WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ How to Die in the Office Labyrinth ◈

Chapter 46: Our Train is Currently

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Clatter, rumble-rumble.

The familiar sounds of a subway arrived alongside a view that was only barely familiar.

I'd ridden the subway earlier today on my way to the interview, but the other passengers back then hadn't been made up of great black clumps of text.

"Ugh! What is all this! What is this place! And how did that mannequin follow us all the way here?"

"Ah! What is this......! Wait, is that Chae Jae-ha-ssi?"

"Kyaah! A, a monster!"

Oh.

I immediately knew where Chae Jae-ha, Hwang Ju-yeon, and Lee Na-hyun, the Moment O'Clock MD who had accidentally dragged all of us here, were.

So it wasn't just me failing to cut my hand on the paper and missing the bad luck.

The people who had cut their hands and definitively dodged the unlucky event were here too.

『What's going on......?』

『Why are they like that......?』

"Everyone quiet down for a moment and come together."

I pushed through the murmuring text-people and collected them one by one, moving toward the priority seating area where there were fewer people.

Finding flesh-toned humans among the text-people wasn't difficult.

"You're Seon Yu-han, right? What is this place, seriously......? Why does everyone have this dark, weird text crawling all over them like cockroaches...... And I can barely make out your face, or Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi's."

"Same here. Seon Yu-han-ssi, those are the mannequins from earlier, aren't they? Copying everything...... It's giving me chills."

Though there was something a bit peculiar.

I could tell these people had ordinary human faces, but I had no idea what any of them actually looked like.

All the features were visible right in front of me, yet they refused to piece themselves together into a whole in my head.

It felt like each individual feature had an information value of one, but together they added up to zero.

In short, I just couldn't recognize them. I was looking directly at them and still didn't know. Turn away and I doubted I'd even remember.

"And this person here, I think I saw the name Lee Na-hyun earlier. I'm Seon Yu-han."

"Oh, yes. Hello...... When did you even catch that......?"

"Ugh, this feels so strange. Like I don't know who someone is, but somehow I do?"

Strangely, though, I could still tell who was who.

The faces weren't registering, but it was as if invisible name tags were attached to each person.

"Anyway, um, Lee Na-hyun-ssi? It seems like something you did pulled all of us in here. Could you......"

Just as Chae Jae-ha was about to ask Lee Na-hyun something.

Bang, rattle.

The door to the adjacent car opened.

"Ah, you were all here. No wonder it was so noisy."

"Oh, Representative. And, Ji-ho...... you got a bit taller, didn't you...... Still, I'm glad we found each other so quickly."

The body recognized as Jeong Ji-ho looked to be around the middle or upper grades of elementary school.

Even the child who'd been seven years old seemed disoriented, unable to keep still.

"It seems we've all ended up in someone else's body. It looks like everyone found a body as similar to themselves as possible. By the way, the teacher......"

"Ah, I, I'm Lee Na-hyun."

"Nice to meet you, Lee Na-hyun-ssi. I'm Yu Hyun-jae."

"What? Don't tell me you're that Yu Hyun-jae...... the Representative?"

"Yes. I'd imagine Lee Na-hyun-ssi knows something about all this. About this situation."

That calm, somewhat flat voice carried a strange power that naturally led others wherever it wanted them to go.

Completely different from his original voice, but unmistakably Yu Hyun-jae.

"Well, I was reading this article about passengers on a subway dying from some kind of group gas exposure, and I accidentally clicked a button. Everyone suddenly started pouring in and I panicked......"

"In the Labyrinth, it's always best to be careful. A single mistake can cost you your life."

A beautiful exchange of blame-shifting.

"It's not like I wanted that to happen. I was deliberately staying still and not doing anything......"

"Oh dear. The Labyrinth is not a forgiving place for those who stop moving forward. I'm glad nothing happened to Lee Na-hyun-ssi before we arrived."

I didn't particularly want to take anyone's side, but there was no underestimating the skill of someone who ran an entire company.

"So, what exactly was in that article?"

Hwang Ju-yeon stepped in and changed the subject.

"Ah, I didn't have time to read it all that carefully...... Some kind of toxic gas? It said most of the passengers died. But has something like this actually happened?"

"Not to my knowledge. And even if a similar incident did occur, I'd expect some embellishment."

Yu Hyun-jae gestured toward the other passengers.

"Look at what they're carrying."

"Hm?"

I looked properly at the passengers for the first time and realized.

It was like someone had raided a museum of phone history. Some held feature phones, others smartphones.

Some were unfolding and reading paper newspapers. Others had books open in their laps.

"Can you pinpoint a time period?"

My assumption was that the articles saved as Drafts were events that might occur at some point in the future.

But the Labyrinth apparently couldn't give out exact dates.

Made sense. The future was a domain that could change.

"So whether it's real or not, that doesn't matter so much in the Labyrinth. What matters is whether we can get out."

Having said that, Yu Hyun-jae stood motionless for a moment without speaking.

Looking blankly at something. Not at anything solid and present, but at something that wasn't here anymore.

"Representative?"

"Ah. Sorry."

Yu Hyun-jae shook his head as if waking from a dream.

"It's been a very long time. Since I've ridden the subway."

Just when you think you can forget it, something like that gets under your skin all over again.

"We will shortly be making an announcement for our passengers."

An overhead announcement came on.

"Our train is currently running at a reduced speed to maintain a safe distance from the train ahead. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding."

Clatter, rumble.

The train slowed down slightly.

"Anyway, this train is that train...... right?"

"Ha, somehow I figured as much. So we just get off at the next station?"

Now fully resigned to the Labyrinth, Hwang Ju-yeon and Chae Jae-ha asked.

"Mm...... Lee Na-hyun-ssi, I believe I saw the words 'editing will begin' on that screen earlier. Is that correct?"

I thought back to the pop-up I'd seen just before entering the article.

[This article is currently being published by 'Kim Young-ho'. Editing will begin under a different name. 'Seon Yu-han, Yu Hyun-jae, Lee Na-hyun, Jeong Ji-ho, Chae Jae-ha, Hwang Ju-yeon'.]

Last time, after reading the article about the family killed in their home, the button I'd pressed between Edit and Publish was Publish.

And then, as A, I'd killed only the father C while keeping B safe, and the moment we stepped out of the house, it had failed.

My guess was that Publish made the article's contents play out as written, while Edit did the opposite and prevented the event described.

"Uh...... I suppose? Probably? There was an edit and a publish button. The cursor was probably sitting over the edit button, I guess. But does that matter?"

This Lee Na-hyun. Exactly the type to die a sudden, violent death in a Labyrinth.

Seemed even worse than Chae Jae-ha.

"Then I'd think our goal is to change things so the incident in the article doesn't happen. If we weren't going to fix it, there'd be no point to the Edit option."

"Ah. So we prevent a subway gas attack?"

The co-representative of Uiwi Guild seemed intrigued.

"Yes. I think we contact the emergency intercom over there, shout that there's a fire, and open the doors."

"Mm."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, don't worry about it. Let's hope it ends easily."

Yu Hyun-jae waved a hand.

"We will shortly be making an announcement for our passengers. Our train will be making a temporary stop to maintain a safe distance from the train ahead. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding."

Rumble-rumble, and the train stopped.

Like a starting gun going off.

"Shall we try it, then."

* * *

"......Please follow the instructions and remain calm......"

Before I'd finished shouting "Fire!" and working my way through every car, the announcement came over the speakers and the doors began to open.

『Get up! There's a fire!』

『Aaah, stop pushing!』

『Hey! Move slowly!』

The sight of black-ant masses of people surging and scrambling forward felt somehow unreal.

Since it wasn't actually a fire, there was no reason to get caught up in it. I stepped back and waited.

That was when.

『Excuse me.』

Someone grabbed my arm.

In that instant.

⑇⑆⑉⑈⑆⑇　⑉⑈⑇⑉⑉　⑈

⑆⑉⑇⑉⑈　⑇⑆　⑆⑆⑇⑉

⑇⑉⑇　⑉⑇⑈⑉　⑈⑇　⑈

⑈　⑆⑉⑇　⑈⑈⑆　⑆⑉

My vision crackled and inverted like a glitch effect, and a completely different scene came into view.

Just for a moment. Like a hallucination.

"......"

A train silent enough to make your ears ring.

Subway hanging straps shaped like a hangman's noose.

People with their necks looped through each one.

Faceless bodies swaying in time with the rattling of the train.

『What company do you work for?』

A sentence spoke to me. I shook my head hard and forced out the image still lingering like an afterimage.

"Pardon?"

I slipped my arm free and looked the person over.

Short hair and build suggested most likely male.

The slight height and slender frame made me think young student at first, but no school uniform.

『Company. I asked where you work.』

A strange question.

Is this how cult recruiters approached people these days?

"Why do you ask?"

『Well, I've been watching you and a few of your companions for a while now.』

Fragmented black letters wriggling like insects looked up at me and drew closer.

『I'm just curious what kind of people you are, that you'd tell a lie like that.』

Ah. Must be someone who was in the same car as us from the start.

If they'd been watching since then, it was reasonable to find us suspicious.

Planning to report us for filing a false alarm?

It didn't matter.

All we needed to do was prevent the toxic gas attack and Edit the article.

"Honestly, what we suspected was even more serious, but it was so far-fetched that shouting fire was the quicker way to get everyone out safely."

『Is there something more serious than a fire?』

"Yes. A biochemical attack."

I confirmed that most of the passengers had filed out by then and gave an honest answer.

Once all the passengers were gone and the situation was resolved, the Edit would be complete and we'd exit this world inside the article.

『What? Really?』

"Yes. So please get out now. Most people have cleared out, so you should be able to leave safely-"

『-That's strange.』

The black text bunched into a head-shape tilted to one side.

『How did the information leak?』

"......What?"

Crack!

A powerful impact struck my jaw hard enough to feel like it might shatter, and the world went dark.

Footnotes:

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