WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 101: [REDACTED]

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Jaelae Building Facilities Inventory.

If “facility custodian” meant “managed item,” then “list” would be more appropriate than “inventory.”

Rustle.

When I opened the yellow file folder, I found several A4 sheets titled “Jaelae Building Facilities Inventory.”

“......”

Just as I thought.

[Author｜[garbled]

Observer｜Seon Yu-han]

It was strange from the very first line beneath the title.

The author’s name was strange, and so was the designation “Observer.”

“Why? Is there something weird written there?”

[Observer｜Seon Yu-han, Yun Geon-min]

The moment Yun Geon-min moved close beside me, his name was added to the Observer field.

“Huh? What kind of document is this? Why is everything redacted? I can only see our names...... Wait, this is an artifact, right? There’s no way a document with both our names on it could exist.”

Smack!

Yun Geon-min had been peeking at it from the side, and apparently found it fascinating. He swiftly took the file folder from my hands.

“Oh! The name changed. It really is an artifact. But everything else is redacted, so I can’t see a thing. I wonder whether it’ll even be useful......”

......He couldn’t see anything except the Observers’ names?

When I held out my hand to check the document again, Yun Geon-min handed it back without complaint.

“Ah, well, it’s not like this is the first artifact I’ve ever seen, but I almost never get to touch one this close up. So I got curious......”

“Ah, really.”

[Observer｜Seon Yu-han]

I answered vaguely and slowly scanned the inventory table beneath the Observer field.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜███████

｜Assigned Facilities｜███████

｜Notes｜███████

―――――――――――――――

A lot of it really was redacted.

But not all of it.

......At least, not to me.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Prajna [prajñā]

｜Assigned Facilities｜All of Basement Level 5

｜Notes｜Only when a sentient being [sattva] attains correct enlightenment, ███████

―――――――――――――――

There were things I could see.

At first, I thought it was because I’d entered the General Affairs Team office after inputting the Superuser cipher.

But as I kept reading......

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Teacher

｜Assigned Facilities｜Part of Floor 2 (Uri Saennal Daycare)

｜Notes｜“Children” or “friends” are appendages of “Teacher” and are not entered in this inventory. ███████

―――――――――――――――

It seemed the redactions were lifted only for information I already knew.

And even then, only to a limited extent.

So the Jaelae Building Facilities Inventory was a list of the monsters that managed each facility in Jaelae Building.

Those without physical forms, classified as anomalous phenomena, didn’t seem to be listed.

“There’s nothing to read, so what are you staring at so hard? Can you...... see something?”

Yun Geon-min had never encountered a single monster in this Labyrinth, so all this information was redacted for him.

“No, not really. I just thought maybe something would show up if we kept looking. It could be a rule where it becomes readable after enough time passes.”

“Oh, is that so? That could be it.”

Yun Geon-min came back beside me and craned his neck, so I adjusted the angle to make it easier for him to see.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Hosoo [Hosea]

｜Assigned Facilities｜All of Floor 5

｜Notes｜ -

―――――――――――――――

“Hmm......”

Even after I adjusted it so he could look comfortably, he still couldn’t see any of this.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Si (█)

｜Assigned Facilities｜███████

｜Notes｜ None

―――――――――――――――

......Of course, there were plenty of parts I couldn’t see either.

Si?

I had no idea what kind of monster this was.

Its assigned facilities were hidden, so I couldn’t even make a guess yet.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜𝟫𝟤𝟤𝟥𝟥𝟩𝟤𝟢𝟥𝟨𝟪𝟧𝟦𝟩𝟩𝟧𝟪𝟢𝟪

｜Assigned Facilities｜All of Floor 12, elevators

｜Notes｜Its operational authority over the elevators is limited to control. Elevator doors may only be opened or closed on Floor 12.

―――――――――――――――

This entity with the long name seemed to be the server system itself, nestled deep inside the IT Operations Room across the hall.

Maybe it was considered a monster rather than an anomalous phenomenon because it had physical components, hardware.

It didn’t seem to refer to Brother.

According to the notes, it only had authority on Floor 12.

Brother had revealed himself on other floors too.

Always through machines, but still.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Tal

｜Assigned Facilities｜Elevators, all of Floor 12

｜Notes｜Only when “𝟫𝟤𝟤𝟥𝟥𝟩𝟤𝟢𝟥𝟨𝟪𝟧𝟦𝟩𝟩𝟧𝟪𝟢𝟪” controls an elevator and opens its doors on Floor 12 will Tal’s assigned facilities expand to all of Floor 12.

―――――――――――――――

Tal.

It was a fitting name, both for the way it tore Chae Jae-ha’s corpse apart and stuck the pieces onto itself as though trying to hide behind them like a mask, and for the way it had appeared when it opened the doors of an elevator that had fallen in what looked like a completely unexpected accident.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Doi

｜Assigned Facilities｜Part of Floor 11 (Future Strategy Team, Budget Planning Team)

―――――――――――――――

So it was Doi, the gambler’s die made of flesh and eyeballs.

The notes were fairly long, but surprisingly interesting.

―――――――――――――――

｜Notes｜If “Doi” loses a wager, it may transcend the rules and leave its assigned facilities by releasing the winner from the company, subject to the terms agreed upon in advance for the stakes. Such a serious violation of internal regulations shall result in disciplinary action through the abolition of “Doi’s” rules. “Misfortune of 1” may transcend the rules and leave its assigned facilities through those who forfeit the wager, and the company does not deem this a violation of internal regulations.

―――――――――――――――

Doi losing and allowing its opponent to escape the Labyrinth was a serious violation of internal regulations?

That made sense.

It was letting someone leave not just its assigned area, but the entire Labyrinth.

The abolition of Doi’s rules probably meant Doi’s disappearance.

Of course, the phrase “disciplinary action” was probably nothing more than the Labyrinth imitating corporate paperwork.

Taking that into account, there was no need to take every word at face value by human standards. I didn’t know how much weight disappearance held for monsters, but......

“You can wager nothing but your lives in a gamble with me. I never treat lives lightly, and so I never take a wager lightly.”

That thing had been genuinely serious when it faced us.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜TARAE keeper

｜Assigned Facilities｜Part of Floor 2 (TARAE)

｜Notes｜ -

―――――――――――――――

“......”

To get a hand flashlight that could light the darkness of the Mechanical Room, I had kept trying to enter TARAE.

To keep myself from having a fit over the trauma of that first “severing,” I had steadied myself by thinking of worse pain. Sometimes, I went to other floors just to suffer something worse.

By the end of it, I no longer lost consciousness while gasping for breath in TARAE, or bit at my fingers trying to cut off too many of them.

But I still became anxious whenever I thought of that place.

Some things couldn’t be fixed.

I had to live on, wearing those unfixable things stitched back together.

Just as I always had.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Pipi (██)

｜Assigned Facilities｜Part of Floor 14 (Neosoft)

｜Notes｜ -

―――――――――――――――

Pipi of Happyland.

It had contributed more than anything to helping me overcome my fits in TARAE.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Gamagwi

｜Assigned Facilities｜Part of Floor 14 (vacant office)

｜Notes｜ -

―――――――――――――――

Ah.

The thing that kept its whole body hidden beneath a thick coat, scarf, and hat, carried a Happyland photograph around, and stuck it to the wall.

I still hadn’t looked inside, so I didn’t know exactly what form it took.

It was something I must neither see nor know.

That was the feeling it gave me.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Puppet

｜Assigned Facilities｜All of Floor 15

｜Notes｜Only when “Puppet” escapes subordination and gains sovereignty, ███████

―――――――――――――――

The copycat mannequin that came out of the supply room at Lee Na-hyun’s workplace, Moment O’Clock.

The mannequin that made me copy it once it caught up to and surpassed my speed.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜crash test dummy

｜Assigned Facilities｜Part of Floor 2 (Chaekbang Ollae)

｜Notes｜The aliases of “crash test dummy” are unique identifying information generated by randomly selecting three syllables from the sample names “Hong Gildong” and “Kim Yeong-hui,” and are not entered in this inventory.

―――――――――――――――

I remembered the librarian’s face as she died under my hands, strangled over and over again.

Kim Gilyeong.

For a name made that way, it was pretty, which made it all the more unfortunate.

If it had been put together just a little more awkwardly, I might have realized sooner that she was a monster.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Cadet (██)

｜Assigned Facilities｜Part of Floor 3 (Conference Room D)

｜Notes｜███████

―――――――――――――――

Those disgusting monsters who called me Teacher.

The redacted notes bothered me.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Horsehead

｜Assigned Facilities｜All of Basement Level 3

｜Notes｜ -

―――――――――――――――

The black horse that cut apart people’s torsos and limbs to make itself a headless rider.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜[garbled]

｜Assigned Facilities｜[garbled]

｜Notes｜[garbled]

―――――――――――――――

......I couldn’t even begin to guess what this bizarre entry meant.

Given the broken form of its name, it seemed related to the author.

Anyway, this was the last entity whose name I could read.

―――――――――――――――

※All facility custodian names above were freely assigned by the author for convenience in preparing and distinguishing this inventory, and for the Observer’s safety, so as not to exceed the Observer’s rationality level.

※The order in which this inventory is arranged does not reflect the hierarchy of facility custodians or rules.

※“All” is an expression used for convenience and does not necessarily mean every facility on the relevant floor is included, such as restrooms, emergency passage landings, or lighting.

―――――――――――――――

Still, there was no description of the entity that burst the pipes in the Mechanical Room.

I didn’t know whether that was because it wasn’t a monster hiding in the dark but a formless anomalous phenomenon, or because its name was redacted since I had never escaped that floor.

And then......

The teenage boy and girl I had met at Singyae Daily.

There was no name that seemed to correspond to them either.

They were made of garbled characters, but I had definitely touched them.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜███████

｜Assigned Facilities｜███████

｜Notes｜███████

―――――――――――――――

Maybe they were among the ones entirely blacked out, from their names to their notes.

Maybe I didn’t properly know them yet, or didn’t deserve to know them.

“How can we kill someone else if we’re not prepared to die ourselves? We’re prepared. We have been for a very long time.”

“Do you think I can become like you too, Teacher? When I grow up......”

I was curious.

Their names, those monsters’ names.

“Huh? You’re leaving it behind? We should take it!”

Thud.

The moment I closed the file folder and put it back on the desk, Yun Geon-min quickly picked it up.

“There’s an Artifact Management Room on Floor 8. If we go there, there might be people who know something. Of course, it’s mostly administrative office workers there, so they won’t know as much as the people in the research building......”

“It’s a good idea, but I’m not sure. With the floors mixed up, I don’t know where Floor 8 actually is.”

“Oh, right. That’s true. You said below us was Floor 3?”

“Yes.”

Besides, I wasn’t even sure whether we could take this document outside the General Affairs Team office.

Would the Labyrinth’s rules really allow us to leak a document it had hidden away so carefully?

Scrape, slide.

That was why I didn’t stop Yun Geon-min from slipping the file folder into his backpack at an angle that cleverly concealed the contents of Yun Geon-min’s backpack.

I was curious what would happen.

“......Huh?”

Yun Geon-min slung the backpack over his shoulder again and raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Come to think of it, why did you come up here?”

“......What do you mean, why did I come up here?”

“No, you said you came up after teaching some students on Floor 3. Why didn’t you go down? You wouldn’t have known the floors were mixed up back then.”

“Ah, yes. I didn’t know.”

There had been a time when I didn’t know that, went down to Floor 2, then descended from Floor 2 to Basement Level 5 before finally becoming certain the floors had been mixed up.

“I came up here because there was something I needed to find.”

Slide.

I answered as I opened the General Affairs Team door and walked out.

“Something you needed to find? What were you looking f-”

Yun Geon-min’s voice cut off abruptly behind me.

Rustle.

Without moving, I lowered my head and looked at the sheet of paper that had fallen exactly where Yun Geon-min had been standing.

[Dismissal Notice]

Just as I thought, leaking confidential documents wasn’t allowed.

There was no need to check.

Footnotes:

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