WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

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◈ How to Die in the Office Labyrinth ◈

Chapter 88: The Labyrinth's Dilemma

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"The diary said B3 would be next, right?"

"Yes. There's something about a headless rider, but I'm still not sure what it means exactly."

It took nine more deaths to confirm what happened when I didn't trigger the fire alarm.

Either because I had lost something in Happyland that I couldn't afford to lose, or because I hadn't met the minimum headcount for the arcade.

"Either way, it'll probably be pitch dark again down there. Parking garage and all. We'll have to go in with the flashlight on."

Clunk.

The B3 parking garage, finally entered after everything it took.

Quiet.

"Ugh, that smell."

"What smell......"

"Something like burning tires."

"Wait, is there a fire? What do we do? Do you see smoke? Where's the fire extinguisher?"

Aside from the voices around me, it was very quiet.

No alarm.

Did it work?

The alarm had been going on and off before anyway, so it was too early to say.

"I don't see any smoke, though......"

"So where is that smell coming from......"

"Let's get moving. Better to stay in formation just in case--"

--Tr-r-r-r-r-r-r-ring!

Oh, damn it.

"Ah! That scared me......! What is that?"

"There really must be a fire!"

I'd been hoping against hope.

Does a heat detector still trigger?

By picking up the heat from that monster?

If so, the headless rider would have to complete itself whether I hit the fire alarm or not.

Figures.

Absolutely determined to take someone's limbs no matter what.

Tr-r-r-r-r-r-r-ring--!

Which meant that monster covered in black tires was charging toward us from somewhere right now.

"Everyone get behind the pillars, between the cars! The heat is building and something feels wrong!"

I reached down to lift the child and let go of that small hand for just a moment.

"Eeeaaaaahhh!"

A thin, fragile scream, the kind only a small child makes, bored into my ears like a nightmare.

The pitch-black monster tore through the edge of shadow, snapped its jaws around a small leg, and retreated back into the dark.

"Ugh, aaaaah......!"

More instinctive than any alarm, a wrenching sob that sounded like the last breath in a body, locking every muscle I had.

"Ji-ho!"

I was the first one running after the monster this time.

I already knew it wouldn't change anything.

No. Because I knew, that was exactly why.

"M-mo, ma, mah......"

The child couldn't get out one proper cry for their mother before the life left them.

Before the leg was even fully severed by the red-hot iron monster.

Tr-r-r-r-r-r-ring!

The monster dropped what remained of the child's body on the floor like scraps and slipped away, carrying that slender right leg without a care in the world.

I gathered the bloodless body and slowly lifted it.

Much lighter than before. Of course.

"Seon Yu-han-ssi! Let's go for now!"

Yu Hyun-jae, who had followed along, gave my back a light pat.

By the time I rejoined the rest of the group, who had scattered and gathered back together--

Tr-r-r-r-ring!

Tr-r-rk.

The alarm cut out.

"......"

Everyone who saw the child's body, the right leg now gone, went silent.

"I let go of Ji-ho's hand for just a second to lift them, and then...... No, there's no excuse for it......"

I said that and dipped my head slightly.

These people weren't Jeong Ji-ho's family, so there was no one to apologize to, and that much felt like enough.

Chasing after the child the moment they were taken had shown sufficient effort.

"......"

A solemn, uncomfortable silence.

Chae Jae-ha was the one who broke it.

"Well...... let's all head this way. My car is over there."

* * *

Tr-r-r-r-r-r-ring!

Thud!

Crunch, crack!

"Eek, aaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

"Na-hyun-ssi!"

The monster slammed into the back of the car and battered its head through the rear window, then yanked Lee Na-hyun's yellow-haired head clean out of the car with it.

Tr-r-r-r-r-r-r-ring!

Crack!

"Aaaaaahhhhh!"

"Lee Jin-su-ssi!"

Next it took Lee Jin-su's left arm.

Regrettably, Lee Jin-su lost consciousness after the arm was severed, drifting in and out for about ten minutes as his body convulsed in pain, and then he died.

Tr-r-r-r-r-r-ring!

The last one to give an arm to the headless rider was.......

"Aah, ugh......!"

"Seon Yu-han-ssi......!"

Me.

I thought I might get through this one unscathed.

"Nngh, ugh......"

Losing an arm itself isn't new to me.

I just haven't gotten used to being slowly sawed through by a chunk of metal so scorching hot it melts flesh.

My vision flares white at the edges.

The faint metallic smell of blood. The rich, bitter smell of cooked meat. The acrid sting of rubber.

I can't even tell if what I'm feeling in my shoulder socket is pain anymore.

A chill runs through me, my whole body shaking like I've caught a fever.

But I didn't die in the end.

Couldn't have.

The survivors: Hwang Ju-yeon, Chae Jae-ha, Yu Hyun-jae, and me with one arm gone. Four total.

"Is that possibly......"

Someone's left leg, identity unknown. A child's short, slender right leg. The torso of someone in a semi-punk outfit. A relatively thin left arm. My right arm.

With that, the headless rider was at last complete, and we were able to leave B3.

* * *

Clunk.

"Floor seven......"

We finally made it.

The seventh floor.

Where Agent Team 3 and Agent Team 4 had their offices.

"Would it be all right if we tried that side first?"

I nodded toward the right corridor.

"Team 4, you mean?"

"Yes...... I applied to that team, so I'm a little concerned for no real reason. Though it doesn't matter if we start with Team 3."

I'd already seen the Team 3 office when it had become the "Dollhouse" Labyrinth, so this time I wanted to check Team 4.

"Of course. We'll need to see both regardless, and the order hardly matters, does it?"

"That's right. But Seon Yu-han-ssi, are you really sure you don't need to rest more?"

"Seriously, that's what I'm saying. You're still completely pale."

I'm fine.

How many times do I have to say it.

"I just look like this. We can't keep stopping. I'll say something if I really can't go on."

I opened the door to Agent Team 4's office.

"Hm? What is this place. It's like a gymnasium or something."

"Or a multipurpose hall...... This isn't what an office normally looks like, right?"

"Certainly not. Quite a change."

High, open ceilings that would carry a voice in an echo.

Beige hardwood floors that would squeak under sneakers.

The view in front of me looked exactly like a school multipurpose gymnasium.

"Is this some kind of vote?"

A small polling station had been set up in the center of the hall.

Two voting booths covered in white partitions, two ballot boxes, and two desks each holding a single ballot.

"...... It looks like a Prisoner's Dilemma."

The Uiwi Guild representative, who had been studying the improvised polling station closely, arrived at that conclusion.

"Pardon?"

"That...... isn't this a Labyrinth? Contact-type."

"Correct. I find it somewhat unexpected as well, but...... looking at the pattern, everything paired off in twos, it does seem to be a Prisoner's Dilemma. The ballot numbers only go up to 2."

Yu Hyun-jae pointed at the ballot on one of the desks without touching it.

[ Wish Vote

| 1 | | |

| 2 | | |]

"Wish Vote?"

"The contents are blank......"

"I would imagine the contents appear once you step inside the booth."

"But why a Prisoner's Dilemma all of a sudden......"

I added a word at an appropriate moment and the representative glanced my way.

"There is, in fact, one pair among the Red Threads assigned to Team 4 who are particularly well-suited to a Prisoner's Dilemma. If you're looking for a connection."

"Ah, those twins...... I know."

"Um...... but."

The accountant edged in hesitantly.

"Prisoner's Dilemma is the one where you pick between two options, right? Where both people choose the slightly less beneficial one."

Surprisingly familiar with it.

Probably because the original Prisoner's Dilemma, separate from the Labyrinth version, is already well known enough.

"Yes, that's the standard solution. Right, Representative?"

"Correct. Trust the other person and accept a small loss. That's why the pair I mentioned is well-suited to this Labyrinth."

"Oh right, because they're twins."

Chae Jae-ha nodded with a look of understanding, muttering to himself, and the corner of Yu Hyun-jae's mouth ticked slightly upward.

"They are personnel who have meaning precisely because they are twin brothers."

A strange remark that neither agreed with nor contradicted what Chae Jae-ha had said.

...... A more thoroughly professional relationship than I had imagined. Those twin Red Threads.

Well, they're a pair that markets the "twins" angle as a selling point in the first place.

If one gets hurt or killed, that's a long-term loss.

"Anyway."

I turned back to explaining things to Chae Jae-ha.

"In a Prisoner's Dilemma, there are two options. One that's obviously the better deal. And one that's less appealing, sometimes even a net loss."

"Oh, right, that's the one. You both just pick the worse option."

That's right.

If both people accept a small loss, it resolves easily.

"So if one person picks the better one, or both people pick the better one, someone gets hurt or something like that?"

Hwang Ju-yeon already knew her way around a Prisoner's Dilemma.

"Yes. In the case where one person picks the better option and the other picks the worse one......"

The person who picks the better option gains.

Depending on the specific options, roughly the equivalent of two people's worth of benefit, to put a number on it.

The person who picks the worse option loses.

Similarly, roughly two people's worth of loss.

"In the case where both people pick the better option......"

Both lose. Four people's worth each.

This too depends on the specific options, but there are cases where dying outright would be preferable.

"In the case where both people pick the worse option......"

Both lose. One person's worth each.

Because none of this information is given upfront, the Labyrinth claimed a lot of lives early on.

The name "Prisoner's Dilemma" was attached based on survivor accounts.

"Hmm...... so then who's going to......"

Chae Jae-ha trailed off and glanced around cautiously.

A Prisoner's Dilemma only needs two people to resolve.

Strictly speaking, the actual outcome of the choices doesn't even matter.

Once two people have voted and the result is set, the Labyrinth resolves.

"May I be the one to do it?"

Chae Jae-ha's face lit up before he quickly got it under control.

"Oh, well, I appreciate it, but...... isn't that pushing yourself too hard?"

"I'm fine. Things can't get much worse than they already are."

I tilted my gaze briefly toward my right shoulder, wrapped in bandages.

Maybe one of the options would offer the chance to get this shoulder back.

"Chae Jae-ha-ssi."

"Oh. Oh?"

The accountant, called by name without warning, flinched like he'd been burned.

"Do you trust me?"

"...... Not really."

"Right, that's helpful."

Simple, but precisely because he's simple, he's occasionally difficult to read, which makes him a poor match for a Prisoner's Dilemma.

"I-...... I'll do it."

Right, Hwang Ju-yeon was the obvious choice.

"Is that all right?"

"Oh, yes, that works, sure......"

"We should be the ones thanking you for volunteering."

I needed to thank Hwang Ju-yeon too.

Honestly, I didn't want Yu Hyun-jae as my partner. Normally readable, but every now and then pulling something that defied all imagination.

"Seon Yu-han-ssi."

Hwang Ju-yeon picked up the ballot.

I stepped up to the other desk and took mine.

"Once we're inside the booths, we probably won't be able to talk. Let's each just mark our choice and come out, and then I think we drop these in the ballot box and it'll be done."

"Got it."

Hwang Ju-yeon nodded.

The slight stiffness in her expression told me she was a little nervous.

"Then......"

We exchanged a brief nod and started toward the booths.

That was when.

"Ah. Now I remember."

A voice that was quiet, almost to itself, yet carried a pull that stopped you cold.

Every eye in the room went to Yu Hyun-jae.

"Seon Yu-han-ssi."

"...... Yes?"

Me?

Out of nowhere?

I don't like this.

"We went to school together, didn't we."

"Of cour--"

The certainty in the tone caught me, and I answered as naturally as I could.

"If you mean Singyae Middle School, yes. That's right."

Singyae Middle School.

The middle school where a mass death incident involving all students and staff had been covered by Singyae Daily was also my alma mater.

"We were in the same year, so we must have crossed paths a few times. We were never properly acquainted back then, so I didn't expect you to remember me......"

Yu Hyun-jae had an early birthday but had enrolled at the standard age, which put us in the same year.

"I thought as much."

A slight nod from my former schoolmate began to slow and stop......

"But as I recall."

Tilted, very gradually, to one side.

"There was no student by the name of Seon Yu-han at our school."

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