5 I explained. They did not like it.

"Do go ahead and explain, you better have a good ass explanation!" Steve snarled at me as he picked up his spear once again. Pointing it straight at my neck.

Jake also followed suit and pointed his gun at me.

I breathed a sigh of relief and looked around to see if any doors had opened.

"Well, she was the most suspicious one after all."

"Yes, but we still hadn't made a vote." Jake frowned in disapproval.

"She was the biggest threat in the room though. There was no other way one of us could have killed her without suffering any injuries. I had to take the gamble. If we were going to kill her, that was the best time to do so."

"Tell me why shouldn't we kill you right now." Steve prodded me with the spear, drawing blood from my cheeks.

I took another step back to step out of his range and wiped off the blood before continuing to speak.

"Since any doors haven't opened it means that she isn't the killer. Since I am still alive, it also means that she couldn't have been the villager. This means that she must have been the clown."

Steve just scoffed in response.

"What if you are the killer, in that case, she couldn't have been the clown and might have been the villager."

"If she was the villager that would mean that Jake is lying. Which would mean that I am the clown and he is the killer."

"No, it's possible that Jake was actually the detective pretending to be a villager."

"Then you must be the killer. I am the clown and Jake is the detective."

"Wait that makes sense… NO! I am not the killer."

"You say that, but you haven't stopped pointing your weapon at me."

"No stop! What if you are the killer, Mary was the villager and between me and Jake one is the detective and one is the clown."

I shook my head in affirmation

"While that does make sense logically, at least two people in this room know that I am not the killer and one of you two is.

Let the other one just believe me for a second here, if someone tries to kill me before I finish, then they must be the killer.

Let me analyze all possible cases here for you. Can I speak now?"

Jake silently nodded at me and pointed his other rifle at Steve.

Steve just grimaced silently and picked up my pistol and pointed it towards Jake with his off-hand.

"Go ahead"

I nodded and started explaining.

"Case 1: Jake is the killer. This means Steve is telling the truth about being a detective. In that case, I am the clown and Mary is the villager.

If this is true, Steve can kill me without danger since the detective can kill the clown. After I die he can fight one-on-one against Jake.

Case 2: Steve is the killer. Jake is lying about being a villager and is actually the detective. That means that I am the clown and Mary is the villager once again.

Steve cannot kill me in this case. Jake can take the risk and kill me and have a one-on-one with you after I die.

Case 3: You are the killer, Jake is telling the truth about being the villager and there is a 50% chance of me being the clown.

If you try to kill me now, there is a 50% chance of your survival. Jake cannot kill me since he is the villager. In that case, it would be better for you to kill Jake first. If I am the clown we both get to live, if I am the detective we can both fight to the death. I am unarmed right now and you will have a greater chance than 50% to live."

Steve and Jake fell into deep thought before Steve suddenly seemed to have an epiphany.

"Ha! What if I am the villager."

Was this guy for real?

"In that case, you can't kill me either way. I don't care what you do. Jake being the killer should try to kill you first. I am unarmed, he can decide what to do with me after dealing with you."

Steve shut his mouth, then opened it again and then closed it again akin to a gaping goldfish.

Since each of them knew that they were the killer. It was best to let the other person kill me instead, but that wasn't going to happen.

Seeing that their heads were completely occupied in trying to decipher the logic behind my game I decided to bury the final nail into the coffin.

I whispered to them, almost sinisterly.

"There is 5th case I haven't yet told you about."

"What?"

"If I have been lying about this game the whole time. The true way to get out of this room would be buried with me once I die. Killing me now has zero benefits".

"Since I am unarmed after all, even if, hypothetically, someone's goal was to kill everyone in this room. It would be best to save me for last. It would be better to deal with the other person first."

.

.

.

Silence.

Complete, absolute silence.

Both Jake and Steve just stared at me as the reality of the situation dawned on them.

The 5th and final case I introduced was the key to this entire situation.

Everything else I had said before was just bullshit to confuse them and occupy their minds.

If they thought hard enough, they will understand that the only reason I am safe is that both of them think that they are the killer.

But that wasn't important.

The real game was to catch the imposter.

They had become so engrossed in the fake game that I set up that everyone forgot about the real objective.

For the imposter, they just had to kill everyone in this room.

For the real candidate, they needed to find a real way to escape.

Either way, killing me first would be the same as signing their own death warrants.

Now, I had all bases covered.

Even though I was the one who with his hands raised up and completely 'unarmed', the entire situation was under my control.

This was what taking the initiative meant.

By taking the first kill and eliminating the most volatile and dangerous person in the room, I had set up an inescapable net where no matter what choice my opponents made, my survival was guaranteed.

I gave the two of them a confident grin before asking.

"Have I managed to give the two of you a reasonable explanation?"

After another moment Jake finally decided to break the overbearing silence.

"Did you plan for everything to play out this way from the very start?"

"Now, Now~ That's not important. What's important is what you will do next. How about let's all come clean? Who is the killer, let me help you kill the other person."

"Crazy shit! If you are the detective won't it be a safer bet for you to kill the killer instead?"

"Steve, Steve, Steve. Are you asking this because you really don't know, or are you still too engrossed in your role?"

"You-"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Before Steve could even finish his sentence, Jake had emptied an entire clip of his rifle onto him.

Steve barely managed to fire back one shot before falling to the ground.

He opened his mouth again as if trying to say something, but all he managed to do was cough up some blood before the last embers of his life were extinguished.

The body count in the room just rose up by one.

Jake heaved a sigh of relief before shouting at the corpse.

"Don't get distracted in the middle of a fight! Idiot!"

"In his defence, it was more of a Mexican shootout."

"You are 'unarmed' so at best it was a wild west quick draw contest."

"I think they called it a duel or something"

"Does this really matter right now?"

I glanced at him and noticed that he had gotten hit by Steve's last desperate shot.

He was sitting on the ground and clutching his left arm to stop the bleeding. That still didn't stop him from pointing one of his guns toward me.

I smiled back as I shook my head in schadenfreude.

"I guess not."

When it came to gunfights at close range, the difference between life and death is but mere milliseconds.

Getting injured was getting off lightly.

*DING*

I turned my head in the direction of the sound to find the door from which Steve had entered the room had opened up.

"Congratulations! I guess we got the killer."

"You are still going on with that. If I really believed that nonsense, I would have shot you first instead just to make sure."

"Looks like you knew from the start…"

"So, what was really in there?"

"There is one imposter in the room, kill him to clear the test."

"Nasty… no what's nastier is how you managed to take advantage of the situation to ensure you would win."

"Haha, you flatter me~"

"No really… wait, what would you have done if I was the imposter or if Steve won instead"

"Haha… but you were the one who won in the end right. I believed in you."

After all, a 2 in 3 chance of winning was better than a 1 in 3 chance of winning.

I approached him and offered him a hand to help him up.

He snorted at my comment before dropping his gun and accepting my hand.

"Bullshit, I don't believe you."

I chuckled in response while helping him up.

He was right after all. That was bullshit.

I always aim for 100%.

"I would have stabbed you just like this once you had lowered your guard against me."