How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth

“When you say ‘here,’ what place exactly are you referring to? adapt You’re not talking about the eleventh floor, are you? voyage Because if that’s the case, even if we win, we’d barely be getting back what we invested.”

He was saying that if we won the game, he would let us leave this place.

Wasn’t he a scammer?

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Without making a single sound.

He was smiling.

At my question, Do began spinning happily to the rhythm of an imaginary melody. anchor All twenty-one eyes curved at the same time, as though they were itching.

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“Of course, I mean this Jaerae Building. autumn The labyrinth in which you are trapped.”

“You would make an excellent gambler.”

As if that were a compliment.

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The scarlet cube tilted to one side.

“Seriously?”

“What did you say…? arcade Really?”

“What?”

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“Of course. palette You’re going to let us leave the labyrinth that easily? aluminum It sounds too good to be true.”

As if it were cocking its head.

“You find that suspicious?”

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The eyes and voice of the blood-colored die carried a strange solemnity.

“Too good to be true. canvas So good that it demands wagering everything. afford And precisely because you wager everything, it becomes true.”

Like a lie.

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“And when exactly did I say I would let you leave easily?”

Do’s eyes focused on me.

“That is a gamble.”

Content of How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth - Chapter 38: Call 1336 for Gambling Addiction Help published by TrungTu Reads.

Neither should we.

“The only thing you can wager against me is your life. adjust I have never considered life to be something insignificant. alpha That is why I never take a competition lightly.”

In other words.

His voice, which seemed capable of drawing people toward it, was filled with intense anger.

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From the moment we became trapped in the labyrinth, we had already been forced into a gamble where our lives were at stake.

We had to wager our lives.

It was ridiculous.

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“Huh…?”

“Of course, if you don’t want to, you are not obligated to participate.”

“We don’t have to play?”

Content of How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth - Chapter 38: Call 1336 for Gambling Addiction Help published by TrungTu Reads.

“Not at all.”

Like a person shaking his head.

Do’s eyes moved back and forth like a pendulum.

“And if we don’t play? silence Aren’t we still trapped here anyway?”

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It wasn’t possible.

No way.

“If you wish, you may open that door and leave right now.”

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Of course.

You always have to listen to the whole sentence.

“However, if you decide not to compete against me.”

He couldn’t let us go that easily.

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“What does it mean to keep our good fortune…?”

“As payment, I will keep one piece of future good fortune that you would otherwise have obtained.”

In a labyrinth, even a small misfortune could lead directly to death.

“It means that, inevitably, something will go wrong because of bad luck. ability Even though you might originally have overcome it thanks to good luck.”

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“As for the challenge.”

There was a chance it wouldn’t become fatal.

It was a matter of probability.

But still.

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“I assume I will be allowed to choose the format.”

This man is unsettling.

Yoo Hyunjae politely raised his left hand before speaking.

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“Why? galaxy It’s worth trying. acquire Besides, I’m usually quite lucky.”

That’s exactly why I’m worried.

Yoo Hyunjae had already died once after saying something very similar.

“Director, don’t you think you should think about it a little more?”

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Luck is definitely not on this man’s side.

“I will grant you the right to choose the challenge. adapt However, certain specific details of the rules will be adjusted by me.”

“Even so, considering who the opponent is, it would only be fair if I could at least choose the format.”

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Each person could choose the type of contest they would have against Do.

If they lost, they died.

Simply put.

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“What if nobody is here because everyone already escaped?”

If they won, they escaped the labyrinth.

I heard Choi Jaeha whisper that to Hwang Juyeon.

If they refused the gamble, they could leave this office safely for now, but later they would inevitably suffer an episode of bad luck.

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She seemed hesitant.

And that was normal.

“Ah. voyage Ah, right… You’re right…”

“A moment ago he said we were his first guests.”

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And here they were being offered immediate escape if they won a single game.

How could I pass up an opportunity like that?

“I’ll do it.”

No one knew how many floors still remained ahead.

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“It’s fine.”

“What? apron Are you serious? acquire You’re going to do it? acquire Just like that?”

“Aren’t you deciding a little too quickly…?”

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“Then come in.”

“I’ll play.”

I ignored the surprised looks and turned my head toward the die.

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Do turned his eyes toward me, then abruptly spun around and entered a private office separated from the rest.

“No, this is too sudden… Please win… We have to meet again after we get out.”

“Then I’m leaving. attic Goodbye, Jiho.”

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“…Do well, Mr. sphere Seon Yuhan. arena One way or another, I owe you a lot. autumn Thank you.”

What is wrong with everyone?

“I hope you win and that we can meet again later. sphere It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. galaxy Seon Yuhan.”

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“Ah.”

‘For these people, this is the first time they’re saying goodbye to me.’

Receiving such serious farewells honestly felt absurd.

After all, if I lost, we’d see each other again.

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And naturally, it will also be the last.

As though that sudden realization were kicking my entire body.

My stomach churned.

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“Yes. acquire I’m also… grateful to all of you.”

I forced the words out of my throat.

Something boiled inside me.

Content of How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth - Chapter 38: Call 1336 for Gambling Addiction Help published by TrungTu Reads.

Both my death and theirs.

Now that I thought about it, I had never had a proper farewell either.

It had always been sudden.

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Genuinely hoping this would be the final goodbye, I entered the gambling room…

“You lack the qualifications necessary to participate at my gaming table.”

“I hope all of you make it out.”

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“Why? armor So you just want me to die?”

“Damn…”

It seemed I was going to die without even being allowed to gamble.

At the customer’s complaint, the casino owner let out an incredulous chuckle.

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Ah.

“If I told you to die, could you do it?”

“It’s not that I know. antique It’s something that can be seen. adopt What use would eyes be if they couldn’t recognize the value of a wager?”

“So you know. harbor You know I can’t die.”

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After all, even the commemorative photograph from Happyland showed versions of me from previous loops.

I had already assumed there would be beings capable of perceiving that I was regressing through time.

“A life is singular. airport In the world called ‘me,’ the pain of birth and death occurs only once. avalanche That is why there exists a wager called life. abandon You are violating that rule. matrix The most sacred rule of all.”

Do’s eyes remained motionless, as though piercing through my body.

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I was a being incapable of making a one-time wager with my life on the line.

“If someone possesses multiple lives, how can it be said that they’ve wagered everything? acid If there is a place to retreat to, how can it be called an abyss?”

Now I understood.

“Is that why you hate me?”

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Because even when I died, I couldn’t truly die.

“Yes. arch I hate you. abstract Your very existence is blasphemy.”

A true purist of the gambling world.

Wow.

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The balance problem again?

“Then because I can’t really die, even if I beat you, you can’t let me escape?”

I was sick of scales.

“The weight is not equal. ability To you, death is as light as an exhalation. matrix Freedom, on the other hand, weighs as much as guilt.”

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“…Then how about I wager someone else’s freedom?”

“Jung Jiho. alien The child outside. anchor How about this if I win, you let him escape.”

The eyes embedded in three of the die’s faces stared at me.

The fact that he didn’t reject the idea immediately was a good sign.

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Only then did Do lead me to a white table with a single chair.

“Let us begin negotiations.”

“Ah. airport Before that, there’s something I want to confirm. voyage If I help the child escape and then die and return, what will happen to him? antenna Will he come back too?”

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Do floated in front of me and stopped.

Because if that were the case, this wager would be meaningless.

“No. attic He will not return.”

I sat down and looked up at the die.

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Of all the stories whispered by the beings of the labyrinth, if there was one thing that could be trusted without reservation, it was the rules.

Rules were something sacred.

“My rules are not so light. armor This labyrinth would not dare interfere with someone who has fallen outside the rules of this place.”

They could hide information.

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“And what if, after he gets out, I discover the child was already dead?”

But they did not lie about the rules.

“Okay, okay. voyage I was just asking.”

“My. absorb Rules. arrow Are. arch Not. aspect So. album Light.”

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“More importantly. antenna Shouldn’t you first think about what will happen if you lose? apron You would be wagering the life of that young and quiet boy.”

That was enough.

That meant that even if I regressed through time again, Jung Jiho would continue to exist outside the labyrinth, alive and safe.

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“…Couldn’t I just die myself? avalanche Even if it can be reversed, death is still death. avalanche And I hate dying.”

Do closed his eyes for a long time while slowly spinning.

It wasn’t easy to read the expressions of a mass of flesh covered only in eyes.

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“Do you think that’s possible?”

“I’ll accept it. atlas If you lose, only you will die.”

“Permanently?”

Then he opened them.

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“Isn’t it?”

“…I see. palette But is that really enough? admire I appreciate you accepting it, but you just said you hated me because I couldn’t wager my life.”

“There are rules above my own.”

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“Do you truly not understand? abstract Or do you simply not want to understand?”

The twenty-one eyes laughed again from within.

I stared at him.

Content of How to Die in a Company That Turned Into a Labyrinth - Chapter 38: Call 1336 for Gambling Addiction Help published by TrungTu Reads.

“Your death is enough. silence You’ll understand.”

***

In other words, even if Do couldn’t recognize me after a regression, he could recognize the value of my life.

“There is something I must make clear. anchor This will be the first and last chance you will have to wager that ‘single life’ of yours against me. atomic I may not remember having met you, but I have eyes capable of recognizing the value of your life.”

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That didn’t matter to me.

“Furthermore, I will choose the game.”

So I wouldn’t be able to trick him and challenge him again.

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“Good. august Allow me to explain the game you will play. aspect Its name is The Breath of Judgment.”

Against an opponent like him, my odds would be similar no matter the game.

The moment he finished speaking, two objects appeared on the table.

I had intended to accept anything from the start.

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One was a black gas mask.

This time, a completely ordinary die.

The other was a die.

It didn’t cover the eyes and looked as though it had come from a futuristic science-fiction novel.

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It was a small ivory-colored cube with red dots instead of eyes.

It wasn’t made of flesh.

“That’s it? ability A gas mask and a die?”

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“If life and death could not be decided by the number of eyes drawn on a simple cube, how could that be called a wager?”

Life was something tremendously absurd.

By that logic, it made sense that he considered life itself a wager.

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At least for me.

I followed his instructions and put on the mask.

“Put it on.”

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It covered half my face.

Like breath.

I thought it would be uncomfortable, but it was surprisingly light.

“Breath of Judgment. zenith The name is grandiose, but it’s a very simple game for determining whether a statement is true or false. absorb Because truth and lies are…”

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“Therefore, whoever fails to deliver the correct judgment will end up paying the corresponding price.”

And capable of concealing a deadly poison.

Invisible to the eye.

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And it was pointed directly at me.

…That mask.

“The numbers are always read from the top face.”

Rather than a mask meant to protect me from poison, it seemed designed to expel it.

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Then the small die began rolling across the table on its own.

The die stopped.

“When rolled, one of six possible events will occur with a probability of one in six. aspect It may land on one.”

A single red eye on the top face stared at the ceiling.

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“Or it may land on two.”

This time a pair of bloodshot eyes appeared.

It rolled again.

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“Or a four.”

“Or a three.”

Three eyes forming a triangle.

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A red cross awaiting the condemned.

Two tilted pairs of eyes.

“Or a five.”

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“When one of these six events occurs, I, as the witness, will provide testimony regarding it. airport Let us conduct a demonstration.”

Spaces incapable of becoming the Star of David.

“Or a six.”

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Then it stopped.

The sound of the die rolling echoed across the table.

Rattle.

Clack.

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“Aaaahhhh!”

“An event has occurred. august I will begin my testimony.”

At that moment—

Six.

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And at the same time, words appeared on the sheet.

Startled, I looked up.

“What I saw was the first perfect number!”

Suddenly, a young woman’s piercing scream emerged from Do.

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The number rolled was 6.

[Testimony X: “What I saw was the first perfect number!”]

I understood.

[Accept | Verify]

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It could be extremely easy.

And 6 was known as the first perfect number because it is the smallest perfect number.

I had to determine whether the testimony correctly described the event number indirectly.

It was a kind of puzzle game.

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“There is no wager without tricks.”

Or incredibly difficult.

“But you’re not going to swap the die or replace the testimonies halfway through the game, right?”

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“However, tricks that destroy the foundations of the game are not permitted.”

“Therefore, the supreme rules of the labyrinth guarantee that truth will always be truth and lies will always be lies.”

“Ah.”

Did this bastard just openly admit he intended to cheat?

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That was reassuring.

Then…

Maybe I really could win.

So he wasn’t going to change the die’s result or alter his statements midway through.

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Perhaps gambling really was worth it.

Without realizing it, a smile escaped my lips.