternative. He did not expect to have the Game Master change his plans by reasoning with his better judgment. No, by doing this, Lex was a seed in the Game Masters subconscious, letting him think that changing his views was an option.

He did not know how much such a thing would help, but he needed to get all the aid he could because his actual plan was a lot more aggressive and could backfire just as easily. Of course, knowing the Game Masters emotions due to the data provided by the trial would make it much easier for him to achieve such a thing.

For the rest of the round, Lex did not speak, and maintained a casual, yet confident smile. The remaining players introduced themselves and exchanged some cards, not saying anything unnecessary.

When it was once again the Game Master's turn, he turned to look at Lex, as if to see if he had anything to say. Without averting his gaze, the man picked up the deck and in a familiar, fluid motion, slid one more card to each person.

"Can you feel your heart beating?" the Game Master asked. He was likely addressing the whole group, but his eyes never left Lex.

"Is the weight of your decision haunting your every thought? Do you feel… alive? But are you really living with purpose, and making decisions for that purpose, or are you still just… existing? Is it just enough to pick up cards and hope you have the best hand? What about… messing with others to influence what they do? For example, what would you think if I tell you, I only need one more King, and I'll be all but certain of passing the round."

Many expressions across the table suddenly changed, and one of the contestants even pulled his cards closer together. But his sudden and obvious movement drew a lot of attention, and he suddenly realized that he had revealed at least one of his cards to the group. The semblance of calmness that Lex had managed to create earlier was already gone.

"Now why would you do that, I wonder?" mused Lex aloud, not even bothering to look at his new card. "What is the purpose behind your action? Is it to make the game more aligned with the unpredictable nature of the world, or is it just to provide a tinge of pleasure to a small man with a wounded ego and inferiority complex?"

Everyone turned to look at Lex with horror in their eyes. He had been vocal from before, but he had never insulted the Game Master like that. He was just asking for death!

"What about you?" asked the Game Master, his voice perfectly calm still. "What purpose is guiding your actions? Do you want to provoke me? Do you think you can somehow escape the inevitable show of hands at the end if you find some other way out?"

The Game Master picked up the new card he had given to himself and nodded, before adding it to the ones in his hand.

"Do I even need to provoke you?" Lex asked, shaking his head. "It won't matter if I do. For someone who speaks so much about living with purpose instead of just existing, it is fairly obvious that you're also merely existing within your own prison."

"Existing? I am not existing!" the Game Master said with enthusiasm bordering on aggression. This was the first time he showed any emotion other than absolute calm.

"I am breaking every norm, every convenience, every rule just to follow my purpose! My existence itself is reeked with purpose."

"Sure you are," said Lex in a sarcastic tone. "I am the one living with purpose, not you. You may think that you are, because how out of the ordinary your actions seem, but I can see right through you. You don't believe in 'purpose'. You just believe in indulging your mental illness.

"And no, I'm not referring to kidnapping and threatening people as mental illness. No, I'm referring to the part of your brain that defined the perfect rules you have to live by. The part that perfectly defined what 'purpose' is. The part of your mind that told you doing things a certain way is 'living with conscious intention' instead of a sickness.The part of your brain that carefully designed each stage of this game we're playing. I bet you even have a few ways to make the 'game' more interesting, already planned. At the relevant round, you'll slowly introduce more and more complications, all the while telling yourself that you're just adding more layers to the game to promote the players to live with 'purpose'

"I bet it's not even limited to that is it? I bet your 'purpose' has infiltrated every facet of your life."

Lex chuckled as he noticed the Game Master softly trembling beneath his mask, though the numbers above his head clearly let Lex know how the man was feeling. He continued to press on.