“…Huh?” He needed to ask more questions, but there was no one to answer him — <Free-timer> was in a coffin.


    <12:40:15>


    What’s this? What the hell is this? What’s this? What the hell is this? What’s this? What the hell is this?


    <Humanities> Junsung couldn’t taste the food he was shoveling into his mouth. His mind kept wandering back to the unexpected message in his tablet.


    Free-timer: Social Worker is the mafia.


    Humanities: Who the hell are you? Aren’t you dead?


    Humanities: Hey.


    Humanities: Hello?


    There was no response from <Free-timer> after that. Eventually, <Humanities> Junsung made a simple yet terrifying decision. In the middle of his meal, he ran over to the shed and opened the coffin. He found <Free-timer’s> dead body, cold and pale, securely inside the coffin. <Humanities> Junsung returned to the mansion. Shit, I just lost my appetite for nothing! What the hell was that message anyway?


    His first theory had been that <Free-timer> was actually alive, but that turned out to be wrong. The next theory was that <A.I> Reina was playing some kind of a trick. As she was the host, she could easily send a message pretending to be <Free-timer>. Aside from the source, he couldn’t help but think about the statement itself. <Free-timer’s> message was concise but intense. There was no other way to interpret it. Just then, <A.I Reina> made an announcement. [Everyone, <Social Worker> would like all the players to join her in the conference room right away. It’s not compulsory. You can go only if you want.]


    “……!”


    It was as though she wasn’t going to give them time to think about it. <Social Worker>, the very person the message mentioned, had called a meeting. <Humanities> Junsung had no choice but to go back to the conference room. His thoughts were all over the place.


    <13:20:22>


    It was nonsense, saying that gathering in the conference room wasn’t compulsory. Right after the announcement, the players who had been smoking, reading, or tapping on their tablet jumped to their feet and rushed into the conference room. When everyone assembled, <Social Worker> made a proposition. “Let’s use the winning method.”


    “You mean…?”


    “That winning method <A.I> Reina was talking about earlier.”


    The winning method involved not holding trials in the day, not attacking anyone at night, and doing Bingo every day. Stopping Mafia Game and aiming only for the Turing test was the winning method that would make the players win no matter what, in theory. However, they had also repeatedly discussed that it was impossible. <Janitor> frowned. “We didn’t hold the daytime trial on Day 1, either,” he said. “How’re we goin’ to stop the nighttime attack? Beg the mafia for mercy like we did on Day 1?”


    “I have taken care of that.”


    “… Huh?”


    “Tell them what I asked you before, Reina.”


    [<Social Worker> asked me about the nighttime procedures. She asked me which comes first: the mafia’s attack, or the doctor’s rescue. I told her that the mafia’s attack comes first, and then the doctor’s rescue. So the order of the nighttime selection is: the sheriff, the mafia, and the doctor. That’s all!]


    … Does it matter?


    The mafia selects and the doctor protects the elimination target. The order didn’t seem to matter much, as the result wouldn’t change either way. Irrespective of who chose the target first, the said target could be defended if the choices overlapped, and eliminated if not. However, when seen from a different perspective, the order was extremely important. Looking around at the confused faces of the players, <Social Worker> began to explain. “Don’t you get the importance of this order? If one of the mafia members, who knows the selection result, joins forces with the doctor, the nighttime attack can be defended a hundred percent. That person can share the selection result with the doctor.”Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    “……!!”


    This winning method was absolutely perfect. Unlike on Day 1, <Social Worker’s> proposition seemed like an actual strategy. But the expressions on the players’ faces did not change much. <Intellectual> thought for a moment and spoke up.


    “There are two problems here. One, how can we find the mafia member? Two, how can we find the doctor?”


    “Still, compared to persuading three mafia members, this is …”


    “Far worse, actually. If the mafia member betrays the doctor, it’s very likely that the doctor would be killed.” <Intellectual> spelled out the worst-case scenario, but besides that, <Social Worker’s> proposition still had many loopholes. They needed at least a certain level of trust, which was extremely hard to achieve. Some of the players looked irritated. Just then, <Christian>, who had been quiet all along, suddenly flashed a look of disgust. “You’re making a smart move, trying to kill innocent citizens at night,” she muttered.


    “What?”


    “Don’t play dumb, girl, <Free-timer’s> holy spirit already confessed that you’re the mafia!”


    “……!?”


    It was so out of the blue, but it took less than 10 seconds for <Humanities> Junsung to realize what <Christian> was talking about.


    So that message wasn’t only sent to me?


    “Hey, that message wasn’t sent to me alone?” <Hothead> echoed <Humanities> Junsung’s thought. The players briefly glanced each other’s tablets and reached an implicit conclusion. <Free-timer’s> message had been sent to all players except <Social Worker>, which meant that Social Worker was indeed the mafia. As <Social Worker> was the only clueless one among them, <Muscle Man> filled her in. “A while ago, <Free-timer> sent a message to everyone’s inbox, which said, ‘Social Worker is the mafia.’”


    “……!”


    “That’s right, <Free-timer’s> spirit identified you!” said <Christian>.


    <Intellectual> shook his head in utter disbelief. “Hey, obviously someone else sent that message using <Free-timer’s> tablet. How could you not figure that out, especially when you were the one who stole that tablet first, yesterday?”


    “Oh…”


    Huh? Really?


    As <Christian> looked sheepish, <Humanities> Junsung felt embarrassed, having realized this. There was not much of a difference between <Christian> babbling on about spirits and <Humanities> actually going to the shed to check on the dead body. <Janitor> said, “So who coulda done that? Not me!”


    “N-not me, either. Every time someone died, I was busy moving the bodies to the shed with <Humanities>!” said <Muscle Man>.


    “…The question of who did it is irrelevant. That person probably did it to stay anonymous. Well… we can always ask Reina. Hey, Reina?”


    [Of course I know who did it, but no comment here. Let me just say, it’s quite an effective strategy.]


    <A.I> Reina was protecting the player’s privacy. Resting his chin on his hands, <Engineering> said, “The first theory we may come up with is that the sheriff sent the message anonymously.”


    “That seems about right, because he’ll get killed if he’s caught!”


    “Of course, it can also be just a baseless rumor to lead us to that theory.”


    “… That’s also a good point.”


    <Hothead> and <Muscle Man> went back and forth every time <Engineering> came up with a theory. <Schoolgirl> also had a theory. “Or maybe… the other mafia members are ratting her out…”


    “No way, that’s crazy. It’s suicide for all three of them,” said <Janitor>.


    <Schoolgirl> shrugged and kept her mouth shut. The argument seemed endless. <Old Man> folded his arms and said, “We can try finding the tattletale, yes. But it’s also important to find out if this statement is true. Hey, <Social Worker>, are you the mafia?”


    “…….”


    She could have just said no, but <Social Worker> stayed silent. While the players could not decide how to interpret her silence, <Social Worker> asked, “What if I am? Are you going to put me in that head seat and kill me in the trial?”


    “Uh, of course we are! That’s what Mafia Game is about!”


    “No. You’re a bunch of idiots trying to kill each other when there are perfect winning methods right here!”


    Well, that’s…


    [Total prize: 3, 900, 000, 000 won]


    If the players got Bingo right, that money would be split nine ways, and each would take home a little over 400 million won. Or they could keep playing Mafia Game and eliminate the citizens or mafia, in which case they could take home more money but also have a greater chance of dying.


    Forget the calculations. So it’s taking home 400 million won versus dying with a 50% chance or taking home a billion won, huh? All the players including <Humanities> Junsung participated in this game because they could not give up the possibility of winning money. However, the amount of money they had to consider now was 400 million won. <Old Man> said that money couldn’t change his life, but <Janitor> said that it was 20 years’ worth of his salary. Most of them were likely to choose the former. <Schoolgirl> was likely to choose the latter, which was absurd, and only a few other players were likely to do the same.


    “Mafia…<Social Worker>, you didn’t just confess that you’re the mafia, right?” <Engineering> asked quietly. “You were just hypothetically speaking. And <Free-timer’s> message could end up being just a rumor, right?”


    “…Um, right.”


    “Fine. Anyway, if this winning method works properly, all the players may take your side. But clearly we need one mafia member and the doctor to cooperate. Would any one of the mafia members and the doctor please reveal your identities?”


    “Who would do that? The mafia would be killed by the citizens, and the doctor would be killed by the mafia!” said <Intellectual>, sounding pessimistic. None of the players were willing to reveal their identities. <Social Worker> looked at <Intellectual> and said, “What if I confess that I am the mafia? And declare that I would definitely work with the doctor?”