How to Die in the Office Labyrinth - Chapter 41

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

◈ How to Die in the Office Labyrinth ◈

Chapter 41: The Labyrinth for the Generous is █

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"Those who are trapped in a Labyrinth for too long eventually become part of it."

A saying that spread like rumor in the early days, thirteen years ago, when the Labyrinth phenomenon had only just begun.

Something between an urban legend and a proverb.

These days, Red Threads resolve contact-type Labyrinths as quickly as possible thanks to years of accumulated experience and information, so survival rates have climbed.

But before that, contact-type Labyrinths produced casualties just as readily as invasive-type ones.

In the early days especially, there was no real protocol for dealing with Fissures that swallowed everyone nearby like a black hole.

Listen to the testimonies of survivors from that period and a contact-type Labyrinth was nothing less than horrific pandemonium, a live-action version of some cheap death game.

That was where the saying came from.

Stay trapped in a Labyrinth too long, and you become part of it.

Meaning, you become something no longer human. By losing your humanity.

Of course, it was a line lazily tossed around by people who had never once stopped to think about what "humanity" even meant, people who simultaneously overestimated and underestimated the concept.

Looking back on it now, though, I think there was something like genuine insight buried in those words.

'▶ Seon Yu-han'

The person I thought had died and disappeared ten years ago had become some nameless thing inside the Labyrinth, and called out to me again and again today.

'Verify.'

And to find out the truth, I had thrown away a seven-year-old child's chance to escape.

That person.

And me.

We had both been trapped in the Labyrinth for far too long.

* * *

"Interview Administrator-nim. Please listen to me."

I have to get out. I have to get out of here.

That was the only thing I could do, the only thing I had to do. Same as always.

I pushed all the thoughts that kept tangling worse the more I tried to sort them out into a corner of my mind, and went down floor by floor.

"What? Are you out of your mind?"

I got Chae Jae-ha off the elevator.

"Ha...... Seriously, this is insane, no, I'm sorry. But this is definitely a Labyrinth, right?"

I ran into Hwang Ju-yeon on the infinite stairwell, coming down after the fire alarm.

"Ngh, urgh......"

I killed the librarian in Chaekbang Ollae alone.

"Thank you for playing so nicely with our kids. Goodbye, guardians. Bye-bye, Ji-ho."

I got Jeong Ji-ho out of Uri Saennal Daycare.

"Mm. I'm fine."

I found Yu Hyun-jae in the parking garage, pretending not to have just been sick.

"The Late Bae Seo-woo."

I watched the ashes of a chrysanthemum settle into a funeral urn that had gotten its name back.

"Wait a moment, Lee Jin-su-ssi."

I stopped someone who had been about to press CONTINUE on the Happyland game, someone who wanted to die in the most passive way possible.

This time, my hand was faster.

"I'll take over from here. Please rest."

"......Okay."

Lee Jin-su glanced up at me with one eye and stepped back without a fight.

I was probably the only one who caught the faint disappointment in that eye.

"I'm just going to keep hitting 'Be unhappy' for now."

I didn't take out the Jaelae Diary this time around.

I didn't want to give any opening to a certain conspiracy theorist who would throw someone with experience rewinding time back into a Labyrinth just to run experiments on them.

As long as there wasn't a situation that absolutely required me to use the diary, I planned to keep it that way.

【▶ Be happy】

【▶ Be unhappy】

I had no intention of being happy.

I probably didn't deserve to be.

【Be unhappy!】

【Correct. You are unhappy.】

Still, I kept choosing unhappiness, over and over, and let the memories wash through me.

The red tears that had poured down in moments of happiness. The screams that had sounded like sweet singing. The crunch and grind of them between teeth. The hunger that never filled no matter how much was swallowed......

【A miserable thing that does not know how to wish for happiness has no right to exist in the land of happiness. Please leave.】

【EXIT】

"Huh, it actually kicks you out? If you just keep picking the unhappy option?"

【EXIT!】

【You foolish thing, you have missed your chance at happiness.】

【However, even such foolishness must come at a price.】

I really hoped it would be something I could lose without dying. Like that bit of liver that disappeared last time.

【Don't worry! It will hurt. A minor curse will make you unhappy: brain】

Ah.

Of all things, the brain. Not my lucky day.

I braced myself for the death I knew was coming and closed my eyes.

At least there wouldn't be any pain. That was something to be grateful for.

"......Seon Yu-han-ssi?"

"Seon Yu-han-ssi, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes again almost immediately.

Chae Jae-ha, Hwang Ju-yeon, Jeong Ji-ho, Yu Hyun-jae, Lee Jin-su.

I could see them all clearly, register them all clearly.

Memory seemed fine too.

"Mm. I'm all right."

I tried moving my body around.

Nothing felt off in particular.

"It seems like only a very small, unimportant part of my brain disappeared."

"Ha...... Well, that's a relief, I guess."

"Are you sure you're really okay though? If something suddenly happens later......"

"If I was going to die, I would have died already."

【Lost In HAPPYLAND】

【CLOSED】

The printer would spit out photos soon.

"I'll go grab some water and food from the break room."

I made a convenient excuse and lingered for a moment.

"Oh, jeez......"

The printer started up.

"Some kind of photo...... seems to be coming out."

[Seon Yu-han's One of the Happiest Moments]

Not the roller coaster this time.

A dark view of an unlit room, seen through the narrow gap of a slightly open wooden door.

The small room on the second floor of the Haunted House where I had stayed for a little while.

It looked happy.

"Hm? Where exactly is Seon Yu-han-ssi in this...... oh? There's another one coming out?"

Unexpectedly, a second photo followed.

"This one is...... Lee Jin-su-ssi's."

It seemed like anyone who had actually played, not just whoever cleared the game, got a commemorative photo.

[Lee Jin-su's One of the Happiest Moments]

The top of a Viking ride, caught at the highest point of its arc.

The back rows of the Viking in the photo were empty.

"Take it, Lee Jin-su-ssi."

"Oh, yeah......"

Lee Jin-su looked at the photo like he didn't recognize the person in it.

Something unfinished.

Maybe I should have just let him keep going.

Hard to see what use he'd be aside from filling a headcount.

"Anyway, let's move out."

* * *

"Ah! My first guests have finally arrived."

I handed the commemorative Happyland photos to the nameless entity in the vacant unit across from Neosoft.

Back on the eleventh floor, the Uiwi Guild Strategic Planning Division.

"Defeat me, and I will let you leave this Labyrinth."

The flesh-dice was making the same offer again, wagering escape from the Labyrinth as the prize.

"I'll do it. I will."

This time Yu Hyun-jae was the first to raise a hand.

I stayed quiet, unlike last time.

There was no point anyway. As Doi had said, a game like the last one wouldn't happen again.

I couldn't stake my companions' lives for my own escape.

The weight didn't match.

Not even if I offered all five people here.

"Have you decided what game you want to play?"

"Texas Hold'em."

"Poker. Straightforward."

"I suppose. I'll be modifying the rules a bit."

Doi tilted its cubic body as if telling Yu Hyun-jae to go on.

"We use hwatu cards as betting chips, and when cards are revealed, each player also flips their hwatu cards face-up......"

The more I listened, the more specific the rules became.

These weren't rules invented on the spot.

This was clearly a game played before, at some point.

"Mm. If we get into the hand rankings and scoring system it'll take too long."

"Oh, indeed. Some coordination will be needed too. Let's have the two of you discuss the details separately in the back."

Doi moved in a way that seemed to indicate the private office behind it.

"Excuse me, Representative-nim."

Chae Jae-ha called out to Yu Hyun-jae, who had risen from the seat. Looking at that face, Chae Jae-ha seemed even more nervous than Yu Hyun-jae.

"Are you confident you can win......? From what you said, it sounds like you've played before, but......"

"Confident I can win? If I had that, it wouldn't be gambling."

Yu Hyun-jae fidgeted with the ring on the left pinky finger.

Probably an unconscious habit.

"I've found that people who strongly believe they'll definitely win fall into exactly two categories. Con artists running a rigged game. Or addicts who need to check into rehab immediately."

Apparently not interested in staying alive.

Not even thinking about cheating to win.

Not my problem.

"I hope everyone gets to watch from out here."

Yu Hyun-jae left with just that one line and went inside.

"All right, then. The rest of you, wait and read through that record."

Just before Doi followed Yu Hyun-jae in and closed the door, a yellow binder appeared on the table we were gathered around.

"Whether you'll play a game with me, and if so, which one. Consider this a reference for that decision."

The door to the private office, now a gambling den, swung shut.

"What is this. A match...... record?"

We checked the binder Doi had left behind.

[Match Record]

Neat handwriting filled the white title field on the cover.

Doi must have offered this last time too, after I was the first to go in and play.

Opening the binder, the same-titled A4 sheets inside were divided into columns like an actual log, with entries filled in.

Columns for 'Opponent,' 'Game,' 'Result,' and 'Notes.'

[Opponent | Lee *(50s, M)
Game | Matgo
Result | Victory
Notes | -]

Victory in the game result.

Victory from Doi's perspective, it seemed.

The human opponent had lost.

[Opponent | Choe *(40s, Bg)
Game | Futures Investment Ladder Game
Result | Victory
Notes | The behind-the-scenes maneuvering and deception tactics that didn't rely on luck were interesting]

"Is this the people who played games here before we arrived?"

"I don't think so."

Hwang Ju-yeon countered Chae Jae-ha's question.

"Earlier it said we were the first guests."

"Oh...... right? Wait, hold on. So there are actually people in a Labyrinth identical to this one......!"

This match record had information about people who weren't here.

Just like how the names of players who weren't here had appeared as choices during the Happyland game.

It gave more weight to Lee Jin-su's theory that this Labyrinth was divided like an instanced dungeon, with different groups of people in separate versions.

"Let's keep reading for now! We should probably avoid games that have already been played......"

Ignoring the chatter beside me, I went through the match record in silence.

[Opponent | Shin *(50s, Bl)
Game | Two-player Riichi Mahjong
Result | Victory
Notes | In the North 2nd round, opponent won with a pure nine-gate hand. As a mark of respect, crafted and kept mahjong tiles from the opponent's blood and bones]

[Opponent | Lee *(20s, Pur)
Game | Subway Game
Result | Victory
Notes | Opponent was transported to ■■'■■■■ Station]

[Opponent | Gang *(50s, W)
Game | Baduk
Result | Victory
Notes | In the later stages, the opponent wanted to live, which was interesting]

[Opponent | Kim *(30s, Y)
Game | Formula Rock-Paper-Scissors
Result | Victory
Notes | Mid-3rd set, opponent understood the '■■-■-■■■ Theorem' and destroyed their own stake themselves, resulting in a forfeit victory]

"What is even...... How has it not lost once? How did it win everything?"

"Keep flipping. There has to be at least one loss to a person, there just has to be......"

"Oh! Here! A defeat!"

[Opponent | Park *(20s, W)
Game | Cheat Poker
Result | Defeat]

Doi's defeat. Meaning the human won.

But the content in the notes column was interesting.

[Notes | As agreed upon in advance, per the opponent's request, opponent was transported to floor ■]

"That's insane......"

Hwang Ju-yeon, briefly speechless, changed the subject.

"Still...... it's not like we'll definitely lose no matter what, apparently."

"Right...... It seems like there's at least some chance of winning. Oh, Ji-ho. So what's happening right now is......"

Chae Jae-ha carefully walked Jeong Ji-ho through the situation again from the beginning.

"Has everyone decided what they want to do?"

I looked around at Chae Jae-ha, Hwang Ju-yeon, Jeong Ji-ho, and Lee Jin-su in turn and asked.

Lee Jin-su was a passive death-seeker, so of course he'd play.

"I mean...... looking at this record, it seems really hard to win. If we try and lose and die......"

"I know. I really don't know......"

"Still, why not give it a try? Ji-ho too, even just a simple game would be fi-"

"-No, this person is seriously going to get someone killed. You lose, you die, and you're talking about just trying it out?"

"Ah."

Right. These people died once and it was over.

At least from their perspective.

"I forgot."

"How do you forget something like that...... Oh no. I bet that's a side effect of the brain thing earlier. Memory loss. What do we do."

"Mm. Hard to say."

"What do you mean hard to say, you're the one it happened to...... Anyway, what do you think, Seon Yu-han-ssi? It's a gamble where we might die......"

So worried about dying.

......Oh!

Why hadn't I thought of this sooner.

A very good idea had just come to me.

"I'm going to do it."

Let me convince all of these people to gamble.

"We don't even know where the exit is. We don't know how much further we have to go or what we'll run into next."

Who cares if they lose and die.

They'll come back to life after I die anyway.

These people only think they're staking their lives as the price, when they're not.

In the end there's no price at all.

"Just look at me, I barely scraped through by sheer luck, losing only useless parts of my brain. If we pass up this match and lose even that luck and keep going, honestly, I don't know what's going to happen and that terrifies me."

Win and great, if not, no harm done.

"So all of you as well......"

I was simply placing into their hands a chance at costless salvation they had nearly let slip away on their own.

Shouldn't they actually be thanking me for this?

Footnotes:

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