WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ How to Die in the Office Labyrinth ◈

Chapter 73: Not a Mafia Game, Absolutely Not

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Out of thirteen loops so far, I had reached the arcade without dying to the Happyland games nine times.

A quick summary of the games I played during those runs.

《Idle Hamster》, once.

I hadn't planned on it, but there's no better game for taking a headcount of who's in the Labyrinth, so I played it to check the hamster card numbers.

Sold four hamsters, lost one to the broker's cut, and got the decimals lopped off.

Stress-induced fainting was definitely warranted.

《Blühender Wahnsinn》, once.

That screen game with VHS footage of a grey, desolate forest and field.

Inside that game was a corpse, someone who had probably been on the fifth floor before we ever arrived at the arcade.

The body had been torn apart in bizarre ways, as if used in some kind of ritual, following rules I couldn't begin to understand, then stretched wide and draped over branches like laundry on a line.

The face had been skinned separately and fastened to some large plant to look like a scarecrow, so I walked toward it thinking it was a person and died not long after.

Whatever happened to that body probably happened to mine too.

After one run of Blühender Wahnsinn, I never went near it again.

A useful reminder that my dislike of densely packed trees has its reasons.

I wouldn't play it for even a single gold coin.

《Puncture Darts》, four times.

I hit the Fragment of Life once. Just the once.

The Pupil of the Pupil was manageable enough since it didn't cost me my life.

The Void of Pain was honestly fine. Not feeling anything when a snake was crushing my bones.

The Void of ieung was horrible. Literally, unspeakably so.

Being forced to forget something is not an experience worth repeating.

I haven't thrown a dart since.

《True Stories》, seven times.

By taking turns each loop, one person answering one question before passing, I learned the answers through case twenty.

If I get to case twenty-one next time, I can earn a full gold coin from that game alone.

《Garden of Psyche》, nine times.

Why wouldn't you keep playing the easiest game when you know the walkthrough cold? (The pale tree is not my child.) Zone 42 is a region that does not exist.

《Project Delphi》, zero times.

That one game I did not play.

I didn't want to anymore. Not in front of the others.

Every time Yu Hyun-jae played Project Delphi, the oracle was always the same.

Always going over two seconds on the same question. Always getting the sixth question wrong.

Always receiving that cursed oracle without any sign of recognizing it, then turning back to look at us.

Every time I met those eyes that knew nothing, my fingertips trembled for reasons I couldn't explain.

And I found out what happens when you get every single question wrong in Project Delphi.

Thanks to Chae Jae-ha.

Something gets done to the brain, it seems. The ability to anticipate or imagine the future drops sharply.

In short, you lose all sense of fear, start doing reckless things like volunteering to play something like Blühender Wahnsinn, and end up dying in a game as simple as Garden of Psyche by ignoring the walkthrough.

Anyway. After dying about six or seven times, cradled by the staff serpent like a little lamb, I learned one thing: the snake has a consistent order in which it kills people.

At first I didn't notice, because the headcount kept shifting each loop depending on who died in the underground parking garage, at Neosoft, at Singyae Daily.

But once it became familiar, I could see the order of who died before me.

Yu Hyun-jae, first.

Hwang Ju-yeon, second.

Chae Jae-ha, third.

Lee Jin-su, fourth.

Fifth was me.

I still haven't seen the moments when Lee Na-hyun and Jeong Ji-ho die.

I don't know what rule governs the order.

It's not age, for one thing.

If it were, Yu Hyun-jae would come after me.

He was born in January of the same year I was.

There is one crude hypothesis.

The snake kills people in descending order of net worth.

It's a space that gives out gold coins as rewards, so I figured the criterion might be money-related.

Though I have to wonder whether I, a current job-seeker not long out of my last position, really have more money than Lee Na-hyun, who is working as an assistant manager.

You never can tell with people, though.

No.

Never mind.

The order in which people die doesn't matter in the slightest.

"Welcome, Seon Yu-han-nim, Yu Hyun-jae-nim, Lee Na-hyun-nim, Lee Jin-su-nim, Jeong Ji-ho-nim, Chae Jae-ha-nim, and Hwang Ju-yeon-nim. I am the host. Please call me Hosoo."

What matters is how to stay alive going forward.

* * *

"Seven people, exactly."

How long had it been since we were all gathered like this.

"Then we might as well get started right away. I hear you can't leave this floor without playing that game."

"Would you like to enjoy the final game straight away? Without trying any of the other games I've prepared?"

"Hmm... he's saying that, but do we really have to try some other g-ugh?"

The hand that had reflexively shot out to grab Chae Jae-ha by the collar reached a compromise at his wrist, given that I was currently sitting in a chair.

"Seven people. Exactly seven, gathered here. Finally. If even one person drops out, that's it. You think I'm going to let you die like that?"

Fortunately I didn't actually say that out loud.

Still, I think the meaning came through well enough through my eyes.

The last thing we needed was someone getting killed trying to earn gold coins.

We at least had to see what this so-called final game was.

"Seon Yu-han-nim, Yu Hyun-jae-nim, Lee Na-hyun-nim, Lee Jin-su-nim, Jeong Ji-ho-nim, Chae Jae-ha-nim, and Hwang Ju-yeon-nim. Would you like to enjoy the final game?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yes, sir."

"Yes..."

And so, in a remarkably smooth unanimous vote, we moved straight to the final game.

"I've prepared a very special game for you all."

Following the host's guidance, we all took seats at even intervals around a circular table.

"I'm sure none of you have heard of it. I'm sure none of you have played it. Naturally, because I made it."

Visibly delighted, shoulders bouncing, the corners of that mouth twitching.

Like a mischievous child too full of joy to contain it.

"The name of the game is... the Silence of the Lambs!"

It was certainly a game I'd never heard of.

But wasn't the title plagiarized?

"Wolves disguised as sheep, hidden within the pasture, hunt sheep in secret every night, and when day breaks, the sheep must find the wolves and drive them out of the pasture."

The moment the game explanation began, everyone spoke at once.

"That's Mafia."

"That's Mafia."

"That's literally Mafia."

Hosoo's head tilted.

As ever, those rectangular, mysterious pupils remained perfectly parallel to the floor.

"I don't understand. The name of this game is the Silence of the Lambs."

"Ah. Right... Yes..."

Come to think of it, goats aren't the only ones with horizontally elongated pupils. Sheep have them too.

Apparently that's why this game got called the Silence of the Lambs.

"Ji-ho, you know Mafia, right? Oh good. And Representative-nim... you can play, I take it?"

"Quite well. It's not so different from running a company, honestly."

Fortunately no one was unfamiliar with Mafia.

"However, the exact number of wolves and sheep will not be disclosed. All sides remain unaware of each other's identities."

"Huh? In Mafia-"

"-Wolves."

"...Even the wolves don't know how many of them there are, or who's who? When they're picking someone to target at night, don't they confirm each other's faces?"

"During the night, sight and sound between players are blocked. You need not worry about the person beside you sensing your movements. I am the only one who can perceive any of you, so please be at ease."

The same host who had coldly corrected the role name now answered with the most pleasant expression.

From there, people started murmuring with follow-up questions.

"So the wolves can't even discuss who to kill at night?"

"Don't tell me they each pick someone separately? If there are two or more wolves, it'd be over in three rounds, wouldn't it? There are only seven people."

"Is there a doctor? A doctor? What about a detective?"

"Now."

Tap.

The host struck the floor with a long wooden staff, and everyone fell silent.

"Each wolf marks one target during the night, and only the wolf who marks a target first succeeds in the hunt."

First come, first served, one per night.

No chance of the game ending in three or four rounds.

"I don't understand. Can a doctor revive the dead? Can a detective arrest a wolf?"

No special roles like doctor or detective, either.

Made sense, given the animal setting. Occupations would be out of place.

"Wait."

Hwang Ju-yeon frowned and raised her hand.

"You said the wolves don't know each other's numbers or identities. So a wolf could end up killing another wolf?"

"Yes."

"...Isn't that a problem?"

"Allow me to explain the victory conditions."

The host began the explanation smoothly.

"If you are a wolf, devour your prey until only wolves remain in this pasture. Become the new predator and master of this land."

Wolves must kill all the sheep without getting exiled themselves.

"If you are a sheep, drive out the predators until only sheep remain in this pasture. Break free from all threat and control, and enjoy safety and freedom in the fields. Whichever side fulfills its victory condition first, the Silence of the Lambs ends immediately."

I ran through the objectives by role in my head.

Wolf.

One: don't get exiled during the day.

Two: during the night, mark someone faster than an unknown fellow wolf marks you.

Put simply, wolves just have to kill everyone except themselves.

Sheep.

One: pay careful attention to avoid being left alone with a wolf, and work together to exile the right person.

Two: pray that no one targets you at night.

"Isn't this way too unfavorable for the sheep?"

No doctor to protect anyone. No detective to root out the wolves.

"That's why sheep have a special ability."

The host answered my question.

"Once, while alive, a sheep may designate someone they suspect of being a wolf during the night and verify whether that person is a wolf or not. A single gamble with their life on the line, you might say."

Hosoo's voice was rich with amusement.

"If the person they designate is indeed a wolf, the sheep may, once while still alive, protect someone. They may protect themselves or someone else, it doesn't matter."

"So it's just a doctor and detective combined..."

"However, if the person they designate turns out not to be a wolf, there is a penalty, so take care. Failure always comes with a price."

"A penalty? What kind of penalty?"

"If you're curious, you'll have to find out by playing. Where's the fun if you know everything in advance?"

Good grief.

"You've got more rules you're hiding from us like this."

The host, saintly in appearance, smiled widely.

"Of course. Where's the fun if you know everything in advance?"

"Seriously? How is that fair? That's too much."

"It's right here. I don't understand. I am a very flexible host."

Infuriating as always.

Still, the fact that the host was being this candid suggested we could probably discover the finer rules as we played.

Maybe that was part of the fun of the Silence of the Lambs to begin with.

"Ji-ho, so if you turn out to be a wolf..."

We spent a short time going over the rules together, confirming and reviewing everything.

Hosoo waited with a quiet smile, surprisingly patient.

Watching us with those sheep's eyes.

"One more thing."

When the host judged we were ready, the host opened their mouth again.

Everyone held their breath, looking up at the host standing alone.

"I nearly forgot to mention the most important rule."

Somehow I felt I already knew what was coming.

I'd been wondering why it hadn't been mentioned until now.

"Outside the pasture is a very dangerous wilderness. There is a reason the wolves hid themselves inside. Those who leave the pasture cannot return."

A gentle, unhurried voice, as if telling a bedtime story.

"The pasture itself is no safe haven, either. Every night, the hungry and the savage fall upon the weak with paranoid ferocity. Flesh is torn away and devoured, and a bloodied body stripped to the bone does not rise again."

I know another name for the pasture.

"So please, everyone, do enjoy yourselves. A game where you silence someone forever with nothing but your fingertips and three inches of tongue."

It is life. It is the world. It is the Labyrinth.

"Only those who survive and win may leave this pasture."

We are not simply losing a game.

"Now then..."

Those who lose are silenced out of life, cast out beyond the edge of the world, and swallowed by the Labyrinth.

"The night of awakening has come."

The Silence of the Lambs had begun.

Footnotes:

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