WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

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◈ How to Die in the Office Labyrinth ◈

Chapter 76: The Silence of the Lambs

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"What the hell is this guy..."

If Hwang Ju-yeon was a wolf, she couldn't kill Yu Hyun-jae.

Doing that would be advertising herself as a wolf, which meant she'd be exiled the next day.

If there were other wolves, she'd sooner use that fact to target Yu Hyun-jae herself. That way she could be the one to kill him and still avoid suspicion.

So Hwang Ju-yeon would have to name a target before her packmates did. Someone other than Yu Hyun-jae.

In the end, she'd be protecting Yu Hyun-jae to protect herself.

"She's going to pick me."

My dying wouldn't give Hwang Ju-yeon much of an advantage, but if I survived, I could vote against her the next day. Under the pretext that I'd been suspicious of her.

Yu Hyun-jae had also managed to create an atmosphere suggesting he found Hwang Ju-yeon suspicious, which put her at a disadvantage in the court of public opinion.

She'd probably figure there was a real risk of collecting two or more votes and getting exiled.

Still. Please, anyone but me.

"Once again, without fail, the darkness retreats and the bright light rises."

It really was anyone but me.

"Hm...?"

"Huh?"

"Nobody... disappeared!"

Absolutely nothing had happened.

All six of us, myself included, looked around at each other in confusion.

Could it be that no one had hunted at all?

Why would anyone do that?

"How strange."

That infuriating mouth opened again.

"Whoever killed during the very first hunting night wouldn't have suddenly hesitated just because it's the second day. Unless..."

Yu Hyun-jae looked at Hwang Ju-yeon like someone who had just grasped something terrifying.

"Was it to avoid suspicion? Because I made you feel slightly suspected earlier?"

"What are you talking about, Representative. From where I'm standing, all you're doing right now is pushing me into a corner for no reason."

Hwang Ju-yeon fired back in clipped, rapid words, as if holding her emotions under tight rein.

"I'll admit my initial suspicion lacked any real basis. But given how things have developed, I find myself with little choice."

Push it just a little further and the tension between them was going to snap.

Lee Na-hyun, Lee Jin-su, Jeong Ji-ho, and I stayed perfectly quiet, watching like shadows.

"In the first place, Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi was the one who first brought up Seon Yu-han-ssi... ah."

Yu Hyun-jae paused mid-sentence and looked at me.

"Now that I think about it, how are you doing, Seon Yu-han-ssi?"

"Ah."

"Oh? You're talking! Why didn't you say anything earlier, Yu-han-nim? Was it really a penalty?"

"Ah... yes. That's right."

I looked at Yu Hyun-jae for a moment, then glanced away.

"Did you genuinely try to pick a wolf and get it wrong? Who did you go with?"

"...Yu Hyun-jae, the Representative. I picked him."

This terrifying son of a bitch.

"Oh wow. So the Representative is definitely a sheep then? And Yu-han-nim too."

Ha.

He compared what he does to running a business?

Even those people couldn't play politics this hard.

"...Did you two plan this?"

The magician's sharp gaze drove into me like an arrow.

"You're trying to set me up? Sitting over there together?"

Ah.

Don't do that. Don't say things like that.

"Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi. You know very well there was no time or opportunity for that. It seems like you're getting desperate."

It would only look like a wolf's last struggle.

"It's a real shame, but... I can't say I feel safe anymore. I'm sorry, Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi."

Yu Hyun-jae finally gestured to the host, and Hosoo stepped forward as if he'd been waiting for exactly this moment.

"I'd like Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi to be exiled."

The first vote.

The first declaration that this person should die.

"Yes. Hwang Ju-yeon-nim, 1 vote. Currently Hwang Ju-yeon-nim is the top vote-getter and is scheduled for exile."

"Are you insane? I'm voting too. I want you exiled, Yu Hyun-jae!"

"Yes. Yu Hyun-jae-nim, 1 vote. Currently Hwang Ju-yeon-nim and Yu Hyun-jae-nim are tied for the most votes and both are scheduled for exile."

"Ah. So that's how it works."

A tie meant everyone tied gets exiled, apparently.

"That aside, the fact that you voted without a moment's hesitation tells me Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi really is a wolf. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I said I'm not. And honestly, the reason I was suspicious of Seon Yu-han-ssi earlier is that Chae Jae-ha-ssi and I disagreed, and then he just up and died on the spot. That's suspicious. I asked if he killed someone and got no answer. He looked like he was scrambling for an excuse. And the thing about nobody dying last night, I genuinely have no idea about that."

"You say that as though someone dying was a necessity."

Of everyone here, if this man weren't on my side, he'd be the first one I'd exile. And I'd be glad to watch him go.

I didn't even want to deal with him.

"What's more, if Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi were a sheep, she would naturally have kept in mind the possibility of a penalty for failing to identify a wolf. I'll admit I was also suspicious of Seon Yu-han-ssi at first for not speaking. But the fact that there's a penalty for guessing wrong came to me immediately. How could anyone who wasn't a wolf forget a rule that extends your life by one day, as long as you don't guess wrong?"

"...Host. I'm voting."

But right now, we're on the same side.

"Against Hwang Ju-yeon-ssi."

"Ha!"

"Yes. Hwang Ju-yeon-nim, 2 votes. Currently Hwang Ju-yeon-nim is the top vote-getter and is scheduled for exile."

"See, you two planned this! Birds of a feather, going after the woman who seems like the easiest target first! Psychopaths."

I looked straight at Hwang Ju-yeon on purpose.

So this is the kind of face she can make.

Somehow, I liked it.

"The Representative is confirmed to be a sheep, and I can't have him exiled along with you."

I wasn't going to apologize.

What kind of cowardice is it to stab someone in the back and then say sorry?

Hwang Ju-yeon deserved better than that kind of terrible deception.

I couldn't look away from what I was doing.

I wasn't going to pretend I had no choice.

"The sun has set. The pasture feels lonely without Hwang Ju-yeon-nim."

I killed Hwang Ju-yeon, and Hwang Ju-yeon died.

That's all.

I won't forget the look in her eyes at the very end, cursing us as she watched.

* * *

This is a guess I won't say out loud because it won't comfort anyone, but Hwang Ju-yeon really was the wolf who killed Chae Jae-ha.

For a while, no one died at night.

Lee Na-hyun and Jeong Ji-ho must have spent the entire night crying after Hwang Ju-yeon's exile. They greeted the morning with red-rimmed eyes and swollen noses, and in the days that followed, not a single person died at night.

Lee Jin-su was quiet by nature to begin with, and always a bit awkward in his movements, so he was harder to read.

Then again, from the very first round, Hwang Ju-yeon had been just about the only one with the nerve to hunt someone.

Setting Yu Hyun-jae aside, since he wasn't a wolf.

"The fact that the game hasn't ended yet means there's still a wolf among us."

Yu Hyun-jae said it loud enough for everyone to hear, but at the same time shifted his gaze just slightly, as if speaking only to me.

Lee Jin-su.

Apparently the quiet game company employee was the next target.

And we had more than enough power to exile Lee Jin-su easily.

Lee Na-hyun and Jeong Ji-ho hadn't voted during Hwang Ju-yeon's round either.

If they continued to hold back, the game would proceed entirely according to Yu Hyun-jae and me.

"But, Jin-su-nim isn't really suspicious of anything in particular."

"Then are you saying Ji-ho-gun is the wolf? Or Lee Na-hyun-ssi?"

"No, that's..."

Even Lee Na-hyun, who had pushed back boldly after swallowing her tears, finally backed down.

"I'll vote."

I cast my vote against Lee Jin-su.

I had no way to know for certain whether Lee Jin-su was a wolf or not.

But I knew a way to win without a doubt.

"Yes. Lee Jin-su-nim, 1 vote. Currently Lee Jin-su-nim is the top vote-getter and is scheduled for exile."

Exile everyone except those confirmed to be sheep, and we win.

"You two are really..."

Lee Jin-su received the vote without surprise and just shook his head.

He didn't seem to have any intention of retaliating with his vote either.

"You're awful."

I know.

"I know."

My silent answer and Yu Hyun-jae's flat reply landed at the same time.

"The sky is darkening bit by bit."

Thirteen minutes of daylight was running out.

"Host. Let's go to the vote."

Yu Hyun-jae, who had been holding off his vote to guard against any last-second ballots, finally spoke.

"I'd like to exile Lee Na-hyun-ssi."

What?

"Yes. Lee Na-hyun-nim, 1 vote. Currently Lee Jin-su-nim and Lee Na-hyun-nim are tied for the most votes and both are scheduled for exile."

"What?"

"Is there any need to waste time?"

Yu Hyun-jae whispered it like he was stating some simple truth, like the sun and moon rising and setting every day.

"You already know, don't you. That it just needs to be the two of us."

We were past awful. We were repulsive.

"Wait, I, I'm also voting, Yu Hyun―"

"―The sun finally fades into darkness. What do you suppose became of Lee Jin-su-nim and Lee Na-hyun-nim, now that they have left the pasture?"

Night fell.

"...It's not over? Still?"

Three people left now.

Me, Yu Hyun-jae, and Jeong Ji-ho.

I knew I was a sheep.

I knew Yu Hyun-jae was a sheep.

Which meant, in the end...

I had to kill that kid.

Before the kid killed us.

If the kid failed to kill one of us that night, then eventually we'd have no choice but to be the ones who did it.

"As the moon sets, so the sun must rise."

And so it was.

The child didn't kill anyone.

Even knowing it was necessary. Even knowing not doing it meant dying.

"I'll... vote."

Don't hesitate. Don't regret. Don't make excuses.

What does that make Hwang Ju-yeon if you stop here? What about Lee Jin-su and Lee Na-hyun?

"For, Jeong Ji-ho."

"Yes. Jeong Ji-ho-nim, 1 vote. Currently Jeong Ji-ho-nim is the top vote-getter and is scheduled for exile."

"Me too. Let's have Ji-ho-gun exiled."

"Yes. Jeong Ji-ho-nim, 2 votes. Exile is confirmed."

Scheduled had become confirmed.

With two out of three votes, the exile was certain regardless. No matter who Jeong Ji-ho voted for now.

"...Exile happens right away, it seems."

Even Yu Hyun-jae hadn't expected this. His eyes widened slightly.

"Yes. That's right."

The host approached the confirmed exile.

"What a shame. I knew you were an entertaining playmate."

Hosoo murmured softly, then pressed his lips to the young wolf's forehead.

And the child was erased from the world. As if they had never existed.

"......"

I stared at that scene, blank, then shuddered like someone waking from a dream.

The last wolf was dead.

So why.

'Should the victory condition of either side be achieved, The Silence of the Lambs will conclude immediately.'

Why wasn't the final game ending?

Why.

"......"

Why was The Silence of the Lambs still going?

"Ah. Finally."

I couldn't bring myself to turn my head.

Which meant the man sitting next to me.

What the hell was this insane son of a bitch?

Footnotes:

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