WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 142: Saving the Children

──────

How could I do something like that?

"......Seon Yu-han......"

I knew the scales in my head were broken.

Long before I was trapped in this Labyrinth.

I thought I had lived while hiding what was wrong with those scales.

Long before I was trapped in this Labyrinth.

But even so, how could I weigh a human life against a monster's?

'Right. So let's get out of here. Out of this Labyrinth that trapped us. Together.'

Why did I want to make the exact same choice as before?

"Why?"

I looked away from the others for the moment and turned back to Student S.

The people calling for me were still far away, while Student S, who had called us over, stood right behind us.

『Uh. Ah, well.』

Student S had stopped us, yet they sounded flustered themselves.

『What is it.』

There was no life in B's words.

B seemed to have suddenly gotten bored.

For some reason, that didn't feel like a good sign.

"If you've got something to say, say it. Quickly. We have to go now."

『Do you have to go?』

For the first time, the words came without hesitation.

『I wish you wouldn't go. You two.』

I was so startled that I could only blink.

But B was different.

『Do you even know where we're going?』

The letters rippled as though B's interest had returned.

『......No. But still.』

Student S's eyes must have been staring straight into ours.

『Don't go.』

That snapped me back to my senses.

This thing was a monster whose role was to keep us from publishing the article. No doubt about it.

A monster using my memories and regrets to keep me from leaving this Labyrinth.

That was all.

"No."

I couldn't let myself waver anymore.

We had to die.

"......Let's go."

I grabbed B and ran.

Clang......

Letters slipped between the growing noise of the construction site.

『Hey......! ▓▓▓! ▓▓▓! Wait!』

No, why were they following us?

"Don't follow us! Go home!"

『No! Wait, just wait!』

Then I saw the sound of ▓▓'s laughter as they ran beside us.

『They're funny. Right?』

That quietly whispering voice felt almost tangible.

"Let's talk to them again tomorrow."

Would there even be a tomorrow?

Instead of asking, I ran on with a tight grip on my sibling's arm.

"......Yeah. Let's."

The moment we reached the construction site.

Clang, crash!

『Urgh......!』

They fell.

『Move!』

A horrifying warmth shoved against my back, and I fell.

Crash!

Heavy metal slammed into the asphalt.

Crunch......

The sound of small bodies breaking beneath gravity and flesh.

"Ah......"

At first, I thought I had died.

"Seon Yu-han!"

I should have.

I should have died.

"Y-Yu-han...... are you okay......? What do we do......?"

The others' voices passed through my body and scattered.

'Worker falls with construction-site annex in ▓▓ District, two pedestrians crushed to death'

I stayed where I was, staring at the “two pedestrians.”

Two bodies overlapped beneath a mass of letters in work clothes and cold metal construction debris.

Student S was draped over my sibling's back as though shielding them.

"Ah. Ah......"

My fingertips shook violently as I reached toward their bodies.

I.

I didn't mean for this to happen......

"Seon Yu-han."

Just before my fingertips touched the black children.

Tap.

The man I recognized as Yu Hyun-jae, the co-representative, grabbed my arm.

He shook his head, slowly but firmly.

"Don't take it to heart. It hasn't happened."

What were you talking about? It happened. Right in front of my eyes. Those kids died. Because of me. My sibling died. Because of a selfish bastard who only thought of themself. That friend died. Because of someone they had nothing to do with. Trying to save me. Again, because of me. Trying to keep me alive. It was all because of me!

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to screa▓

* * *

[Published]

[Worker falls with construction-site annex in ▓▓ District, two pedestrians crushed to death

｜20▓▓.▓▓.▓▓. 17:10 Saved

｜Published 1 minute ago]

I had successfully published the article.

[......Worker A fell onto Boy B and Girl C, who had been passing beside the construction site......]

Even after reading the article, it gave no details about what had happened.

Come to think of it, when I'd briefly looked over this article before, I didn't think it mentioned anyone trying to save someone else either.

As though all that mattered was two pedestrians being crushed to death.

As though whoever published it could fill in the gaps themselves.

"Um, I'm sorry, Yu-han......"

As I stared blankly at the laptop screen, Lee Na-hyun hesitantly spoke to me.

"Ah, ah! I'm Lee Na-hyun, anyway...... I think I accidentally pressed a button earlier, so your group got dragged in with me."

Strange.

The last time something similar happened, I remembered her and Yu Hyun-jae beautifully passing the blame back and forth while arguing.

"So I think you went through that because of me......"

Ah. Did I look pitiful right now?

Then again, I'd lost my left hand back at Happyland.

"It's all right. Nothing even......"

I closed my mouth.

I didn't want to say that anymore.

That nothing had happened......

* * *

Clunk.

After dropping each of our mannequins in front of the emergency exit, we finally reached the fifth floor.

"Someone's here."

Yu Hyun-jae pointed to the lounge beside the arcade.

Beyond a transparent wall of wide windows, a familiar face smiled at us.

"Welcome, Seon Yu-han, Yu Hyun-jae, Lee Na-hyun, Jeong Ji-ho, and Hwang Ju-yeon."

Dark black hair loosely tied behind his back, bold features, dark skin, long horizontal rectangular pupils. Finally, a wooden staff with a hooked top.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Hosoo[הושע]

｜Assigned Facility｜Entire 5th Floor

―――――――――――――――

A monster imitating the world's most famous shepherd.

"I'm the host. Please call me Hosoo."

Hosoo led us into the arcade.

[FUTURE ARCADE]

"Wow...... It's kind of strange seeing this place empty......"

"But what game are we supposed to play here......? Ah, Ji-ho. Don't touch anything, okay?"

While the others looked around the arcade, I immediately took out a box.

[Idle Hamster｜Idle Hamster]

"What kind of game is that?"

Yu Hyun-jae approached with interest, as though he'd been waiting for it.

He didn't seem to have any intention of hiding how closely he was watching me.

"It's a game where you raise hamsters."

I gave him a halfhearted answer and walked over to the host.

"Seon Yu-han. Would you like to play ‘Idle Hamster’?"

"No. I have something to ask."

I didn't care whether Yu Hyun-jae found out about my time regression.

The five of us hadn't met the minimum player count anyway. We were fated to die in this arcade.

"Do you know how to safely ‘return’ these ‘hamsters’?"

The host paused for a brief moment, then broke into a bright smile.

"Congratulations. Seon Yu-han, you have discovered an ‘Easter Egg.’"

Easter Egg.

Apparently, the literal phrase referred to the gaming term.

Swish.

Hosoo gently took the Idle Hamster box from my only hand.

"‘Idle Hamster’ is a sort of trial version made so ordinary people can enjoy it."

It had been awfully demanding for a trial version, stressful enough to make people pass out.

The host ran a palm over the box, then offered it back to me.

"Seon Yu-han. Would you like to play ‘Idle Hamster Deluxe Edition: Easter Hamster’?"

The title on the box had changed.

It was much longer now.

[Idle Hamster Deluxe Edition: Easter Hamster｜Idle Hamster Deluxe Edition: Easter Hamster]

"Yu-han, what is that?"

Even Yu Hyun-jae seemed to still be figuring out what was going on, but Lee Na-hyun asked without hesitation.

"I don't know. I haven't played it either."

This was my first time encountering it too.

Still, there was one thing I knew.

"I'm going to try it."

I had to play this game.

* * *

"Before I explain the rules in earnest, let me introduce the cards."

Tap.

The host, sitting across from me at the table, opened the box.

Two decks of cards and three dice came out.

Swish.

Hosoo reached for one of the decks and flipped over the top card.

"These are the ‘children’ cards."

A deck with hamsters drawn on it.

It was the same as the one I'd seen before.

｜#546｜

546.

My card.

｜Status｜Hunger: 10｜Prettiness: 10｜Obedience: 10｜

｜Trait: 546 has black fur. It has an aggressive and suspicious personality.｜

Why were the stats like this?

"Ten......"

I didn't understand.

I couldn't remember exactly, but I was sure the stats hadn't been like this when I played Idle Hamster before.

If there'd been a card with such ridiculous stats, I would definitely have remembered it.

......Could they have changed as time passed?

No, hunger and obedience aside.

Why was its prettiness like that?

Anyway.

Labyrinth things weren't in their right minds......

Swish.

This time, Hosoo flipped over the top card from the other deck.

Unlike before, it wasn't a poker card.

"These are the ‘customer’ cards."

They were laid out similarly to the hamster cards, with writing above and below the rectangular image in the center.

Hosoo smiled gently and pointed to the top of the card.

"The customers are no longer ‘anonymous buyers.’"

｜The Voyeur｜

The customer's name was at the top of the card.

"However, I should inform you in advance that the customers' names are aliases rendered in a language Seon Yu-han can understand, and their original meanings may have been damaged or distorted in the translation process."

Beneath the name was an image that could have been a photograph or a drawing.

It showed an enormous curtain hung in a vast, dark space.

Like a screen concealing a king's seat in a palace, it only vaguely conveyed that something existed beyond it.

Just looking at that barrier made my whole body tingle, and I hurriedly turned my gaze away.

Finally, the bottom of the card listed something called a “preference.”

｜Preference: “My companion.”｜

It gave me the chills.

"Customers carefully decide on their purchases according to their own preferences."

What kind of crazy monster wanted a human as a “companion”?

Please, let it just mean something like a pet......

"Some customers do prefer specific children, but most make purchases based on conditions such as their status and traits, or the combination of children when they want more than one."

The host flipped over another customer card for us.

｜The Jailer｜

｜Preference: “A pair. I want them both aggressive.”｜

That seemed to be how the customers' desired conditions were expressed.

......Wait. The Jailer?

Wasn't this that one?

‘It'd be fun if Bleep-Bleep was in the final room after we cleared all this.’

Bleep-Bleep.

The thing that trapped Yu Mi-rae and me in a maze-prison and made us do all kinds of things.

If The Jailer meant a prison guard, it seemed to fit.

"There are a great many customers who wish to make purchases, so even they cannot all purchase the children they want."

Hosoo gestured toward the dozens of customer cards.

"Sometimes children meeting their desired conditions don't appear in time, or another customer takes the opportunity from them."

At that explanation, I recalled Participant No. 46, the man I'd met in the forest last time.

‘No, the intervals weren't regular at all. Sometimes they'd come in only minutes apart, and sometimes it took ages.’

I roughly understood why the intervals at which additional race participants appeared hadn't been regular.

Buying humans in groups of four from different Labyrinths and gathering them in one place naturally wouldn't be easy.

"......No, but then what can I even do here?"

All I wanted was to know how to escape the Sales and Marketing Division on the ninth floor for certain.

At least it was clear that I had no luck with owners.

......Though Ppyok-Ppyok was a little ambiguous.

"I'm about to explain that."

I didn't like that smile, as though he were placating an impatient child.

"You said you wanted to know how to make the customers safely return the children."

"Yeah."

"There is no such method."

"Are you kidding me?"

I shut my eyes and swallowed a sigh.

I knew from experience that hitting that bastard in the face would only make me angrier.

"Yu-han......!"

I knew that, but I hit him once anyway.

"Seon Yu-han......!"

Twice, maybe? Anyway.

When I sat back down, the host spoke with an immaculate smile despite the red mark on his face.

"I am the dealer of ‘Idle Hamster Deluxe Edition: Easter Hamster.’"

"So?"

"I have no means of controlling the customers. Much less any means of taking their possessions from them. However, by coincidence......"

The moment I saw Hosoo's smiling eyes, I suddenly had a premonition.

"I know one customer who will safely return the children."

The dealer slid a customer card in front of me.

A blank card, with neither name nor preference written on it.

"Welcome, customer."

The dealer beamed as he greeted the customer.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried