THE HALL OF MIRRORED FAILURES — EAST GALLERY
Exhibit 5: The Paladin (Not a Failure; Mounted Here Anyway)
THE PALADIN, WEEK FIVE
Jake. Season 3.
Medium: four Avalanche players, one friendship bracelet, one burgundy bead (loose), Holy Water, Swamp Vintage (sealed).
Score: 209.7 (week high)
Opponent: Kyle, 122.4
Margin: 87.3 (largest of the week)
On loan from: second place
CURATOR’S NOTE. Every crawler on Floor 3 was walked to a mirror that shows them their worst week. The Paladin was walked to his on Monday. It showed him scoring 209.7. The curators checked the mirror. The mirror is working. It could not find a failure to show him and defaulted to the present.
System Notice ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: HIGH MASS. WEEK 5 HIGH SCORE: 209.7. SECOND STRAIGHT WEEK HIGH. THE CONGREGATION: 4. THE CONGREGATION IS ALWAYS 4.
EXHIBIT 5a: SHARD, IN DISPLAY CASE. Found on the gallery floor beneath his mirror on Sunday night. No window in the Hall is missing a pane. The curators have checked every window twice.
System Notice LOOT DROP: A SHARD OF STAINED GLASS, BURGUNDY AND BLUE. TIER: COMMON. EFFECT: +2 PTS IN ONE WEEK OF HIS CHOOSING, DECLARED BY WEDNESDAY NOON.
He held it up to the light. Burgundy on one side, blue on the other, the same two colors as the bracelet. He put it in his pack beside the bead and the Holy Water. He has not used any of them. The System has stopped asking what he is saving them for and started to suspect the answer is a specific week.
EXHIBIT 5b: STATISTICS PLACARD. 990.6 points, the most in the Dungeon by 99.6. Record: 4-1. Rank: second. The first-place crawler has 161.5 fewer points and zero losses. Visitors are asked not to raise this with the exhibit. The exhibit does not complain. The exhibit has never complained.
VISITOR BOOK, MOST RECENT ENTRY.
“Week 6. I have a tab on you now. It is the longest tab in the binder.”
Signed: Blake.
The gallery closes at 24:00.
The gallery closes at 24:03.