The Many Sexy Ends of Two Best Friends

You stare bleary-eyed at precarious pyramids of gamebooks strewn out across a card table that was starting to bow in the middle. A bespectacled woman so small that you could barely see her beyond the stacks sits on the other side. She pays you little attention as you browse.

The book fair was starting to look like a bust. You came thinking that you were going to recapture your childhood and find some of the adventure novels that you'd spent a good amount of your youth reading, but all anyone had were reprints. Those old gamebooks were so compelling because of the horrible and often gruesome ends that they had in store for you and the protagonists, but those types of endings weren't considered appropriate anymore so the new publisher censored them in the reprints. You wanted the real stakes of the originals, not some cheap imitations.

"Is this all you have?" You ask.

"That's it." The woman replies brusquely. "Maybe check some of the other tables."

"I have." You say, trying to keep your cool.

The woman picks up a stray book from the pile and examines it.

"Aren't you a bit old for these books anyway? My thirteen-year-old grew out of them." She tossed the book back on the pile. "All he does now is play something called Fortnite. I don't know what it is with kids these days and their Nintendo Playstations and what-not..."

The woman continues to ramble on about her teenager's interests, but your eyes focus on the book she discarded like it was trash. It had the classic white cover, the red banner at the top, and the Bantam Books logo in the corner. It was an original copy. But not just any original copy. The title jumps out at you in bold violet lettering—THE TRAP OF THE TRICKSTER.

What. The. Fuck. Is this a dream? How in the world does this lady have a copy of the rarest of all gamebooks, and how did you not see it before? The Trap of the Trickster was an internet legend akin to Polybius. Rumors were that several of the endings were considered too sexual in nature. Parents complained. The entire printing run was burned except for a few copies thought to be lost to the ages. But here it is, so tantalizingly close. All you have to do is reach out and—

"Are you going to buy anything or not?"

You try to be nonchalant about it. You don't want to let the woman in on what a priceless book she has. You take it along with another three below it and then hold out a ten-dollar-bill. Your hand shakes as you wait for the woman to take it. She gives you a sidelong glance but takes your money without incident. She thanks you and goes back to pretending you were never there.

You clutch the book to your chest possessively and race to your car. You feel like your entire life has been leading up to this moment. You crack open the book, being extra careful with the dog-eared pages. On the first page a warning greets you.

WARNING!

You are about to encounter one of the most cunning and powerful beings in the universe—

The Trickster.

It's of the utmost importance that you read every page of this book carefully and
follow the directions found on its pages if you hope to avoid the Trickster's traps!

Only those that are quick of mind and brave of soul will make it to the end of this book.
If you are not up to the task, please close this book now.

However, if you want to undertake the greatest challenge of your life, proceed to the next page.