Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Hangman's Desperate Gambit
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[Everyone, what kind of game is 'Hangman'?]
[That's right! It's an educational game where you guess the spelling of a word! If the letter you call out is in the word, it's correct! If not, buzz!]
[And to make this game even easier to learn, we'll be giving you plenty of hints.]
The deputy manager, Eun Ha-je, dangled in midair.
The pastel tones and bright voice from the TV contrasted sharply with her, assaulting my ears.
Eun Ha-je, suspended in the air, broke into a bitter smile, sweat beading on her cold skin.
"Everyone already knows, so this intro is dragging. Don't you think?"
This was the B-Grade darkness befitting this ghost story: mental breakdown from blood-curdling psychological pressure and torment, hours of hell right up to the brink of death.
...Just like this.
It was true that the victim selected for Hangman was essentially given a death sentence.
But during the actual 'game,' they were temporarily kept alive.
And this victim...
Was mercilessly exposed.
According to the Darkness Exploration Records, every attempt to hide the victim's personal details in this process had failed.
Major life events were publicly dissected and judged, as if peering into every corner of their existence.
To facilitate that, the Hangman game format had been twisted.
I looked up at the TV screen, where the blanks appeared.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Fill in all the letters correctly, and the word would emerge.
Normally, players took turns calling out random letters, and matching ones would fill in naturally.
That was how you pieced together the word.
But...
'Here, every single letter is tied directly to the victim.'
Like this.
Guessing something tied to the victim's personal info made it easier. To smooth the process even more...
It required the victim's cooperation.
Persuade or threaten the condemned to talk.
"......"
"......"
Cold sweat trickled down my jaw.
'So, right now...'
What the hell was I doing?
The stuffed doll in my hand, the old TV, the deputy manager dangling in midair...
What could I do?
'Run.'
I started to move.
"Deer! Where are you going?!"
"No time. Explanations later..."
"You looking for the gallows?"
"...!"
"Smashing it won't help. You know that? You read the manual."
"Can't know until I try."
Call Manager Lee Jaheon like in the quiz show. Ask him to wreck the gallows again... Yeah, buy time until it reforms.
"Hold up."
No time.
"Sit down first. Truth is... I wanna try something at the last second too."
"......"
"Not just talk. So don't do anything flashy that'll draw eyes. Don't wanna rack up penalties needlessly."
Penalties.
"Got it?"
I did.
This ghost story's terror stemmed from suffocating oppression, where everything was tightly controlled.
CCTV tracked the movements and actions of all 12 'new teachers' in real-time, critiqued by the kindergarten. Any un-teacherly behavior earned a 'penalty.'
"Deputy Eun! Deputy Eun!"
Then, the playroom door burst open as an employee rushed in frantically.
His face screamed frustration and anxiety. He'd probably been hunting for the victim but couldn't run, hence the expression.
In this kindergarten, running faster than an alert was forbidden.
Swearing was banned, damage was banned, anything against the game rules was banned.
"Sh... huff. Why the hell the end room on the third floor!"
The employee vented at Eun Ha-je while barely holding back curses to follow the rules.
"Hey! You... Deputy Eun, what'd you do four years ago?"
Eun Ha-je smirked.
Because...
"Who the fuck are you talking to like that, you little shit?"
"...!"
Hangman was exempt from all those rules.
"Wh-what... why, su-sudden..."
She was dying anyway.
"I've been ignoring your bullshit to stay out of trouble, you fucking retard. Already pissed 'cause I couldn't gather enough points and now I'm fucked."
"Uh, uh..."
"Killed three newbies already, get your shit together, you psycho troll."
The employee's face flushed beet red with rage.
"Feeling wronged? Pissed off?"
"N-no..."
"Then suck it up. Don't wanna get 'no contribution' at the end and take a penalty, right?"
Eun Ha-je teased with a sly grin.
"Only eight spots. Play nice. Huh?"
"......"
The employee clamped his mouth shut.
Smart move.
In this ghost story, even the best-case survival scenario from the manual meant only one death. Deviate, and wipeouts happened easily.
A ghost story where strict rule adherence guaranteed survival.
'And failing to guess even one letter in this Hangman game means getting 'evaluated' at the end and penalized...'
That was when it happened.
"Hey, Deer. Come here."
Eun Ha-je called me over.
As I approached, she lowered her voice so only I could hear.
"My job four years ago was reporter."
"......"
"Deer, you guess it. Skip the 'no contribution' penalty and start strong."
I'm going insane.
"Even if you say you don't wanna guess here, nothing changes. You know that?"
"It helps my mental state."
"Worry about the mental state of someone who might die soon first."
Eun Ha-je scowled.
"Feel the bullshit when that asshole guesses first after I spoon-feed it. Huh?"
Ha...
I rubbed my temples, then finally stepped toward the TV.
The intruding employee's eyes went wide.
"W-wait, you..."
"The last letter of the word is R. The initial for Reporter."
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The screen chimed cheerfully as the letter appeared.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ R
And then.
"Guhk."
Eun Ha-je's body twisted.
Her left foot literally 'vanished' from where she dangled in midair.
...One step up the gallows.
The Hangman victim ascended the gallows with every correct guess about themselves, until they were eventually hanged.
No exceptions.
I'm going insane.
"...It didn't get cut off, so no pain. Don't worry."
Do I look unworried?
"At least it's not the neck yet? I can still talk."
No.
No matter how I thought about it, her 'last-second ace in the hole' felt like a bluff to keep me safely pinned here.
'Can't waste time like this.'
Meanwhile, the TV pressed on.
The employee hesitated, glancing at Eun Ha-je nervously before gritting his teeth.
"T-tell me... Hey, still, we're..."
"We're what."
Eun Ha-je eyed him incredulously.
"Three newbies dead because of you... Fuck, you should've been the one hanged."
"Sh-shut up! You bastard about to die!"
"~Yeah, don't listen to the dying bastard~."
Eun Ha-je nodded boredly.
The employee's face turned purple as he shoved me aside and stepped to the TV.
"Transportation! Yeah, statistically obvious! Bus or subway! Right, S for subway!"
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ R
"Uh, uh..."
A twisting sound rang out, and a black booklet hologram materialized before the employee's eyes...
"Arrrghhh!"
"Aaaah! Aaack!"
The black book engulfed his face, melting into his skin like it fused. He rolled on the floor, clawing desperately, but nothing changed.
Just below where the booklet dripped away, a fresh branding scar gleamed on his forehead...
Eun Ha-je clicked her tongue.
"They brand you with that. Dumbass."
"......"
"Watch closely, Deer. Stack those up, and you get 'educated' into a proper kindergarten teacher... forever."
Yes.
Fail to participate properly here, and you'd end up worse than dead.
"Three times. Just three, and it's over."
Three penalties.
Polluted beyond human recognition.
Just like the security team.
'But worse.'
No rescue like the security team meant getting trapped in this ghost story, vanished forever.
"So don't do anything stupid."
"......"
"Screw up, and you won't even die."
Cold sweat ran down my back.
'I know.'
Stick to the manual here, and I'd definitely survive.
Hell, I'd even nailed a letter without penalty.
Why risk it?
'Trying could make it worse.'
Records abounded of people trying to save the Hangman, getting polluted, and trapped as endless kindergarten teachers.
No exceptions.
Yeah, no answer.
I knew it too.
No answer here.
The game had to complete, Hangman had to die. No matter what.
This wasn't a ghost story that enjoyed deviant exploration logs.
'Fundamentally different.'
From the moment it was listed on the wiki, it was themed around unbreakable rules driving people mad!
Impenetrable frustration from inescapable rules, culminating in the weak desperately self-censoring to fit them. That was the maximized terror.
At best, there was that slim anomaly I'd witnessed.
Brown, who talked his way out of the game.
But I'd just blankly watched Brown chatter, missing the chance.
'Should've jumped in.'
Somehow stalled, handed off the rope without rushing, talked more...
Brown gasped in disbelief.
......
Sigh.
'Brown. I can't say it like that either.'
'When you declared you'd sit out the game, you knew it'd just select a new Hangman, right?'
So,
'You did it without hesitation, knowing I had a 1/12 chance of dying?'
'You were fine with me getting hanged?'
Unprecedented confusion colored Brown's tone.
Seemed like a clash inside him between his 'good friend' role and his role as a twisted denizen of the ghost story.
Don't forget, this guy had the warped mindset of a ghost story resident.
But at the same time...
He was a stuffed doll trying damn hard to be my friend.
'Yeah.'
Get a grip. Even if I'm a coward, don't be dumb.
I explained as calmly as possible.
'What I meant was, I don't think you should've gotten hanged either.'
Just... frustration driving me nuts.
'If I'd asked you to gather more info before bailing, since you could communicate with this ghost story.'
'Yeah.'
But vaguely... I felt like we'd understood it differently.
Even as I thought that, I had no spare brainpower for it.
'None.'
I knew there was none, yet one corner of my mind desperately rifled through my Darkness Exploration Records and manual knowledge, scouring for a loophole to save the Hangman.
But there wasn't.
No, of course not!
If there was, I'd have thought of it during the past two days of racking my brain!
'No such case exists.'
No matter how I searched my mental Darkness Exploration Records or reviewed the manual, nothing.
I already knew...
Smash the gallows, try to swap the Hangman, stall without guessing.
Just added penalties. Hangman still dies.
No exceptions.
'Must die...? Inevitably......'
Really nothing else?
I gritted my teeth.
How...
"Deer!"
A familiar voice called then.
I turned to see a second employee at the open door...
"...Foreman."
"You okay...... ha."
Foreman Park Minseong, entering the room, caught sight of Eun Ha-je and swallowed hard.
"You came?"
"......"
"Heard it on the TV already? Get ready to guess."
Park Minseong's face filled with indescribable emotion, then sank.
"No dumb ideas. Guess quick. You know about your priors, right?"
"......"
Priors?
"Foreman, what does that mean..."
The foreman whispered to me with a strained expression.
"Yeah. Truth is, this is my second time in here..."
"...!!"
"Came right after joining, now again after two years. Haha... Good luck or bad?"
He gave a bitter laugh.
"Last time, tried pulling the Hangman down, got penalized once... Probably accumulated pollution... Not sure. No prior cases."
The foreman rambled disjointedly about carrying only one piece of dedicated gear at a time just in case, his mental state clearly shattered.
I grabbed his shoulder.
"...!"
"Foreman."
Direct experience.
One of the only people with details I lacked!
"From now on, answer my questions quickly and accurately."