WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 148: The Labyrinth and Humans, Which Is More Frightening?

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"No, wait. You're sending Ji-ho in alone?"

Chae Jae-ha asked, pulling Jeong Ji-ho closer by the shoulder.

"Yes. They could both die if they go in together. Isn't this better than having them both die?"

I answered while looking straight into Jeong Ji-ho's eyes, not Chae Jae-ha's.

Sometimes, the kid looked as though he could see right through me.

Maybe I was only projecting my own fears onto him.

Still, children weren't as foolish as adults thought.

"What the... Does that make any sense? You're sending a kid alone into a room that kills fully grown adults without mercy? Ha, seriously. I've been thinking this since that librarian, but does time travel or regression or whatever turn everyone into someone like you?"

"You really believe it?"

"...What?"

Seeing Chae Jae-ha's dumbfounded expression turn angry, I gave a small laugh and waved a hand.

"No, I don't mean it was a lie. You didn't really believe me before."

"Before...?"

Chae Jae-ha closed his mouth as though he had no idea what to say.

"Anyway, I decided it was better to kill this kid one fewer time. It's not too late for someone to go in with him after he goes in alone and fails."

"What kind of bullshit is that...? It'll be too late after he dies!"

I understood.

I understood why he couldn't understand me.

"Looks like you still don't believe me."

"Is this even a matter of believing you or not? Even if you come back to life later, does that mean it never happened if this kid or any of us dies? Death is death!"

It was surprising.

That was what I thought while he held me by the collar.

He understood that, so why couldn't he understand me, someone who had died hundreds of times?

"It really does become something that never happened."

"What?"

"Because I'm the only one who remembers. Because none of you remember anything. Because I'm the only one who knows it all! Chae Jae-ha, why do you keep saying things like that to me? Yes! Death is death! But what's wrong with that? Whether this kid dies, or you die, or I die! I'm the only one for whom it can't truly become something that never happened. There's only me... No one but me... Don't be afraid. It'll only last a moment..."

By the time I finished rambling, I had already been released.

I was stroking the pale, warm cheek of a child.

"...Okay?"

The child nodded.

He looked at me with eyes that could have held fear, understanding, or pity. I couldn't tell which.

"Good. Thank you. Oh, right. I bought this for you. Take it."

I handed Jeong Ji-ho a sketchbook and writing supplies.

"Hey, you crazy bastard, seriously...!"

Chae Jae-ha tried to grab the child anyway.

"Ji-ho..."

"Chae Jae-ha."

I didn't allow it.

I immediately stepped in front of the accountant and looked at Kim Hee-sook and Hwang Ju-yeon.

"Please let him go. Quietly."

Jeong Ji-ho hesitated as he looked this way.

From that angle, he probably couldn't see exactly what I was doing.

"I don't think I'm doing a good thing, either."

I spoke in a whisper so the child wouldn't hear.

"Even if the day comes when I escape with this kid..."

Tap.

The child took hold of the doorknob.

"I've already killed this kid more than enough times, and as you said, that can never truly become something that never happened. I know that well."

Click.

At last, the child disappeared through the door.

Scrape.

I put away the box cutter I had held beneath Chae Jae-ha's chin and released him.

The large accountant stood frozen for a moment even after I let him go, then flushed red and reached for me.

"You, I'll..."

Click.

"...Huh?"

The Conference Room D door opened again.

"Ji-ho...?"

Jeong Ji-ho came out.

"Uh, uh... Didn't you just go in...?"

"Ji-ho, are you okay?"

"Oh dear, are you hurt anywhere?"

I looked at the child, who had come out alive and unharmed in less than a minute, then turned my gaze toward Yu Hyun-jae.

Until then, Yu Hyun-jae had watched unconcernedly whether I threatened the group or not. He studied the child, then looked back at me as if checking my reaction.

I shrugged to show that I had no idea what was going on and approached the child.

"What did the students say to you?"

"Seon Yu-han!"

Hwang Ju-yeon cried out, then squeezed her eyes shut as though calming herself down.

"Ha... No, I sort of understand why you're acting like this. I do, but... there's an order to things."

Maybe because she worked with children professionally, she naturally spoke in the tone one might use to gently reason with someone.

"You should first check whether the child is hurt. Whether something strange happened to him, things like that."

"Ah... From what I can see, I think this kid was the one who did something strange."

The child clutched the sketchbook tightly, looked up at me with frightened eyes, then hid.

He didn't seem to know what had happened either.

"Ji-ho. Tell us what happened. You can write it down or draw it."

Jeong Ji-ho shook his head from Hwang Ju-yeon's arms.

Whether he didn't want to tell us or wasn't allowed to tell us.

"Mm..."

How had he come out without even properly giving a lecture?

Because he was a child? Because he couldn't speak? Because he lacked the knowledge to teach something?

Those were personal problems that put the child at a disadvantage. They weren't grounds for an exception to the Labyrinth's rules.

I thought about what I didn't know.

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Cadet (██)

｜Assigned Facility｜Part of 3F (Conference Room D)

｜Remarks｜███████

―――――――――――――――

Was it because of those doppelganger-like things?

Or...

―――――――――――――――

｜Name｜Teacher

｜Assigned Facility｜Part of 2F (Uri Saennal Daycare)

｜Remarks｜‘Children’ or ‘friends’ are appendages of ‘Teacher’ and are not entered on the roster. ███████

―――――――――――――――

‘What don't I know about Teacher yet?’

‘Oh my, the only people I can bestow a teacher's grace upon are the children of Uri Saennal Daycare.’

Was it because of this child?

"Hey."

While I was thinking, Chae Jae-ha suddenly yanked me toward him.

"If you lay even one finger on that kid..."

Ah.

He must have thought I was going to threaten Jeong Ji-ho with a knife.

"I won't. Not when it doesn't really matter whether I know."

It might help to know, but not knowing didn't seem as though it would cause much trouble. If it were information important enough to determine whether we could escape the Labyrinth, I would've probably learned it already, whether I wanted to or not.

Besides, if it was a rule that applied only to Jeong Ji-ho personally, it was practically useless to me.

In other words, it was information that could only satisfy my personal curiosity. There was no need to go that far for it.

"...So you would have if it mattered?"

It wasn't a question I needed to answer.

"Anyway, this is good. I got to kill him one fewer time..."

Thud!

"Ah..."

So I still couldn't avoid getting hit.

* * *

"I will never go with someone like you, someone who treats people's lives as disposable as flies! Especially a child...! How can anyone trust someone like you? Isn't that right? Am I the only one who thinks so?"

Chae Jae-ha furiously protested, but life didn't always go the way someone wanted.

"Mm, no, but still..."

"Um, Chae Jae-ha. It's not like I think I can entrust my life to Seon Yu-han or anything..."

Kim Hee-sook timidly disagreed with Chae Jae-ha, and Hwang Ju-yeon joined in.

There was no need to mention the Uiwi Guild co-representative conspiracy theorist, and Jeong Ji-ho was excluded from the discussion.

In a situation like this, a child was only an extra added to the majority vote. Sadly, or perhaps naturally, no adult sincerely regarded him as an equal with a full vote.

"Chae Jae-ha, you saw Seon Yu-han lose his toes in that Happyland game. Honestly, he could've made us do it when we didn't know anything."

"...That was!"

Chae Jae-ha seemed at a loss for words and looked at my toes, so I walked closer without limping as much as I could.

"That was only because it would end the fastest if I got hurt."

I had to explain that much.

It was far too late to pretend I was some kind of saint.

"Say your toes got cut off, Chae Jae-ha. Could you get treatment and immediately move on? I did it because I didn't want to waste time stopping so you could rest and be comforted."

"Hey, you... You really have to say it like that...! See? This is what I mean! How are we supposed to trust this bastard?"

"Even if we die, we can at least trust that our deaths will be useful."

Chae Jae-ha's jaw dropped at Yu Hyun-jae's businesslike voice.

"Can we trust that, Seon Yu-han?"

"...Yes. That's why I'm doing this."

Chae Jae-ha's protest came to an end.

* * *

"So you're saying Agent Team 1 has The Executioner’s Stage, and Agent Team 2 has Corridor of Unforgettable Memories...?"

"Yes."

"...Why?"

"I was wondering the same thing."

I stared at the co-representative of Uiwi Guild.

"Corridor of Unforgettable Memories is one thing, but why has The Executioner’s Stage appeared there, Representative?"

The Executioner’s Stage was a contact-type Labyrinth whose response plan remained provisionally suspended. No additional people, including Red Threads, were sent in, much like an invasive-type Labyrinth.

"Do you perhaps have a Red Thread under contract assigned to The Executioner’s Stage?"

"That is quite an expensive question."

Rather than looking flustered, the representative accepted everyone's stares and silence with an indifferent attitude.

"I will only say that our interests aligned with those of the Labyrinth Management Bureau. It has nothing to do with any of you anyway."

"It does have something to do with us."

I nodded toward the Agent Team 1 office.

Because of those "interests," the Agent Team 1 office had turned into The Executioner’s Stage. Strictly speaking, that made it our concern.

"You have a point."

The co-representative of Uiwi Guild smiled as though pleased and readily continued.

"Our company does not have a Red Thread under contract specifically assigned to The Executioner’s Stage. We only obtained the right to act as brokers. Tickets to enter The Executioner’s Stage sell for several times more than Nectar food-and-drink vouchers."

Yu Hyun-jae closed his mouth as though there was no need to say anything more, and there really wasn't.

"No way..."

Hwang Ju-yeon muttered with a pale face, and Yu Hyun-jae coldly shook his head.

"Pitiful people."

"Pardon?"

"We only admit people who wish to resolve unfulfilled ties and free themselves from those ties. That is our rule."

Who exactly was "we"? The two co-representatives? All of Uiwi Guild? Did it include the Labyrinth Management Bureau? How many interests were tangled together?

Did the Agent Team 1 office becoming The Executioner’s Stage mean one of its agents handled brokerage work related to Labyrinth entry tickets? As a side job while managing the Red Threads assigned to them? Or was their affiliation with Agent Team 1 only a front?

Questions kept rising in my mind, but before I had the chance to ask, Yu Hyun-jae started walking.

Toward the Agent Team 1 office.

"Representative? That's..."

"I was curious what my prisoner would look like. You don't need to follow. Go on."

"No, wait, what...?"

The co-representative of Uiwi Guild really entered The Executioner’s Stage by himself.

That bastard was crazy.

If he went in alone, he was guaranteed to take the role of executioner.

Footnotes:

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