WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ How to Die in the Office Labyrinth ◈

Chapter 42: [Gambling Team] Notice of Match Record Disclosure

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Lee Jin-su, Chae Jae-ha, Hwang Ju-yeon, Jeong Ji-ho, and me.

The order of who would enter the gambling hall after Yu Hyun-jae had been decided.

I had made it that way.

Once the persuasion was done, Hwang Ju-yeon asked Lee Jin-su various questions about the games, while Chae Jae-ha muttered something to himself and wandered around the office.

Restlessly.

Jeong Ji-ho was well-behaved, which I appreciated. Didn't try to talk to me.

I sat comfortably beside him and went through the match record again, carefully, from the beginning.

[Opponent | Hong ＊＊ (50s, Green)
Game | Janggi
Result | Win
Note | An informative match where I could observe the opponent's pieces]

[Opponent | Gwon ＊＊ (30s, Black)
Game | Rummikub
Result | Win
Note | Ihateboringopponentsmore thananything]

[Opponent | Jo ＊＊ (30s, Blue)
Game | Mercenary Chess
Result | Win
Note | It is always entertaining to watch an opponent who has no concept of the '■■■ formation' naturally construct that very formation]

Reading through the match record, it appeared that roughly forty people in total had gambled against Doi across their respective labyrinths.

Fewer than I had expected.

Given the number of people who would originally have been in this building.

Most of those forty were probably people who had been on the 11th floor before Labyrinthification, which meant very few had actually survived on other floors and made it here.

[Opponent | Im ＊＊ (40s, Male)
Game | 10x10 Trap Othello
Result | Win
Note | Why would one believe they could win without losing anything]

[Opponent | Baek ＊＊ (30s, Unaffiliated)
Game | High Card
Result | Draw
Note | Outcome of a collision of deceptions. Decided to change the game and play overtime. Fun.]

[Opponent | Baek ＊＊ (30s, Unaffiliated)
Game | Blocking Backgammon
Result | Win
Note | Out of respect, the opponent has been compressed to fit the regular dodecahedron mold and added to the collection]

I passed the time reading through the match record with genuine interest.

Time drifted by like that, and as it drew close to six o'clock, the gambling hall door opened and Doi stepped out.

"The match is concluded."

One more line had been added to the match record.

[Opponent | Yu ＊＊ (20s, Red)
Game | Three-Eight Gwangddaeng Texas Hold'em
Result | Win
Note | I would like to meet the person who invented this game]

Yu Hyun-jae was dead.

Was this the second time?

Every time a probability-based event was involved, he died.

A man with genuinely terrible luck.

Though that also meant he had never died because of his own mistakes.

Not once.

"Who is my next opponent?"

"Me, I, it's me..."

At Doi's question, Lee Jin-su stood up awkwardly.

The contrast between a person who had lost one eye during the Happyland game and a flesh die with twenty-one eyes total was rather striking.

"Please, make sure you win... Thank you for everything."

"Ah... yes."

Lee Jin-su accepted Hwang Ju-yeon's farewell and went around to each person, bowing his head.

Good manners for someone walking to their death.

I gave a loose nod in return.

"Right then. Do well."

A passive death-wisher doing well at a game. How well could that really go.

It was advice offered with Lee Jin-su in mind, all the same.

Looking through the record, Doi did not seem to enjoy unmotivated opponents.

The ending would not be pretty.

Well. That was his problem.

"Come inside."

The gambling hall door closed.

* * *

"The match is concluded."

Another entry was added to the match record.

[Opponent | Lee ＊＊ (30s, Indigo)
Game | Rock-Paper-Scissors
Result | Win
Note | After 913 draws, wanted to live, just a little]

The moment I read the note, I covered my mouth.

I had been wondering what kind of game could drag on for twenty-odd minutes.

Doi had apparently been toying with Lee Jin-su deliberately, drawing every round, until the faintest will to survive flickered in him, and then won immediately.

What a thing.

"Come inside."

"Then... I'll be going, Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi. Take care, Seon Yu-han-ssi. Ji-ho, I'll see you outside."

Chae Jae-ha took a slow breath and said his goodbyes.

"Yes. Do well... and go."

If luck and skill both held, I would not be seeing this accountant here again.

I did not think Chae Jae-ha would lose for certain.

Doi would not even begin a game that guaranteed him a hundred percent victory.

That would not be gambling.

There had to be at least a one percent chance of winning on the human side for the match to be possible.

On my way back from seeing Chae Jae-ha off, I picked up a book from an ownerless desk and brought it back with me. Some kind of self-help book.

"Um... Seon Yu-han-ssi. Are you feeling all right? Anything different from usual?"

"No, nothing in particular."

Hwang Ju-yeon glanced at my hands and started worrying for no reason.

"By the way, Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi, when you get out of here, what's the first thing you want to do?"

I redirected the conversation toward her to draw her attention away, thinking she might be tense.

Killing time like that, before I knew it, the gambling hall door opened again.

"The match is concluded."

[Opponent | Choe ＊＊ (30s, Blue-green)
Game | Monopoly Yutnori
Result | Win
Note | Particularly weak in psychological warfare, mistaking the deception strategy for an error early on]

Fair enough.

Someone who had trouble hiding their feelings.

"Well, I'll be going now. Ji-ho, we're definitely getting out of here, and then let's all meet up with Ji-ho's mom together. And Seon Yu-han-ssi, you know I'm genuinely grateful, right? Going ahead and handling everything yourself. You'll definitely make it out too."

"Yes. Take care and do well."

Time passed again.

Jeong Ji-ho stayed calm and well-behaved, as he always had.

"The match is concluded."

[Opponent | Hwang ＊＊ (30s, Jade)
Game | Heads-Up Poker
Result | Win
Note | The sleight of hand was interesting]

"Ji-ho. Time to go."

He could barely meet an adult's eyes now.

"Yeah. Take care."

Time seemed to move slowly.

Quiet and peaceful.

It felt like it had been a long time since I had been alone like this for so long.

"The match is concluded."

[Opponent | Jeong ＊＊ (7 years old, Lead)
Game | Dice Blackjack
Result | Win
Note | ?]

I confirmed that entry and closed the binder.

"You."

Doi's many eyes looked down at me.

"Cannot compete against me."

Strangely, the voice did not feel as entrancing as it had last time.

"So you really can tell."

"Staking your life would not even buy a single handkerchief. Conversely, your liberation would cost more than this entire Labyrinth."

"That much?"

"You ask me that? The scale lies within you."

"Let's not talk about scales. I've got a trauma around that."

Doi let out something like a derisive laugh and slowly turned.

"Now leave. You are considered to have forfeited the match, and from here forward you will lose one instance of good fortune."

Leaving the 11th floor's Strategic Planning Division without gambling against Doi meant a guaranteed misfortune event.

From what I had heard, the severity of that misfortune was random.

"But you're the one who refused me. Forcing that penalty seems unfair."

"In the gamble that is life, you hold the advantage of treating death as nothing. That makes it even."

"That doesn't feel like much of an advantage. Well, it doesn't matter."

I opened the self-help book I had set aside earlier, pressed a finger against one of the thin paper pages, and...

Slid it across.

"Oh."

A brief, sharp sting flashed across my little finger.

That was the conclusion I had reached while the others were gambling inside.

If the coming misfortune could not be avoided.

Then why not cause a misfortune deliberately? On my own terms.

"A paper cut."

Running a finger across paper does not guarantee a cut.

I had kept testing it during the wait.

Changing the angle, the speed, even the moisture on my hand.

Even under identical conditions, the result was not always the same.

So I decided there was room for chance to determine whether my finger got cut or not.

"It is a shame I cannot gamble against you. Truly, it would have been an interesting match."

Doi stared hard at the small bead of blood forming on my fingertip, then looked away.

"You are already in an endless repeating gamble. Just because 'odd' came up this time does not mean 'odd' will come up again. Do not forget that the essence of gambling lies in its irregularity."

That it was warning me like this meant...

That cutting my finger on paper was not a perfect solution that would always work.

But it also sounded like, at least for now, I was fine.

"Right. Take care."

I left the flesh-made gambler's domain in the Future Strategy Budget Planning Team without a moment's pause.

* * *

14. Do not gamble. Not unless you are certain you can win.

* * *

The steel door of the emergency exit swung open with a clang.

I wandered around the 11th floor corridor briefly but found nothing of note, so I came straight down to the next floor.

"15th floor..."

[15th Floor | Singyae Daily, Moment O'Clock]

I jotted down the floor order in my diary and checked the information.

Singyae Daily was a mid-sized news outlet.

Moment O'Clock, what kind of company was that. I felt like I had heard the name before.

[Moment O'Clock | moment o'clock]

Looking directly at the company nameplate, the name was printed in clean, simple lettering.

"Hmm."

Opening the door and stepping inside, I stopped short at the scene in front of me.

For one thing, there were two bodies on the floor of the dim office.

A young woman and a middle-aged man.

The woman was lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling, arms thrown carelessly out.

An open bottle of hand sanitizer had fallen near her head.

A pale, grayish smear of vomit around her mouth and on the floor.

It looked like she had drunk the hand sanitizer and died.

More than that, the woman's outfit caught my eye.

Bleach-blond hair. A black skirt cut sharply asymmetrical, one side drastically longer than the other. Black knee-high boots.

A free, unrestrained style that seemed to operate under no dress code whatsoever.

"Oh."

It came back to me.

Moment O'Clock.

An online edit shop. Handling multiple clothing and accessory brands.

Moment O'Clock, MD team assistant manager, Lee Na-hyun.

I confirmed the name on her employee badge and shifted my gaze to the middle-aged man.

A drab suit, a stark contrast to the woman.

I checked the badge around the man's neck.

Singyae Daily, social desk section chief, Kim Young-ho.

This man was lying curled on his side, and in his mouth...

A necktie?

Strangely, a necktie was hanging out of his mouth, and judging by his skin color, the cause of death was asphyxiation.

It looked like he had choked on the necktie and died.

And the most singular thing of all.

Beside each of the two bodies sat a mannequin, posed in the exact same position as the person next to it.

As if mocking them.

Then.

A soft click, and the door to the supply room at the far end of the office opened.

A white mannequin walked out.

It came forward with that slow, soundless trudge and stopped at my left side.

For just an instant my body flinched, but only for a moment.

Right now I simply felt puzzled.

Seeing a mannequin move and walk was not particularly frightening.

Even now, equations calculating my body weight by the part were running through my head. In my ears, the sound of my bones being severed joint by joint. Across my nose, a fleeting trace of blood soaking through my clothes.

Maybe seeing that crash test dummy in the parking garage last time, something not unlike a mannequin, had helped.

Out of curiosity I reached out to touch it, and...

"Oh. It's copying me."

The mannequin extended its left hand as well, matching my movement exactly.

Same pose, same direction.

Mirroring me.

Footnotes:

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