WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 144: Hand
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What if I had to use gold coins called “Life” to purchase the children?
How much trouble had I gone through just to earn one of those coins?
And why had I wanted that gold coin in the first place?
This game, “Easter Hamster,” had been flawed from the beginning.
Even if I could safely purchase and return myself here, I would have to stop by the arcade every time before going back upstairs.
And to get out of the arcade...
“You said we have to play the final game to leave this arcade. You said we need seven people.”
I had to play that final game.
“The Silence of the Lambs.”
A game that required at least seven people, where everyone but one person could die depending on the outcome.
Whether they were wolf, sheep, or shepherd, they would truly die if their side lost the game.
Unless they had prepared Life for that possibility.
It took work just to complete one gold coin.
And now I had to earn gold coins to get myself out, as well as gold coins to purchase myself?
The effort was one thing, but I wasn't even sure it was possible.
Time-wise.
“If I can't leave this floor anyway, what does it matter whether I buy the children or not?”
All I wanted was a clue I could keep using without ever having to come back here once I learned it...
“I'll satisfy your curiosity.”
The host gestured at me with an infuriating expression, as if telling me to calm down, then looked around at everyone.
“Why do you think it's called an Easter Egg?”
“...What?”
“Pardon?”
“Uh...”
Everyone reacted in confusion at the out-of-place question.
There were many theories about the origins of Easter eggs, but...
“Because only those who have been resurrected can find the hidden eggs.”
I'd never heard that theory before.
“Uh, no... That's not... right?”
The freelance magician, who had once been a lamb of the Good Shepherd, objected as though they couldn't believe what they were hearing.
Hosoo, who resembled the Good Shepherd, casually ignored them.
“Easter Eggs are hidden in places that only those who have come back to life can find.”
It sounded like bullshit, but...
Surprisingly, it made some sense.
People who found Easter Eggs in games had usually played those games repeatedly.
By that logic, it was true enough.
Besides, hadn't I found this Easter Egg because I had done something close to... resurrection?
“...So?”
When I pressed him to continue, the host tilted his head.
His sheep-like pupils remained parallel to the floor, as always.
“You don't understand?”
He was seriously irritating.
“No. I don't.”
“An Easter Egg is hidden outside the games I ordinarily host. That means someone qualified to find an Easter Egg must be subject to different rules than those of the existing games.”
Listening to that voice, calm enough to sound mechanical, I thought that was Labyrinth-like too.
The Labyrinth was ready.
Ready to establish new rules if there was someone to whom its existing rules could not apply.
“Um... Um? Hosoo, I have a question...”
Lee Na-hyun tilted her head and raised her hand, just like a student with a question.
It might have seemed out of place, but it was surprisingly effective.
Hosoo looked at Lee Na-hyun like a generous teacher, and everyone else's gaze turned to her too.
“Then, Hosoo, do you think Yu-han is, um, what was it called? Ah! The Second Coming of Jesus? Is that what you think?”
Wow.
“Labyrinth monster, ah... I'm sorry, Hosoo! I didn't mean anything bad by it. Anyway, do Labyrinth entities believe in cults too?”
How long had it been since I'd been so thoroughly overwhelmed by someone's innocence?
Sometimes Lee Na-hyun scared me more than Yu Hyun-jae...
“Na-hyun, I don't think that's what he means...”
Hwang Ju-yeon opened her mouth as though she wanted to smooth things over, then closed it again as if she had no idea what exactly needed smoothing over or how.
“It means Seon Yu-han experienced a temporal reversal phenomenon. By returning alive from death.”
The conspiracy theorist who was co-representative of Uiwi Guild stepped in and neatly summed it up.
I was almost grateful.
“Isn't that right?”
The way he asked was unbearably smug.
“Huh? Um? Really? Wait, isn't that kind of... cultish too?”
“There is... some overlap.”
I wanted to agree with Lee Na-hyun and Hwang Ju-yeon too. Sincerely.
“Um... Yu-han, is it really... really true?”
Was she asking if I had really been resurrected? Or whether I was really in a cult?
I decided not to answer.
I brushed aside the stares that bored into me like nails and faced the host.
“What different rules apply to me?”
“Let me tell you about the currency Seon Yu-han will use in ‘Idle Hamster Deluxe Edition: Easter Hamster.’”
It would've been nice if he'd just told me before I had to ask.
The moment that complaint crossed my mind...
Clack. Rattle.
A familiar sound came from beside me.
Clang. Clatter.
Something shifted inside the arcade machine.
Then round things began popping out of the coin slot.
Crack. Squish. Clatter.
Grotesque things, sometimes bright red, sometimes ivory, sometimes flesh-colored, sometimes a sickening mixture of all those shades.
“What the hell is that...?”
“Uh, isn't that... blood?”
Clatter. Splash.
Again and again...
The sound of them pouring out continued.
Chrrr...
“You have one hundred and seventy-five Unlife coins.”
The host spoke like an office worker going through the motions, without even looking at the coins scattering across the floor.
“Unlife?”
“Yes. One hundred and seventy-five Unlife coins.”
Considering the name, which seemed to be the opposite of Life, the number one hundred and seventy-five, and the meaning of an Easter Egg...
I could more or less guess.
My deaths.
A coin called Unlife had piled up for every time I died.
I hadn't obsessively counted every single time, so I'd only assumed it was around there. I hadn't known the exact number.
“Are those made from my bo...”
“For your information, Choe Jeong-min provided the material used in the minting process of Unlife.”
“...Who is that?”
“The first person to enjoy my game.”
He meant that the person who had died in this arcade long before us had been used as coin material.
There were limits to recycling.
“...So the currencies are separate anyway. I can handle the Easter Egg separately, play the final game separately, and then escape?”
“No.”
The dealer shook his head.
“Those qualified to enjoy ‘Idle Hamster Deluxe Edition: Easter Hamster’ do not need to enjoy the final game.”
“An exception... just for me?”
“You may participate if you wish, but as the host, it would make me very sad. It is sad when someone who can no longer enjoy my games takes part.”
It felt strangely similar to being told off for joining children at play at my age.
“No, Seon Yu-han. Since earlier, you haven't answered anything we've asked, and you keep saying things we can't understand...”
There was a faint tremor in Hwang Ju-yeon's voice.
“Can't you explain? Did you really experience some kind of temporal reversal? So you can just leave by yourself...?”
My head was a mess.
There was too much to think about...
If the exit, meaning the first floor, lay beyond the electrical room upstairs, there wouldn't be much of a problem.
But if the first floor was somewhere beyond the Mechanical Room below... Would I have time to bring Hyeon Je-won and Yu Mi-rae too, with only about eight and a half hours given to us, could everyone survive The Silence of the Lambs, the minimum number was seven, if I took Yun Geon-min and Kim Hee-sook from the nearby floors first then it wouldn't matter if Lee Jin-su or Lee Na-hyun were dead, it would take time, I couldn't let them play the final game among themselves before I brought Hyeon Je-won and Yu Mi-rae, would it be better if Lee Jin-su and Lee Na-hyun were definitely dead, there was always one shepherd and the rest were wolf and sheep, then the possible arrangements, where should I have them wait besides the arcade, why did I have to go this far, we could agree in advance to make the side with the most people win, then transfer gold coins to the losing side after the game started, because I had to complete the rider, even if I activated the emergency generator in the electrical room and passed through the Mechanical Room, I didn't know how long it would take to reach the exit, I had to leave them in the arcade and have them earn gold coins themselves while I went upstairs, to complete one gold coin with True Stories they had to answer twenty-one questions correctly, those people needed time to memorize the questions too, and those noisy idiots needed time to recite them out loud, shut up, time, time, there wasn't enough time, time.
“Seon Yu-han.”
“Hah...!”
Only then did I realize I had been holding my breath.
“Yu-han, are you okay...?”
“Drink this, Seon Yu-han.”
The warmth and texture of a lukewarm bottle of water passed from Hwang Ju-yeon's hand into mine.
Half-conscious, I stared blankly.
At those awful faces looking at me with worried eyes despite their faint unease and suspicion.
At Yu Hyun-jae, his brows slightly furrowed as though he were looking at a pitiful child.
And lastly, at that small, young thing.
“Ha, ah...”
The breath I had held back finally burst out.
What should I do? My vision rippled. What was I supposed to do? Everything before me blurred. What did I want to do?
I.
I...
“I... you all...”
I wanted to kill you all...
Maybe I should. With my own hands. Every one of you.
Then I wouldn't have to wander the Labyrinth anymore. You wouldn't have to be dead somewhere I couldn't see. I wouldn't lose your corpses like I lost Brother's. It would be better than letting the Labyrinth take you. Dying by my hand would feel much better. I just wanted you to hate me. Ah, when I thought back on it, I felt like I had been happy then. Maybe it would be good to lock you inside me, like I did then. Maybe I would be happy if I made all these people mine too...
“Seon Yu-han.”
A low voice cut through my tangled thoughts.
“I don't know what you're thinking.”
Liar. You knew. You knew what I was thinking. What could you know? Liar.
“But you will be able to find another way.”
...Did he really think I could?
“You have to find one.”
He whispered as if telling me a secret.
“I'll kill you, Seon Yu-han. Again and again, until you find another way.”
Only then did my head begin to clear.
No wonder Yu Hyun-jae had been so quiet even after hearing the host declare that I had been resurrected.
“We'll have to experiment, won't we? There are many things to confirm. Even if I have to trap you in the Labyrinth again.”
If I tried to kill everyone here, Yu Hyun-jae would kill me.
If I tried to leave them behind and go alone, he would kill me too.
But strangely, I felt at ease.
...Right. There had to be another way.
“Hosoo, I have a question. Then...”
“If you're curious, you should enjoy it yourself. What's the fun in knowing everything beforehand?”
The host cut me off lightly but firmly.
It seemed he had no intention of answering any more questions.
Slide.
The dealer pushed three dice toward me.
“Now, we will begin ‘Idle Hamster Deluxe Edition: Easter Hamster.’”
I blankly looked down at the dice in my hand, then opened and closed my fist twice.
“Now, roll the dice.”
“I can roll them one at a time, right?”
Hosoo's mouth spread wide at that.
As though he had noticed what I was thinking.
“Of course. Seon Yu-han has plenty of time.”
That meant I could.
Throw the dice one at a time.
Try what I had thought of.
As long as I spent enough time.
Tap.
I set two dice on the floor and left only one in my hand.
More precisely, I balanced it between my middle and ring fingers.
Then I gently pushed the die forward with my middle finger...
Tuk, clatter.
“The number is...”
The die spun through the air, struck the table, and came to a stop.
Footnotes:
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