chapter_0057

57 – Burying a Person is Nothing at All (2)

57 – Burying a Person is Nothing at All (2)

Let’s rewind a bit to before the game started.

After inviting Majiya, Maru was quite excited.

“Phew. Finally playing a game together…!”

She had been watching for an opportunity to invite Majiya while seeing other members collaborate, but due to Maru’s game spectrum, the chance never came.

Her favorite game involves mining, building, and automating with square blocks, so it takes at least 2-3 days to get somewhat accustomed to it after starting.

And most other puzzle games are designed for single players, making it difficult to play together.

On top of that, with the 1st anniversary concert overlapping, while other members took the opportunity to invite Jia one by one, Maru was left salivating.

Well, the fundamental reason was that Maru expected a natural meeting.

Being the most mature member and having a personality that doesn’t bother busy people, she naturally kept putting it off.

But then news of Majiya’s vacation came in.

She was taking a full two weeks off, this week following last week.

According to Team Leader Kang, it was because she was sick.

But she had already recovered before the eve of the event, and was now on vacation to go to the hospital for additional recuperation.

So when a spot opened up in the I’m Wolf group stream, Maru immediately went to find Majiya.

She thought she might be rejected, but…

“Ah, yes. I’ll go. When does it start?”

An enthusiastic acceptance.

Maru was so thrilled she had to try hard to lower her voice volume.

She immediately informed Ronje, today’s stream host, of the news.

While waiting, she ran all kinds of simulations in her head about how to play with Majiya.

‘If she finds it difficult, I’ll send her private messages to help… If we end up as wolves together, I’ll carry her by going on a rampage…’

And she decided to take the opportunity to speak casually.

How long are we going to keep calling each other “nim”?

It’s been almost a year since we met.

Of course, their points of contact so far were limited to setting up equipment, regular broadcast environment checks, and dealing with broadcast issues at night.

But still. We’re the same age. Couldn’t we be a bit closer?

However, Maru really liked naturalness, so she wanted to avoid forcefully grabbing her and saying “Let’s speak casually from now on!”

Even if she did say it, she wanted to build up some connection first.

The best scenario would be for the two of them to become a team as werewolves.

Since they would be two out of twelve players, organic cooperation would be really important. They could build a close friendship while strategizing or helping each other instinctively.

However, Maru’s dream was shattered from the start.

[I watched the entire Parallel Eve broadcast from start to finish. I’m a fan of Jia!]

[Thanks to that, I used a surprise strategy well in the tournament. I avoided being eliminated from playoffs this year thanks to that one win that day.]

Majiya, explosion of popularity.

Even though Komari and Maru were at the center of the conversation until Majiya arrived, and the talk naturally flowed to the eve event, bringing Majiya into the topic.

Maru didn’t expect this level of popularity.

Even though she’s a rare Pokemon, she’s not a broadcaster, so Maru thought everyone would be moderate.

But it seemed like everyone was running around with Pokeballs in hand.

Did they all want to get YouTube content that badly?

At least thanks to Ronje telling Maru to be grateful, she rode the atmosphere and said a word of thanks.

[Ahem. Be grateful. If I hadn’t asked, Jia would probably have sent malicious donations at home today.]

She even tried to be considerate so Majiya could properly say what she wanted among people…

[Guys——!! Jia has something to say———!!]

After that, there was no chance to speak at all.

What could she do when people rushed at Majiya like a zombie horde whenever they saw her.

Majiya, you’re a wolf right? Majiya, you’re a lycanthrope right? Majiya, you’re a vigilante right? Majiya, you’re Canadian right?

At that moment, Maru thought.

Wow, Jia must be going crazy.

All the broadcasts she’s appeared on so far had at most two collaboration members, but this time it’s eleven.

Moreover, those eleven were constantly pressuring Majiya.

She thought it would be fine since Majiya speaks fluently once she starts talking, even though she doesn’t talk much, but her response patterns were becoming simpler.

So Maru, who invited her here, couldn’t help but feel sorry.

At the same time, she was reminded of the conversation she had with the boss.

Even though she seems prickly, her inner feelings aren’t all like that, so you should try to understand her a little.

It’s not common for someone to rush over to resolve broadcast issues at that late hour, and then say only what needs to be said without complaining.

It’s good to invite her to broadcasts, but if Jia ever finds herself in a difficult situation, you need to help her.

So Maru stubbornly lingered around Majiya, trying to protect her.

Even though people still swarmed around Majiya.

Since they had to play the game, she finally managed to create a situation where they were alone by targeting the timing when people left to complete missions in between…

[But I did see Kamik going north before Ronje!]

[What? No, Maru. I didn’t see that, why are you suddenly lying.]

[It’s not a lie!! I was standing on the way there. Jia saw it too, right?

…Um. I think I vaguely saw you passing by while we were talking.]

What came back was the Silencer’s special ability of sealing mouths.

Maru was shocked to see Majiya pretending to be her and framing Kamik.

“Ah. Ah! Guys! Can’t you hear me? Everyone! Ah! Wow! No! Jia!!!! Are you crazy?!! Kyaah!! Voice thief!”

— Oh Maru, you’re so noisy ㅋㅋㅋ

— Of course they can’t hear ㅋㅋㅋ Be quiet, we can’t hear what people are saying ㅋㅋ

— Oh no, we can’t hear Dongle

— Dongle’s gonna explode~

— Eardrum (Dongleram) gonna explode~

— Is this covered by worker’s comp?

“No. Wow. No, betrayal. Wow! I was planning to help. Is this right? No!!”

{{ Trial result: Kamik (Exiled) }}

In the end, Kamik was exiled as a result of the trial.

{{ Kamik was not a werewolf. }}

The next in line would naturally be Maru.

Wasn’t she the one who defended Ronje, who was suspected of being a wolf?

However, from Maru’s perspective, it was an unfair situation, so she tried to shout as soon as she got the right to speak…

“Um—.”

[Everyone scatter and survive! Somehow ring the trial bell! Humans will definitely win this!]

Komari, who had finished counting heads, was faster in shouting the human victory strategy.

There are 7 people left, and the werewolf’s kill cooldown is 30 seconds, which is longer than the 20 seconds needed to restart the trial.

So even if the werewolves kill as many humans as possible before the trial, the limit is 2 people.

In the end, humans outnumber wolves, so the game won’t end and the trial can continue.

Moreover, since it was already certain who the wolf was, victory was assured.

“No, wait! Guys, I have something to say!!”

In the end, Maru was left alone with Majiya in the courtroom without being able to properly explain to people.

— What are you doing, not running away!!

— Run away!!

— Get your act together

But only those who are good at running away can run away well.

Among the first generation, only Komari is confident in her physical abilities.

Maru kept bumping into walls here and there while trying to run away.

On the other hand, Majiya chasing from behind passed through obstacles smoothly like a snake, catching up in an instant.

In a corner of the bathroom where no one else was around. Maru pleaded with her back against the wall.

“Jia. Jia please. Huh? You borrowed my voice earlier, right? Yeah? So spare me…! Just this once!”

Soon a shadow fell over Majiya’s face in the bottom right corner of Maru’s broadcast screen.

It was a special feature attached to Majiya’s avatar.

— Gasp

— Eek

— It means she’ll definitely kill

— Repaying the invitation with death

— S c a r y !

Majiya’s character approaching stealthily.

With just one more click from her, Maru will lose her life.

She was hoping for a situation where it was just the two of them like this, but…

It’s too much for one side to come to kill and the other to be the sacrificial lamb.

“Kyaaah. Kyaaah! Kyaaah!! Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!!”

Fortunately, Majiya showed mercy.

[I’ll spare you, so take my side later.]

“…Huh, what?”

— Oh

— She’s sparing her?

— What’s with this Parallel special treatment? What is she trying to do?

Maru racked her brains, but couldn’t immediately figure out Majiya’s intentions.

There’s no time either.

[5, 4, 3…]

“I-I’ll do it! I’ll take your side! Spare me!”

[You promise? You know what happens if you betray me, right?]

“I got it, I got it…!”

Majiya left immediately after making the promise.

Only Maru, left in the corner of the building, was dumbfounded.

“She spared me…? What if I tell everyone Jia is the wolf?”

— Right ㅋㅋㅋ

— Does she have some kind of confidence?

— Anyway, good that you survived!

“Ah. Could it be? If I die, it’ll be revealed that I wasn’t the wolf…?”

— It’s obvious you’ll go and loudly blabber about it, so why spare you?

— For real ㅋㅋ

— This seems like a mistake

— Does she have one Silencer ability left?

— Oh, that could be it

— Nah ㅋㅋ It’s already the sixth trial, no way she hasn’t used it twice yet ㅋㅋ

There were some suspicious points, but as the viewers said, it was late in the game.

Maru, half-certain of victory, smiled confidently.

“Okay. Just you wait, Jia. I’ll somehow insist and win.”

Above all, unless it was an internal conflict happening only within Parallel.

In a group collaboration, abusing could cause unnecessary controversy, so Maru had no intention of taking Jia’s side.

Meanwhile, 20 seconds passed.

{{ The trial will now begin!! }}

With a “poo” buzzer sound, the trial was immediately convened.

As expected, two people were killed by the wolves, leaving a total of five survivors.

Komari immediately exercised her voting rights and shouted.

[Hang Ronje, then hang Maru unnie next and it’s over!]

The voting speed was incredibly fast.

The human side had already finished their numerical calculations.

Vote consecutively, and even if people die between each trial, humans still maintain a majority.

It was a situation where the wolves couldn’t win no matter how much they twisted their bodies.

Only one person, Majiya, was watching without voting.

Komari confidently said to the hesitating Majiya.

[Unnie, what are you doing. We’ve already won since three humans are alive, the wolves can’t possibly win.]

[Wait. I need to think about something.]

[There’s no need for that. We’ve won! Maru unnie is the wolf.]

Following Komari’s words, others shouted that’s right, hurry and vote, this game is a human victory!

Because her deduction accuracy had been quite high throughout the collaboration, she was already recognized as the brain among today’s members.

However, Majiya remained silent.

Tick tock, only time passed.

And that moment when the sound cut out as everyone waited for Jia’s choice was Maru’s last chance for a defense.

“Wait!! I have something to say!!”

[Aha. You want to make your final argument? Well go ahead, let’s hear it.]

“Jia is the Silencer. What was said in the last trial wasn’t me.”

Komari asked incredulously.

[Jia unnie is the Silencer? Isn’t it that Maru unnie just didn’t understand the situation and blindly defended Ronje?]

— Habitual rudeness ㅋㅋ

— They’re being too harsh on Maru, really ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— Even if she seems dumb, she’s smarter than that dragon and American ajumma over there!

— Hey now

— You…

Maru’s chat, knowing the situation, was in an uproar of laughter.

“Jia is good at impersonating voices! She really blocked my mouth and imitated me! Don’t be fooled everyone. Those who watched before would know, right!”

On the other hand, the collaboration members who heard Maru’s continued words couldn’t help but be in an uproar.

To their ears, the person who defended Ronje in the previous trial was clearly Maru.

[No, no matter how good she is, can she imitate that well without voice modulation?]

[That’s what I’m saying.]

Jia and Maru even had a natural conversation.

To think that was actually one person playing two roles?

Of course it was hard to believe.

If Majiya was a famous broadcaster it might be different, but she still had the image of a talented company employee.

And as if she had been waiting for that moment, Majiya who had been quiet spoke up innocently.

[What’s a Silencer?]

She had declared it.

I’m a newbie, I don’t know the game well.

Only then did lightning strike Maru’s head.

The viewers of Maru’s broadcast were the same.

— ?

— Timing ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— Uh… huh?

Human psychology is to do what you’re told not to do.

Why else would people deliberately type chats like “Absolutely don’t do X” when they want to give advice?

‘Could she have predicted it would turn out like this…?’

She thought Majiya had just left because killing Maru, who was already suspected of being a wolf, would only be troublesome.

If she predicted this would happen even if Maru revealed the truth, that’s quite chilling.

However, Majiya is lying.

Trying to somehow draw out her mistake, Maru shouted again.

“Jia, this is ridiculous. Are you pretending not to know when you know everything? You said earlier that it’s your first time playing the game but you roughly know all the roles.”

[When did I say that? I really don’t know well, so I’m asking. I’ve just been chased around and running away this whole time because I don’t know the game well.]

Smart people tend to blindly trust what they’ve seen as solid evidence.

In other words, what’s important to Komari, who holds the gavel now, is the fact that ‘Majiya has been busy running away today’.

And Komari wasn’t the only one who witnessed that situation.

[True. You’ve been chased by us all day.]

[There were always people around Jia. It must have been hard to kill anyone.]

[But people kept dying… so it’s not Jia. Hmm.]

However, Majiya is clearly not a newbie.

Everyone watching Maru’s broadcast already knows that fact.

… The problem is that only they know.

“No no. There’s no way there were absolutely no empty times! I’m telling you she came to kill me!”

— She took the murder step earlier, didn’t she?!

— Wow, are we the only ones who know this? ㅋㅋㅋ

— Is this the city of the blind? ㅋㅋㅋ

Komari snorted and said.

[Hmm… Unnie, you’re totally caught. You’re just trying to drag Jia unnie down because you have nowhere to run?]

“No, it’s not a lie. Jia is really the wolf and the Silencer…!”

[You need to say something that makes sense, unnie. In Find Rain, there was AI voice modulation. Are you saying Jia prepared something like that expecting to get the Silencer role? That doesn’t make sense.]

“No, no, wait. No. No? Okay. Mari, calm down and listen to me? Earlier when I, no it wasn’t me. Anyway, when my voice framed Kamik, Jia also went along with it. Remember?”

Trying to somehow make excuses, Maru was tripped up by Majiya this time.

[I thought Maru’s words were true. I don’t know the game well, and I guess I trusted her more since she’s from our company.]

It was shameless, too shameless.

There was no hint of emotional fluctuation even though she was lying.

[Or are you the werewolf, Komari? I really don’t know anything. Who should I listen to.]

[Unnie, that’s definitely not it. Come on, let’s calmly think this through from the beginning?]

OTNXSU9XcTFURXdtd0tweHpoait4akVEQVJoTmMrTm16VjVSWTNEeEJiU0N6elQwZUJLZ0NnZkRuQ1FNTlFsaA

Maru, knowing the full situation, was frustrated.

But in this situation, the only power she had left was her convincing voice.

Sensing that she shouldn’t compete with logic, Maru took a deep breath.

“Jia is really the Silencer!! Don’t be fooled!! You absolutely have to vote for Jia next turn—!!”

Of course, Maru’s voice didn’t reach the others.

{{ Muted }}

Because Jia had already used the Silencer ability to shut Maru’s mouth.

“Damn, again?!”

— ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— Pffft ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— No, she’s a pro ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— Damn ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— She’s g-good at pretending to be a newbie, and her Silencer timing is insane ㅋㅋㅋ Just crazy ㅋㅋ

— Today is so hilarious, really ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

And Maru’s undelivered feelings were once again distorted by Jia as she pleased.

[Wow, you’re right. The moment I heard Jia’s words, I felt it. Komari, you’re the wolf. You immediately cut ties with Ronje and pretended not to be a wolf. Am I right?]

[You’re practically advertising that you’re the wolf yourself.]

[How ridiculous. It’s you!!]

[Yeah. It’s obvious you failed to frame Jia, so you’re biting me instead, right?]

[So, so, so what! What are you going to do! Do I look like a wolf? Then hang me in the trial later!!]

[Yeah. We will hang you. What are you doing, Jia? Hurry up and vote. Let’s hang Maru next.]

[Jia, don’t be fooled. You really can’t be fooled!]

Only then did Majiya, who had been hesitating, complete her vote.

Maru, who could only watch this, had a blank expression.

“Is Jia really crazy…?”

— She’s playing a different game all by herself lol

— ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— Today is just legendary lol

— ??? : I’m a wolf. Isn’t it an easy win if I just catch the Silencer and fool everyone by myself?

Author’s Note

The continuous updates are actually already in your hearts, but you just haven’t noticed it yet.

Believe it or not