Once More, Night Falls
"So where do you guys want to go?"
"Can any of you actually sing?"
"...Karaoke's probably off the table for me. My throat's still wrecked."
Yu-na looked like she had her heart set on karaoke, but Woo-jin and I were both still suffering the aftermath of yesterday, our voices nowhere near recovered, so we voted it down. Then she bounced right back with another idea.
"Board games! What do you think?"
"Oh, not bad."
"I've never actually been to one, but it sounds fun?"
"Me neither."
After a moment of deliberation, everyone gave a positive answer to Yu-na's suggestion. I, too, had never once set foot in a board game cafe with friends, so the idea felt refreshingly new. The truth was, whenever we hung out as kids it was always the PC bang or karaoke — nothing else. And a board game cafe with a group of guys? That's harder to pull off than you'd think.
Anyway, with everyone on board, our destination was settled: the board game cafe.
"So this is really your first time playing board games?"
"...Not exactly. It's my first time at a board game cafe, though."
"Seriously? Don't people go to those all the time these days?"
"Guys don't really end up at board game cafes on their own. Trust me."
When I answered Se-hee's question, Yu-na's eyes went wide with genuine surprise. Woo-jin, apparently thinking the same thing as me, nodded along with an amused grin.
"For the record, not my first time."
"Wow, I so didn't want to know that. Thanks anyway, Woo-jin."
Obviously I'd assumed Woo-jin had been to a board game cafe before. That didn't make his unprompted answer any less annoying, but thankfully, it seemed I wasn't the only one who felt that way. Yu-na was beaming at him with pure, sunny innocence, and Woo-jin shot her a sidelong glance and shook his head.
"Why am I the only one getting called out here?"
"Because Jihun's such a sweetheart there's nothing to call him out on?"
"So what you're saying is, I'm not sweet, Yu-na."
"Yup. Obviously."
Yu-na and Woo-jin bickered like the oldest of friends as they walked ahead of the group, and I naturally ended up trailing behind with Se-hee, just the two of us. Conversation found its way to her without any effort on my part.
"What do you usually play?"
"...Hmm. Nothing fancy — the popular stuff, mostly. Things like Halli Galli?"
"Ah, got it."
Worst case, I could always learn as I played. I had been a little worried I'd be a burden, since these places often rent by the hour and I'd hate to slow everyone down. Fortunately, it looked like they played plenty of games I already knew.
"Are you good at Halli Galli?"
"I was called a god once. The God of Halli Galli."
"Oh... So you can actually joke around. Who knew?"
When I answered her with total confidence, Se-hee seemed to take it as a joke and let out a quiet laugh. Well, well. This won't do at all. I guess I'll just have to show her what I can do, won't I?
"Good game."
A tiger gives its all even when hunting a rabbit. The others, having just tasted the full force of my best-effort Halli Galli skills, were all staring at me with expressions caught somewhere between disbelief and offense.
"Whoa, what even is your problem, Han Jihun?"
"He's an ADC, remember?"
Hey, anything that comes down to raw mechanics is my domain. That said, I hadn't exactly won every game outright. For all my big talk, Halli Galli is as much a mind game as a reflex game — reading people matters just as much.
"So that wasn't a joke, then."
Even so, Se-hee — who hadn't managed to beat me once — was looking at me now with eyes that held a flicker of genuine astonishment. What is this feeling, honestly. It's not like it's anything impressive, being admired over nothing more than Halli Galli. Not bad, though. Not bad at all.
I'd been worried the mood might turn sour, but thankfully everyone seemed to be having a good time with it.
"Want to try something else?"
Yu-na, who by overall ranking sat somewhere around second place, said it with an easy smile. The group was starting to tire of Halli Galli anyway, so everyone nodded their agreement.
"Then Se-hee, could you grab whatever you want to play next?"
"Sure. I'll go get it."
"I'm refilling my drink while we're at it."
Having finished clearing away the Halli Galli cards, I followed Se-hee out of the room as she went to pick up the next game. One nice thing about this place: the basic snacks and drinks were unlimited refills, so you could help yourself without a second thought. I was filling my cup with Mountain Dew — my usual — when I turned to look at Se-hee standing beside me.
"Do you know how to play this one?"
"...Yeah. I've never actually played it, though. Is it hard?"
"Not that bad, honestly."
"Then it should be fine."
The game Se-hee had chosen was Mafia, adapted into board game form. I roughly knew the rules of Mafia, and while the board version was a little different, we'd manage well enough learning as we went. When I answered with that in mind, Se-hee gave a small nod and picked up the box, falling into step beside me.
Hm, though. Wait a second. Isn't this a game where reading people matters too? Considering how Halli Galli went, I had my doubts about whether Se-hee would be any good at this one. Maybe she read that thought right off my face, or maybe she simply caught the direction of my gaze — either way, Se-hee pursed her lips slightly and spoke up.
"I'm good at this one."
"Sure, I didn't say anything."
"......I really am."
At this rate, I suppose I should at least nod along like I believe her.
The game began.
Each player drew a single role card to close out the first turn. Once you had your role, you laid the card face-down in front of you, and then everyone took a turn rolling the die.
On the first turn, the Mafia cannot kill — but they must mark a target in advance. If the die lands on 1, 3, or 5, the kill fails and the only trace left behind is evidence that the Mafia selected that target. If it lands on 2, 4, or 6, the target dies — and the evidence remains all the same. The Mafia may also choose not to kill even on 1, 3, or 5; in that case, no evidence is left at all. Finally, the Mafia chooses whether to commit the murder inside the house or outside it, and the outcome of that choice determines whether the target lives or dies. If the same number comes up for the Mafia across two consecutive turns, they can guarantee one certain kill.
The Police roll the die as well. On a 1, 3, or 5, the Police can inspect the role category of one suspicious player. This takes place during the night, and no one ever knows whose card was checked. On a 2, 4, or 6, the Police can confirm whether one specific person has become a target. This too happens under cover of night — though whether the target actually died remains unknown.
As for the two Citizens, a roll of 1, 2, or 3 grants them a few options — chief among them, the choice of whether to step outside and evade death, or stay put. On a 4, 5, or 6, a Citizen may lock their front door for the night. No one can enter a locked house, so a Citizen inside is guaranteed to survive the night, target or not.
Normally a game like this needs a moderator, but fortunately one of the cafe's part-time staff had agreed to run it for us. In the middle of an otherwise dull shift, she seemed to be enjoying this whole situation herself.
Yu-na rolled first. A three. She gave a small nod and swept the room with quiet, lowered eyes, taking in everyone around the table.
Next came An Woo-jin. His die showed a one. He stared at it with an unreadable expression for a moment, then passed it along to the next player.
The third roll belonged to Jung Se-hee. A four. She looked down at the die with a strange, subtle look of relief before handing it over to Han Jihun.
Han Jihun's die came up a three. Unsure whether the game was simply this complicated for a first-timer, he stared at the die in mild bewilderment before scratching his head.
"Okay, so what am I supposed to do now?"
"...Just make a choice that fits your role. That's it."
"Ah, okay, got it."
Only after Woo-jin's explanation did Jihun finally nod and take his turn — and with that, night fell over the table. Someone was planning to take a life. Someone, trembling with fear, was bolting their door shut. And someone had begun to suspect the others, hunting for the killer hidden among them.
Morning came again.
"No one died this night."
A strange tension settled over the table. Had the Mafia chosen not to kill when they could have? Or had they wanted to kill — and simply failed? The same thought flashed through every mind at the table. Naturally.
"Oh, nice. That's wild."
Han Jihun, who barely understood the rules, was the only one murmuring to himself with a perfectly peaceful face.
When the second turn rolled around, a brief discussion period was granted. Each player could choose to reveal what they suspected — or what they'd learned — or keep it to themselves.
"I'm suspicious of An Woo-jin."
"...Why?"
"If it were him, I feel like he's exactly the type who'd pass on a kill he could have made."
"Hm, that's fair, actually."
Se-hee's remark got the discussion moving, and Yu-na nodded along. Han Jihun, too, let out a small oh of admiration at Se-hee's logic and nodded in agreement. Reading Woo-jin's usual personality and reacting accordingly? No — Jihun was just nodding because it sounded plausible, and at that, Woo-jin let out a quiet sigh.
"Okay, okay, let's not jump straight to personality-based deductions, people. Reasoning like that changes absolutely nothing."
"...Fair point."
There was something faintly ridiculous about Jihun nodding along to whatever Woo-jin said, but to be honest, nothing Woo-jin said was actually wrong. With no one dead, the Citizens could genuinely claim to be ahead.
"I say we hold off on revealing anyone's role and just skip another turn."
"Wouldn't it be better to start disclosing now? While we've got the numbers advantage."
"No — if we kill the wrong Citizen in a rush to use that advantage, we end up worse off than we started."
At the seriousness in Woo-jin's voice, even Se-hee — who'd raised the counterargument in the first place — nodded and conceded the point.
When the discussion ended, the dice went around the table once more. Yu-na rolled a two. An Woo-jin rolled a one. Jung Se-hee rolled a five.
Han Jihun rolled a three.
And once more, night fell.