WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ How to Die in the Office Labyrinth ◈

Chapter 69: Someone Who Wants to Die

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The hamster cards dealt at the start had numbered twelve in total.

If those twelve cards each meant one person......

"What do you mean? So who's suddenly eating them? Of all the things...... this game is seriously disgusting."

Hwang Ju-yeon had buried herself so deep in Idle Hamster that she had no idea what was going through my head, and her dialect started spilling out.

"Okay, fine, sure. Buyers with weird tastes, hamsters that won't listen no matter how you raise them, ones that eat each other even after you put them up in the market, I'll accept all of that. They told us before the game that buyers have preferences and hamsters have different personalities. They said the hamsters eat each other when they get hungry. Vague, but it was mentioned, so I let it go. But this is something else entirely. This was never brought up at all. Who else besides their own kind would suddenly eat a hamster? How am I supposed to factor that in? You're the host and the dealer, you should have said something upfront."

No.

That's not it.

If my guess is right, this isn't some simple...... problem with the game rules.

"I don't understand. Hwang Ju-yeon-nim has just requested that this Labyrinth inform her in advance of who will die, and when, and how."

It's a problem with the entire Labyrinth.

"Me? What did I say?"

"That request falls outside my authority, I'm afraid."

"......Wait. Hold on."

Hwang Ju-yeon had been staring blankly, but she shook her head as if something had clicked.

"You're lying. Ah......, no. Are you?"

"No, I'm not lying."

Hosoo smiled brightly, and Hwang Ju-yeon gagged.

"So what I've been selling this whole time...... to who, exactly......?"

"Please don't worry. The state of the original does affect the children's cards, but the children's state almost never affects the original in return. The connection isn't that close."

"Almost......? So there is a chance. If a hamster card dies, the real person could also......"

"It hasn't happened so far. Not to anyone present here, at least."

Whether they'd been sold, eaten by the others, or disposed of, among the cards that had vanished somewhere, there had definitely been cards modeled after real people in this building.

"Now then, let's proceed to the negotiation."

Whether Hwang Ju-yeon could catch her breath or not, the game went on.

"Hwang Ju-yeon-nim, please choose a child from the breeding pen and place it in the cage."

"......Here."

There was only one hamster card left anyway, so there wasn't much to deliberate over.

"Let's see the result of the negotiation."

Come to think of it, was the number of hamster cards updating in real time to reflect everyone still alive in the Labyrinth?

If so, since Idle Hamster had started around seven o'clock......

That would mean twelve people were alive at that point.

Twelve people.

A small number, but considering this was an invasive-type Labyrinth, it was actually quite a lot.

No way to know how many had survived in whatever other Jaelae Building Labyrinth existed somewhere out there like an instanced dungeon.

But not a total wipeout.

"Wait, so there are six more people besides us, no, five now?"

"It does seem that way."

Right here in this building, there were definitely survivors other than our group.

People still alive nearly four hours after Labyrinthification began.

"Wow, that's a relief. Then if just one more person shows up, we'll have seven and we can play that last game."

"Right. Maybe someone will come if we wait a little longer."

They probably won't.

Honestly, if no new person had turned up in nearly two hours of being in this arcade, that door was closed.

I had to die for this to end.

Not end, actually. Start over.

So what was I doing here, not starting over?

Why was I adding to these people's suffering, to the total sum of their pain? Like a monster. Like a Labyrinth.

'How. How...... can you do something like that without even blinking...... Get away from me! Don't touch me! If you can do that to yourself, what won't you do to other people? You monster.......'

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

I genuinely do not want these people to suffer. I mean that. Their pain brings me no pleasure whatsoever.

And the same goes for my own death.

I don't want to die.

I can't die just because I want to lessen their pain.

Dying is a terrible thing.

Living is a terrible thing.

Worse than either is dying and coming back.

I can't possibly......

"Oh! The anonymous buyer has purchased 457."

Hosoo's gentle voice scattered my thoughts.

"Oh! Hwang Ju-yeon-nim has raised all the children and sent them off."

Hwang Ju-yeon was drenched in cold sweat, face flushed, barely managing to sit upright as she faced the dealer.

She looked like she might collapse at any second.

"The total number of children Hwang Ju-yeon-nim sold is five. One of them was abandoned, but don't let that trouble you."

Five.

Just under half of twelve, but given how hard this game was, that was an impressive result.

Idle Hamster wasn't just card counting. It required card luck and the attentiveness to track every hamster's condition throughout.

I doubted I could match that score no matter how many times I tried.

"Congratulations."

Knock, knock.

The host rapped on the table.

A golden shape materialized in the empty black-bordered market.

"Hwang Ju-yeon-nim has obtained a Fragment of Life."

The freelance magician lifted the gold coin fragment with hands trembling nearly to the point of convulsion and turned it over, examining it from every angle.

"This...... looks like exactly a third. Is that right? Five out of twelve, so I wasn't expecting a half, but shouldn't it be more than a third?"

"I don't understand."

Hosoo tilted his head with that infuriating smile.

"One child's share was taken as the dealer's fee. The dealer has to make a living too."

"Oh! Unni......! Unni! Are you all right?"

"Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi!"

In the end, the extreme stress made Hwang Ju-yeon faint.

...... I am never playing this game again, and I'm never making anyone else play it either.

* * *

17-3. You are the hamster.

* * *

Fortunately, Hwang Ju-yeon came around within a minute and recovered.

Right after that, a discussion broke out over combining Yu Hyun-jae's gold coin fragment and Hwang Ju-yeon's.

Even combined they'd fall short of one coin, but that meant they only needed a little more to complete a full "Life."

"It can be combined after Hwang Ju-yeon-nim transfers the Fragment of Life to Yu Hyun-jae-nim, or vice versa."

Ownership had to be transferred first before the fragments could be merged, so the question was who would give to whom.

And once the full coin was complete, would either of them stake a claim over its use. In other words, who between Yu Hyun-jae and Hwang Ju-yeon would get to decide who the "Life" was spent on.

"Honestly, the way I feel right now, since my share is bigger, I'd like to say it should be my call. But excluding mine, the remaining two-thirds belongs to you."

Hwang Ju-yeon said it in a worn-out voice.

"If we're going by shares, that two-thirds outweighs my opinion."

"If that's how we're calculating it, I have even less to say."

Yu Hyun-jae responded calmly.

Both of them were fundamentally composed people, which was probably why the conversation didn't heat up beyond that.

Possibly also because neither of them felt it was quite desperate enough yet.

The Labyrinth probably wanted them fighting over how to combine the fragments too.

...... Honestly, I did want to see what instinctive patterns these two would show when pushed to the edge.

"Then why don't we put the combining question on hold for now. There's still a long way to go before we can complete one coin anyway."

"I suppose...... you're right about that."

One piece the size of a quarter, one the size of a third.

A fair amount left to fill in the rest.

"Then...... should I...... play a game now......"

Lee Jin-su murmured quietly and got to his feet, a little hesitant.

"Oh, Jin-su-nim, have you decided which game to play?"

"Yeah...... I was thinking maybe some darts......"

He'd said at first he wanted to play one of the screen games.

[𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬▸]

That screen game over there, the one frozen on a noisy VHS still image of a dark forest and field.

It seemed like the urge to die had almost left him.

Considering he'd changed his mind about playing something that ominous.

Darts was honestly a pretty good way to die too.

But the more or less grim expression on his face said he wasn't actually trying to.

"Are you good at darts?"

"Not exactly...... I've tried a few of the machines here, but it's hard to handle a controller with one hand......"

Lee Jin-su had lost his right arm during the Happyland game.

"And if it's not those kinds of games, I honestly don't have much confidence in anything else......"

Ah.

Most machine-based games assume two hands as a baseline.

And it wasn't like he could play the Garden of Psyche, which had already claimed one person. Project Delphi was technically a riddle game, which probably wasn't Lee Jin-su's strong suit.

He didn't seem particularly confident in board games either.

By process of elimination, he'd settled on Puncture Darts, the game with the simplest rules and mechanics.

"Lee Jin-su-ssi, are you sure you can throw?"

"Well...... at least I'm left-handed, so......"

"No, I mean, I'm worried about your center of gravity."

A hole getting punched through a body part is none of my concern, but holes getting punched through memory are something I do care about.

When you forget a consonant or a vowel, you end up expressing aggression without realizing it.

Especially the moment you notice that a specific letter appears in someone's name, you start seeing that person as "wrong" and wanting to get rid of them. Whether it's an object or a person.

"Ah...... that's true, but I still have to try......"

Fine. If you want to try, try.

I give up at this point.

It's not like I don't understand the feeling.

If a gaming company employee goes out of control, I can probably handle it myself.

"Lee Jin-su-nim. Would you like to play Puncture Darts?"

"Yes......"

Lee Jin-su received a dart from the host.

"Is a dart usually this...... big?"

"Not at all."

Yu Hyun-jae shook his head.

The dart had a thicker, sharper, longer needle than a normal one.

Which was why it had been perfectly capable of piercing a carotid artery without missing.

"Ah, Lee Jin-su-ssi. There's a line on the floor. You'll need to stand on it."

"Oh. Ah......! Thank you."

Lee Jin-su lined himself up with the throwing line I pointed to and shifted his weight back and forth to find his balance.

"Hoo......"

A short breath.

"Huh. No, why is it......"

"What, is that a wheel-spin now? Hosoo-nim, this is really too much!"

Spin and lunge.

"Oh! He hit it! He hit it, right--"

"--Ah, augh......!"

And a direct hit.

"Lee Jin-su-ssi!"

"Jin-su-nim!"

Lee Jin-su curled in on himself and went down.

"Where, where did it hit?"

Crack.

I grabbed the slowing dartboard and forced it to a stop.

The dart was lodged in double thirteen.

The text written on double thirteen was......

"The ventricle. It hit the ventricle."

Ventricular cavity.

"Lee Jin-su-ssi, Lee Jin-su-ssi!"

"Oh no...... what do we do. It looks like he's lost consciousness."

"What do we do? We don't have any coins left......"

Lee Na-hyun was tearing up.

"If only I hadn't used mine earlier......"

"It's not Lee Na-hyun-ssi's fault. I'm the one who gave you the coin to use, and that was my choice."

I was reassuring Lee Na-hyun, but my mind was running fast.

"The ventricle...... if there's a hole in the ventricle, how long......"

"Three minutes at most, I would think."

I was sure I'd only muttered that in my head, but an answer came back.

Three minutes. Three minutes.

I looked down at Lee Jin-su shaking on the floor. Then I thought of the Fragments of Life gripped in Yu Hyun-jae's and Hwang Ju-yeon's hands.

"Please open your eyes......! Please......"

Somehow, I feel it would be a waste.

After all that effort.

Wanting it that badly.

Effort and prayer are not acts that come with guaranteed reward or answer.

I know that better than anyone.

But......

I know.

Even knowing that it's futile, useless, meaningless.

If I could slot that last piece into place.

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

The game that can earn gold coins the fastest, as far as I know.

[p r e s s　a n y　b u t t o n]

Project Delphi.

Time to receive an oracle.

Footnotes:

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