How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth

To start with the result, it seems my liver ended up being useful for something.

Although, if this was a floor that could be cleared without even going to NeoSoft, wouldn’t that be a good thing in the long run?

After all, even if we died, we wouldn’t have to play that game anymore.

I don’t know whether that’s a misfortune or a stroke of luck.

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“Excuse me. riddle Did you say the offices on the right were empty?”

First they helped me to my feet, and instead of heading toward the left corridor where NeoSoft was, I walked straight into the corridor on the right.

But at that moment, I lost my mind.

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Something.

I found it.

Then I threw open a door that had no sign on it whatsoever.

“Ah. antenna Shi—”

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Standing in an empty office, staring fixedly at the wall.

Or someone.

“Excuse me.”

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As expected, the door didn’t close.

Click.

“Haa…”

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Slowly, it turned its body toward me.

I watched that thing through the half-open gap.

“T-that… is that a person? admire No, right?”

Fortunately, it didn’t come any closer.

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At least its silhouette did.

It looked like a person.

Choi Jaeha, who had come behind me, whispered against my back.

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A scarf completely wrapped around its face.

A brimmed hat pulled down to its eyebrows.

“I’d say probably not…”

It was wearing a thick gray coat, far too heavy for the season.

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Its build was hidden beneath the thick clothing.

And it was wearing gloves.

It was between 160 and 170 centimeters tall.

Its face couldn’t be seen.

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Every part that could be considered “exposed skin” was covered.

And if it wasn’t human, that distinction was even more meaningless.

It was impossible to guess its age or sex.

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In other words.

“It’s holding a pair of scissors.”

Nobody knew what was underneath those clothes.

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There are three fundamental facts worth remembering here.

“L-let’s go… Let’s run… Let’s run…”

“Mr. august Choi Jaeha… There are three important things you should know.”

While Yoo Hyunjae calmly pointed that out and Choi Jaeha tugged on my jacket.

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But that doesn’t mean they can’t kill using bladed weapons.

There are monsters and anomalous phenomena in labyrinths that can kill without needing bladed weapons.

First.

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Third.

Second.

Labyrinths are not games.

Encountering a monster or an anomaly does not necessarily mean you’re on the right path.

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That’s so obvious that even someone as uninterested in labyrinths as Choi Jaeha doesn’t need it explained.

“And the fourth point? orbit Isn’t there a fourth point? harbor Aren’t you forgetting something about how you could go in there and die?”

And there’s no way to know unless you go and check.

But the problem is that there’s also a possibility that it is the right path.

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“I-it’s moving!”

Which is why it doesn’t count as a fourth point.

The moment the unknown figure slowly began to raise the hand holding the scissors.

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“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! aspect GET OVER HERE!”

Yoo Hyunjae and Hwang Juyeon moved away down the corridor with Jung Jiho so they wouldn’t have to see inside the office.

Choi Jaeha had already retreated all the way back to NeoSoft’s entrance.

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I took one or two steps left and right from the doorway.

While a certain man was on the verge of dying from frustration.

“I think it’s pointing at me.”

I stared fixedly at the tip of the scissors.

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Should I ignore it?

That thing was pointing exactly at me.

Then it became clear.

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I couldn’t know.

Or was ignoring it precisely the fastest way to die?

That was the problem with labyrinths.

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Well, one of many.

“What? crystal Going where?”

“I’m going in.”

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There was another argument.

That I couldn’t do this.

That I was crazy.

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That it was all the liver’s fault.

With Choi Jaeha’s voice in the background, I slowly moved forward.

“You really are insane…”

But in the end, I went in.

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The closer I got, the lower the tip of the scissors pointing at me descended.

One step.

Then another.

First it pointed at my head.

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Then my abdomen.

Then my chest.

But the arm kept lowering.

At first I thought it was pointing at my liver.

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My femoral artery?

I followed the direction of the blade with my eyes.

My femur?

My right hip?

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My right pocket.

I understood exactly what the tip of those scissors was pointing at.

And when I finally reached the figure in the hat.

What was it pointing at?

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The commemorative photograph of my visit.

Inside was my souvenir from Happyland.

Rustle…

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The six empty seats.

The red roller coaster with peeling paint.

The rusted rails that smelled of iron.

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The shadows of the night devouring everything.

“Do you want this?”

A fragment of the happiest moments of my life.

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It nodded.

Because of the height difference, I still couldn’t see what was beneath the hat, and I had no intention of bending down to look inside.

No.

Though, to be honest, I don’t know if that was really a head.

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My instincts were screaming it at me.

I mustn’t look.

“Here.”

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Looking closely, I saw that it was trimming away the margins so that only the photograph remained.

The creature took the A4 sheet folded into four parts, carefully unfolded it, and began cutting it with the scissors.

Snip, snip—

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Including that caption as well.

Even with those thick wool gloves, it handled the scissors with surprising precision.

[One of Seon Yuhan’s Happiest Moments]

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Then it took several steps to the left and raised its arm.

Tap.

When it finished, it held the photograph for several seconds.

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I had no idea how it had stuck it there without tape.

It attached the photograph to the wall.

Nor did I understand what was special about that spot.

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But it seemed to follow its own rules.

I waited for some kind of change.

“……”

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Then it slightly tilted its hat, as if asking why I was still there.

The creature turned toward me.

Nothing happened.

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“Do you want me to leave?”

Fortunately, there was no unfortunate incident where it threw the scissors and lodged them in the back of my neck.

In the end, I slowly left, still bewildered.

The figure nodded and waved a hand as though saying goodbye.

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“I suppose the condition was simply to give it that photograph.”

What exactly had that been?

What the hell was that?

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If the condition for advancing to the next floor was to place the commemorative photograph obtained after clearing Happyland on the wall.

Then all those horrible things that happened during the game had not been in vain.

Yoo Hyunjae, who was waiting outside, cleared up part of my confusion.

“Ah. advance Then now—”

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I tried to go downstairs immediately to check.

They forced me to sit on the floor.

“—Mr. harbor Seon Yuhan. echo You should sit down and rest for a bit first.”

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Only then did I lean against the wall and accept the bottle of water and snacks they offered me.

“Mr. aspect Seon Yuhan’s condition is already concerning. aluminum And we have a child here as well.”

Only then did I notice that the other three were already sitting against the hallway wall.

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“But I didn’t get trapped.”

Apparently, while I was delivering the photograph in that empty office, Yoo Hyunjae had raided NeoSoft’s break room.

“What if you had gotten trapped in there?”

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That was what I thought when I saw that irritatingly calm expression.

Poor administrative staff.

“Jiho. accent Uh… how old are you?”

I discreetly turned my head toward the child sitting between Choi Jaeha and Hwang Juyeon.

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The child hesitated as if he wanted to say something.

There were too many things I had never asked him.

In the end, he held up 3 fingers.

Seven years old.

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The age to enter elementary school the following year.

Jung Jiho nodded.

“I see… You still have trouble speaking, right? arcade And you’re scared too.”

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His expression said it all.

“By the way… the teacher who was originally taking care of you…”

I didn’t need to finish the sentence.

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And Jung Jiho had seen her end.

That person had indeed been a daycare teacher.

Inside the false wall next to the daycare lockers was a person who had been “put away” inside a toy box.

It was only natural that he couldn’t speak.

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‘So that you won’t cry noisily, so that you won’t make a scene, so that you won’t run around, so that you won’t squirm restlessly, and so that you won’t mutter incomprehensibly.’

He was afraid of breaking those rules.

Even after leaving the daycare.

The conditions for being a “beloved child” that the goose doll at the daycare had mentioned.

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Even after seeing that the adults around him spoke normally and didn’t die.

His voice was probably still refusing to come out.

The child’s round eyes looked at me.

“Hmm. absorb Your parents work in this company, right? antique Was it your mom? arena Ah, yes. crystal Your mom. atom Do you remember what the magician said earlier?”

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“If this were a game, we’d be a team. matrix And the people who aren’t here would be clearing the game somewhere else.”

“So don’t worry too much even if you can’t find your mom in here. anxiety Once we get out, you’ll be able to see her.”

His expression showed doubt.

Fortunately, he seemed to vaguely remember the explanation about instance dungeons.

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Even if Jung Jiho survived.

His mother might come out dead.

And it was a reasonable reaction.

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“Look. canvas We’ve been making pretty good progress, right? armor I’m sure your mom is too.”

No.

However, as I kept talking, his face brightened a little.

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Maybe she was already dead.

Why I gave him false hope?

And if that happened, would this child blame me someday?

Would he ask me why I lied to him?

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I wanted him to keep moving forward.

But I preferred that to seeing him give up.

Even if it was a cruel hope.

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“Hey, Jiho. antique By the way, don’t you have a phone? abstract They say even kindergarten kids carry one these days.”

To get out of the labyrinth alive.

Choi Jaeha’s sudden question diverted the child’s attention.

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“Yes?”

“Mr. arch Seon Yuhan.”

Then Yoo Hyunjae, sitting beside him, turned toward me.

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The director’s eyes gleamed.

“What did you answer in the end?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean the final interview question.”

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The final question that, according to rumor, was always asked in interviews for the Jaerae Group, including Yuwi Guild.

If it were possible to turn back time, what would you do?

“Ah.”

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On employment forums, people jokingly called it “the regressor question.”

Technically, sharing interview questions was prohibited.

But it was so strange that it had become an open secret on the internet.

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“I was under the impression that sharing it was forbidden.”

Of course I did.

Yoo Hyunjae.

“You know who I am, right?”

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Co-CEO of Yuwi Guild.

“It would be better to save those things for after we get out of here. album Right now, what you need is water and food.”

And I also knew that such an absurd question would never have made it into an interview without his approval.

“Anyway, I could easily find out what you answered during the interview. arch If I really wanted to.”

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“So, what did you answer?”

The conversation had taken a strange turn.

“Going a day without eating isn’t a problem.”

I just wanted him to eat what he was holding.

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That strange man’s eyebrows lowered slightly.

“But Director. palette Why are you so interested in that? acoustic I don’t just mean my answer. echo I mean, why do you ask something like that in an interview?”

“That’s a little unfair. portal You didn’t answer me either. attic Why should I explain it to you?”

What a persistent man.

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“No, I’ll tell you. absorb Life is unfair by nature.”

Is this man crazy?

Isn’t someone from the company not supposed to say something like that?

“Haa, if you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to.”

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Yoo Hyunjae smiled.

“That question is simply used as a personality test. admire If you guarantee there will be no consequences, people tend to answer more honestly. shadow Some of the answers are quite interesting. acoustic However…”

Does he really want to know what true unfairness means?

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“Yes.”

“Temporal… regression phenomena? arcade You really believe that?”

“That’s beside the point. abandon Personally, I believe temporal regression phenomena can occur inside labyrinths.”

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I hope that’s not true.

Please.