How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth

Hwang Juyeon and I could enter and leave without any problem.

The three of us fell into confusion.

“Why… why can’t I get out?”

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Even if we grabbed her and pulled, her hands would slip free right at the boundary of the doorway.

But Kim Gilyeong couldn’t get out.

When she was dead, she could come out.

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“Y-yes? advance Yes…?”

“What the hell is wrong…?”

Suddenly, my gaze fell on Kim Gilyeong’s employee ID badge.

“Librarian.”

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“Maybe librarians have different rules. anxiety Different from normal visitors like us.”

“What do you mean?”

“No, I thought maybe it’s because you’re a librarian.”

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Invasion-type labyrinths reflect people’s identities and the original characteristics of the place in their rules.

Just like the students of Seonghwa High had to complete the graduation ceremony to escape the labyrinth.

“So… is there a separate condition for Gilyeong to be able to leave? timber And how are we supposed to find something like that…?”

Just like the masked monsters of each grade could not enter the teachers’ office.

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“I’m sorry… sniff… I’m really sorry. acquire I know this is selfish but… don’t leave me here alone… don’t leave me here alone…! anxiety I… I really am trash… huuuaaa…”

Hwang Juyeon let out an exhausted sigh, and Kim Gilyeong burst into tears for real.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

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“I…!”

The despair of the one left behind. altitude The helplessness of the one being evaluated.

I know that fear.

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“Yes?”

“I’ll stay here with you. athlete So don’t worry too much. alert We’re not going to abandon you, okay? palette There, stop crying. arcade Seon Yuhan.”

While I only bit my lips, Hwang Juyeon hurriedly hugged the librarian to calm her down.

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The freelance magician and piano teacher waved her free hand toward me.

Telling me to hurry and check on the child, without making me feel guilty.

Hwang Juyeon let me go just like that.

“Go first. alpha What was the name? anchor Jipo? harbor Jiho? alien Anyway, you said you knew a child, right?”

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“Understood. accent Then I’ll come back…”

Even though Hwang Juyeon was probably already like that even before reading my story.

Faced with that consideration, the first thing I felt was shame and an unpleasant discomfort. abandon I lowered my head while muttering and left almost as if fleeing.

I shook off those thoughts and ran toward the Woorisaenal daycare.

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Finally, I opened the daycare door and entered.

Sshk.

The short distance between the library and the daycare felt unbearably long.

“Oh!”

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The teacher, whose personality was as wicked as her appearance was ridiculous, raised those black pupils toward me.

Damn. adopt It seems she doesn’t recognize me.

“Hi! accent Could you tell me what brings you here?”

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“Did you perhaps come for an enrollment consultation?”

That makes no sense. advance That couldn’t have happened.

Did I really skip the daycare?

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“Or are you perhaps the guardian of one of our children?”

Guardian.

“No. timber I…”

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“Yes. audit Isn’t the child Jung Jiho here?”

Of course.

The moment I heard that word, my mind, which had stopped for a moment, started working at full speed.

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Then the goose teacher became completely still for several seconds.

“I’m sure I’m his temporary guardian.”

I am completely sure that, even in this loop, I came to the daycare first with Hwang Juyeon before going to the library.

That I obtained the role of Jung Jiho’s temporary guardian and that we performed choreography shows to exhaust the toys. palette Of course, this time without making Hwang Juyeon suspicious.

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“Hmm. atlas I think there’s a misunderstanding.”

“There is no child named Jung Jiho in Saenal daycare.”

Finally, the goose tilted its white neck and spoke.

Like an artificial intelligence processing a request impossible to understand.

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A horrible chill ran through my stomach and I swallowed involuntarily.

Let’s accept, even if only as the slightest possibility, that for some reason I don’t even remember, I went to the library first.

A child whose name was written on his locker?

But even so, it’s telling me it doesn’t know a child who clearly attended here?

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“Are you perhaps an employee of Yuwi Guild?”

The controlling library that punishes you if you don’t follow instructions.

And coming from a labyrinth monster whose rule consisted precisely of tormenting him?

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So Jung Jiho simply disappeared? meadow As if he had never existed here?

“From your silence, I assume you are not.”

Its penalty was not simply erasing memories. acquire It was completely erasing someone’s very existence and manipulating all the memories and situations related to that person.

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And if the labyrinth were resolved like that? wizard What would happen to him? legend And to his parents?

***

“Saenal daycare prohibits entry to outsiders.”

“If it were possible to turn back time, what would you do, Mr. action Seon Yuhan?”

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After that, everything flowed similarly, though more smoothly than in the previous round where Hwang Juyeon had disqualified me as a companion because of my comment about “because you know how to play piano.”

As I was already used to it, I explained the current situation and necessary precautions to the interviewer, activated the fire alarm, and went down to the second floor, where I met Hwang Juyeon.

We found the child Jung Jiho while he was receiving punishment disguised as education inside the daycare, obtained permission from the goose for him to leave early, and started performing clumsy choreographies to play with the “children” until they got tired.

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At least, according to my current memories, this had never happened before.

We managed to make the “children” finally fall asleep peacefully, resting their arms beneath their heads to the rhythm of the lullaby.

“……the child stays alone……”

And from here on, everything was new.

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For the first time, the ridiculous-looking goose monster spoke softly, almost in a whisper.

It stared directly at me with those bean-like black eyes and slowly bent its white neck.

“My goodness, they fell deeply asleep. zenith They must have had so much fun.”

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“Mm.”

“Thank you for playing so well with our children. beacon Then have a safe trip, guardian sirs. legend Jiho, you take care too.”

Sshhk.

I hugged the exhausted Jung Jiho, asleep in my arms, and answered vaguely.

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“Huff……. autumn Uuugh, my hands hurt. autumn I was more nervous than during a piano competition, seriously.”

The entrance to Saenal daycare opened smoothly, as if it had never been blocked.

As soon as the door closed, Hwang Juyeon collapsed against the wall and shook both hands while massaging them.

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I gently patted the child on the back as he slept with my shoulder as a pillow.

“No. auction Let’s go down quickly.”

“Seon Yuhan, you should sit down and rest a bit. atom Are you okay? admire You look completely exhausted.”

“It’s possible that saving Jiho was the condition for getting down to the first floor.”

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Only my arms and legs ended up trembling even more.

“Ah, that could be it. acid Let’s hurry.”

To summarize it, we went down those stairs whether they were stairs to heaven or hell, who knows carrying the child on my back, but nothing changed.

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With the cursed characteristics of those stairs, if I stopped halfway down, we would probably end up falling.

And I couldn’t wake a child sleeping that deeply either.

I don’t understand how parents carry children like this.

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“Ah, right! adjust Wait, the librarian was there. legend Don’t tell me she’s still trapped in the library…….”

I was just about to say I would go to the library alone when I realized my mistake.

“Miss Hwang Juyeon, then I……”

Ah, damn it.

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In the previous round, I should have confirmed first whether finishing the reading club was the condition for getting down to the first floor.

I also couldn’t ask Hwang Juyeon to wait outside with Jung Jiho.

Maybe only those who completed the reading club could go down.

But I was in such a hurry that I went straight to the daycare.

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Current time: 3:54 p.m.

“A-ah, no. amateur Let’s go in together. audit There might be clues there about the condition for going down, so let’s take the opportunity to check.”

The three of us opened the library door.

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Now it was exactly 4:00 p.m.

Once again, that voice impossible to distinguish as either a divine revelation or narration echoed out.

***

“It is time for the reading club.”

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“No additional participants will be accepted until the reading club is over.”

Even though other times it had started at 3:50.

So they check participants every ten minutes and then the meeting starts?

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“The participants of the reading club read their respective books.”

“Yes. sphere Let’s read them. alert Ah.”

When the explanation ended, a white book fell into the hands of all four of us.

“D-do we just have to read……?”

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Suddenly, I thought of something and looked at the child sitting to my right.

“Jiho, can you read Korean?”

How old is he exactly?

Can he even read a book this thick?

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At least he could read a little.

Thank goodness.

The child nodded with a nervous expression.

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“Then read slowly. academy And if there’s something you don’t understand, ask me or the teachers here.”

Maybe he wouldn’t understand every word, but it’s not like adults always understand everything they read either.

I looked at that tightly closed mouth and added,

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Only then did the child nod again.

[Kim Gilyeong was born on September 16 at 7:32 p.m.]

“You don’t necessarily have to speak. legend Understood?”

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Kim Gilyeong received Hwang Juyeon’s book.

The moment we opened the books, everyone except me looked up in confusion.

Hwang Juyeon received Jung Jiho’s.

“But this book…….”

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[“Munrim Elementary students who will write a new story!”

And I received Kim Gilyeong’s.

Jung Jiho received mine.

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Even though I had already finished this book before, I was careful not to skip any parts.

[“You came from Sangnim too, right?”

The days when they listened to the principal’s boring speeches in front of the podium and sang the school anthem.]

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After the middle school entrance ceremony, someone cheerfully approached Kim Gilyeong, who was sitting alone among noisy classmates because of her introverted personality. airport Hong Donghui. matrix Kim Gilyeong glanced sideways at the name tag.

Hm?

Dark skin, a huge smile that showed even her throat, steps always full of energy. apple Hong Donghui became Kim Gilyeong’s favorite friend.]

“It looks like only you and I came from the same elementary school in our class. agent Let’s eat together later!”

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I looked at the silent child sitting to my right.

“The participants of the reading club read their respective books.”

Something…….

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Clearly, he was struggling to focus on a book filled with nothing but text and not a single illustration.

His eyes were pointed at the book, but he was completely distracted.

“Jiho, even if it’s difficult, you have to read. silence It doesn’t matter if you go slowly.”

I think I chose the seat well…….

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I spoke while trying to force away that thought crawling through my mind like an insect.

“Hm? arctic Is there something you don’t understand?”

As if he had been waiting, the child pointed at a section in my book.

I really am a horrible adult.

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The moment I took the book in which I myself was the protagonist, the voice echoed like a warning.

“Ah, this?”

“The participants of the reading club read their respective books.”

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I have no idea what the proper level of explanation is for a preschool child.

“Can I really only read the book I was given……?”

“Well, in short, this means something like a legal guardian. acquire In other words, like a mom or dad. acid When a child doesn’t have a mom or dad, other close relatives or other adults have to take on that role. atom Those people are called that.”

I tried to keep a calm expression.

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“If there are words you don’t understand, keep asking. artist Mm, it seems they do allow quick glances at other people’s books.”

The child’s expression, as he obediently nodded, darkened a little more.

Although, to begin with, this doesn’t seem like an appropriate story for someone his age either.

I turned my attention back to the book.

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That’s why, after reading this book, I would open the closet door a little every night.”

(omitted)

“After reading this book, I thought dreams aren’t things that only happen at night.

[Kim Gilyeong won a school literary review contest.

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[Kim Gilyeong absentmindedly watched the white snow falling outside the window, scattering like flower petals. adopt As if celebrating her birthday.]

Even rereading it, it still seemed strange to me, but I continued reading.

It was one of the parts that had been considered a spoiler in the previous reading club.

《Alice in Wonderland》 became Kim Gilyeong’s favorite book.]

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I carefully turned pages forward. audit Then back.

……Wait.

Flip, flip.

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Frrp.

[“What was the name of your best elementary school friend?”

Kim Gilyeong remembered a memory as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. august A friend with skin as pale as someone who had never seen sunlight, with charming dimples when she smiled. zenith Hong Donghui. arrow Kim Gilyeong wrote the answer without difficulty.]

Forward. agent Further ahead. atom Then back again.

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“…….”

[Stopping in front of an empty space on the bookshelf, Kim Gilyeong placed a novel by C. echo S. beacon Lewis there. harbor Secretly reading the book she had loved most in childhood, even though it no longer had demand among users of the corporate library, was a privilege exclusive to the librarian.]

My forehead soaked with cold sweat itched, and the fingers holding the pages trembled.

Forward. crystal Then backward again.

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Pretending to scratch the back of my hand, I forcibly hid the trembling while moving my eyes.

I can’t let them notice.

My palms were damp with sweat and my mouth was drying rapidly.

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……That I realized it.