How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth

“Get out, quickly.”

Bang!

I immediately ushered Yu Mi-rae and Hyeon Je-won outside, then gripped the doorknob tightly.

“Seon Yu-han, what are you…?”

“Why? It doesn't look all that dangerous.”

Yu Mi-rae gestured toward the tightly shut interview room door.

There was no sign that anyone inside was trying to come out.

“…Did you know? That it wasn't human?”

“Huh? It wasn't human?”

“I knew something was strange. I look at people's clothes more than their faces.”

“Then it would've been nice if you'd told us beforehand…”

“It might've gotten angry.”

Surprisingly, that was a sound argument.

“There's a reason abnormal things imitate ordinary appearances. Things like that probably don't like having their true form exposed.”

I knew.

And people were no different.

“Yes. That's true, but… I think that was less a disguise and more like… a fragment of that person.”

There was a high chance Kang Jun-gyeom was dead.

I would have to check the main conference room to know for sure, but they had probably faced all seven mirrors head-on and lost themself.

Leaving behind only their mirror image.

Leaving behind only answers like echoes.

“Ah, is it a system that only outputs what was entered…? Since it's a mirror image.”

Once I explained what had happened in the main conference room, the artifact researcher's eyes began whirling again.

“If conversations with those mirrors create the form of that mirror image here in the interview room, then what's inside is closer to an artifact than a monster…! Of course, strictly speaking, even monsters with physical bodies fall under the broad definition of artifacts, and, and there can be overlap depending on the classification criteria, and every scholar has different standards, but…”

Yu Mi-rae listened to Hyeon Je-won's explanation surprisingly attentively, but I let most of it go in one ear and out the other.

Monster or artifact, anything wearing human skin was disgusting.

“Let's go to the Audit Office first.”

Swish.

I opened the Audit Office door right beside us.

It was a dim office with the blinds drawn over the windows, not a sliver of light getting in.

At its center, eight enormous monitors hung from the ceiling in a circle, gathered like a flower.

“Could it be…?”

“It didn't look like this before. There weren't any CCTV cameras in the conference room, either.”

The monitor at the flower's center showed a live feed of the main conference room.

The angle was from the side with the seat of honor.

“Kang Jun-gyeom isn't in the main conference room… Only that is left there…”

Seven monitors spread around the conference room monitor like flower petals. Six of them were black.

Only the screen for Interview Room B, where Kang Jun-gyeom's mirror image sat alone, remained lit.

“Do we have to fill all of those?”

The co-representative of Uiwi Guild said something chilling.

To fill all those interview rooms, we would need to bring in at least seven people and offer them up to the mirrors.

It wasn't that we shouldn't, morally. We simply couldn't do it, technically.

“I hope it's the opposite.”

“Yeah. It could be. The Labyrinth is generous.”

“…You think so?”

I studied Yu Mi-rae's face for a moment.

It was true that this Labyrinth was one of the kinder kinds.

It gave us quite a few clues, and every floor had a way out that did not require dying…

“Yeah. Because you're here.”

“What does that…?”

“Here, look at this…!”

Hyeon Je-won, who had been looking around, hurried over.

The artifact researcher, who seemed somewhat excited, was holding two sheets of paper.

“They were printed from that copier…!”

―――――――――――――――

Audit Target｜Kang Jun-gyeom

Noncompliance｜Negative and uncooperative remarks and conduct regarding this audit. Examples: “Th at's di ff ic ul t,” “Wh at ab ou t yo u,” “No, pl ea se, ugh, st o p.”

Action Taken｜Reassignment

―――――――――――――――

One was Kang Jun-gyeom's.

―――――――――――――――

Audit Target｜Kim Jeong-hyeon

Noncompliance｜Deceptive and uncooperative conduct, repeatedly making false statements contrary to the purpose of this audit and giving unreasonable answers. Examples: “My na me is Ya ng Hyeon-su…” “A th ing I li ke, is.”

Action Taken｜Dismissal

―――――――――――――――

The other belonged to someone whose name I had never even heard before.

I remembered the faint warmth lingering in the chair beside Kang Jun-gyeom's.

I thought I knew who that warmth had belonged to.

And why Kang Jun-gyeom's mirror image was in Interview Room B rather than Interview Room A.

And why Kang Jun-gyeom had been able to figure out the rule involving seven characters.

Anyway…

They were concise, unpleasant reports.

“It seems getting dismissed means no mirror image remains.”

“Yeah. Looks like you only have to say positive things.”

“Lies don't work either, it seems…! Since it's an audit…!”

Because it was a meeting, you had to say things the other side wanted to hear. At the same time, because it was an audit, you had to say nothing that could be held against you.

All while taking into account the fact that the other side could not recognize the eighth character.

“I'll go first.”

Yu Mi-rae spoke in a casual tone, as though deciding the order in a game.

“Uh, President Mi-rae, I'll come too…”

“The two of you need to watch. From here.”

“But… Of course, I'm sure you'll handle it well, but…”

I did not bother stopping them.

Rather than having all three of us go in, splitting into an advance party and a follow-up party would be more advantageous for gathering information and escaping.

In other words, if someone was willing to demonstrate first, I should be grateful.

There was no need to fear Yu Mi-rae's death.

That kid was no longer my child.

“Yes. We'll watch closely. See you soon.”

Yu Mi-rae smiled playfully.

“See? Generous.”

Then Yu Mi-rae turned and left.

Without determination or composure. With light steps, as if going for a walk.

…Without even saying they would be back.

I thought I understood what that meant.

The Labyrinth was generous.

Because I was here.

Because I would watch someone's life and death, then pass those memories on to the next.

The Labyrinth was cruel.

“It's President Mi-rae!”

Hyeon Je-won pointed at the central monitor.

Yu Mi-rae opened the main conference room door, entered, and was forcibly seated by the mirror cords.

Yu Mi-rae examined the mirror cords with curious eyes, then looked up at the mirror and immediately grimaced.

Just then.

Bzzzt!

“Ah, over there…!”

One of the six dark monitors turned on.

The screen showed a dreary interview room.

“Wow… They really look exactly alike…!”

And Yu Mi-rae was sitting in that interview room.

“If not for the direction of the part and the position of the ring, it would be really hard to tell…!”

It seemed that as soon as someone faced the mirrors, their mirror image was formed in an interview room, regardless of whether the original was alive or dead.

“Uh, um…”

Hyeon Je-won looked unsteadily between the two monitors.

As though unable to decide whether to go straight to Interview Room A, where the fake Yu Mi-rae was, or stay here and watch the real Yu Mi-rae.

I deliberately pulled down the corners of my mouth.

I thought I understood, somehow, why Yu Mi-rae kept this researcher close.

【Let's begin the meeting.】

The questions began.

【What's your name?】

「Yu Mi-rae.」

When Yu Mi-rae answered, the mirror image in Interview Room A moved its lips as well.

There seemed to be no audio from the interview room screen, but it had definitely spoken.

Yu Mi-rae.

【How old are you?】

「I get mixed up. Twenty-nine?」

When Yu Mi-rae in the main conference room tilted their head, the mirror image tilted its head in exactly the same way.

In the opposite direction.

“It seems to copy President Mi-rae's actions exactly…!”

It was unpleasant.

【How many people are in your family?】

「Three, two, three, two, one, two?」

On that final “two,” Yu Mi-rae stared precisely toward a camera invisible to the naked eye, tilting their head.

As though looking at us beyond it, or perhaps at me.

Was it because Yu Hyun-jae had died, making one, but would come back to life and make two again?

【What's your usual hobby?】

「Games.」

【What kind of games do you like?】

「Games where luck matters.」

【What's your favorite food?】

「Something I haven't eaten yet.」

【What's the last movie you watched?】

「《Unidentified》.」

The answers came one after another without hesitation.

【What music do you like?】

「Something I haven't heard yet.」

They mostly felt insincere.

Even so, since nothing was happening to Yu Mi-rae, they apparently were not answers that offended the mirrors conducting the meeting.

They probably were not lies, either.

【What's your ideal world?】

The face on the monitor wore a bright smile.

「I've already arrived.」

It was a vicious answer.

Even if it did not mean this Labyrinth was an ideal world, and only meant that Yu Mi-rae had been satisfied with life before being trapped here.

Could this world be an ideal world for someone, too?

The mirrors fell silent for a moment.

【Would you like to come to the other side?】

Breaking the silence, the jade mirror at the seat of honor asked what seemed like a question one must never answer in the affirmative.

Yu Mi-rae's eyes on the screen met ours.

“Ah, no. You can't, President Mi-rae…”

“Ha…”

We knew what answer Yu Mi-rae would give.

「Yeah. I want to go there.」

At that moment.

Tick, bzzzt.

The main conference room monitor went dark, then turned back on.

“Ah, ah… Wh-what do we do…?”

Hyeon Je-won reached toward the main conference room monitor.

Yu Mi-rae was no longer there.

Only the mirror image in Interview Room A remained…

“…Hyeon Je-won.”

I slowly pointed at the monitor.

“Look. Here.”

The mirror image looked around. Tilted its head and moved. Looked down at its own hands. Moved both hands this way and that. Slowly climbed to its feet.

“Uh, uh…?”

Yu Mi-rae's mirror image staggered as it rose, then fell sideways.

“Ah, this… Kang Jun-gyeom's mirror image may have been like this at first too, but perhaps…”

On the interview room screen, Yu Mi-rae stood up with their ringed right hand braced against the desk.

They were smiling. Yu Mi-rae, with left and right reversed, smiled as though this was amusing.

“President Mi-rae…?”

Seeing that smile, I realized an odd fact.

Yu Mi-rae smiled with perfect symmetry.

That was why it was beautiful, and why it was horrifying.

“It might be the real President Mi-rae!”

Hyeon Je-won bolted for the door.

It was not difficult to catch up with the researcher, who lacked a little coordination.

Without touching Hyeon Je-won, I passed them and reached Interview Room A first, blocking the way with a hand on the doorknob.

“Isn't it a little misleading to call that the ‘real’ President Mi-rae? For one thing, it's reversed. Left and right.”

“If we assume the neural network was transferred through those mirrors… Actually, this becomes a question of where the identity and continuity of the self lie, and if the Labyrinth is involved, it gets even more complicated… If we were to interpret Seon Yu-han's case that way as well…”

Ah. I felt like I had asked something I should not have.

Just as I was wondering how to stop the researcher, who had begun racing through every possible thought again.

“It isn't difficult.”

A voice came from beyond the door.

“I'm enough as I am.”

It was a voice that seemed to stop people in their tracks.

“So open the door.”

Click.

Through the tips of the fingers gripping the doorknob, I felt the doorknob on the other side move.

The deliberately spaced quotations in the audit reports preserve a Korean syllable-block pattern connected to the chapter's seven-character rule. The first has only seven syllables, omitting the eighth syllable that would complete the sentence.