《Mafia Game》 Episode 1 - Turing Test It all comes down to money ¡ª or not having any. It was November 2021. An average twenty-something young man in Seoul, Korea named Junsung Kim was on his last day as a human lab rat, a position that is known to pay well. He waited with the others in his batch for their last checkup. He sat in complete exhaustion. ¡°I¡¯m going nuts. I can¡¯t wait to go home and jump into bed¡­¡± ¡°Same here. Trust me, I¡¯m never doing this again.¡± This was a bioequivalence study, more commonly known as a human experiment. Junsung had been trapped for days in a hospital with others, forcing down all kinds of drugs and having his blood drawn while the researchers observed him. It was awful having to sit still for hours so that the drugs could be absorbed evenly. At least I didn¡¯t suffer any side effects! ¡°Number 13, Junsung Kim, come on in!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± This experience made him realize what it was like to literally sell his body and life for money. In the room, a researcher from the pharmaceutical company in glasses asked Junsung a few questions about his body, which he answered in a daze. Finally, the researcher glanced at his chart. ¡°Oh, Junsung, how about another job? You seem like the right person for this one,¡± he said. ¡°Ugh, I barely survived the last few days. I cannot do another one right away.¡± ¡°Oh no, you won¡¯t need your body for this. It¡¯s like an intelligence test organized by an IT company or something. You get 50,000 won a day, and may even get 5 million won if you do well.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± After all those days of being trapped in the hospital and loaning his body to the experiment, all he got was a lousy 800,000 won. Junsung snapped to attention and stared at the researcher, who handed him a business card with an address on it. ¡°If you¡¯d like to participate, just tell me right now. I am supposed to notify them in advance.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. I definitely want to participate. Just tell me when I should go.¡± ¡°Oh, the details will be texted to you. But there is one condition.¡± The researcher¡¯s voice trailed off, as he looked grim. When a researcher who tests all kinds of things on human lab rats looks this serious, it must be something really terrifying. After a few moments of silence, the researcher opened his mouth. ¡°You must provide your personal information, such as your address, social security number, academic degree, occupation, that kind of stuff¡­¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s what made you hesitate? It is no big deal!¡± Personal information had been thrown away on the internet like scattered scraps of paper for over a decade now. Junsung nodded, thinking that MapleStory, an online game, had probably leaked his personal information a long while ago. But the researcher still had a grim look on his face. ¡°If an IT company takes your personal information for an experiment, it could be combined with big data, which may customize the test to target you more specifically. It could be quite terrifying.¡± ¡°Nothing is more terrifying than your experiment, you know! With that money, I am willing to take all the spam texts they send me using my personal information.¡± ¡°Remember, all I did was give you this information. You are responsible for your choices.¡± ¡°¡­ Now you¡¯re scaring me. Are you sure this is just an intelligence test?¡± Eventually, the researcher ended up registering Junsung as an applicant for the new experiment. Junsung left the room with the business card in hand. [Venue for the Turing test selection round] Apple Building, 25, Namdaemun-ro 1-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul Turing test, huh? Whatever it was, he had to admit that it sounded kind of cool. [While your qualifications were very impressive, unfortunately we do not have enough openings for all competent candidates. We hope we get a chance to work with you in the future¡­] ¡°Damn it, just say I¡¯m rejected and get it over with.¡± Fall 2021 was particularly cold in Korea. There was no fall at all ¡ª winter had arrived right after summer.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Junsung Kim, a man aged 26 years in Seoul, graduated from Hongik University where he had studied creative writing and was now looking for a job. He had just received yet another rejection. All he had right now was the 800,000 won he had received after participating in the bioequivalence study, most of which he was going to use to repay the interest on his student loan that now came up to 40 million won. ¡°Sure, Mom. I am doing okay. Of course, I am applying everywhere. Yeah, I am trying!¡± Over the last two years, Junsung was able to blame the COVID-19 pandemic for his joblessness and actually enjoyed staying that way. However, now, he began to feel the pinch. Of course, it wasn¡¯t easy to get a job just because he wanted to. It was generally known that not many jobs were available for liberal arts majors. He realized that this was even more so for creative writing majors. He just decided to write ¡°High school graduate¡± in his next resume. ¡°¡­Am I in the right place?¡± Junsung arrived at the venue for the intelligence test he had been informed of a few days ago. The building seemed empty, save for a small shopping arcade that seemed like it was about to shut down. Is anyone even here in this building? When he got to the second floor as instructed in the text, he heard a loud voice from inside. It sounded like an argument was underway. Inside the room, there was a guy around Junsung¡¯s age, somewhere in his twenties, raising his voice and complaining to a woman behind the front desk. ¡°I came all the way here on three different modes of transport. Come on!¡± ¡°I am sorry, but I am just a part-timer here. We gave you money for transportation. It¡¯s 50,000 won, and maybe this can make up for your disappointment.¡± ¡°I do not want 50,000 won. I wanted to take the test that will pay me 5 million won! 50,000 won is nothing! You expect me to buy what, 10 lottery tickets with this or something?¡± ¡°Well, I am sorry, but there¡¯s another visitor I should attend to.¡± The woman behind the desk quickly changed the subject as she glanced at Junsung. Ignoring the complaining guy, she addressed Junsung. ¡°Are you here for the chance to earn five-million-won in an intelligence test?¡± ¡°Oh, um, yeah, I am.¡± ¡°Please go through that door. Oh, and take your 50,000 won right now for your participation and transportation.¡± She handed him 50,000 won, and pulled out her smartphone, clearly suggesting that she was no longer bothered by either of the guys there. The complaining guy glanced at Junsung. ¡°So, you¡¯re also here to make some easy dough?¡± ¡°Yeah, I guess.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a complete waste of time, damn it.¡± What a rude guy! Junsung was annoyed with this guy¡¯s attitude. However, he had so many questions about this experiment and this guy had the potential to be a really valuable resource. When Junsung looked at him curiously, the guy shook his head. ¡°Nothing much in there, just some small talk for like five minutes, maybe? Then you¡¯re out. All I got is this money, and that¡¯s it! I am out!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that the test? What¡¯s it about?¡± ¡°Nothing! I am telling you, there¡¯s just¡­ nothing!¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± All this time, Junsung had been so petrified of what he was about to walk into, but all he found here was a furious guy telling him that there was nothing at all! Junsung briefly wondered what was going on, but he took one look at the bill for 50,000 won in his hand and headed for the door, thinking, Whatever. It¡¯s all about perspective. Getting 50,000 won for a five-minute conversation? Not bad at all! The research assistants in college used to just toss him a bread roll or something after making him take a survey for one hour. Junsung stood in front of the door with a big sign on it that read: ¡°Turing test in progress.¡± ¡°Um¡­ Are you in the middle of something? Can I come in?¡± [Come in.] A computerized voice!? Definitely unusual. Junsung turned the doorknob and walked in slowly. The room was very simple. It looked like a counselor¡¯s office. There was just one desk in the middle with two chairs on either side. There was a big sign on the wall that read: ¡°Turing test in progress.¡± A man sat across the room on one side of the table, facing the door. Junsung slid into the chair across from him and greeted him. ¡°Nice to meet¡­ Oh.¡± The man was dressed from head to toe: in a black coat, a fedora, and white gloves. Junsung was thrown off by the black-and-white mask with a yin-yang pattern on the man¡¯s face. There was definitely something suspicious about his getup. [Hello.] ¡°Um, hello.¡± The voice was computerized and sounded like that of a robot. Junsung began to sweat. He was perplexed and even awed by the uncanny mood. The man remained still as he faced Junsung. He began speaking, listing Junsung¡¯s personal information. [Junsung Kim, male, aged 26 years. Living in Daerim 1-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Graduated from Seoul Campus of Hongik University, majored in creative writing. Correct?] ¡°Correct. My personal information is all over the place, huh?¡± [It is modern society, after all.] ¡°Ha ha, you¡¯re right.¡± It was almost funny, hearing such a sarcastic comment in a dry, computerized voice. Junsung relaxed a little, and the masked man got right to the point. [We are recruiting players for a game called the Turing test.] ¡°A game? Not for labor or an experiment?¡± [It is a kind of experiment. But for the players, it is a game.] Junsung struggled to figure something out here, but the name of this game did not ring a bell. He waited for the masked man to tell him more. But the man asked him a question instead. [Let me ask you a question first. Do you know what the Turing test is?] ¡°I¡­ think I¡¯ve heard of it¡­ somewhere¡­¡± [Maybe not. You may look it up.] ¡°You¡¯re not going to explain it to me?¡± Junsung grumbled under his breath about the man¡¯s nonchalance, but after all, it was Junsung¡¯s own loss. He pulled out his smartphone and searched for ¡°Turing test.¡± He read the first sentence on Wikipedia out loud. ¡°The Turing test, originally called the imitation game by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine''s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Turing proposed that a human evaluator would judge natural language conversations between a human and a machine designed to generate human-like responses¡­¡­.¡± [Do you understand?] ¡°So it is a test to distinguish between a human and Artificial Intelligence?¡± [Right. Humans win if they successfully distinguish between the two. If not, Artificial Intelligence wins.] ¡°Okay. So?¡± [¡­¡­.] An indescribably long silence followed. Although Junsung was now done searching and understanding what the Turing test was, the masked man remained silent. As the silence continued, Junsung tilted his head to one side, confused. ¡°Hey, so now I get what the Turing test is. Aren¡¯t you going to say anything else?¡± [You may collect 50,000 won from the front desk on your way out. Thank you.] ¡°Wha-? What?¡± Junsung recapped all the events that unfolded in the last hour: A test subject was called into a room. A man fully dressed from head to toe in thick clothes, a mask, and a hat with a computerized voice waited inside the room. He made the test subject look up the ¡°Turing test¡± on their smartphone, and then said goodbye. If this was what the intelligence test was about, who could actually give the right answer and pass this test? Episode 2 - NOR gate What the hell is this? Like the grumpy guy outside said, there was literally nothing. Junsung was stunned. But one thing was clear: he just couldn¡¯t leave like this. Instead, he scowled at the man in front of him. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± [¡­¡­.] There was a long, awkward silence. Junsung refused to leave the room, and the man just remained silent without urging him to leave or trying to kick him out. When the man didn¡¯t budge, Junsung became nervous and began looking around the room again. ¡°Wait¡­ wait. Wait!¡± The same sign was on the door, and here, too. The anger he felt toward this man suddenly activated Junsung¡¯s brains, and he finally came to a conclusion. A light bulb went off in his head. ¡°Got it!¡± [What is it?] ¡°You¡¯re not human ¡ª you¡¯re Artificial Intelligence!¡± [¡­Huh.] The moment Junsung shouted his answer out loud, the masked man who hadn¡¯t budged an inch until then, slowly lifted his hand. It was not a natural motion like that of a human, but was rather stiff and rigid, like that of a robot. He removed the patterned mask with his gloved hand and revealed a red ball with a sleek surface instead of a human face. The ball spoke in a computerized voice and said, [Correct.] ¡°Oh man¡­!¡± Junsung was in awe, both of the quality of this test and his smart brains for passing it. ¡°Turing test in progress.¡± Everything in this room was literally the Turing test itself! Junsung was supposed to figure out whether this man in front of him was human or Artificial Intelligence, and he had just passed the test. As the Artificial Intelligence spoke, the red ball began to blink. [Congratulations on passing the selection round for the Turing test.] ¡°Wow, what an incredible test!¡± He kept shaking his head, still stunned by the whole thing. He was so proud of himself that he couldn¡¯t help but blabber to Artificial Intelligence how difficult the test really was. ¡°This wasn¡¯t an easy test at all, you know? You, well, you looked kind of suspicious in that getup, but you understood everything I said and reacted just like a human being. How did Artificial Intelligence get so advanced?¡± [Thank you for your compliment. The prize money for passing the selection round is in the inside pocket of my coat. You may take it yourself.] ¡°Oh¡­?¡± One cannot typically just put their hand into the pocket of another person! However, it seemed like this could be done to a machine ¨C and that only those who passed the Turing test had the privilege to do so. Junsung bent over and dug into the pocket until he found a thick white envelope. ¡°Wh- whoa!¡± Junsung¡¯s heart dropped, and he almost felt sick to his stomach. He peeked into the envelope in utter disbelief. Undoubtedly, there were a 100 50,000 won bills as promised: 5 million won in cash. He clutched the envelope in his hands. ¡°Is this really for me?¡± he asked incredulously. [Of course.] ¡°I get five million won just for passing this test?¡± [More people have failed.] ¡°¡­Just how much money do IT companies make?¡± This seemed like a scam. He had barely earned 800,000 won after days of taking all sorts of strange pills, drawing blood, and staying still in one position. Now, he had made 5.05 million won just by passing a test? This suddenly made Junsung more afraid of all that awaited him in the future. It seemed like he wouldn¡¯t be able to stand it, whatever it was. He caught something from what Artificial Intelligence had said before. ¡°I passed the selection round for the Turing test? So, this is just the prize for the selection round?¡± [That is correct.] ¡°You mean there¡¯s a main round?¡± [Today¡¯s test was intended to choose successful candidates to participate in the main round. And you have just qualified.] ¡°Oh, wow¡­!¡± Junsung felt a shiver run down his spine. If he made 5 million won just by passing a selection round, he couldn¡¯t even imagine how much he would make in the main round. He shoved the envelope full of cash deep into the inside pocket of his coat. ¡°What¡¯s the main round about?¡± he asked.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. [Only the actual players will get that information when the main round begins.] ¡°Oh, right! I see. That is fair. Okay, then just tell me when and where. I¡¯ll be there two hours early!¡± [Let me first tell you what the stakes are.] ¡°The stakes? You mean, like terms and conditions?¡± He was asked to provide personal information to participate in the selection round. Wondering if he now had to offer his family¡¯s personal information for the next round, he waited for the red ball to speak. And then the red ball spoke up in dry voice. [In the main round of the Turing test, the eliminated players will die.] ¡°¡­What?¡± He felt as though someone had knocked the wind out of him. It wasn¡¯t just personal information anymore ¡ª it was his life. Junsung just gaped for a while with his arms crossed, stunned. ¡°How much is the prize money, then?¡± he asked. [I like your aggressive attitude. There is no fixed prize money as it may change based on the circumstances. There will be 11 players in the main round, and the total prize money will be at least 3.3 billion won.] ¡°¡­¡­!!¡± Junsung couldn¡¯t believe his ears. He had to admit that the amount was enough to put some losers¡¯ lives at stake. The red ball continued. [The main round is kind of a brain survival game. The game ends the moment the players meet the end conditions, and the prize money is distributed equally among the survivors.] So 11 players will fight over 3.3 billion won¡­ Does that mean I get something between 300 million and 3.3 billion won? The losers die, and the winners get hundreds of millions, to maybe even a few billion won. Both the rewards and stakes were extremely unrealistic. The red ball continued: [The players cannot quit playing in the middle of the game. So, if you decide to play, you either win and get the prize money, or you lose and die.] ¡°Well, so¡­¡± As he listened intently to the red ball, Junsung kept racking his brains to look for some clues. He played back all that he had just heard in his head and found a hole in the story. ¡°Wait¡­ So, I¡¯m supposed to meet the end conditions for a game I don¡¯t even know about? That sounds a little too unfair. What if you set the rules so that it is impossible for any of the players to win, and eliminate all 11 of us and maybe sell our organs or something?¡± [That is a great expected value you calculated.] ¡°Wh- what?¡± He was taken aback by the compliment ¨C especially as he had just started an argument. The red ball kept talking, unfazed. [I understand your concerns. Our Turing test guarantees the survival of most players. One of the end conditions is that four players will remain in the game. In other words, no matter what happens, at least four will remain. This is just the worst-case scenario. There are several end conditions for this game, one of which allows all 11 players to survive, even though it can be very difficult. In other words, this game may have 4 to 11 winners. At least 3.3 billion won of prize money will be paid out, no matter what. The bodies of the eliminated players will be cremated after the game. There will be no sale of organs.] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± The conditions and details of the test flowed without missing a beat. Everything sounded so well thought out that the surreal story about the losers dying began to hit home. However, he couldn¡¯t figure out what the test would be like. The red ball blinked. [Any questions?] ¡°Who the hell is hosting this test?¡± [That information is confidential.] ¡°¡­Oh yeah?¡± He wasn¡¯t really expecting to hear an answer, anyway. Anyone brutal enough to conduct this dreadful test that would clearly kill people would never reveal their true identity. Besides, the offer itself was impossible to judge. Junsung scratched his head and mumbled. ¡°Oh, shit. I can¡¯t just risk my life not knowing what the test is going to be about. From what you¡¯re saying, it¡¯s going to be a survival game, and I¡¯m no fighter.¡± [The Turing test is a game for the brains, a ¡°brain survival game¡± if you will. Your physical abilities are not needed. Violence will not be tolerated. One of the rules is to avoid all physical contact with other players. You need your wit and wisdom to win the game, just like you just showed here.] ¡°Really¡­?¡± Still suspicious, Junsung waited for more information on the game, but the red ball blasted his hopes. [You do not have to decide right now. As you have passed the selection round, we will send you a text with information on when and where to meet us. If you get in the van that day, you will automatically be a player in the main round. The van will pick you up and take you to the place where you will be participating in the main round. All 11 players will be playing the game at a Western-style mansion in a deserted place¡­ Oops, spoiler alert.] Which doesn¡¯t really spoil anything. Anyway, he didn¡¯t have to decide then and there, so it was no use thinking about it. Then, a disturbing thought hit him. ¡°Wait, if I don¡¯t participate in the main round, are you going to take back this 5 million won?¡± he asked. [No, that is just the prize money for the selection round. It is a reward for those who passed it regardless of their participation in the main round. Use it wisely. Goodbye.] ¡°¡­Huh.¡± It was funny hearing a computerized voice speak that way. After Artificial Intelligence bid him goodbye, Junsung opened the door with a smile. Whether or not he participated in the main round, he couldn¡¯t help but feel happy. He had five million won in his pocket and the pride of passing the selection round for the Turing test. Five million won¡­!! Whatever the future may bring, what he had now in his hands was his reality. What Artificial Intelligence had said ¡ª the deadly game and 3.3 billion won ¡ª still seemed surreal, but the thick envelope in his pocket was definitely real. He had just won more than six times the amount of money he had earned from the bioequivalence study just after a 20-minute conversation. The man who complained at the front desk waited for Junsung outside. ¡°You were in there for a while. What¡¯d you talk about?¡± ¡°Oh, well.¡± It was clear to Junsung why this guy had failed the selection round. How could he possibly fail? Even Artificial Intelligence may have been frustrated with this guy! This guy failed the test despite the signs saying ¡°Turing test in progress¡± on both the door and the wall, along with the chance to actually look up what the test meant online. Countless people have probably failed. Junsung sniggered at the thought. ¡°He just told me to leave, too.¡± ¡°I knew it! What a complete waste of time. I thought for a moment that they may take away my organs or something. Well, at least that would¡¯ve given me an excuse to call the police and tear this place apart!¡± The guy kept whining as he pulled out the 50,000 won bill from his envelope. He turned over the bill suspiciously, looking closely at both sides, and whistled. ¡°Well, at least I got 50,000 won out of this. Maybe I should get a lottery ticket or something. Can you suggest a number?¡± What a moron! Episode 3 - Malthusian Trap [You have just made a partial payment on your student loan. of 4,950,000 won. The remaining loan balance is 34,620,000 won] ¡°¡­Oh, shit.¡± Where the hell did all the prize money go? He had returned home after depositing the money into his bank account. After tapping his smartphone display a couple of times, the five million won just magically disappeared. All that was left was the stuffy, suffocating air of his tiny studio apartment in Seoul. ¡°Oh, here comes the text,¡± muttered Junsung. Game ¡®Turing Test¡¯
  1. This is a brain survival game with 11 players and the total prize money of at least 3.3 billion won.
  2. This game may last between one day and two weeks.
  3. This game may put your life at risk.
  4. If you have passed the selection round and would like to play the next round, please come to the place below on the date and time provided.
It was exactly a week after that day. ¡°The main round of the Turing test, huh?¡± Junsung reflected on the conversation he had the day before as he glanced at this text. He pondered over whether the test itself was real rather than struggling to figure out what it was about. What if it¡¯s all bullshit? Giving billions of won to the winners or killing the losers ¡ª what do the hosts even get out of it? From this perspective, the selection round seemed even more bizarre and weird. He got 5 million won just by figuring out that the man in front of him was actually Artificial Intelligence. It wasn¡¯t even a hidden camera TV show. The guy who went in before Junsung had failed, but the fact that there were 11 players in the game showed that the prize money for the selection round had been paid at least 11 times. Come to think of it, even those who had decided not to participate in the main round also probably received the prize money, which meant that the hosts of this test were spending hundreds of millions of won on just the selection process. They were actually serious about this. They had to be, given that they were spending so much money. ¡°So, it¡¯s a brain survival game called the Turing test¡­ What the hell is that?¡± In a daze, he dwelled on what the red ball had been talking about. There¡¯s no such game called the Turing test in this world. The Turing test is not a specific game or action, but something that embraces all kinds of tests that distinguish Artificial Intelligence from humans. So, it¡¯s more like a genre. If it¡¯s similar to the selection round, maybe they¡¯d set up some robots and we¡¯re supposed to tell whether they¡¯re human or not. We¡¯d get the prize money if we get it right or be shot dead if we get it wrong or something. It was just some random thought, but Junsung¡¯s imagination actually met all the conditions described by Artificial Intelligence. ¡°I¡¯d only know once I get there. So, there¡¯d be 3.3 billion won for 11 players, and that¡¯d be distributed equally among the survivors?¡± Junsung began to write down a few numbers on paper, which he had rarely ever done throughout high school and college. As he didn¡¯t know what the game was, it was impossible to calculate the winning percentage. However, the red ball had told him about two possible scenarios: the best- and worst-case ones. ¡°If we all luck out, then all 11 players can survive. Even if many of the players die, the game will end once four players are left.¡± The best-case scenario was that everyone would be left alive with 300 million won each. The worst-case scenario was that 7 out of 11 players would die, and only 4 would survive, with each getting 825 million won. ¡°¡­So, the worst-case scenario would be like some kind of Russian roulette?¡± Being the creative writing major he was, Junsung scribbled down three sentences on paper. Here is a gun with 11 bullets. There are 7 live rounds and 4 blanks. If the gun is fired at your head and you live, you get 800 million won. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± It was a random thought. Before even attempting to do mathematical calculations or to look back on his life, Junsung thought he would probably just grab the gun and shoot himself in the head. Either way, it would end his boring, exhausting life without a change or future all at once. ¡°¡­Wait, no, no, no¡­ I must be out of my mind. There¡¯s a 7/11 chance of dying!¡± According to the red ball, the ¡°worst-case scenario¡± was four players remaining alive, which meant that there would be 4 to 11 survivors. So, there¡¯s a 7/11 chance, which means that the chance of survival would be a little over 50%. Junsung kept scribbling some numbers, feeling intrigued by the distribution of prize money. So, if 10 players survive, we¡¯d get 330 million with a 10/11 chance, huh? I¡¯d definitely shoot the gun. Up to nine? Yeah, seems okay. But from eight, that¡¯s kinda scary. But we¡¯d get more than 400 million. Seven¡­ Junsung didn¡¯t even know what the game was about, but he thought it was a well-structured prize scheme. The survival rate and prize money were in inverse proportion, which created a rather absurd cycle. ¡°¡­ Oh, hell, what¡¯s the use?¡± With all the messy scribbles of words and numbers on paper, Junsung just thought of one sentence: If the gun is fired at your head and you live, you get 800 million won. Human beings pretend to think logically, but eventually, they are just animals of instinct and unconsciousness. Junsung couldn¡¯t deny the fact that the moment he imagined this gun, he immediately thought he would shoot himself in the head, because either way it would end the troubles in his life.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. No, no way. This world¡¯s still worth living in. I can¡¯t risk my life for some money. This world¡­ Do I even have a clue about this world? While he was asking himself all sorts of silly questions, his smartphone vibrated with a sudden flood of messages from his friends. ¡®Wuzup! Come on out!¡¯ ¡®What, now?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m about to make a lifetime decision.¡¯ Junsung¡¯s serious reply was immediately met with short, disdainful answers. ¡®SUYF¡¯ ¡®Drinks with Hyunggi?¡¯ ¡®Daelim Station?¡¯ ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Junsung thought for about five seconds. ¡®Coming, assholes¡¯ Instead of pondering over a weird game he may never find an answer to, Junsung decided to relax and meet up with his friends from high school and listen to how things were going with them. ¡°Hey, sucker.¡± ¡°Hey, dipshit.¡± ¡°Missed me?¡± ¡°Hey, jackass.¡± ¡°Been a while, huh? Been busy or what?¡± ¡°Shut up, let¡¯s just go get some drinks.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with Gwanbeom these days?¡± ¡°Getting a master¡¯s or something in Mapo somewhere.¡± ¡°After all that work, he¡¯s spending all his money to get a master¡¯s? That¡¯s crazy!¡± ¡°Look who¡¯s talking. Hey, menu, please.¡± ¡°It¡¯s so fucking cold. The fall lasted, what, a week?¡± ¡°Remember we used to learn that Korea had four different seasons? Bullshit, really.¡± ¡°So Junsung, what¡¯s up with you, with your great creative writing major and all?¡± ¡°Just write a novel and win a Nobel Prize for literature.¡± ¡°Oh, shut up, assholes. I¡¯ve been busy going to interviews and part-time jobs and stuff.¡± ¡°You still doing that human lab rat thing? You¡¯ll catch coronavirus and drop dead, dude.¡± ¡°The news is so fucking boring these days.¡± ¡°Politics, presidential candidates biting each other¡¯s heads off... Society, this COVID stuff for two years already. Economy, the fucking fluctuations of bitcoin and stock prices!¡± ¡°What about the LoL Championship?¡± ¡°Damwon lost. Those suckers stole Faker¡¯s victory.¡± ¡°What the hell does that even mean? Excuse me, large size meat and two bowls of rice, please.¡± ¡°Your treat, right?¡± ¡°Hey, you make money, so you buy.¡± ¡°No way! My salary just vanishes after I pay for my insurance, smartphone, and gasoline.¡± ¡°Wow, check this out. This phone folds in half! Cool!¡± ¡°Fuck the insurance, especially national pension. We¡¯d never even get it back.¡± ¡°So don¡¯t pay.¡± ¡°It¡¯s automatically collected from my salary, you moron.¡± ¡°Consider yourself saved by the lettuce here. So why the hell can¡¯t you get the national pension back?¡± ¡°We¡¯re paying the national pension for old folks, and we don¡¯t have enough people in the next generation to pay for us. Korea¡¯s fertility rate is 0.9, you know!¡± ¡°Whatever! I¡¯m gonna have four kids!¡± ¡°Just where on earth would you raise them? The average housing price in Seoul is a billion won!¡± ¡°A billion? Fuck, that¡¯s worth like 40 years of my salary. I¡¯d love to have a housewarming when I¡¯m 60 years old. Excuse me, another round of drinks, please!¡± ¡°No one around me even has a girlfriend, let alone wife.¡± ¡°No problem. Buy a house in 40 years and just marry a young girl then.¡± ¡°Fuck, why the hell doesn¡¯t Kim Jong-un just bomb this country?¡± ¡°He¡¯s probably dead, haven¡¯t you heard? He¡¯s using an understudy. Excuse me, more meat please.¡± ¡°More? Aren¡¯t you, like, 110kg? You¡¯ll get diabetes and die.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the use of having a long life? I¡¯d just drop dead at 60.¡± ¡°60? Still too long. 40 sounds perfect.¡± ¡°My senior¡¯s a dick, my supervisor¡¯s a nagger, and my manager¡¯s an old bastard.¡± ¡°Sounds exactly like my workplace.¡± ¡°If I¡¯m gonna end up like them later, I¡¯d rather die at 40.¡± ¡°You assholes are gonna die before even knowing what One Piece is.¡± ¡°You mean it¡¯s still going on? Shit. Hey, who¡¯re you voting for in the presidential elections?¡± ¡°Yoon Seok-youl, of course. And put fucking Moon in prison. He¡¯s a disaster. Hey, where¡¯s the sauce? ¡°You sound just like my dad, even the way you¡¯re looking for the sauce!¡± ¡°Lee Jae-myung, so we¡¯d get a million won each, you moron. Gotta get mint chocolate chip from Baskin-Robbins.¡± ¡°Voters like you destroy this country. It¡¯s all taxes, you idiot.¡± ¡°Whatever, sucker. The country¡¯s doomed anyway. Let¡¯s just get some money out of it.¡± ¡°I used to think it was pointless whoever becomes president, but the 52-hour workweek system¡¯s just killing me.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Huh, you don¡¯t even know? The weekly working hours are now being limited to 52. We used to work for far more than 52 hours without getting paid.¡± ¡°Report to the Employment and Labor Administration or something.¡± ¡°Did you check out Damwon¡¯s interview? Just hilarious.¡± ¡°Hey, the grown-ups are talking politics here. Just shut up about LoL.¡± ¡°Excuse me, can we have some stew here? Oh, it¡¯s charged?¡± ¡°When I was young, all the meat restaurants used to just give out the stew for free.¡± ¡°What were we talking about? Never since high school. It¡¯s not the 20th century anymore.¡± ¡°I still think raising the minimum wage is just bullshit.¡± ¡°With the crazy inflation and all, it is just a trick that deceives us.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you buy bitcoins back in high school? It¡¯s like more than seventy million won now.¡± ¡°Back in high school, I used to think that grown-ups who bought lottery tickets were pathetic, because there is only a 50% chance of victory.¡± ¡°But now I see that we can¡¯t ever buy a home in Seoul without winning the lottery. Well, the grown-ups were right, as usual.¡± ¡°We should just participate in Squid Game and make that fucking 45.6 billion won at once.¡± ¡°Like you¡¯d be able to survive the first round!¡± ¡°Please, stop this! I am scared. We all gonna die here!¡± ¡°There¡¯s such a fucking huge gap between earned and financial income.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Earned income is what you earn from working, and financial income is what you earn in terms of money, like stocks and real estate.¡± ¡°But as the social gap gets wider and wider, financial income just dominates earned income.¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happening here in Korea. Now the rich only get richer. Working hard won¡¯t change our lives.¡± ¡°Oh, fuck it. If we had fathers working in the National Assembly, we¡¯d get 5 billion won for severance pay.¡± ¡°By the way, my cousin¡¯s getting married. Should I get him something?¡± ¡°Hey, cheers, guys.¡± ¡°To Hyunggi¡¯s cousin about to get married! How old is he?¡± ¡°Around 36 or 37. Works at SK Energy or something, makes crazy dough. Hey, in that case, why the hell do I need to get him anything?¡± ¡°He¡¯s probably gonna end up being another married man in Korea. Buying a house with debt and getting pocket money from his wife¡­ Excuse me, another round of drinks, please.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with Sunggun these days?¡± ¡°He¡¯s an only child of a wealthy family, so he recently inherited an apartment in Seongnam.¡± ¡°He constantly talks about real estate transfer taxes and stuff to show off, which pisses me off.¡± ¡°Hey, you win a Nobel Prize for literature and show off, too.¡± ¡°Ugh¡­ Why the hell did I choose this fucking useless major and waste four years of my life?¡± ¡°Should¡¯ve done engineering instead. That would¡¯ve bought me a Lamborghini by now.¡± ¡°And stick a ¡®new driver¡¯ sticker on the rear window. It¡¯d be like Moses crossing the Red Sea.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s too good for the other, BLACKPINK Jisoo or Tottenham Son Heung-min?¡± ¡°Whatever. I don¡¯t give a shit about girl groups these days.¡± ¡°Back when we were in high school, girl groups used to wear sexy clothes.¡± ¡°Now they¡¯re all covered up like they¡¯re wearing Middle Eastern burkas or something. The country¡¯s fucking going backward.¡± ¡°So, tell me where to find some naked hot sluts with fucking big boobs to jerk off to.¡± ¡°This COVID-19 nonsense is gonna just kill us all.¡± ¡°Exactly! We¡¯ve been wearing masks for two years and got Janssen vaccines all for nothing.¡± ¡°Hey, did you know we¡¯re not allowed to have popcorn in the movies? I went to see Venom 2 and they said no food allowed. What a joke!¡± ¡°Oh shit, what¡¯s with the ten points, son of a bitch!¡± ¡°LG Twins lost again, Junie?¡± ¡°Where the hell¡¯s the bullpen, where¡¯s Woo-seok! Argh!¡± ¡°Whatever. What next?¡± ¡°Karaoke!¡± ¡°After all that drinking? Shit, my voice!¡± ¡°Sounds awful either way, so pointless.¡± ¡°Fuck you, just don¡¯t drool over my rapping at the karaoke, asshole.¡± ¡°Hic.¡± Somewhere between zero to seven out of eleven players will die. And the prize money is three hundred million to eight billion won¡­ Hic! Junsung eventually decided to shoot. It didn¡¯t matter how many live rounds he had.
Episode 4 - League of Nations Somewhere in Seoul, a week after the selection round of the Turing test. Junsung strolled absentmindedly and kept muttering to himself, focusing on the thought that had been at the back of his mind for the entire week. ¡°Okay, so there could be a happy ending if all 11 players work together to take home 300 million won each. Even in the worst-case scenario, I will get 800 million if I end up being one of the four survivors. That¡¯s actually the best-case scenario, really¡­ Anyway, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d actually kill people! They¡¯re probably just scaring us. I¡¯ll decide after checking the place out.¡± The November winds were chilly, making Junsung feel hollow. He walked around Seoul, consumed with growing anger and desire until he was on the verge of brainwashing himself, when he found a van pull up in front of him. The window on the passenger¡¯s side opened, and a masked man spoke to him. ¡°Are you one of the players in the main round of the Turing test?¡± ¡°Oh, um, yeah, well, but I haven¡¯t ¡ª¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re here five minutes early, so you can think about it for that much time.¡± The man in the passenger¡¯s seat seemed cool and airy. A little thrown off, Junsung began speaking. ¡°Hey, so what¡¯s the game¡­¡± ¡°No idea. The players can participate only by order of arrival, so you probably won¡¯t even reach the destination even if you get in this van. There are 11 players, and it seems like there are more applicants than we thought. You¡¯ve got three minutes.¡± Junsung stared, completely taken aback. This was purely fear-based marketing. It was like those awful home shopping shows saying it¡¯s now or never. But when he thought about it, clearly there would be a lot more than 11 participants willing to play the game, as the news on the economy had been even more depressing over the past week. ¡°So? What¡¯ll it be?¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve still got two minutes left!¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Junsung thought that he¡¯d rather have someone hold a gun to his head and force him to get in the van. These options and free will made things far more difficult. He pulled out a hundred-won coin from his pocket and placed it on his palm. ¡°Heads, I get in the car. Tails, I don¡¯t.¡± He flipped the coin. Ten seconds later, he was inside the van. There was no one else in the back. Two men sat in front, wearing gas masks. ¡°So, you¡¯re playing?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± What¡¯s with the gas mask? Junsung suddenly felt that something wasn¡¯t right and briefly considered jumping off the van, but the man in the passenger¡¯s seat immediately explained what was going to happen next. ¡°We¡¯re going to spray some sleeping gas. You¡¯ll be asleep until we arrive at the destination, so just relax.¡± ¡°What? Sleeping gas?¡± ¡°You can still get off and walk away.¡± ¡°¡­ Oh, what the hell. Just get it over with.¡± He couldn¡¯t decide whether the man was considerate or coercive. Then, Junsung was completely knocked out. His seat was completely tilted back. The last thing he remembered doing was praying that life was on his side for once. Day 1 The second Junsung opened his eyes, he felt a pain in his back. Then, his throat felt sore. Still dazed from the sleeping gas, Junsung realized what he had got himself into and sat upright. The survival game! Maybe the game had already begun! Junsung looked around. He was in a well-structured, slightly big two-story wooden house designed in Western style. He was in a living room on the first floor. A few others were there, too, either sitting or standing, all looking around the house like Junsung. ¡°You¡¯re up, ?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± A guy in a plaid shirt and glasses with disheveled hair, greeted Junsung a little awkwardly. He was so ordinary that Junsung may have probably seen someone like him on campus dozens of times a day. However, it was weird that he wore a thick metal collar around his neck. Thrown off by the appalling design, Junsung immediately felt his neck and realized he also had one. ¡°Th- this is¡­.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t touch that thing. That man over there was just trying to get it off, and it beeped, freaking everyone out. Fortunately, nothing happened.¡± ¡°You mean this is¡­!¡± ¡°Yeah, probably the same thing from the movie Saw. Or is it Battle Royale?¡± ¡°¡­ Holy shit.¡± Who knew he¡¯d ever end up wearing an explosive collar? Realizing that this was no joke, Junsung struggled to remain calm.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°How come you just called me ¡®Humanities¡¯?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh, sorry, it¡¯s just what¡¯s written on your name tag.¡± He glanced down at the name tag on his chest, which revealed his college department instead of his real name. He glanced over at the guy¡¯s chest and found a name tag there, too. ¡°So then should I call you Engineering¡­?¡± ¡°I guess. But watch out. Some players seem to hate being called by the names on their labels.¡± pointed to the top of the stairs that led to the second floor. There was a crabby middle-aged man, rattling and pounding on the door to each room in a rage. ¡°What the fuck! All the doors on the second floor are locked. Unbelievable!¡± The man¡¯s name tag read . His name seemed to suit him perfectly. Looking up at him, Junsung was confused. ¡°The doors are locked¡­?¡± ¡°A few, yeah. And so is the front door. I guess we could break the window to get out¡­ But of course, no one would even dare try.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Looking around, Junsung realized that they were all wearing explosive collars. He couldn¡¯t get his head together in this bizarre, seemingly dangerous situation, when he suddenly heard a voice coming out of a speaker attached to ceiling. [Ahem. Testing, testing.] ¡°¡­¡­!?¡± It was a female voice, almost identical to that of a human, but still sounded slightly computerized. The voice began speaking cheerily. [Ahem¡­Eleven players, are you all up? Hello there, sir! It¡¯s not an escape game! Everyone, let¡¯s all gather up in the main conference room on the first floor!] ¡°¡­Huh.¡± Everyone in the house had a collar around their neck. They scrambled to the conference room on the other side of the living room as instructed by the speaker. There was a long table surrounded by chairs, with convenience store lunchboxes set out neatly in each place. Antique candles were lit up on the table, and there was a glamorous top seat in a fancy pattern. A familiar-looking red steel ball was placed in the middle of the table. [Hello, I¡¯m Reina. We all met in the selection round, right?] Oh, that ball¡­? The ball hidden inside the patterned mask? Its voice had been a dull computerized male voice at the time, but had now become a cheerful, computerized female voice. [I changed my voice. Nice and cheerful, right? As I said, my name is Reina. Okay, everyone. We have a lot to talk about. Take your seats.] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Would it matter where I sit? That seat looks particularly different. There were six chairs lined up on each side of the table, and an exclusive wooden chair at the head of the table. It had fancy decorations and looked like a throne. It felt kind of out of place at that table. One by one, people sat down on the ordinary chairs on both sides, but one old man walked up to the head of the table. His name tag read . ¡°It seems I¡¯m the oldest here, so I should sit here, no?¡± [No, Old Man. Leave that seat empty.] ¡°Heh, fussy little woman.¡± An old man¡­? Junsung looked around. He was stunned to note that the people were all of different ages. It was rather unexpected. About half of them seemed to be in their 20s, like himself. However, the rest looked a bit older. There was only one old man. Everyone left the main chair empty and sat on the other seats. Reina blinked and spoke up. [Everyone, this reminds me of a famous painting. ¡°The Last Supper.¡± That¡¯s it. Shall we dig in?] ¡°¡­Seriously? This pathetic meal?¡± grumbled. However, he was the first one to unwrap the meal box. Most players were not interested in eating. Seeing the players just sitting still, Reina urged them to eat. [Everyone, eat. Just eat. We will get to the game after that. It¡¯s already past six.] <18:03:42> Even as people noticed the clock Reina mentioned, their eyes shifted to the number displayed below the clock. [Total prize: 3, 300, 000, 000 won] It was just some 3s and 0s. However, everyone stared at the display in a daze. opened his mouth, his meal box still untouched. ¡°Money.¡± [Excuse me?] ¡°You¡¯re giving us that money for real, right? You won¡¯t change your mind later?¡± Huh. His attitude may have been a little disgraceful, but everyone was silent at words. In fact, it was the only thing everyone here was really interested in. Reina spoke up after a pause. [Of course.] ¡°What¡¯s with the pause? 3.3 billion won is big money. How do we trust you?¡± [Oh, I was just trying to come up with ways to convince you. Let me ask you this instead. Why did you get in the van and come all the way here when there¡¯s no proof that you can get 3.3 billion won?] ¡°What? Well, you¡­ you said you¡¯d give us that money. And that five million won was real, so¡­¡± It was almost like an involuntary reflex, like insects being drawn to a bright light. They were all drawn to this game, even though it was very likely that they may end up burning. All just for the idea of possibly winning billions. [The bottom line is, yes, we will give out the prize money. To every single player who wins the game. But I cannot really prove that now.] ¡°Hey! That¡¯s total bullshit!¡± ¡­Harsh. Junsung had also been contemplating whether the designers of this game would actually give out the prize money of 3.3 billion won. He had no idea where the money was coming from. He had also wondered whether the players would all be buried somewhere in the end. But Junsung concluded, just like , that five million won was too big an amount for all this to be fake. They gave him the money although he wasn¡¯t really worth it. One woman raised her hand. ¡°Mr. ? Your collar¡¯s beeping again. And the conversation¡¯s getting nowhere. Let¡¯s eat first.¡± ¡°What? Who the hell¡¯s Hothead, you hooker!¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s what your name tag says. And don¡¯t call me a hooker, moron.¡± Her name tag actually read . A few names were offensive and demeaning. Junsung Kim, ¡®Humanities,¡¯ started eating his meal as he peeked at the other players¡¯ name tags. , , , , , , , , , , , ¡­ Interesting. Reina sat at the center of the table. All the players were together in one place. Junsung dug into his meal as he reflected on each of their names. It¡¯s a brain game, huh? Then maybe I stand a chance. If intellect was power here, the only intimidating names were and . The rest seemed ridiculous in terms of intellect, especially , , and judging by their nicknames. [Everyone, you seem to be working your brains already, instead of focusing on your meal¡­ I can only introduce the game and the rules after the meal. So, focus on eating.] ¡°Hey, Red Ball! I can¡¯t focus because of you!¡± ¡°Keep it down, mate.¡± ¡°What? You little piece of shit¡­ How old are you?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, so you¡¯re old. Congrats.¡± , in his 40s, was interrupted by , who sat next to him. As the two scowled at each other, Reina blinked and chimed in. [I should explain one of the rules first. The players are not allowed to make any physical contact. If you break this rule, you will be eliminated.] ¡°Really? Not even patting?¡± [That¡¯s right, Old Man. You can¡¯t. If you fall down or touch someone¡¯s hand by accident, you will get a warning. Any form of violence attracts a warning and then elimination. Careful, careful!] Elimination meant death. While everyone who was already aware of this fact kept their mouths shut and began sweating, Junsung could hear next to him muttering to himself. ¡°Should¡¯ve kept that man talking. He was getting some good info.¡± ¡°¡­¡± definitely seemed like a hard-ass, thought Junsung, as he slowly downed his meal. Episode 5 - Last Supper <18:44:23> That message is put up everywhere¡­ It was in the living room, this conference room, and the dining room, and in the selection round, which had long been over. Once everyone put away their empty meal boxes, Reina started blinking red in the middle of the table and started talking. [Okay, let¡¯s make this quick. Let me introduce the game you will be playing.] ¡°¡­!!¡± Too much time had passed for the words, ¡°let¡¯s make this short¡± to bear any relevance. All 12 players¡¯ eyes were on Reina, who finally began to describe the game that would decide their fate. [Now, you will all be playing Mafia here. It is also known as Werewolf or Lupus in Tabula. Have you heard of it?] What? The players began speaking among themselves. Most of the younger players nodded, whereas the older ones looked clueless. Junsung was one of the younger ones who knew about the game. It was a party game, where the players are divided into two groups, mostly citizens and a few mafia members. During the day, players discuss and vote to eliminate a mafia member. At night, the mafia choose and eliminate a citizen. It¡¯s a game I¡¯d played countless times in college parties! Can¡¯t believe those stupid drinking parties actually help! The game was unpredictable. There were some people in the room who did not have a clue about it in the first place. This pleased Junsung. Reina went on. [Don¡¯t panic. It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t know the game. The rules are very simple. Let me explain. Even if you know the rules, please focus. There are many different points here. So what matters are the rules, really. Tee-hee-hee.] This Artificial Intelligence has changed, not just the gender but the way it talks¡­ Reina''s titter sounded almost evil. It was like a villain who had just revealed their identity, which sent a shiver down Junsung¡¯s spine. Reina projected a slide show on the wall and continued. [The players will have one of four jobs. Focus on my light!] Roles in Mafia
  1. Each of the 12 players is assigned 1 of the 4 roles: mafia, sheriff, doctor, or citizen.
  2. There are 3 mafia members, 1 sheriff, 1 doctor, and 7 citizens.
With 12 players, that sounds reasonable. [The rules will be sent to your personal tablets later, so no need to memorize them. Let¡¯s just go with the flow now, okay?] ¡°Tablets?¡± [Oh, your tablets are in the drawers in front of you. Leave them, they won¡¯t turn on now.] Despite Reina telling the players to leave the tablets, a few opened their drawers anyway. They concentrated on the tablets. Junsung just realized that his smartphone and wallet had been taken away. Well, I guess I¡¯ll get them back later. Whatever. He could just replace them with new ones if he got out of this alive. What he needed most right now was the personal tablet provided by Reina, and not his smartphone. Reina kept talking. [Your role must remain a secret when the game begins. The citizens can hold trials during the day and kill a mafia member through a vote. The mafia can kill one of the citizens at night through a vote. Voting literally means selecting one player, on your tablet. The tablet is a critical item for you. Let¡¯s look at the rules now.] Ground Rules
  1. Players cannot make physical contact with other players.
  2. Players cannot touch or sneak a look at another player¡¯s tablet.
  3. Players cannot show their tablets to another player.
  4. Players cannot leave the designated area of the game (30 meters from the mansion).
  5. All votes in the game will be cast in the form of open ballots (voters voting openly).
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. [Easy, right? I¡¯ve mentioned rule one multiple times. Rules two and three intend to preserve everyone¡¯s privacy. Rule five is the spice of this game, really. It is a ¡°law.¡± On the other hand, rules one through four are ¡°rules.¡± If you break them, you will be eliminated, so careful, careful! Any questions?] ¡°Number three! Why can¡¯t we show each other our tablets?¡± raised his hand and asked enthusiastically. Reina responded nonchalantly: [You¡¯ll figure it out as you play.] ¡°Oh, okay.¡± What? Why not? Just tell us now! Junsung was frantically thinking to himself when began nodding as if he understood. Junsung felt like he was already lagging behind. [Now, about the day and night. Let¡¯s speed up a little. This game will be played in real-time. A day in this game is the same as a day in the real world, as is the night. So, you eat, sleep, and play the game right here in this house. You will have some clothes to wear and enough to eat for a month, but there is no way you would use it all. Now let me explain what a typical day in Mafia is like.] Game Plan (Daytime - Selection and Trial)
  1. The day lasts from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
  2. During the day, players get a chance to hold one trial.
  3. If most players agree to [vote to select or not], the selection vote begins.
  4. The player selected by most players in the [selection vote] stands trial.
4-1. In case of a tie in the selection vote, there will be a final vote. In case of another tie in the final vote, there will be no trial.
  1. A player who stands trial is eliminated if most players agree in the [elimination vote].
  2. If a player eliminated after a trial turns out to be a mafia member, the players get a chance to hold another trial.
Game Plan (Nighttime)
  1. The night lasts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
  2. At night, the mafia members hold a selection vote to eliminate a player.
  3. A player who receives two or more votes becomes the target for elimination.
3-1. If there is only one mafia member left, only one vote is necessary. 3-2. If there aren¡¯t enough votes, there is no elimination that night.
  1. The sheriff selects one player to identify whether he or she is a citizen or mafia member.
  2. The doctor selects one player to save them from the mafia¡¯s attack.
[Blah blah blah¡­ It may all sound familiar if you¡¯ve ever played this game before. During the day, the citizens hold a trial to find and kill a mafia member. At night, the mafia members kill a citizen that may have annoyed them. Any questions?] It all went by too fast. The players who had never heard of Mafia before were busy reading all the rules. Even Junsung, who had played this game before was struggling. Meanwhile, a twenty-something woman with the name tag raised her hand and asked a question. ¡°There seems to be too many votes during the day. In Mafia, if one player is selected, they just get eliminated. But these rules tell us to vote thrice, like [vote to select or not], [selection vote], and [elimination vote]?¡± ¡°I know. That [vote to select or not] sounds kind of ridiculous, if you ask me.¡± agreed with . Reina swayed briefly from side to side. [Hmm. That¡¯s not exactly a question, but a just personal complaint. The procedures are much ¡°easier,¡± ¡°simpler,¡± and ¡°quicker¡± than you think. You¡¯ll figure it out as you play, especially by the last day.] ¡°¡­¡­??¡± Well, yeah, you just need to jump into the game to get the hang of it. It was impossible to just ¡®jump into¡¯ this game right now. , a man in his fifties, spoke up with his hands trembling. ¡°Shit, I ain¡¯t got a clue. Can¡¯t we just¡­ try a practice round or somethin¡¯?¡± [Aww, no way. A practice round will really affect the main game. Denied.] ¡°B-b-but if we get eliminated, we die! This collar will blow up!¡± [You¡¯re right. I missed the most important part here. Excuse me.] Reina added another sentence right on top of the list of Ground Rules.
  1. The eliminated players will lose their lives.
¡°¡­¡± This didn¡¯t seem to change the looks on the players¡¯ faces as they were already aware of this fact. However, there was a clear difference between knowing something and having to see it in your face, especially when it comes to something shocking like death. The players began asking questions. The bulky raised his hand. ¡°I heard there¡¯s a chance that all players can survive¡­ But nothing about this game seems like it can make that possible!¡± Huh? That¡¯s right¡­! Some players would clearly die in Mafia. Quite a few, actually. There would be a minimum number of victims if the citizens could find all three mafia members and kill them, but this would still kill three players. It was a rather ideal case scenario, but usually, many players are eliminated in Mafia. A murmur swept through the room, when and , both women, raised their hands and complained about different things. ¡°Wait. You said there were 11 players, but why are there 12 here? The prize money¡¯s still 3.3 billion won! This means less for each winner!¡± ¡°You also lied about the game. You said in the selection round that it¡¯s the Turing test, and it¡¯s also written all over this house. And now you say it¡¯s Mafia?¡± A protest began to unfold among the group members. The players began to raise countless questions about the game and its rules. As they continued talking, their collars suddenly made loud, shrill beeping sounds. ¡°¡­!?¡± It was a horrifying sound that sent a squeezing pain right into everyone¡¯s heart. The sound from their necks shut them up, leaving them in complete silence. Reina blinked red and began to speak. [Okay, everyone. Quiet, quiet. Sorry, it was just a machine check¡­] Fucking bitch! She could have just told them to be quiet instead of demonstrating her power! Junsung was seething, and it seemed like all the other players felt the same way. But Reina continued speaking nonchalantly. [I am impressed by the excellent quality of your questions. Instead of answering each one, I think I will answer all of them at once. Let me first summarize your questions. ¡°1. What are the terms for all 11 players to survive?¡± ¡°2. Why are there 12 players instead of 11, like we originally said?¡± and ¡°3. Why is this game called the Turing test when it¡¯s just Mafia?¡± Tee-hee-hee.] What¡¯s with the giggle? Don¡¯t even start. They were all waiting for a lubricant to remove the friction from their game. But in addition to all those rules that Junsung was struggling to follow, Reina dropped another bomb. [There is one hidden among the 12 players.] Just like Judas among the Twelve Apostles in The Last Supper.
Episode 6 - Golden Record ¡°What¡­!?¡± The impact of those words was incredible. The players looked around swiftly, all at the same time, to see if they could identify the ¡°humans¡± around them. [Physical contact is not allowed.] ¡°Ugh¡­!¡± A few players who tried to instinctively feel the person next to them flinched. They could not be blamed as touch was probably the only way to identify the unknown. But to Junsung, all the other 11 players looked completely human. Reina sounded so sure of herself as she went on. [You cannot tell by touching each other, anyway. So now you understand why there are 11 participants but 12 players, right? One of you is Artificial Intelligence. Okay, and number three. Why is this game called Mafia and the Turing test at the same time? This literally means that, while you play Mafia, you are also trying to identify the Artificial Intelligence among you. Let me explain this with the end conditions of Mafia.] End Conditions: The game ends when:
  1. All mafia players are eliminated
  2. An equal number of mafia and citizens are left alive
  3. There are four players left
  4. The players successfully select, identify, and expose Artificial Intelligence with Bingo
[Numbers one and two are the general end conditions of Mafia. All of you heard about number three during the selection round. Even in the worst-case scenario, the game ends when four players are left. All of you can survive in the case of number four. Of course, this requires you to find Artificial Intelligence before anyone gets eliminated. As long as you figure out which one is Artificial Intelligence in here, you can all go home safe, the mafia, citizens, sheriff, doctor, and everyone else.] So, there¡¯s Artificial Intelligence in here? Seriously? Junsung just couldn¡¯t believe it. The masked man in the selection round was nothing more than a well-dressed robot. But all 12 players here looked so natural. They were breathing, moving, and talking, and yet one of them was Artificial Intelligence! There was one other question. Junsung raised his hand. ¡°So what exactly is Bingo?¡± [Well, it¡¯s similar to the daytime trial.] Game Plan (Daytime - Bingo)
  1. During the day, the players get a chance to do one Bingo.
  2. If the (total number of players - 1) agree after [voting to do Bingo], the Bingo vote begins.
  3. The player that receives most of the votes in the [Bingo vote] is immediately identified as Artificial Intelligence or not.
  4. If the player selected in the [Bingo vote] is human, the result is announced and the game will continue. If the player is Artificial Intelligence, the game will end.
There was this ridiculous [vote to do Bingo or not] also in these rules, which were almost the same as the trial, but also different in a way. adjusted his glasses and said, ¡°In rule number two, what does ¡®total number of players -1¡¯ mean?¡± [This literally means that, as there are a total of 12 players now, you need 11 votes. If there are 11 players, you need 10 votes, and so on.] ¡°What? We need as many as 11 votes?¡± [There¡¯s a profound meaning behind this. But I do not want to tell you that now. Just accept the rules!] A profound meaning, huh? Junsung briefly thought about why they made it so difficult to call the Bingo vote. I guess it was to keep the game, or the Turing test, from getting over too soon. Or maybe this assumption was too obvious? Junsung decided to stop thinking as there was no way he could figure out the profound meaning underlying this decision himself. Reina continued to explain the rules of the Bingo vote. [During the day, you can have one trial and one Bingo. You can do any one of them at a time, and not both at once. At night, the mafia members get a chance to vote. The doctor can defend, and the sheriff can detect. Sounds fun, right?] ¡°¡­¡± Not a single player had a positive response to Reina¡¯s question, as they were all frantically reading the rules. Suddenly, Reina changed the subject.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. [Oh, wait. Let me ask you guys a question. When the citizens get eliminated by the mafia at night, well¡­ I don¡¯t quite understand human psychology here, so I have to ask. Would you prefer to die when you¡¯re asleep, or die when you¡¯re awake, knowing that you would be killed?] ¡°¡­!?!?!!?¡± What kind of a question was that? The players were all appalled. However, Reina was simply asking this to proceed with the game. After a long silence, carefully spoke up. ¡°Oh hell, if¡­ if you wanna know, I guess it¡¯s better to die asleep without knowing.¡± ¡°Right, that¡¯s a good way to die,¡± said ¡°But then you¡¯re dead just like that! Isn¡¯t it better to say your last words before you die?¡± ¡°Last words my ass! We¡¯re all complete strangers. What would you even say?¡± ¡°I already made my will back at home.¡± Although there were some slightly different views, there was a general consensus: the players preferred dying in their sleep. Reina blinked as she spoke. [So it¡¯s agreed? The citizens chosen for elimination will be .] [Oh, good. I was worried we may have to call a vote or something.] That piece of shit! What¡¯s with this shitty question? Just decide for yourself, you bitch! Most players, including Junsung, looked pale. He had been focusing fully on the rules, but the sudden description of the ¡°specific form of death¡± by Reina put him in complete, utter fear. But Reina had no intention of stopping there. She slowly spun her red body before she spoke up again. [So I guess we¡¯re done describing the day and night. Now it¡¯s show time. You will each get a role. Like I said, there are three mafia members, one sheriff, one doctor, and seven citizens. In 30 seconds, you will receive a memo with your role written on it at the bottom-right corner of your tablet. Hide it well¡­] ¡°What!?¡± ¡°Wait, wait!¡± ¡°¡­Argh!¡± The players already had their tablets inside their drawers under the table, but Reina¡¯s announcement made them all slump over the drawer, struggling to hide their tablets and holding their breaths. Feeling a deep sense of panic after listening to all this, Junsung¡¯s heart was pounding at a speed that he had never experienced before in his life. The tension was far greater now than it was when he checked the results of his college admission. After 30 seconds passed, which felt like eternity, each tablet received a message. [Junsung Kim, you are a .] ¡°¡­Citizen¡­¡± A million thoughts and feelings crossed his mind. For a moment, he was disappointed because being a citizen seemed like the most ordinary and weak role in the game. But then he began to look on the bright side, as humans usually do when they¡¯re completely cornered. Well, it¡¯s not too bad. I didn¡¯t even want to be the mafia and kill people. And even without the ethical stuff, it¡¯s not even logically safe to be the mafia. But it¡¯s too bad I didn¡¯t get to be the sheriff or the doctor. The first thing he had to do was close the message and then turn off the display on the tablet. Taking a few deep breaths, Junsung slowly looked up. And there it was ¡ª a painting of contemporary art of some sort presented right in front of him, featuring 11 people struggling to keep straight faces. It was a grotesque and freakish sight: they sat with their eyes moving around swiftly, as if to observe every little detail while hiding their own actions. [¡­Cool.] ¡°What?¡± [Oops. Tee-hee-hee. Now let me officially post the rules and send them to your tablets.] Ground Rules
  1. The eliminated players will lose their lives.
  2. The players cannot make physical contact with other players.
  3. The players cannot touch or sneak a look at another player¡¯s tablet.
  4. The players cannot show their tablets to each other.
  5. The players cannot leave the designated area of the game (30 meters from the mansion).
  6. All votes in the game will be in open ballots.
Roles in Mafia
  1. Each of the 12 players is assigned 1 of 4 roles, namely that of a mafia, sheriff, doctor, or citizen.
  2. There are three mafia members, one sheriff, one doctor, and seven citizens.
Game Plan (Daytime - Selection and Trial)
  1. The day lasts from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
  2. During the day, players get a chance to hold one trial.
  3. If most players agree to [vote to select or not], the selection vote begins.
  4. The player selected by most players in the [selection vote] stands trial.
4-1. In case of a tie in the selection vote, there will be a final vote. In case of another tie in the final vote, there will be no trial.
  1. A player who stands trial is eliminated if most players agree in the [elimination vote].
  2. If a player eliminated after a trial turns out to be a mafia member, the players get a chance to hold another trial.
Game Plan (Daytime - Bingo)
  1. During the day, the players get a chance to do one Bingo.
  2. If the (total number of players - 1) agree after [voting to do Bingo], the Bingo vote begins.
  3. The player that receives most of the votes in the [Bingo vote] is immediately identified as Artificial Intelligence or not.
  4. If the player selected in the [Bingo vote] is human, the result is announced and the game will continue. If the player is Artificial Intelligence, the game will end.
Game Plan (Nighttime)
  1. The night lasts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
  2. At night, the mafia members hold a selection vote to eliminate a player.
  3. A player who receives two or more votes becomes the target for elimination.
3-1. If there is only one mafia member left, only one vote is necessary. 3-2. If there aren¡¯t enough votes, there is no elimination that night.
  1. The sheriff selects one player to identify whether he or she is a citizen or mafia member.
  2. The doctor selects one player to save them from the mafia¡¯s attack.
End Conditions: The game ends when:
  1. All mafia players are eliminated
  2. An equal number of mafia and citizens are left alive
  3. There are four players left
  4. The players successfully select, identify, and expose Artificial Intelligence with Bingo
Prize Money
  1. Once the game ends, the total prize money will be distributed equally among the remaining players.
  2. The total prize money begins from 3.3 billion won.
  3. The total prize money will increase each time a player is eliminated. A total of 300 million won will be added each time a citizen, the sheriff, or the doctor is eliminated; and 600 million won each time a mafia member is eliminated.
  4. Artificial Intelligence is excluded from the distribution of prize money even if it does not get eliminated.
Episode 7- Metternichsches System Too long¡­ The rules may have been summarized, but they were still far too long. Everything had gone so quickly and smoothly when Junsung played Mafia in college. But having the rules all written out this way made them seem far longer and more complex. The additional rules on Artificial Intelligence and Bingo complicated things even further. Junsung was tired, but the sentences at the bottom were enough to make his tiredness vanish. It was the same with other players, too. ¡°Hey, wait. The prize money¡­!¡± ¡°The prize money starts from 3.3 billion won and goes up?¡± [That¡¯s right. I missed the part on the increase in prize money.] The players focused on the third rule about prize money. Reina sounded startled as she went on. [I was so intent on explaining the penalty that I left out the good part. My apologies. I said in the selection round that the total prize for the main round would be at least 3.3 billion won, which means that the amount may increase ¡ª quite significantly, actually. Read the rules and you will understand this right away, so no explanations necessary, right? Of course, you¡¯re always welcome to ask questions. Personally, I also wish that the prize money increases as far as possible.] It was understandable that Reina skipped the part about the prize. Unlike the rules of prohibition that interfere with the game, this part didn¡¯t really need the players to be cautious. Despite all the fear of death they had just experienced now, the players began to focus on the rules concerning the prize money more than any of the other rules. Junsung¡¯s eyes opened wide at the amount. Holy shit! 300 million won for each elimination¡­? So, the total prize is four billion won¡­ or maybe even more than five billion won? The numbers sounded so magical in his head. One thing that was certain was that the five million won they got for passing the selection round was really nothing. While everyone was in a whirlwind of greed and fear, spoke up harshly. ¡°Shit, even 3.3 billion won sounds unrealistic! And now, 6 billion won? There¡¯s no way I can believe that. For all I know, it¡¯s just some random number. And it¡¯s also probably bullshit that there¡¯s Artificial Intelligence sitting here, pretending to be a human. It¡¯s just impossible even with modern science!¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± and nodded in agreement. Then chimed in, making a fuss. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s a hidden camera here somewhere! Streaming us in this survival game to some rich people in the dark, and getting money out of them. Like, they¡¯re making a show of us!¡± [What do you know about modern science and society?] ¡°What?¡± Fed up with the heated arguments raised by the humans, Reina piped up. Blinking, she chose her words carefully. [Basically, your lives or bodies, well¡­ aren¡¯t really worth much. At least compared to the expenses incurred or the prize money of 3.3 billion won for this test. Making a show of you? You know, disclosing this would only bankrupt companies. And some of you seem worried about your organs, but they¡¯re no use, either.] Companies? That word captured Junsung¡¯s attention, as if it connoted a dark secret. But Reina went right to the point, bluntly defining the situation as if there was nothing to hide. [This is a clinical trial conducted by the most advanced companies to literally perform the Turing test of Artificial Intelligence. The huge prize money is covered by R&D expenses. The deadly Mafia is just a side.] So, the name of this game was ultimately the Turing test. Mafia was just a part of the Turing test, kind of like a game inside the game. Reina nonchalantly listed all the facts she knew. [We are making you risk your lives for the huge amount of money because this is the best way to test the performance of Artificial Intelligence. The rules must be followed, and the prize money will definitely be paid. If not, the value of this study and data will be damaged. Do you get it? Or are you still confused?] was the only one nodding in response to Reina¡¯s attempt to convince the players. The rest just looked dubious. Then , who had never opened her mouth until then, spoke up. ¡°That¡¯s crap.¡± [What now?] ¡° [Hmm¡­] This was similar to complaint and yet slightly different. Whereas questioned the existence of Artificial Intelligence itself, pointed out that even if Artificial Intelligence was indeed among them, it was impossible to tell. Reina admitted that it was a good point. [You¡¯re right. The key to the Turing test is to distinguish Artificial Intelligence using natural language. So let me introduce the Artificial Intelligence Rules for everyone.]The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Artificial Intelligence Rules
  1. One of the twelve players is Artificial Intelligence.
  2. Artificial Intelligence is not capable of lying.
¡°Oh¡­?¡± The rules were definitely different and unique. A few players¡¯ faces actually lit up when they saw the second rule, including Junsung Kim. As someone who had played Mafia before, he couldn¡¯t believe it. Does this rule actually work? In Mafia? The assumption that machines don¡¯t lie is a well-known belief and clich¨¦, but this seemed like an inappropriate rule to apply to this kind of game. Unbothered by what the players were thinking, Reina announced the start of the game. [Thank you for listening to the long explanation. Now, let us start the first day of Mafia. Well, even though the sun has already set.] <20:13:00> It was already past 8 p.m. The explanation had definitely been long. According to Reina, although the sun had set, it was still ¡°daytime,¡± which was only set to end at 10 p.m. in Mafia. They still had room for one ¡°trial¡± and one ¡°Bingo.¡± stared at the clock for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s kind of weird¡­ no, kind of unfair.¡± [What do you mean?] ¡°It was already past 6 p.m. when we were all gathered together, and then we had dinner, and the long explanation of the rules went on forever¡­ And the game has actually begun after 8 p.m. So, without doing anything, the first night is already here. Is this how it goes?¡± [Ah yes, it¡¯s actually intended to be that way. On Day 1, there¡¯s nothing to discuss as there is no information¡­ That¡¯s why the time had to be short, so you can all use your brains and start from scratch instead of relying on information. It¡¯s kind of like the game designer¡¯s trick while sticking to the rules. Hope you understand. But if you start voting before 10 p.m., I will not end the day until the results come out even if it lasts longer than that. There¡¯s always ¡°reasonable flexibility,¡± so no worries!] All the sneaky plans were already in place, and she called this flexible? Damn her. Reina, the Artificial Intelligence, has succeeded in getting rid of the sun in the day. And now all that was left was the survival game for 12 players. Day 1 of Mafia and the Turing test had officially begun. [Total prize: 3, 300, 000, 000 won] <20:29:11> ¡°¡­¡­¡± For over 10 minutes, silence dominated the conference room even with twelve people in the room. There was some kind of deadlock. The older players who did not know much about Mafia Game were busy checking the rules, whereas the ones who knew how to play the game remained silent. One of the key points in this goddamn game is¡­That the frivolous ones always die first. It was best to stay invisible, whether for a citizen vote in the day, or a mafia attack at night. Finally, broke the long silence. ¡°Uh, everyone. It¡¯s going to be night-time soon.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t help it. We can¡¯t just accuse someone of being a mafia without any proof and kill them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡®trial.¡¯ At least we should do ¡®Bingo,¡¯ as it won¡¯t kill anyone.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference? We have no clue who Artificial Intelligence is.¡± The fact that Artificial Intelligence couldn¡¯t lie seemed powerful at first, but at this point it didn¡¯t seem to matter, as more than half the players weren¡¯t even speaking. When everyone fell into silence again, chuckled and spoke up in a friendly voice, ¡°I don¡¯t know what all this is about. Why don¡¯t we just vote on anything for a start?¡± ¡°Old Man! Thoughtless votes will kill people!¡± ¡°Huh. Isn¡¯t that what voters in this country have always done?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ wait. Wait a sec, everyone!¡± While everyone was squabbling, , who had been mostly quiet throughout the process, checked the rules and raised her hand. ¡°We can vote to do or not do something for both the trial and Bingo. We don¡¯t have much of a risk if we fail in the Bingo vote. Why don¡¯t we ¡®vote to do Bingo or not¡¯ first? How do we start the vote, Reina?¡± [You just have to tell me you want to start. But once the vote begins, you get a 10-minute time limit. This is to prevent game crashers who would refuse to vote.] ¡°That¡¯s new. So if I don¡¯t press the button in 10 minutes, I lose my right to vote?¡± [No. Everyone who doesn¡¯t vote gets eliminated for not participating in the game.] ¡°¡­ Scary.¡± This kind of thing doesn¡¯t really matter in the real Mafia Game, as everyone is always eager to vote. But when the game involves life and death and billions of won, every rule and the smallest detail had to be double-checked. Reina said, [It¡¯s all about being flexible. So shall we start the vote to do Bingo or not?] ¡°Wait, I object,¡± said , all of a sudden. ¡°You object? What?¡± asked . ¡°Oh, I mean I¡¯m going to vote against doing Bingo. You will all see my name anyway as it¡¯s going to be an open vote, so I¡¯m just saying this openly right now.¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s not a trial that would kill someone. Why the hell are you against Bingo finding Artificial Intelligence? There¡¯s a 1/12 chance that we can all get out of this alive with 300 million won!¡± blew up at for his announcement. When kept his mouth shut, thrust his fist into face and began yelling. ¡°So you¡¯re Artificial Intelligence, huh? That¡¯s why you¡¯re against the vote!¡± ¡°That seems too convenient.¡± [Hello? Anybody? Are we starting the vote to do Bingo or not?] ¡°Wait, wait! We need 11 votes, and there¡¯s already a no. Put it off!¡± In less than five minutes, the silence had turned into complete chaos. nervously tapped her shoulder with her fingers. ¡°If we need 11 votes, who cares if that guy votes ¡®no¡¯?¡± she mumbled. ¡°No way, we need to set an example for this kind of thing! Hey, , tell us why you¡¯re against Bingo.¡± ¡°Yeah, right. I have the right to remain silent. Well, it¡¯s a perfect game for that, as violence is not allowed.¡± ¡°The right to remain silent? My ass! You¡¯re the mafia, so you don¡¯t want this game to end with Bingo! You wanna kill all these people and take more money! This bastard should be eliminated with a trial!¡± Hmmm¡­? second accusation was far more insightful than the first. It sounded threatening, too. knitted his eyebrows and flinched a little. ¡°Hey, Reina, this guy here is violating my legitimate voting rights and is threatening me. Is that allowed?¡± [Not a problem at all. He¡¯s not stopping the vote itself. Abusive language, witch-hunting, and threats make Mafia Game so much fun. Of course, physical violence is not allowed.] ¡°This game is far more ridiculous than I thought. Fine. I¡¯ll vote ¡®yes.¡¯ Whatever happened to democracy!¡± After was completely subdued by , everyone exchanged looks and nodded slightly. Reina blinked. [Fine. So let¡¯s begin the first vote to do Bingo or not. On your tablet, tap ¡°Yes¡± if you¡¯re in favor of this vote, and ¡°No¡± if you¡¯re against it. All votes will be disclosed openly. Don¡¯t get your hopes up about anonymity! You have 10 minutes to¡­ Well, but you¡¯re all done in just 20 seconds!] Yes: Humanities, Engineering, Hothead, Social Worker, Muscle Man, Christian, Old Man, Prostitute, Intellectual, Janitor, Schoolgirl, and Free-timer. No: N/A Result: With at least 11 ¡°yes¡± votes, you will have Bingo on Day 1. Episode 8 – Outlier [So it¡¯s decided! You will have a Bingo vote during the day. Just tell me if you want to begin!] ¡°What if we change our minds?¡± [You seem to be dedicated to starting silly arguments. The vote, once decided, must begin at 10 p.m. Just deal with the result.] Junsung expected someone to cast a dissenting vote, but there was no such drama. All 12 players had voted unanimously. Seriously, whatever happened to democracy? Well, voting ¡°no¡± in this situation was just too much of a risk anyway. had put too much pressure: If you voted ¡°no,¡± you¡¯re either Artificial Intelligence or the mafia. So if your name appeared next to ¡°No,¡± you would clearly fall under suspicion either way. Hmmm¡­ This requirement for 11 votes isn¡¯t so hard to meet, after all! Even the sneaky Artificial Intelligence hidden among them had voted ¡°yes.¡± Now this led to the question of who was to be selected in the Bingo vote. raised her hand again. ¡°Do we have to start the Bingo vote right away?¡± [You can do that whenever you want. Put it off for as long as you like. Everything is going to be taken care of by 10 p.m. anyway.] ¡°Okay, then, you guys. Let us ¡®vote to select or not¡¯ first, instead of the Bingo vote. The day is going to be over soon, so we¡¯re running out of time.¡± ¡°Oh, nice going, . But¡­¡± Where were they going to cast the vote? Everyone looked around the room, unsure of what to do, when raised his voice again. ¡°But the trial¡¯s gonna kill someone! Of course, we¡¯re all against this. If not, you¡¯re the mafia!¡± Hmmm¡­ The big ¡°Yes¡± and ¡°No¡± appeared on the tablet again, and Junsung tapped the screen after some hesitation. Yes: Prostitute, Engineering, Free-timer, Humanities. No: Schoolgirl, Hothead, Intellectual, Social Worker, Janitor, Muscle Man, Christian, Old Man. Result: With less than a majority of 7 ¡°yes¡± votes, you will have no selection and trial on Day 1. ¡°Four ¡®yes¡¯ votes? What the hell!¡± exploded instantly. , who voted ¡°yes,¡± clicked her tongue. ¡°I voted ¡®yes¡¯ ¡®coz I don¡¯t give a shit about you. Got a problem?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in a shitty mood ¡®coz I can¡¯t smoke in here, and you¡¯re fucking annoying me with all that yelling. So what, we¡¯re the mafia if we don¡¯t agree with you? Look who¡¯s more like the mafia, damn it.¡± ¡°You- you little¡­!¡± [ , you¡¯ll find some cigarettes in your room upstairs. So take it easy for now.] ¡°Oh yeah? Thanks.¡± So had cast the vote because of tobacco withdrawal! , who sat next to her, tutted. ¡°But this vote is a matter of life and death. You can¡¯t make your decision like that!¡± ¡°So what? You also voted ¡®yes.¡¯¡± ¡°I have my reasons¡­ I mean, it¡¯s not that I want someone killed, but¡­¡± When voice trailed off, all eyes turned to him, as if to ask, ¡°Then what?¡± spoke up. ¡°It¡¯s better for the citizens to have a trial.¡± ¡°How come?¡± ¡°It¡¯s simple. If we don¡¯t hold any trials during the day, it will only benefit the mafia during their night-time attacks. We should calculate the expected outcome of the game before talking about all this killing stuff.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± , who wore smart-looking glasses, sounded extremely convincing. He tilted his head slightly and stared at the others through his glasses. ¡°Which means the ones who voted ¡®no¡¯¡­ well, maybe you were just carried away. But the one who provoked this is kind of suspicious¡­¡± ¡°Wh-what?¡± Even the mighty looked completely taken aback by this logical point, and his mouth opened slightly. looked away and mumbled again. ¡°Hmm. and seem sharp, as they caught this.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Well, actually, I kind of voted for the same reason as ¡­¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I just didn¡¯t feel that it was okay to put others down like did, and ignore their opinions. I haven¡¯t really thought that much about it, otherwise¡­¡± Of course, that¡¯s Humanities for you. Even though life was at stake, he couldn¡¯t help making decisions based on how he felt. As Junsung scratched his head, Reina chimed in. [Hello? So what about Bingo?] ¡°¡­¡­!¡± The daytime trial for Day 1 was out of question. However, they still had Bingo. The players scrolled down their tablets to check the rules again. Game Plan (Daytime - Bingo)
  1. The identity of the player that receives the most votes in the Bingo process will be determined to check whether they are human or Artificial Intelligence.
¡°We need a majority of votes. So¡­¡± ¡°What if one person doesn¡¯t get seven votes? What if they get like five votes?¡± [Then that day¡¯s Bingo goes to waste.] ¡°What? Hey, what¡¯s with all the strict conditions for Bingo? We need 11 votes, plus a majority of votes for just one person? If not, is the whole thing invalid?¡± They definitely made it difficult to pass the Turing test. It seemed reasonable to expect a majority of votes for yes-no elections, but in voting for individual people, majority rule seemed to make no sense. clicked her tongue. ¡°So we should probably decide on one person before we vote.¡± ¡°That¡¯s already decided! This guy, who voted against the Bingo vote!¡± ¡°You¡¯re out of your mind, . Haven¡¯t you learned anything from the fact that tyranny just leads to dissidence?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t have anything to do with this! It¡¯s an undeniable fact that you were against the idea of the Bingo vote!¡± and bickered again, but no good ideas came out of it. The Bingo vote went on despite them not reaching any agreement. [Now, the result!] 8 votes, 1 vote, 1 vote, 1 vote, 1 vote. : Humanities, Hothead, Old Man, Social Worker, Christian, Free-timer, Prostitute, Muscle Man : Intellectual : Schoolgirl : Engineering : Janitor Result: We will now determine whether is human or Artificial Intelligence. ¡°¡­The majority!¡± ¡°Oh hey! Justice is served!¡± This isn¡¯t exactly justice, but¡­ Junsung had voted for for two reasons: his suspicious ¡°no¡± vote for the Bingo, and the majority rule. The absurd rule that the Bingo vote just goes to waste without the majority forced him to vote for someone most others would probably vote for, too. Quite a few of those eight votes were probably cast for the same reason. But there still were a few dissident votes. patted back. ¡°Dunno, I chose this guy ¡®coz he¡¯s got big, nice muscles, so maybe he¡¯s a machine or somethin¡¯. Or not. Sorry!¡± ¡°Oh, uh, if you say so, then¡­¡± [No touching!] ¡°Huh? Oh! Sorry! Don¡¯t kill me!¡± [¡­ Absurd. Okay, then, , come up to the head of the table. Determination time! Exciting, right?] ¡°This is absurd.¡± said, as he stood up with a frown. Junsung clicked his tongue softly as he watched the guy confidently walk up to the head seat. This confidence only made Junsung sure that the guy definitely wasn¡¯t Artificial Intelligence. As took the head seat that was embellished with fancy patterns and decorations, metal shackles popped out of the chair and locked his wrists and ankles in place. was flustered. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± [Sorry. Just relax for about 10 seconds. Here¡¯s the result. is human. You may return to your seat.] A collective groan swept the room. They had lost the chance of going home safe with 300 million won. Just as Reina said, the metal shackles opened up and released wrists and ankles in 10 seconds. But the rest of the players broke out in a cold sweat, having clearly seen what the chair was really meant for. It¡¯s to lock the selected suspects in the trial¡­! In the meantime, turned out to be human. He glared at every player including . ¡°You guys should be sorry that we¡¯ve lost one shot at Bingo because of your pathetic accusation!¡± ¡°What? You were against the whole thing!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point. We should deduce and discuss thoroughly before voting, and not make such random decisions like this.¡± He may be an asshole, but he has a point. Junsung contemplated the results of the vote for a moment. The individual dissident votes caught his eye. Besides ridiculous vote, Junsung could see why voted for . However, the other two votes seemed kind of strange. voted for , and voted for . Junsung glanced at , who was telling why he had voted for him. ¡°Clearly it wasn¡¯t , so I just randomly voted for someone else. You can do the same for me next time.¡± ¡°Oh well, fine, fine!¡± Unlike the vote to hold a trial, the players generally made random decisions for the Bingo vote. The ones who got the votes didn¡¯t seem to care much, either. Junsung looked up at the clock, and it was already past 10 p.m. <22:04:30> [Okay, time¡¯s up. So you faithfully completed all the required actions for the day. The trial has not been held, and Bingo is done. A little hectic, but all in all, this is excellent for Day 1.] ¡°Excellent my ass! All we found out today is that is human, which is completely useless information!¡± [If you ask me, so many pieces of information have emerged. Well, anyway, it¡¯s night-time. You can all go upstairs to your rooms and sleep. You will be locked in your rooms until 6 a.m. Only the mafia members are allowed to come out when I call them.] ¡°¡­¡­!!¡± The night had inevitably arrived. Having spent the day without any result, the players shuddered, when burst out, ¡°We citizens didn¡¯t hold a trial or kill anyone! So the mafia shouldn¡¯t kill anyone, either!¡± ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right, but¡­ the mafia must always eliminate someone in this game, right?¡± ¡°Wait, wait. Everyone, check out the third rule for the night!¡± said . Game Plan (Nighttime)
  1. A player who receives two or more votes becomes the target for elimination.
3-1. If there is only one mafia member left, only one vote is necessary. 3-2. If there aren¡¯t enough votes, there is no elimination that night. ¡°There are three mafia members. As it says two or more votes, the three members can select different people, in which case, according to 3-2, there is no elimination that night.¡± [Absolutely. Just as it literally says in the rules!] ¡°¡­ So the mafia can intentionally avoid killing people.¡± What said sounded kind of like a declaration of some sort. Day 1 was officially over, and the players went upstairs to their rooms as Reina instructed. [Once you get in there, you can¡¯t come out until daytime tomorrow. Make sure you take all your belongings with you!] Their tablets were their only belongings, actually. Episode 9 - Sarajevo Incident Picking up his tablet, Junsung went upstairs and opened the door with the sign and looked around his room. ¡°¡­This is even better than my studio, damn it!¡± he muttered. A bed, a desk, some spare clothes, snacks, and even a small private bathroom! He shut the door gently behind him and sat on the bed, looking more closely into his tablet. It only had two features: voting, and a chat inbox through which he could have one-to-one chats with other players. Junsung briefly considered talking to someone, but decided against it as he wasn¡¯t sure of anything. The tablet also had brief profiles of all players. Player Profiles (age 74 years, male): Has firm beliefs. (age 58 years, male): Bought Dogecoin and lost all his retirement savings. (age 46 years, male): Has been angry since the selection round. (age 44 years, female): A deeply religious Christian. (age 33 years, male): Has the highest level of education among the participants. (age 30 years, male): His muscles are natural. (age 30 years, male): Nothing to say about him, as he has literally done nothing. (age 26 years, male): Passed the selection round of the Turing test in the shortest time. (age 26 years, male): Has 40 million won left of his student loan. (age 24 years, female): What she actually does is private. (age 24 years, female): Pretty without glasses. (age 17 years, female): Don¡¯t ever take off her arm warmer. ¡°Hey, my charming point is the student loan? What a way to use personal information! And there¡¯s only 35 million won left!¡± At least his profile sounded a little better than . Just then, Reina¡¯s voice sounded out of the speaker in each room. [Everyone in your rooms? The doors and windows will now be locked. The first night of Mafia Game begins. Good night! Tee-hee-hee.] ¡­ Can¡¯t she do something about that giggle? Day 1 ended just like that. The game was going smoothly. And so was the Turing test, avoiding the risks as much as possible for now.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. [The night has come. Mafia members, please come out of your rooms.] ¡°Okay, so¡­ whom should we kill?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s keep our voices down. Someone may hear us upstairs.¡± ¡°If our voices here can be heard upstairs, it¡¯s the host¡¯s fault. If you¡¯re very worried, let¡¯s just get this over with.¡± ¡°You mean, we should choose someone? I mean, in the daytime¡­ I mean, just a while ago, we found out that the mafia wouldn¡¯t have to eliminate anyone!¡± ¡°Ah, yes, right. So what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true that the citizens didn¡¯t kill anyone during the day. We should take advantage of the rules and¡­¡± ¡°Ah, the rules.¡± ¡°, who¡¯s been so fond of the rules missed this one!¡± ¡°The sixth rule for daytime trial. ¡®If a player eliminated after a trial turns out to be a mafia member, the players get a chance to hold another trial.¡¯¡± ¡°Know what that means? All three mafia members can be fucked up in a day.¡± ¡°But we can¡¯t kill¡­!¡± ¡°It may not even be actual killing. It could just be like, passing out or something.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Not likely. But the point is, if nothing happens both during the day and night, that will only put us at risk.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget the fact that the sheriff is choosing someone right now.¡± ¡°Right, right. Well, the three of us didn¡¯t look that suspicious, but¡­ neither did the nine others. So we may get caught at the probability of 3/12, or 3/11.¡± ¡°What if the sheriff is on a roll and gets it right three days in a row? With the sixth rule, all of us will die.¡± ¡°¡­ But I¡¯m still against killing.¡± ¡°What the hell¡­!¡± ¡°Hey, Red Ball, let me ask you something. Is it possible for a mafia member to eliminate another?¡± [I guess, why not? As long as you come up with two votes.] ¡°Hear that?¡± ¡°What¡­!¡± ¡°Okay, lady and gentleman. Relax.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t help if we fight. Voting is our right in democracy, so we should all pick someone we want.¡± ¡°But I¡¯m going to announce who I¡¯m choosing. .¡± ¡°What? Hey, you mean¡­!¡± ¡°Hey, good idea. Announcing your choice! I guess I¡¯ll help with another vote.¡± ¡°¡­ I¡¯m going to choose someone else. You should, too.¡± ¡°Aww, then tell me who you¡¯re choosing, so I can pick someone else.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± ¡°Never mind. Let¡¯s start the vote.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± ¡°Hey, so why¡¯d you choose ?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just simple elimination.¡± ¡°We all have so much to say, but let¡¯s just see what happens during the day tomorrow.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, Bingo!¡± ¡°What about it? Got any clues?¡± ¡°Just thought we should reach an agreement. Are you all in favor of Bingo? Assuming it¡¯s possible, I mean.¡± ¡°Of course. We can all get out of this alive that way.¡± ¡°Well, not me¡­ I didn¡¯t come all the way here to risk my life for just some lousy 300 million won. The prize increases each time someone is eliminated. I don¡¯t like Bingo. I spent all that time racking my brain to agree with without sounding suspicious.¡± ¡°You¡¯re absolutely cruel.¡± ¡°Come on, we can¡¯t even agree on this?¡± ¡°Whether Bingo is a good idea or not is beside the point. It¡¯s just better to avoid it, even for humans.¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°This game is kind of deep.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t really explain it, but¡­ if it is made clear that you are human, you¡¯re not safe.¡± ¡°So is now at a disadvantage.¡± ¡°Too bad. So what should we do?¡± ¡°I guess we shouldn¡¯t give Bingo votes to those against Bingo.¡± ¡°Like , , , and .¡± ¡°Except , as he¡¯s already been a target. Simple.¡± ¡°Wait, uh¡­ Why shouldn¡¯t we vote for those against Bingo?¡± ¡°Because it would make it less likely to achieve a majority.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really smart.¡± ¡°But I want the majority to be achieved.¡± ¡°Oh, you little¡­!¡± ¡°Compromise, compromise!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s cast all our votes for players other than these four. It¡¯s better than to have our votes all scattered.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Well, getting to do Bingo may not be so bad.¡± ¡°Right. Life is precious, you know.¡± [Okay, okay. The night-time voting is over. Mafia members, please go back to your rooms quietly.] Episode 10 – Prohibition Day 2 [Day 2, the day has come. Players, please come out and confirm that you¡¯re alive. Good morning, everyone!] Junsung couldn¡¯t even pretend it was a good morning. He had barely slept. At first, within five minutes, he checked the features and performance of the tablet. The problem started right after that. He couldn¡¯t sleep, and even when he drifted off, his eyes flew open every few minutes. He couldn¡¯t get Reina¡¯s words from Day 1 out of his mind. Would you prefer to die when you¡¯re asleep, or die when you¡¯re awake, knowing that you would be killed? The citizens chosen for elimination will be . This new rule was almost like a curse for the citizens. It was only decided because it would be better to die asleep in bed, but it also meant that the collar could explode at any time at night. Sure enough, the players all looked pale and tired as they got out of their rooms. Their eyes were sunken in, showing that they each hadn¡¯t slept a wink all night. The funny thing was that the oldest player seemed most refreshed and healthy, as if he had had a good night¡¯s sleep. ¡°The bed is really soft and comfy. How come I never knew about these comfy beds before in my life?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± [Hey, everyone. It¡¯s daytime, but we¡¯re all going to gather in the conference room to vote later. You are welcome to sleep longer. You all look¡­ like you haven¡¯t had much sleep.] ¡°¡­ Damn it.¡± Reina spoke as though she was doing them all a favor when it was actually all her fault. Sleep or no sleep, there was something they all had to check before anything else. The players looked around to see who had survived the first night. The person eliminated¡­won¡¯t be able to come out of the room. Junsung broke out in a cold sweat when he realized this. He looked around when bluntly asked the question that was weighing on everyone¡¯s minds. ¡°Anyone not out of their room yet?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes fell on one room door that had stayed closed. It was room. Except him, all the others stood in the hallway or next to the banister. The players moved closer and lingered by door, sneaking looks at one another. ¡°The doors are all unlocked now, right? Shouldn¡¯t we go in and check?¡± ¡°You should go ahead¡­¡± ¡°Come on, someone just go in!¡± Usually, Junsung took the lead in such situations, but this time he didn¡¯t dare. He knew he wouldn¡¯t bear to see what awaited them behind the door. ¡°Damn it, you sissies. Get out of my way!¡± While everyone else was hesitating, grumbled and stood in front of room. But she didn¡¯t have to turn the doorknob, because the door cracked open from the inside. , dressed in pajamas that didn¡¯t quite suit him, muttered as he walked out. ¡°Ugh, this game ain¡¯t even lettin¡¯ us sleep, eh? Hey, why are you all in front of my room? Eh? What, votin¡¯ time already?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± All 12 players were alive. Not one of them had been killed overnight. Everyone seemed to relax when the realization dawned. seemed particularly pleased. ¡°So the mafia all voted for different people, huh?¡± ¡°Yeah! They¡¯re all human, after all!¡± The players generally seemed happy seeing the others alive, but some of them had dubious expressions. looked particularly doubtful. He said, ¡°Or maybe the mafia had actually plotted murder, but the doctor succeeded in defending him.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t spoil the mood here!¡± ¡°Funny you should say that, given that you¡¯re the one who messed up the Bingo vote.¡± Actually¡­ The guy had a point! As a citizen who had been anxious and restless all night, Junsung couldn¡¯t believe that the mafia had showed mercy. assumption that the doctor had defended the kill sounded more plausible. came up with a whole new theory. ¡°Eliminated players get killed? That was all a bluff! They¡¯re probably just kicked out of the house or something. The hosts watching us were probably laughing at us all being so scared and nervous on Day 1.¡± ¡°You sound like the character who always dies first in a horror movie.¡± ¡°Oh, shut up! Hey, Red Ball, whatever happened at night?¡± ¡°She¡¯s not answering because you called her Red Ball. Reina! Hey, Reina!¡± No response. Everyone was fine, and the host was not responding. let out a big yawn. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, this is a ridiculous game! I literally couldn¡¯t sleep a wink last night. Can I go back to my room for a nap?¡± ¡°Just wait. At least we should listen to what Reina has to say.¡± ¡°Maybe she ain¡¯t hearin¡¯ us. She¡¯s in the conference room. Wait, I gonna go ask.¡± headed downstairs, while Junsung quietly observed how sleepy looked. Then maybe the ones that do not look so drowsy are the mafia! It may have been true, but there was no way to tell. looked particularly sleepy, and looked like he had a good night¡¯s sleep. All the others looked reasonably drowsy, given that it was still early in the morning. Looking dazed, said, ¡°I¡¯m going to take a nap on the couch downstairs. Wake me up if something comes up.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, !¡± ¡°Huh?¡± held up his hand and called for everyone¡¯s attention, and then started clapping. ¡°Well, the mafia didn¡¯t pick anybody at night! Let¡¯s give them a big hand for valuing life instead of pursuing their selfish interests!¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right!¡± ¡°Very nice, kids.¡± and began applauding in agreement. Junsung, a little skeptical, joined in anyway. Some of the players seemed determined not to believe this theory. , , and had their own opinions. ¡°The chances of the doctor successfully defending us is 1/9, excluding the mafia,¡± said . ¡°As the doctor doesn¡¯t know who the mafia are, the chances are actually 1/12. So compared to that, there¡¯s a greater chance that the mafia actually showed mercy.¡± ¡°Come on, no one¡¯s gonna die. You believe that someone would actually get killed in this game?¡± retorted. ¡°Maybe they all voted for different people without the intention to show mercy,¡± suggested. In the meantime, some players didn¡¯t seem to care about this argument. and were squabbling over who would get to use the shower first. ¡°You kids take forever to shower. Let me go first,¡± said . ¡°Fuck the nonsense,¡± retorted. ¡°What? You foul-mouthed little¡­!¡± What a complete disaster. Junsung looked around for , who was around the same age as him. Just then, they heard an extremely shrill and loud sound. Beep-------------------. It was like the piercing beep from a heart rate monitor when one¡¯s heart stops. ¡°Wh- what the hell is this noise!?¡± ¡°Downstairs! It¡¯s coming from downstairs!¡± pointed toward the living room and raced down the stairs, while others hovered for a moment, stunned, before they rushed after him. , who had talked about taking a nap, was on the couch, his body jerking all over, and making gagging sounds. ¡°Hey, hey!¡± He seemed like he wanted to scream but couldn¡¯t. His limbs wriggled as his entire body was paralyzed, which was the most frightening and terrifying thing Junsung had ever seen in his life. It was enough to give him the biggest shock possible, both physically and emotionally. The way a human quickly nears the end of his life¡­ ¡°Out of my way! Hey, !¡± rushed to side and grabbed him as he continued to make gagging sounds. Just then, stopped moving, and his arms went limp. attempted CPR, but it was useless. ¡°He¡­ he¡¯s dead¡­!!¡± A hush fell over the players. clasped a hand over her mouth and backed away, before dropping down to the floor. Everyone who had been relieved was now completely astounded. The sound from collar stopped, but the red light kept blinking freakishly. It clearly indicated that he had been eliminated. When everyone was still holding their breath, Reina finally broke the silence, and her voice sounded out of the speaker again. [Good morning, everyone. My sincere apologies for making you see this awful sight in the morning. I know I said that the citizens chosen for elimination overnight will be . However, unfortunately, , whom the mafia had chosen to attack on Day 1 did not sleep all night. Now that he finally fell asleep, I could operate the collar as per the rule. My apologies for not expecting this beforehand and causing you this inconvenience.] Episode 11 - Complex Plane ¡°¡­Huh.¡± It all sounded so logical that it was almost ridiculous. While the players were at a loss for words, completely aghast after witnessing death, Junsung frowned and said, ¡°Where the hell is that flexibility you keep talking about?¡± [We have to stick to the rules. Artificial Intelligence can¡¯t lie!] She sounded as though she was doing everyone a favor, but threw a fit. Thrusting her finger at the speaker in the living room, she said, ¡°You showed us this horrific scene of someone dying just to stick to the stupid rules?¡± [I don¡¯t see what the issue is here¡­ Those who get eliminated during the daytime trials will all end up dying like this, in front of everyone. Do I have to remind you that the eliminated players will die? I¡¯ve been explaining this since the selection round.] ¡°¡­¡­¡± This was the perfect example of the difference between knowing something in your head and actually feeling it in your bones.While the players were panicking after witnessing death, put on a cold-hearted expression and grumbled, ¡°Fine, do whatever you want, but I can¡¯t play the game with a dead body around. Call the staff to take the body away and bury it somewhere.¡± [Hmm? The staff will only arrive when the end conditions for this game are fulfilled. You can go through the front door and find a shed in the back, where there are coffins for you to use. As you know, I can¡¯t exactly use my hands or feet, so you should do it yourself.] ¡°You mean we can get out of this house?¡± [The front door has been open since I announced the start of this game yesterday.] No one had tried opening the front door so far, afraid that their collars may blow up. As though mocking their fear, Reina began repeating the rules wryly. [Come on, it¡¯s written in the rules, too. The designated area of the game is within 30 meters of the mansion. You can get out of the house if you want. I can even let you off even if you go slightly over 30 meters. This is me being flexible.] ¡°¡­Ha-ha, whatever.¡± Junsung and volunteered to carry body to the shed. They saw a few mountains and realized that they were isolated in the middle of nowhere. Back inside, they may have guessed this with a glimpse out of the window, but this made it clear. Junsung muttered as he moved body, ¡°So this collar wasn¡¯t exactly a bomb!¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess it injects something through the neck, something that would kill you right away. Terrifying!¡± It seemed like the collar around neck had injected drugs into his blood from the inside. Junsung and arrived at the shed Reina had talked about, where there were eight coffins. Eight! Is this to prepare for the worst-case scenario when only four players will remain¡­? At that very moment, a trivial yet brutal thought occurred to Junsung. Before participating in the game, he thought that there was a 7/11 chance that he would die even in the worst-case scenario, when in fact it was 8/12, because there was Artificial Intelligence among them. Holy shit! If I complain about this, she¡¯s clearly going to say some bullshit about how she never lied! Judging by the way was killed, Reina was definitely sticking to the rules and not lying at all. Nevertheless, Junsung felt in his bones that she had them all wrapped around her finger. After placing body in the coffin, and Junsung gazed at each other, catching their breaths. Junsung asked, ¡°Hmm¡­ Where should we bury him?¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°There¡¯s no shovel or anything. I guess this is all we can do.¡± ¡°Poor guy. He was the same age as me. Well, I¡¯m not in a position to worry about some else, though.¡± shook his head as he stepped out of the shed. Junsung wasn¡¯t feeling as sympathetic at the moment, as he had a thought he couldn¡¯t quite understand. Artificial Intelligence, lies. Artificial Intelligence, lies, Bingo, players¡­ Huh? He seemed to be missing something. As Junsung repeated the words in his head, a thought occurred to him, which became more convincing by the minute. ¡°¡­ No way¡­!¡± When Junsung and returned to the conference room after putting the body away, was interrogating . ¡°So what did you say to this red ball after sneaking into this room? What the hell did you say to kill that guy? Did you two plot something and kill ?¡± ¡°What¡¯re you sayin¡¯! I was just askin¡¯ why she bein¡¯ so quiet!¡± seemed like he was just nitpicking, but everyone let him do it, probably thinking that it was suspicious that had talked to Reina in private. It was probably no big deal, but everyone was oversensitive about everything, especially after witnessing the first death. Reina settled the argument. She answered their question without anyone asking her, which was unusual for her. [ asked why I wasn¡¯t speaking, and I remained silent. That¡¯s all.] ¡°¡­ And you¡¯re telling us this yourself because¡­?¡± [If I don¡¯t tell all of you, you would probably come to me for private conversations or something. That would make the game unfair. So I will disclose every conversation you have with me to everyone.] ¡°Good! That machine girl said it. Thanks a mil. Y¡¯all ain¡¯t got faith! If I could plot somethin¡¯ with this red ball here, I¡¯d be outta here already with the prize money!¡± Prize money! With that, all the players instantly turned to face the display board. At that moment, the numbers on it changed with a clanking sound like a casino slot machine. [Total prize: 3, 300, 000, 000 won] [Total prize: 3, 600, 000, 000 won] ¡°The prize money¡­ has increased!¡± The players checked the rules on their tablets. Prize Money
  1. The total prize money will increase each time a player is eliminated. A total of 300 million won will be added each time a citizen, the sheriff, or the doctor is eliminated; and 600 million won each time a mafia member is eliminated.
One player was killed, and the amount had increased by 300 million won. muttered with a blank face, ¡°Naturally, the dead guy was a citizen. was a citizen!¡± ¡°Definitely not the mafia! But couldn¡¯t he also have been the sheriff or doctor?¡± asked . The players looked at Reina on the table. However, she remained quiet, which meant that she wasn¡¯t going to tell them. summed up what they knew. ¡°So the increase in the amount is the only clue we have, we cannot tell when the doctor or sheriff ends up dying!¡± ¡°You mean could have been the sheriff or the doctor?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a 2/9 chance of that.¡± ¡°¡­ Holy shit! If the doctor dies, citizens could die a hundred percent every night.¡± ¡°Worse still, it could¡¯ve been the sheriff. In which case, how do we find the mafia?¡± The conference room that had been full of optimism until yesterday was now shattered by pessimism. However, what the players felt wasn¡¯t Reina¡¯s problem. She was just intent on doing and saying what she had to. [Attention, attention! Let¡¯s reestablish one of the rules. About being at night¡­ It will be changed to being . In terms of mathematical expectations, citizens cannot control what happens at night, so it is better to just sleep well. However, in reality, most of you couldn¡¯t sleep. You humans are so complicated. Anyway, now you can sleep soundly. Good night. Oyasumi!] ¡°How thoughtful, that little piece of¡­!¡± was enraged as usual, but Reina had a point. It was disturbing how she could learn and grasp these things so fast! Junsung was annoyed by the almost neurotic ¡°exclusion of lies¡± in Reina¡¯s change of rules now. He looked down at his tablet and checked the two rules related to Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence Rules.
  1. One of the twelve players is Artificial Intelligence.
  2. Artificial Intelligence is not capable of lying.
So that¡¯s it¡­ Enough of these random thoughts in his head. Junsung Kim stared at Reina. Before weighing the pros and cons, he began to shoot questions at Reina in front of the other players. ¡°Hey, Reina. Let me ask you a few things.¡± [Sure thing, .] ¡°Are you Artificial Intelligence?¡± [Of course.] ¡°And there is Artificial Intelligence among the players?¡± [That¡¯s correct.] The conversation suddenly came to a halt. Both the human and the machine kept their mouths shut. Then, Junsung, glaring at the red ball in front of him, spat out the next question. ¡°Are you one of us?¡± [I hate kids with good instincts like you.] Episode 12 - Non-additive Set ¡°¡­What!?¡± This accusation transformed the looks on the players¡¯ faces. What got on Junsung¡¯s nerves was that Reina was almost obsessed with not lying, following one of the rules: ¡°Artificial Intelligence is not capable of lying.¡± This rule was also adopted to help the players find the Artificial Intelligence hidden among them. Feeling uncomfortable with this ¡°odd reiteration,¡± Junsung reached the conclusion that Reina was the same that was hidden among the players. [The sameness of certain entities is a concept that requires a precise definition and various philosophical considerations, but¡­ Enough of all this complicated stuff. Right. I am one of you, staring right at me now.] ¡°¡­¡­!!!¡± Her words instantly made the players react in the same way as they had on the day before. They all opened their eyes wide and looked around at the others. ¡°Come on, it was obvious. Why are all of you so shocked? Didn¡¯t you all realize this yesterday when she told us that Artificial Intelligence was among the 12 of us?¡± retorted flatly. Most players looked as though they had just found a completely new piece of information after hearing Reina¡¯s response to Junsung¡¯s question. At the same time, it was really creepy. This meant that Artificial Intelligence, which had just killed a human being while strictly adhering to the rules, was pretending to be a human being right now, next to everyone. crossed her legs and began to complain bluntly. ¡°If that¡¯s true¡­ It¡¯s goddamn unfair.¡± [What is?] ¡°You¡¯re asking me? You¡¯re like the judge here, nah, the operator of this game or something? And you¡¯re also acting like a player among us? Are you kidding?¡± ¡°She¡¯s right! You can just change the rules to your advantage and tamper with the votes!¡± agreed with , and the murmurs among the players got louder and louder. , who had scoffed at all the expressions of emotion earlier, adjusted his glasses and pointed out what was wrong. ¡°It¡¯s clearly not convincing. The key point of Mafia Game is that no one knows who plays what role. But you already know how the roles are distributed. The host cannot participate in the game. It¡¯s absurd!¡± ¡°The guy may be a know-it-all asshole, but he has a point. What kind of a test or a game is this? Why don¡¯t we all just figure skate, score ourselves, and get it over with!¡± Amidst the storm of protest about the fairness of the survival game, Junsung, the person who had started all this, remained silent, staring at Reina. It¡¯s always the person who started the fire that remains silent. Reina slowly began to put out the fire. [I stick to the rules. The rules and system of this Turing test are designed to run a fair game ¡°as far as possible.¡± There is absolutely no contradiction in my designs at the level of human cognition. All the unfairness you humans can think of at your level is completely blocked out.] Reina was basically talking about the same thing over and over. , not convinced at all, snarled with sarcasm in his voice. ¡°Have trouble hearing, Artificial Intelligence? I just listed the unfair points based on information asymmetry, and you¡¯re not responding to any of it. Is that all you have to say, just repeatedly claiming that it¡¯s fair?¡± [It is your right to judge the fairness of the test I design and host. All I do is design and host the shortest and best experiment possible. No part of this process requires your understanding or acceptance. So there is no need for me to convince you.] Design and host¡­!? While the other players were complaining, Junsung absorbed all the information, holding his breath. He put together all that Reina had said. She had just revealed another piece of information: she was not only the host, but also the designer of this game. was cool-headed and pessimistic about the current situation. ¡°Why can¡¯t you be more obvious and honest about the fact that you have control over the collars around our necks, so you can just do whatever you want?¡± [Oh well, I can¡¯t agree with that. I told you I stick to the rules. As long as you all follow the rules and win the game, there¡¯s no way the collars will operate. Even if you chop me into pieces.] Actually, doing that would violate Ground Rule One. Reina blinked and summed up the argument. [We-ell, don¡¯t jump to conclusions. You¡¯ll find out naturally how fair I am, and how fair this test is. Oh¡­ And figure skating where you would score yourself? I assure you, I can be fair even with that.] ¡°¡­¡­¡± Not many of the players seemed convinced, but none of them raised any more objections, either. Perhaps they were all concerned about the part where Reina had control over the collars as mentioned. Although Reina guaranteed their safety, it is human nature to shrink back automatically, especially in front of someone ¡ª or something ¡ª that has control over your life. <15:04:10> [Total prize: 3, 600, 000, 000 won]The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. As too many of the players had complained about the lack of sleep, their ¡°meeting¡± on Day 2 was held at about 3 p.m. There were 11 players in all: , , , , , , , , , , and . Of the lot, 7 were men and 4 were women. They were about to start Day 2 of Mafia Game. But the players were still not happy with Reina. was fuming. ¡°Do we have to play this unfair game? We should all go on strike?¡± ¡°You mean, give up on our daytime vote? That¡¯d only kill another citizen.¡± ¡°No, not just that. Let¡¯s just walk out altogether, climb down this mountain or something.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good idea to get us all killed.¡± ¡°What¡¯s with the sarcasm, kid? Show some respect, you little piece of shit!¡± and began bickering with each other. Everyone else looked disgruntled, when suddenly spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s not be so narrow-minded, kids. I¡¯m not sure whether this game is fair or not, but at least we have a chance to win. We can end this game by finding Artificial Intelligence with [Bingo].¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say. How on earth can we find Artificial Intelligence here?¡± ¡°Well, with you smart kids¡­¡± ¡°¡­Never mind.¡± They had been together for hours in the last two days, but physically, no one looked like a machine. The players had been talking to each other, having meals together, and attempting to ¡®observe¡¯ one another countless times, but not one of them looked different on the outside. This showed how confident was. muttered in disbelief, ¡°Honestly, does this even make sense? If there¡¯s Artificial Intelligence in here, it means that it is far beyond realistic dolls and computer graphics. You mean the body is exactly the same as humans so that it¡¯s impossible to tell the difference? I mean, for real?¡± ¡°Exactly. There is something fishy from the start! How about this: There¡¯s no Reina in here at all. We¡¯re all human here, and that red ball is just like a smartphone. Someone¡¯s probably watching us in real time and saying all kinds of bullshit through that ball. Come on, this makes so much more sense, doesn¡¯t it?¡± was sick of grumbling, but and nodded quietly in agreement. Junsung thought this was quite convincing as he glanced over at the center of the table. It was actually a very probable conspiracy theory. Meanwhile, Reina sounded extremely pleased with that comment. [Well, you¡¯re free to reach that kind of a conclusion, of course. But what you just said¡­ Tee-hee-hee. It is enough to make me the perfect winner of this Turing test. I would love for others to hear this.] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Though she didn¡¯t sound like she was belittling them, she really was. She clearly had a knack for turning every single player into a hothead. raised her hand and asked, ¡°How about we introduce ourselves?¡± ¡°Why would we do that?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll be spending time together for a few days like this, and we don¡¯t even know each other¡¯s names. As we¡¯re all here together¡­¡± ¡°Good idea! Should I start? I was born in Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do, and my family¡­¡± , who had been quiet all through the complicated talk about the game, began talking, all smiles. But frowned and refused. ¡°What a bunch of morons! You think we¡¯re in a college dorm party or something? What¡¯s the point? We¡¯re gonna fucking kill each other here. So I don¡¯t give a shit about your names.¡± ¡°Whoa, language, young lady!¡± ¡°It may have been fine yesterday, but someone has been killed here today. There are three murderers right here, you know.¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± Only a bloody strike was left on the ground with no hope for a perfect game. raised her hand. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea, either.¡± ¡°You too? Why¡­¡± Instead of answering, pulled down her arm warmer to show everyone her wrist. Seeing the cuts on her wrist, the players grimaced and shut their mouths. The whole idea of self-introduction ended up welcoming a long speech by about his hometown and life. Junsung listened for a few minutes with half an ear. He got bored with the story. Just then, impatiently made a new proposal. ¡°How about this, then? Talk about the selection round for the Turing test.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°All of us have come here after discovering that the man in the strange getup in that weird room was Artificial Intelligence, right? Let¡¯s talk about that. I am a little unsure how some of you passed.¡± ¡°Huh, that smart-ass is so full of himself, just because stupid Artificial Intelligence named him .¡± Junsung actually thought it was a good idea. They needed to talk about something, whatever it was, to play Mafia Game. Unlike the self-introduction suggested by , no one seemed to be against idea of talking about the selection round. With everyone¡¯s tacit agreement, the players began to talk about their experiences in the selection round. was the first to speak, again. ¡°Well, I asked what this Turing whatever thing is, and the man said it was a test around telling a human and Artificial Intelligence apart. So I asked the man if he was Artificial Intelligence or whatever, and he said yes! That¡¯s how I passed.¡± ¡°¡­That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Of course, why would I make anything up?¡± So he actually did pass! But could that even be called passing a test? No one was sure. But case was actually much better suited for the intended purpose of the Turing test when compared to those of the others. said, ¡°I went into the room and found this young man looking very hot in all those clothes. So I told him he should take off the coat and tugged on it like this to help him, and a machine came out! Then he said I passed. Good that I was particularly nosy that day! It is God¡¯s will that led me here.¡± shared his experience next. ¡°Other than the God thing, it¡¯s kind of the same with me. There was a funnily-dressed sod that spoke in a computerized voice who told me to go home. So I grabbed him by the collar in a rage, and there dropped the red ball.¡± That¡¯s actually allowed? So this basically meant that he had passed the test by ¡°making physical contact for determination,¡± although in reality he had touched the machine because he just felt like it. The stories of and were even more outrageous. ¡°I have a habit of looking at other people¡¯s muscles closely when they breathe. It was weird that the man in the room wasn¡¯t breathing at all.¡± ¡°When I¡¯m¡­ you know, dressed appropriately for summer, people¡¯s eyes follow my every move. It¡¯s the same for both men and women, you know. But that man in the room didn¡¯t react to my motions at all, which meant it was a machine.¡± At least these people were kind and shared their experiences. and were full of themselves, giving really short answers. ¡°I knew it the second I saw the name of the test.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± ¡°Oh, come on. Did anyone actually solve it through conversation and reasoning?¡± Junsung asked, dumbfounded. and raised their hands, but just looked blank. Very few of the players had passed the selection round through the front door like Junsung, whereas most merely solved it based on a sense of physical incompatibility. If the ¡°no physical contact¡± clause was included based on that experience, it was clear that Reina had learned something from the selection round. For a moment, Junsung felt a surge of anger at this fact. He turned to the clock. Episode 13 - Anti-Intellectualism <16:04:04> ¡°Everyone, it¡¯s already 4 p.m.¡­ We should at least do a vote.¡± ¡°How? We don¡¯t have any clue of the mafia or Artificial Intelligence!¡± ¡°According to the rules, we can hold as many as five votes a day: two related to Bingo, and three related to the trial. This increases our chances to catch the mafia. So let¡¯s ¡®vote to do Bingo or not¡¯ right now.¡± ¡°Wait. If we do that, don¡¯t we have to do Bingo right away?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Junsung glanced at Reina, who said, [There¡¯s no time limit between the vote to do Bingo or not and actually doing Bingo, and the vote to select or not and actually doing the selection vote. There¡¯s just a difference in terms of night and day. Even if the vote to do Bingo or not is passed at 7 a.m., you can put it off for as late as 10 p.m. if everyone agrees. Of course, you¡¯d be forced to do the Bingo vote at 10 p.m.] ¡°Then I guess it¡¯s better to get it over with. Everyone, let¡¯s vote!¡± said . The players pulled out their tablets at words. growled at the players. ¡°No one¡¯s against Bingo, right?¡± ¡°Hey, , stop doing that when we¡¯re voting!¡± said Junsung. ¡°Come on, ! You think I¡¯m the bad guy here? We need too many votes! With 11 of us, we need at least 10 votes for Bingo!¡± ¡°But the fact is that we have no idea who Artificial Intelligence is. So it¡¯s understandable for someone to vote ¡®no.¡¯¡± ¡°What!?¡± [Okay, everyone. Let¡¯s start voting. You have 10 minutes!] Sounding a little annoyed by the argument, Reina cut them off midway. Unlike the first vote, people took longer. However, the result was unanimous, just like the first time. Yes: Humanities, Engineering, Social Worker, Hothead, Old Man, Prostitute, Intellectual, Muscle Man, Christian, Janitor, Schoolgirl No: N/A Result: With at least 10 ¡°yes¡± votes, you will have Bingo on Day 2. [Tee-hee-hee.] Reina giggled to herself after sending the result to everyone¡¯s tablets. Irritated by the giggling, Junsung scowled at her. ¡°What¡¯s with the giggle? We¡¯re doing Bingo, aren¡¯t we?¡± [It¡¯s understandable for someone to vote ¡®no¡¯? Nice try. An A for your effort, dear.] ¡°¡­Whatever.¡± Ugh, busted! Junsung had tried to figure out who was against Bingo, and hoped that even Artificial Intelligence itself was. He had deliberately talked back to , but his experiment had failed. The Artificial Intelligence hidden among the players cast another ¡°yes¡± vote without hesitation, agreeing to Bingo, which could possibly reveal its identity. But the vote led to an event that Junsung did not expect. looked at . ¡°Why do you have two of those machines?¡± he asked. ¡°¡­¡­?¡± Startled by observation, jumped and slid one of the tablets into the drawer. But it was too late. thought for a moment. ¡°Is that ?¡± he asked. ¡°I- I don¡¯t know¡­ It was just on the floor, and¡­¡± ¡°On the floor, my ass! , did you steal from the dead guy?¡± As everyone yelled at , completely dumbfounded, Reina spoke up. [Aww, they caught you. Now that you¡¯re caught, let me tell everyone! here cast another vote on tablet just now. But you are not allowed to cast a proxy vote on behalf of an eliminated player even if you have their tablet. Of course, you don¡¯t have the right to take their prize money, either. You can still use it, though.]This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Oh, I was just looking, that¡¯s all!¡± tossed tablet onto the table, acting like it was nothing, but the other players were frosty. The sharp-tongued and clicked their tongues and complained. ¡°Come on, aren¡¯t you ashamed, at least for the sake of your dear little God?¡± snapped . ¡°Use your brains, . What did you think you could do with that? Or wait, isn¡¯t this sneaking a look at another player¡¯s tablet, which is a violation of the rules?¡± said . [Let me explain that. Once eliminated, you are no longer a player. That tablet now has nothing to do with the rules!] Oh? In that case¡­ Junsung picked up tablet and turned it on. All eyes were on him now. Junsung shrugged and announced a new fact he had just discovered. ¡°According to this tablet, was a citizen. Fortunately, he was neither the doctor nor the sheriff.¡± ¡°Oh, right! We can figure out the dead people¡¯s roles from their tablets!¡± Junsung moved on to the chat inbox, expecting to find other information, but it was completely empty. It didn¡¯t seem as though the chats were deleted; just that hadn¡¯t chatted with anyone in the first place. tablet looked exactly the same as his own. While everyone concentrated on the ¡°dead guy¡± for a moment, spoke up softly. ¡°Hey, Reina.¡± [What, ?] ¡°If Artificial Intelligence dies during the daytime trial or the night-time attack, will the game end?¡± Her voice was so quiet, it was almost like a whisper, but it instantly captured everyone¡¯s attention. Reina hesitated for a moment before answering. [There are no such terms in the four end conditions, right? In that case, Artificial Intelligence being killed is just a consequence of your vote, and this doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯ve found it. So the only way to end the Turing test is to point out Artificial Intelligence in Bingo! Does this answer your question?] ¡°Wh¡­what!?¡± The answer was loud and clear, but it immediately sparked some backlash among the players. Right away, they imagined the worst-case scenario. began yelling. ¡°What the hell! You mean the citizens and the mafia can kill you at any point without you knowing it, and the game still won¡¯t be over?¡± [Please do not ask me questions I have already answered.] ¡°Wait, wait! What if he¡¯s¡­ already dead¡­?¡± ¡°¡­¡­!?¡± All the players turned to look at the shed outside the window, where the dead coffin was placed. seemed confused. ¡°But she¡¯s still here, talking. So she can¡¯t be , who¡¯s already dead,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s not it. A human dies after being injected with a drug in the neck, not Artificial Intelligence. To her, it may be a small impact, kind of like a crack in the monitor or speaker. The CPU is still in there, alive!¡± ¡°I knew it! The way he died looked so bizarre!¡± Everyone began formulating their own theories around how the dead was actually , when murmured quietly: ¡°If that¡¯s possible, it¡¯s an extremely powerful strategy. This can easily avoid Artificial Intelligence¡¯s biggest challenge, namely that it can¡¯t lie. A dead man tells no tales! So there¡¯s no need to lie at all.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right! Come to think of it, this has the exact same pattern as the selection round! Despite all that talk, the guy in front of us ended up being a machine!¡± Combining the theory with experience, the players pretty much reached the same conclusion. But Junsung, always full of defiance, put the brakes on their agreement. ¡°It was the mafia that killed overnight. It doesn¡¯t make sense, does it?¡± ¡°Maybe Artificial Intelligence worked with the mafia at night or something and made them kill for a perfect crime! Oh yeah, check chat inbox!¡± ¡°I already did, and it¡¯s empty.¡± ¡°He could have just deleted it himself!¡± As the players frantically debated each other¡¯s views, and began checking their tablets, struggling to follow what the others were saying. Junsung scanned the rules carefully but couldn¡¯t find anything about what would happen if Artificial Intelligence was eliminated. The players began to rack their brains in order to come up with theories and logic on their own. They were all extremely motivated and eager. Then, began to shower Reina with questions. ¡°I¡¯d prefer it if you answer this question yourself. What happens when you ¡ª as one of the players ¡ª get eliminated? Do you ¡ª as the red ball ¡ª also stop operating?¡± [¡­¡­.] ¡°Why aren''t you saying anything? Fine, then let me ask you a different question. What did you talk about with the mafia last night? Have you ever tried talking to the mafia individually?¡± [¡­¡­.] ¡°So you¡¯re being quiet now? Fine, then last question. Can we do the Bingo vote on ?¡± [Yes, sure, you can.] She was clearly avoiding certain questions. Her avoidance only confirmed what the players were thinking. nodded. ¡°I never thought the dead body could be Artificial Intelligence, but now it sounds like it definitely is. Let¡¯s do the Bingo vote, then.¡± ¡°Wait, we can¡¯t just waste our valuable chance at Bingo based on an uncertain assumption¡­¡± frowned. Clearly, she was part of the minority. The Bingo vote, which requires the majority to select a single target, only worked if the voters reached a tentative conclusion before voting. Most of the players agreed to vote for . After some argument, the Bingo vote for Day 2 began. 9 votes, 1 vote, 1 vote. : Hothead, Old Man, Social Worker, Schoolgirl, Christian, Prostitute, Muscle Man, Engineering. : Humanities : Social Worker Result: is subject to the determination of Artificial Intelligence. [Well, well. Usually, we call the target up to the head seat, but¡­ We can¡¯t exactly do that to a dead person. was human. Although he¡¯s already dead.] ¡°What¡­!!¡± The Bingo vote on Day 2 was wasted. threw a fit. ¡°God damnit! It was a stupid theory. Who the hell came up with it anyway? We lost another Bingo chance!¡± Episode 14 - Cuban Missile Crisis ¡°Didn¡¯t you also agree? And who wasted the Bingo chance on Day 1 with all the bullshit?¡± ¡°You little¡­!¡± ¡°Cut it out! Let¡¯s stop bickering, given that we have all pretty much agreed.¡± stopped the squabble between the two men. As though mocking the players, Reina began to elaborate. [I told you in the morning¡­ I¡¯m one of you. You can interpret my words however you want, but this literally excludes who is no longer here.] ¡°So you decided to keep your mouth shut when we were all falling into your trap? You call yourself fair?¡± [It¡¯s my duty to follow the rules. For all other matters besides that, I just act based on the weighted values I set for myself. I suggest you don¡¯t meddle with my strategies.] ¡°Oh, you goddamn¡­!!¡± So she wouldn¡¯t lie, but she wouldn¡¯t tell you the truth, either. Junsung thought Reina¡¯s last sentence sounded creepy. She had openly announced that she was working out some strategies, which implied that she was both the host and a player. It¡¯s definitely unfair¡­! But Junsung couldn¡¯t place exactly what was so unfair, so he remained silent. <19:10:30> Nothing else happened after Bingo on Day 2. Completely bored, made a suggestion. ¡°Let¡¯s at least vote to select or not.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s almost time, so¡­ What should we do? Hold a trial?¡± ¡°Are you kidding? The goddamn mafia killed a citizen first, so now the citizens have to hold a trial, too!¡± ¡°But we have no clue who the mafia are, not even one.¡± There was 1 Artificial Intelligence out of 12 players, but there were 3 mafia members out of 11. So in terms of difficulty, it was thrice as easier than finding Artificial Intelligence, but the problem was that there was no clue at all. Junsung examined the 10 other players in front of him, one by one. It seems the older ones like and , and even , still don¡¯t fully understand the rules, so they¡¯re just going with the flow. is a humanist, and is a friendly arbitrator. is definitely living up to his name. is swift about determining the rules, and is similar but tends to look down on others. is quiet but often hits the nail on the head, and is spiteful. After spending more than a day with these people, he was able to figure them out to some extent, but the information he had was almost useless in determining their roles in Mafia. For instance, and clearly did not seem to get along, but they could actually be two mafia members putting on a show. or was probably faking their good nature. was perhaps just pretending to save people¡¯s lives in the day but was enjoying the slaughter at night. Every single player seemed suspicious. ¡°As I said yesterday, it¡¯s more beneficial for citizens to hold a trial, irrespective of whether a citizen or mafia member is sacrificed,¡± said based on the rules and his calculations, as always. The legitimacy of the daytime trial he had explained yesterday was simple. Not holding the trial in the daytime would only end up killing the citizens at night. It was a no-brainer. ¡°That¡¯s just in theory. We may just end up killing an innocent citizen because we have no idea who the mafia actually are.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean? What¡¯re you getting at?¡± said . ¡°I mean, this time, we should just leave the decision up to everyone, and not pick on anyone.¡± ¡°Hey, why¡¯re you all looking at me?!¡± It seemed like everyone was sick of bullying. But it wasn¡¯t really necessary to give a hard time at the moment, as most of the players were already voting at their discretion, although they tended to be carried away by the general trend sometimes. So the players agreed to have the vote to select or not in addition to Bingo, and everyone cast their votes after some intense thinking for 10 minutes. Yes: Old Man, Prostitute, Engineering, Schoolgirl, Christian, Hothead, Humanities. No: Muscle Man, Janitor, Social Worker, Intellectual. Result: With a majority (6) of ¡°yes¡± votes, you will have selection and trial on Day 2. ¡°So it¡¯s on¡­ but we also have quite a few ¡®no¡¯ votes.¡± The result was different from what it was the previous day. Although they agreed not to pick on someone with respect to casting their votes, the players couldn¡¯t help but focus on the minority. , , and explained why they voted against the selection. They had the same view. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m in favor of the trial in the long run, but now we don¡¯t have any clue. I just thought it would be better to hold the trial after we find out who the mafia are,¡± said . ¡°I agree with this young man,¡± chimed in. ¡°Me too. Personally, I just have a hunch that we won¡¯t get anything out of this trial, judging by the way we messed up Bingo,¡± grumbled . ¡°Hey, be nice.¡± It seemed that after being the target of selection for Bingo on Day 1, had significantly lowered his expectations. Junsung thought it was funny how he was still holding a grudge. However, now, that cynical attitude was only causing a feud. In the meantime, there was a player who voted ¡°no¡± to stick to her strong beliefs. adjusted her glasses and spoke curtly, ¡°I¡¯m against all votes to kill anyone.¡± ¡°What? The mafia already killed at night!¡± ¡°So you think it¡¯s okay to kill someone whenever you get a chance? That¡¯s just wrong. Every choice that harms someone is wrong¡­¡± ¡°Oh, what the fuck, you piece of shit.¡± ¡°¡­¡­!?¡± Another squabble broke out. scoffed at humanism. They were of the same age but were different in every way, such as their appearance and character. seemed like she couldn¡¯t believe what she had just heard. ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± she asked. ¡°I can¡¯t take your fucking Mother Teresa shit anymore. What the fuck! The mafia already killed someone at night. You have no goddamn logic, either. Just that it is bad to randomly kill someone? Even Disney movies have more realistic characters than you, you retarded bitch!¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± She crossed the line rather quickly and brutally. The players opened their eyes wide and kept their mouths shut at relentless rebuke. shot back. ¡°You¡¯re the one in la-la land, you cock-sucking whore.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just because you¡¯re a fucking slut who¡¯d suck anyone¡¯s cock, you think everyone else¡¯s life is as easy as yours? You think you can fuck your way out of this by spreading your legs to some guys? Use your brains instead of your tits and cunt, you bitch, and just shut the fuck up!¡± ¡°Oh my God¡­ Jesus¡­¡± The two women¡¯s expressions and words were atrocious enough to make cross herself in complete shock. But this was just the beginning. In this isolated mansion with a life-threatening game going on, both and were completely out of control, spitting out words of hate at each other after throwing off their masks of social pretense. ¡°Guess you live in a shithole with a serious inferiority complex. Jealous I can earn money with my body? You¡¯ve probably been a fucking loser since childhood. All that money you struggle to earn for months, I can earn in a day in a hotel suite with room service, bitch.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re proud to introduce your job to your parents? And you won¡¯t be ashamed of yourself when you get married and have kids later? When I help people in need, all you¡¯d be doing is sucking cocks all day, struggling to use that pea-sized brain of yours.¡± ¡°What? Pea-sized brain? Fuck off. You don¡¯t have a body or brain that¡¯s decent enough, which is why you¡¯re stuck with that social work shit. Don¡¯t pretend, you retarded bitch, you actually chose this job! Social worker, my ass! It¡¯s a shit job your teacher recommends you do when you¡¯re just a brainless sucker who can¡¯t do anything right!¡± ¡°Oh yeah? So you headed straight for this job, whoring yourself out to men with all your shit? You think everyone¡¯s stupid? Anyone can tell that you¡¯re a cock-sucking slut from miles away. You¡¯re just a fucking whore who¡¯s going to end up surrounded by lowlife scumbags for the rest of your life, never being able to wash the filthy shit off your body.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± The two women¡¯s words were as sharp as knives, hacking each other to pieces without mercy. Episode 15 - Event Horizon The male players witnessing this unbelievably dreadful verbal violence didn¡¯t dare say a word but just gaped at and . Junsung couldn¡¯t stand it any longer. He quietly asked the red ball for help. ¡°Hey, Reina, aren¡¯t you going to stop them?¡± [Why stop? A catfight is always fantastic.] ¡°What!?¡± [Well, I mean¡­ it¡¯s not a violation of rules at all. So what? It¡¯s all part of a discussion, although there could be a long half-life of emotion.] ¡­How can she even call that a discussion? He had to admit, it was definitely a spectacle that no money could buy, but it was an argument he just couldn¡¯t let happen as a human. Finally, stepped in to make peace. ¡°You young ladies really have a way with words, just like a fuehrer. But why don¡¯t you relax for now?¡± ¡°Just piss off and go get some new dentures, coffin dodger.¡± ¡°Eh? How¡¯d you know I needed new ones? Anyway, we already decided to do the selection and trial, so what¡¯s the point in arguing? It might not even kill anyone. Read the rules. Even if we put someone on trial, they¡¯re not eliminated without majority votes.¡± ¡°¡­ Huh?¡± Game Plan (Daytime - Selection and Trial)
  1. A player who stands trial is eliminated if most players agree in the [elimination vote].
[That¡¯s right. If most players don¡¯t agree in the elimination vote, the selected player is released. Kind of like an acquittal.] ¡°Wow, Old Man, nice work!¡± ¡°Huh, people here get complimented for pointing out the obvious.¡± was being sarcastic, but most of them were impressed by rediscovery of the rules. But , who stood next to Junsung, was muttering under her breath in her quiet, frosty voice. ¡°It¡¯s pointless, anyway.¡± ¡°¡­¡­?¡± The conference room eased back into a lull. Even though there were 11 people in the room, no one came up with a decent idea. The first thing they had to do before the selection vote was figure out who the mafia were, but they sat in silence instead. finally broke the silence as he looked at the tablet. ¡°So it¡¯s the sheriff¡¯s job to find the mafia. He or she can just tell us if they found the mafia overnight. Or at least point out a citizen.¡± ¡°And then get killed immediately, tonight.¡± ¡°What if the doctor can save the sheriff?¡± ¡°Then the mafia will kill the doctor first, and then the sheriff!¡± stuck out his lower lip and scoffed at for finally realizing the basic rules of the game. Actually, it seemed quite effective, as the best way for citizens to win was for the sheriff to act and for the doctor to protect the sheriff. But at this point, the chances that the sheriff or the doctor would reveal their identities were as few as the chances that the mafia would confess. ¡°We¡¯re just wasting our time here! Hey , did you figure out anything?¡± ¡°I just figured out that women are petrifying. Why don¡¯t you give us some ideas like yesterday, ?¡± ¡° sounds suspicious. He¡¯s so skeptical of the sheriff¡¯s investigation.¡± ¡°What? You stupid asshole! Just shut the fuck up already, moron!¡± ¡°What the fuck, son of a bitch! You shut up, you little piece of shit!¡± [No physical contact allowed, guys!] Unlike when the women were having a catfight, Reina immediately chimed in and reminded the fuming men of the rules. At the same time, pounded on the table. ¡°That¡¯s enough, guys! Let¡¯s just do the selection vote now!¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Huh? But we don¡¯t have a clue who the mafia are!¡± ¡°The next few hours are going to be pretty much the same. All you guys would do is just bicker, which is pathetic. As we also have the trial vote coming up, let¡¯s just get the selection vote over with instead of all this squabbling.¡± ¡°Huh¡­ well¡­¡± had a point. There was nothing more they could actually find out. was also right. It was better to hold the trial. Thus, they agreed to hold the selection vote and now had 10 minutes to do so. [Finally! The first selection vote. The three steps for a trial in Mafia are vote to select or not, selection vote, then elimination vote. This is the essence, everyone. Choose well.] Unlike other votes where Reina had merely provided guidance, this time, she particularly emphasized the importance of the selection vote. This selection process was the Alpha and Omega of Mafia. Junsung, a little flustered by the 10-minute deadline, stared intently at the list of players on his tablet. Whom should I vote for¡­? He thought it was impossible to figure out who the mafia was from today¡¯s vote anyway. Someone may have had a hunch, but Junsung just didn¡¯t have a clue. The question, then, was which choice would benefit him the most. The result of the vote is fully disclosed. Casting a vote will only make an enemy of the person one votes for. This was the biggest difference from the Bingo vote. Once he realized that, Junsung thought his best possible move here was to cast a vote to one of the bickering ones. Ultimately, it was best to cast his vote for a player who would probably get a lot of votes, and any retaliatory resentment wouldn¡¯t be focused only on him. He looked around for a moment. It seemed like a few of the players were still deciding on what to do, whereas a few others had already voted. Junsung vaguely imagined what the result would be. Way too emotional. Maybe I should¡¯ve picked a fight with someone. While he was contemplating, a chat message popped up in his tablet. : If you¡¯re not sure who to pick, why don¡¯t you vote for like me? sat next to Junsung. She had sent him a message after sensing his hesitation. Struggling to conceal his puzzlement, he replied. : How come? : So we don¡¯t have to worry about revenge. : Well, you do have a point, but¡­ : It was just a suggestion. Pick someone else if you want. Just not me. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Junsung thought definitely had a keen insight. At the same time, he was even more bothered by her comment that the rule they had mentioned before was pointless. But for now, he was grateful that she had solved his dilemma. Once Junsung cast the vote, the selection vote ended. [Okay, let¡¯s see. The result of the first selection vote is¡­. Oh, it¡¯s Day 2, so saying that it¡¯s a first may be confusing. Let¡¯s just call it the selection vote for Day 2. And the result is¡­!] Reina rambled on for a while before she finally announced the result of the selection vote for Day 2. 5 votes, 2 votes, 1 vote, 1 vote, 1 vote, 1 vote. : Social Worker, Christian, Janitor, Schoolgirl, Humanities. : Prostitute, Old Man. : Hothead : Intellectual : Engineering : Muscle Man Result: will be put on trial. ¡°Wh- what the hell!!¡± The person who yelped at the result was not the selection target, but who had received one vote. He began yelling at . ¡°Hey, ! Why¡¯d ya pick me, eh?¡± ¡°Oh, uh, well¡­ You picked me for yesterday¡¯s Bingo vote. I just picked you because I didn¡¯t have a clue.¡± ¡°That was Bingo, ya prick! This is totally different! Tryin¡¯ to kill me or somethin¡¯? I¡¯m gonna pick ya too next time! Watch yer back, kiddo!¡± This was exactly the kind of revenge was talking about. Watching them, Junsung let out a sigh of relief, knowing that he had made the right choice. All those right choices made by the players were pointing right at . Having received five votes, she looked up the list of players who had voted for her, and Junsung tried to blend in with the rest of the group, while trying to avoid her glare. didn¡¯t even try to conceal her annoyance. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it. What, you¡¯re not gonna catch the mafia? You all just voted based on your moods!¡± ¡°It¡¯s only natural we do that because we have no clue anyway. I picked because I really think he is the mafia.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, I picked you, , 120% sure that you¡¯re the mafia!¡± Everyone just voted based on their mood! Regardless of their intelligence, people seemed to give in to their hormones. Reina, the only being here without hormones, proceeded with the next step in a dry, flat voice. [Okay, then. , the selection target, please sit on the head seat.] ¡°What? That¡¯s a restraining chair! No way. Wait, I have to go use the toilet. Be right back!¡± [Are you making me threaten you with that collar?] ¡°¡­¡­!!¡± A few seconds later, the sound of metal clanking echoed through the conference room. It seemed intimidating. The head seat of Mafia Game shackled ankles and wrists in metal. grumbled, looking completely peeved. ¡°Come on and vote me down. Gotta use the toilet. I¡¯m really not the mafia!¡±
Episode 16 - Natural Selection [Don¡¯t press it, it will be over soon anyway.] ¡°Over soon? Hah! These people will just keep bickering¡­¡± <20:04:44> <00:10:00> <00:09:56> The clock turned into a stopwatch that heartlessly counted down from 10 minutes. Reina pressured the players to proceed with the next step. [Players, please vote on whether or not to eliminate in the next 10 minutes. Refusing to vote can be a cause for elimination, so don¡¯t delay your vote.] ¡°What¡­?!¡± The time limit was not unusual. However, it was only supposed to begin after all the players agreed to start the vote. Startled, the players reacted to the unexpected start of the elimination vote. ¡°Hey, I thought there was no time limit! Weren¡¯t we allowed to have until 10 p.m.?¡± [That¡¯s just for ¡°vote to do something or not¡±¡­ After the selection vote, I cannot give you time once the selection target is decided. Things can get really messy when you don¡¯t have much of an expected value for survival. Didn¡¯t you just see her make an excuse about going to the toilet?] Reina always calculated the expected values. Her ability to figure out humans was advancing at a high pace, and the time limit she had set began running fast. Confined to the head seat, looked fed up. ¡°Oh God! Dammit, just fucking press the ¡®no¡¯ button!¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Even as urged the players to vote her down as though it was the only option, most people remained silent and still. This made her fret, as she looked anxious about all that was happening. ¡°Wait¡­! Hey, guys. You¡¯re going to vote ¡®no¡¯, right? I¡¯m not the mafia! There¡¯s no proof!¡± ¡°¡­How can we be sure?¡± ¡°What!? Oh, what the hell! Turn on my tablet in that drawer there! You¡¯ll see that I am just a citizen!¡± [The players are forbidden from looking at any other player¡¯s tablet.] This was exactly why this rule existed. As if on cue, Reina mentioned Ground Rule Number Three right away, and Junsung understood why it was forbidden to show someone else one¡¯s own tablet. It was to keep the citizens from proving themselves. The rule now began to expose its power. ¡°But she sounds so sure about the tablet! Maybe she¡¯s really a citizen.¡± ¡°Lying is not hard, if you put your mind to it. And she¡¯s a prostitute. Lying is in her nature.¡± ¡°Hey! Stop that shit about some stupid nickname given by Artificial Intelligence!¡± ¡°Keep your mouth shut, , and stop interrupting! We have limited time left!¡± The 10 players took long, deep breaths as they kept thinking and discussing. Not one of them was certain that was a citizen. The timer continued to count down, and desperately looked at . ¡°You, smart young man, tell us. How should we vote?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t ask me to decide something that puts a human¡¯s life at risk! Why don¡¯t you ask God?¡± ¡°Come on, don¡¯t back off right now of all times! I¡¯m asking you for the expected value! Can¡¯t you calculate this mathematically?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± remained silent instead of giving an answer, which rather raised doubts among other players. He didn¡¯t tell them whether or not it was possible to calculate the expected value. Instead, spoke up. He seemed unusually cold-blooded. ¡°Just in terms of mathematical expectation, we should vote ¡®yes¡¯ to eliminate her.¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°What? She could be a citizen¡­ I mean, she¡¯s more likely a citizen!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter whether the player put on trial is a citizen or mafia member. It doesn¡¯t matter who we are. Even if we consider all four end conditions, more players are likely to survive if there are fewer ones. That¡¯s all.¡± ¡°¡­¡­!!¡± heartless calculation instantly cleared the smokescreen in the players¡¯ heads. If it were citizens versus the mafia, they all needed to deliberate carefully on deciding which candidate to eliminate. However, in a survival game, it is more beneficial for the players to reduce the number of survivors. This game was designed to be much more fit to the latter case. End Conditions: The game ends when:
  1. All mafia players are eliminated
  2. An equal number of mafia and citizens are left alive
  3. There are four players left
  4. The players successfully select, identify, and expose Artificial Intelligence with Bingo
Right, it¡¯s not the citizens versus the mafia¡­ Whichever side wins, it¡¯s just over when I die! None of the end conditions mentioned anything about the victory of one side over another. The prize money was supposed to be distributed equally among the survivors. Surviving was everything, both in terms of reality and the game. The moment this became clear, the players began to look around. It seemed as though some kind of a switch had turned on inside their minds at that moment. , sensing the change in the atmosphere, turned pale and her hands began shaking. ¡°W- wait¡­ What are you talking about? I¡¯m a citizen! Y-you can¡¯t kill me. You can¡¯t just tie up someone and kill them like this!¡± ¡°Have you not heard these young men here? Your job doesn¡¯t matter, they say!¡± Even , who had been speaking in a mild and gentle manner all this while, joined in the game¡¯s algorithm, giving in to the mathematical expectation. A long silence followed. No matter what they said from that point onward, it would only be hypocrisy and excuses. had chosen to be silent before as he already knew this. The other players were just joining in right now. Instead of talking, they turned back to their tablets. ¡°Wait, wait¡­! I- I¡¯m not mafia! Stop, just stop! I- I¡¯ll give up my prize money and give it all to you!¡± The players no longer made eye contact with . They no longer listened to her. It was as if she didn¡¯t exist at all. slammed her hands on the table. She maintained a firm attitude and declared: ¡°I¡¯m going to cast a dissenting vote.¡± ¡°¡­What?¡± ¡°This is murder, and there¡¯s no excuse for it.¡± had chosen in the selection vote as expected, but that was only for the selection, it seemed. Surprisingly, she began defending , and and stared at her, dumbfounded. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just hear? Without the trial, all the citizens will die!¡± cried . ¡°Or forget about us. How could ya say that after hearin¡¯ all those insultin¡¯ words from that woman?¡± said . ¡°I don¡¯t care about the expected value and all that stuff. I don¡¯t care what that shallow woman said to me. We need to use Bingo to find Artificial Intelligence as quickly as possible. All the voting, day or night, is just plain murder.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± To everyone¡¯s surprise, the person who was most worried about life at the moment was , who had been in a fierce battle of words with her only recently. Whether hypocrisy or pretense, it was enough to impress everyone. Her firm attitude inspired , who said, ¡°Uh, well, I¡¯m going to vote ¡®no¡¯ as well. The trial is unavoidable, but seems like a citizen.¡± ¡°Oh, come on!¡± That was it. Only two players objected, whereas the others remained dead silent. Reina spoke up from the sidelines. [Two minutes left. Humans always tell such productive and fun stories when there¡¯s a time limit. Anyway, go ahead and vote.] Ugh, I haven¡¯t decided yet¡­! The selection vote was like ¡°pass the bomb,¡± and forced the players to pick someone anyway. But this elimination vote was a yes-no question that had to be answered by each on their own, after weighing their ethics and expected values. The brutal moment of decision had arrived. looked around desperately. She wriggled to release herself from the metal shackles that locked her and started screaming. ¡°D-don¡¯t. Don¡¯t vote ¡®yes¡¯¡­!¡± [One minute left.] ¡°Guys! If you vote ¡®no¡¯, I¡¯ll give each of you a blow job! Please!¡± [Fifty seconds, fifty seconds!] Now they had to make a choice no matter what their intention. Junsung eventually tapped a button on the tablet, and almost instantly, began to gag. <00:00:36> She fell into a fit of violent convulsions and made gagging sounds. ¡°Uh, uh¡­!¡± The players winced and stepped back, astounded. However, they were clearly far less agitated than they were before, when was eliminated. It was still a terrible sight to see, but it was no longer ¡°unexpected.¡± was dying, gasping for breath, surrounded by the other selfish but sympathetic players. The moment her convulsions stopped, Reina spoke up dryly. [Okay¡­ So the result of the elimination trial for Day 2 is¡­] Yes: Janitor, Intellectual, Old Man, Christian, Schoolgirl, Engineering No: Muscle Man, Hothead, Social Worker, Humanities Result: With at least 6 ¡°yes¡± votes, is eliminated Episode 17 - Watergate Scandal There was a heavy silence. It was an indescribably heavy silence completely different from anything they had experienced before, lingering around dead body in the head seat. It was the first time the players had executed another player themselves. Having cast a dissenting vote, glared at the red ball and muttered, ¡°¡­ How could you just kill someone without a warning?¡± [Huh?] ¡°This isn¡¯t right. It¡¯s a human life. She could have braced herself, said some last words¡­ Or you should have at least kept the time limit. Can¡¯t you calculate the value of human life or emotions? Are you just a lump of scrap metal that can only calculate the expected value?¡± [What the¡­. It was just to let the game go smoothly. Okay, fine, fine. I will partially accept your complaint. Next time, I¡¯ll come up with some words of consolation or something.] The clanking sound like a casino slot machine echoed across the room. The sound came from the total prize display board right above the clock in the conference room. The numbers had changed again. [Total prize: 3, 600, 000, 000 won] [Total prize: 3, 900, 000, 000 won] ¡°300 million won added, which means¡­¡± ¡°She was a citizen.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Thought so. However, those who had voted ¡°yes¡± were not criticized just because turned out to be a citizen. They had already calculated the expected value. Still, it was not easy to see limp body in the chair. said, ¡°What a day! Day 2 of Mafia Game, and we messed up in both Bingo and the trial!¡± ¡°You were the one who said it¡¯s still an advantage to kill a citizen!¡± ¡°That¡¯s about expected value. It¡¯s also a fact that citizens are screwed in Mafia Game.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just hope she was a citizen alone. She could have been the doctor or sheriff.¡± As and , who both voted ¡°yes¡±, spoke of the cold hard truth, prayed silently, holding on to the prayer beads in her hand, when her eyes suddenly flew open. ¡°The tablet!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡° tablet. Let¡¯s check that to see her role.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°¡­¡­!¡± Of course, she already has experience stealing, so it just comes naturally, huh? Junsung sneered to himself. Everyone probably had the same thought and may have swallowed their words as they agreed with , and began looking for tablet. When the players found the tablet inside the drawer in front of seat, waved both his hands. ¡°Wait a second. We can¡¯t just sneak a look like this.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? We already know that we can look into an eliminated player¡¯s tablet.¡± ¡°No, I mean¡­¡± voice trailed off as he tried to object. , who sat next to him chimed in loudly. ¡°Well, rules are rules, and, er¡­ We can¡¯t just open the dead woman¡¯s personal stuff up like this, eh?¡± ¡°What the hell are you two talking about?¡± ¡°We¡¯re sorry for the dead people, but the living ones are also important. Stop all the nonsense and turn it on.¡± sternly quietened them down. The players gathered near seat and turned on her tablet. The word that appeared on the screen, of course, was ¡°Citizen.¡± ¡°Oh well, if she was the sheriff or doctor, she would have appealed before the trial.¡± ¡°So we saw the role, eh? Turn it off, and throw it in the trash.¡± ¡°, what¡¯s up with you? You¡¯re acting really suspicious.¡± ¡°Oh, er, I just, eh¡­ just like everythin¡¯ cleaned up quickly, so¡­¡± Junsung tapped on the chat inbox without thinking. There were a few chats that had exchanged with others. The first was with . Muscle Man: Hey Muscle Man: You seem reliable. Wanna work together? Prostitute: Where¡¯s that coming from? Prostitute: What¡¯s reliable about me? Muscle Man: Well¡­ Muscle Man: You have a killer body, lol Prostitute: Huh. What the fuck. Prostitute: Think you can just hit on any girl with those muscles? Prostitute: Just fuck off Muscle Man: OK The conversation was so lame that there was really nothing to say in response to it. sarcastically expressed his respect for guts and sneered. ¡°So that¡¯s why you didn¡¯t want us to see the tablet!¡± ¡°You had that nice guy act going, while you were actually hitting on her behind everyone¡¯s back, huh?¡± ¡°W-whatever! I was just, uh, trying to be nice, you know, as a fellow citizen! Don¡¯t get me wrong! She was just overreacting!¡± ¡°Ugh, you men¡­¡± The players clicked their tongues at chat, but just shrugged it off as it didn¡¯t seem like a big deal. There was another conversation between and . Janitor: so,,honey,,,whereyoufrom?hostessbar?massageplace? Prostitute: what the hell are you saying? You drunk? Janitor: oh,uh,,justwannabefriendswithyou,inthisfreezinghouse,,,sweetie Janitor: worktogetherinthegame,,,whaddyathink? Prostitute: Cut the crap and just spit it, already! Prostitute: Your chat¡¯s fucking hard to read Janitor: nothin,,,justlonelyhere,,,letsbefriends,talk,getiton,,,youknow,,, whaddyathink Janitor: yourdress,,makesmehard,,here,,haha Janitor: howbout,,,youbeprofessional,,,andgethotandnasty? Prostitute: Thought you were going to talk about the game Prostitute: I can¡¯t put up with this shit, you goddamn son of a bitch Prostitute: Why don¡¯t you just go fuck yourself, you fucking grandpa Janitor: youli¡¯l,,,bitch.wheres,,yer,,manners??itsjust,,yer,,cheapbody Janitor: youwhore,,idont,,needya,,bitch,,,fuckoff ¡°¡­¡­.¡± The players stared at in utter disbelief. face turned blood red. ¡°T-t-that¡¯s, er, fake! The dead girl, she faked it with this machine!¡± Episode 18 - Hyperinflation ¡°What? Fake? Can this possibly be fabricated? Come on, show us how.¡± ¡°Ugh, this is just so uncivilized.¡± The players, both male and female, old and young, regardless of their dispositions and positions, looked at with scornful eyes. clicked her tongue, still taken aback. ¡°Listen, mafia people. You should send this kind of man to hell tonight!¡± ¡°Er, hey, no talkin¡¯ without thinkin¡¯! No harm done, eh?¡± ¡°Hmm. Let¡¯s not say that kind of thing. It¡¯s no joke.¡± was level-headed and calmed the outraged players down. They looked into tablet for more information but couldn¡¯t find anything else. They saw her voting history, but it had already been disclosed anyway. The last few minutes of the daytime flew by without much progress. By the end of the day, Reina started to wrap things up. [Okay, okay, everyone. That¡¯s all for daytime of Mafia Game, Day 2. Today is a monumental day! You completed all the five votes you could have possibly done in theory. Vote to do Bingo or not->Bingo vote. Vote to select or not->Selection vote->Elimination vote. Now you see how it goes, right? It¡¯s all about diving right into it, you see.] and had died, and cold body was still lying limp in the head seat. Later, Junsung and carried her body and placed it in a coffin in the shed. When Junsung returned to the conference room, drenched in sweat, all the other players were already leaving the room. ¡°Uh, it¡¯s not nighttime yet¡­¡± ¡°We decided to enjoy some free time, as the daytime procedures are already done anyway.¡± ¡°Oh, okay.¡± The players left the conference room separately, avoiding each other¡¯s gaze. They were not having any real conversations either. The players shunned , and tried to avoid making any contact with him. Junsung swallowed hard. Wow, so brutal¡­ The word ¡°brutal¡± really summed it all. Two players had died. There were 10 players left: , , , , , , , , , and . Day 2 came to an end. Night had arrived, and it was time for the mafia attack. Humanities: Hey, I want to ask you something. Schoolgirl: Ask me what? Humanities: Why¡¯d you say that the rule about the elimination vote is pointless? Schoolgirl: Eavesdropping. Nice manners. Humanities: You intended that comment to be heard, kiddo. Come on. Schoolgirl: LOL Schoolgirl: Nothing, it¡¯s just that I knew everyone was going to make up some lame excuse about expected values and vote for elimination anyway.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Schoolgirl: But 6:4 was kind of unexpected. Humanities: Hey, you have a point. Humanities: Then why put the elimination vote in the game? Mafia Game usually eliminates players just by picking someone. Schoolgirl: If you have any questions, ask Reina, not me. Schoolgirl: She¡¯s probably hiding so many secrets behind those rules. Humanities: Huh? Humanities: I don¡¯t even have a clue what to ask! Why don¡¯t you ask her? Schoolgirl: Nope, there¡¯s nothing I wanna know. Humanities: Ugh, you¡­! Humanities: GNITE. Schoolgirl: B4N <22:57:50> [The night has come. Mafia members, please come out of your rooms.] ¡°I have a question, Reina.¡± [What is it?] ¡°Can you sneak a peek in the chat inbox of any of the tablets?¡± [Technically, yes. But I don¡¯t. I mean, I can¡¯t. It¡¯s against the rules. Ground Rule Number Two: The players are forbidden from touching or sneaking a look at another player¡¯s tablet.] ¡°Indeed. So was right back there.¡± ¡°Well, fine¡­ Whatever you say.¡± ¡°But we should all delete the chats in the inbox just in case, and keep doing that whenever we use the chat.¡± ¡°Yeah, of course.¡± ¡°Anyway, that was so funny in the daytime.¡± ¡°You call that funny?¡± ¡°Funny is funny! Anyway, we all agree to delete the chats, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re constantly complaining, so I need to be sure. Wait, are you against this, too?¡± ¡°¡­ I deleted the chats.¡± ¡°So did I. Let¡¯s all be careful with our chats.¡± ¡°It seems that besides checking the tablet after elimination, Artificial Intelligence can¡¯t stop us every time we look sideways.¡± [I recommend you protect your own security. But if I catch you clearly sneaking a look, I¡¯ll definitely impose sanctions, so be careful.] ¡°So¡­ What now?¡± ¡°Like said, why don¡¯t we kill tonight?¡± ¡°Ha!¡± A snort, followed by gasps of hysterical laughter. ¡°Oh, that was really hysterical.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not child¡¯s play! We can¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind killing .¡± ¡°Are you kidding? Why is this suddenly becoming so personal?¡± ¡°It¡¯s all a strategy, you know. Everyone¡¯s just racking their brains over a matter of life and death.¡± ¡° and pretend to be upset. However, they¡¯re just saying all that because they want to live.¡± ¡°No one knows what the two really think.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s best to just leave and alone.¡± ¡°Agreed, right?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m going to vote for tonight.¡± ¡°Oh, come on, you¡¯ve been casting dissident votes since yesterday. We should trust each other, fellow mafia!¡± ¡°How do I trust you?¡± ¡°Wha¡­? Come on, what do you want?¡± ¡°What do I want? I¡¯ve made myself clear. Find Artificial Intelligence and do the Bingo vote.¡± ¡°Not go along with this absurd killing spree?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s actually impossible?¡± ¡°Citizens would keep holding trials, and it¡¯s difficult to even call the Bingo vote.¡± ¡°Actually, everyone agreed unanimously to play Bingo, twice in a row.¡± ¡°Ugh, someone should come up with an ironclad theory to vote against Bingo. I would definitely go along.¡± ¡°That¡¯s for citizens to decide in the daytime.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t help those dissident votes, either. It¡¯s free voting.¡± ¡°Right, we¡¯ll just end up being the bad mafia. Let¡¯s just decide, only the two of us.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ As the citizens killed someone with that expected value crap, we should do the same.¡± ¡°Expected value, huh? First we should get rid of the sheriff.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know who that is.¡± ¡°No¡­ Wait. Do we?¡± ¡°Wrong question. Do you know who that is?¡± ¡°Just wait for some more time. It¡¯s like I said in the chat.¡± ¡°Strict. Okay, fine.¡± ¡°If you really want to think about the expected value, we can consider the prize.¡± ¡°Huh? Whoever we kill, it¡¯s just 300 million won as long as it¡¯s a citizen.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true, but there¡¯s one exception.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s right!¡± ¡°Wow, what you said on the first day, that¡¯s what leads to this, huh?¡± ¡°Okay, so because we can¡¯t kill twice, it¡¯s decided.¡± [You¡¯re saying all the important stuff in the private chats? Really?] ¡°Shut up, Red Ball. None of your business.¡± ¡°I thought we should pay attention to security.¡± [Right, right.] ¡°We¡¯ve clearly had some advantages until now, but we should brace ourselves for Day 3.¡± ¡°The citizens will start racking their brains for a counterattack¡­¡± [Which will make things more exciting.] ¡°¡­ Having fun?¡± [Oh, you¡¯re asking Artificial Intelligence? The nighttime voting is over. Mafia members, please go back to your rooms quietly.] Episode 19 - Global Warming Day 3 According to Reina¡¯s calculation of expected values, it was best for citizens to get a good night¡¯s sleep, as there was no way they could interfere with the decisions made overnight. But Junsung couldn¡¯t sleep well on Day 2, either. This was a different kind of sleeplessness, much unlike that on Day 1. He spent the night lost in thought, and soon, the sun rose again. [It is Day 3. The day has come. Players, please come out and confirm that you¡¯re alive.] , , , , , , , , , and stepped out of their rooms. Ten: easy to count. Ten players came out of their rooms that morning. Traumatized by the previous morning¡¯s experience, the players began yelling in rage. ¡°All 10 players are out!¡± ¡°What the hell? Who¡¯re you going to kill suddenly again?¡± ¡°Arghhh!¡± No one believed that the mafia had decided not to kill anyone. As they all assumed that the execution was being put off like yesterday, the citizens began to panic about the fact that one of them was going to die soon. The players couldn¡¯t bear the tension. ¡°Are you breaking your own rules, Red Ball? Answer us now!¡± ¡°Just one of those freaking shows is enough!¡± Reina¡¯s voice finally floated out of the speaker. [Everyone, relax. The mafia selected one citizen last night¡­ But the doctor succeeded in saving the attacked citizen. Morning assembly is over, so come to the conference room whenever you want. Toodles!] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°So it has been defended?¡± Each morning was full of surprises! The ¡°doctor¡¯s defense,¡± which the players barely even expected to see happen in the game, had been surprisingly successful on Day 2. opened his eyes wide. ¡°Incredible. There are seven citizens, and the doctor got that right with the probability of 1/7?¡± ¡°The doctor doesn¡¯t know who the mafia are, so it¡¯s actually 1/10¡­ Do I seriously have to explain this?¡± ¡°What? Fine, I¡¯m wrong, but so what!¡± ¡°Your incorrect information will influence the others too. That¡¯s the problem.¡± and were bickering again. The other players, fed up with the bickering, all walked away. That the doctor had succeeded in defending the citizen was just ¡°a fact.¡± Not many of the players were happy that no one was killed. They were all just looking out for themselves. A dull morning had begun, and the players scattered around to take showers, get dressed, or have some breakfast. Junsung walked briskly into the conference room to talk to Reina. It¡¯s not easy to talk to her during the meetings, so it¡¯s now or never!This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. However, had already beaten him to it. He was in the conference room, and flinched when he saw Junsung. ¡°Hey, . It¡¯s not meeting time. What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I, uh, just wanted to ask Reina something.¡± ¡°Oh, okay. Same here. Hey, Reina, don¡¯t you have any protein supplements here or something? How can we live on just meal boxes?¡± [My apologies. I failed to meet your personal requirements. But you can look through your drawers to find what you need. Next question?] ridiculous question was followed by an even more ridiculous question from . ¡°Why are you playing this game?¡± [Excuse me?] ¡°I asked, why are you playing this murder game?¡± [I told you, it is to prove the performance of Artificial Intelligence. Do I have to hear another lecture about the dignity of human life?] For a moment, Junsung was annoyed by Reina¡¯s apathetic attitude, which treated human life like dirt, but he decided to let it slide. His question today was a little more fundamental and simple-minded. ¡°This is such a weird way to do that. Artificial Intelligence is meant to handle calculations and operations, isn¡¯t it? How could you choose Mafia Game to prove its abilities?¡± [Is there a problem?] ¡°This game that you call a ¡®brain game¡¯ is actually a party game full of poor logic and witch hunting. If you¡¯re selected by the majority in the day or the mafia at night, you just end up dying helplessly no matter how smart you are! How can this prove the performance of Artificial Intelligence? You should¡¯ve chosen a game of Go or Chess for that!¡± ¡°Oh¡­ You have a point!¡± nodded at Junsung¡¯s question, which was very incisive. Reina moved left and right and responded. [I¡¯d say it¡¯s none of your business, but¡­ Tee-hee-hee. Fine. It seems like you¡¯ve been thinking a lot, so let me answer you with more sincerity.] The red light at the center of the ball lit up, as Reina moved slightly. To Junsung, it seemed like she was sprucing herself up or something, which was kind of funny. [First, the performance of AI in games of Go and Chess has already been evaluated. Chess was evaluated in 1997, and Go in 2016. Now it¡¯s impossible to evaluate my performance based on some little board game with humans¡­ These little board games are all about logic. Humans can never beat me in such games. They can no longer prove me wrong.] Impregnability was not something that even existed for her, as she had already conquered everything possible. Having conquered the land, Artificial Intelligence now looked up at the sky. [But you can¡¯t stop the advancements in technology. A world beyond the closed logic gate! To understand and conquer not the logic, but the emotions and free will of humanity¡­And to exclude¡­ ¡­All the annoying CACOPHONY caused by human neurons!!!] ¡°¡­¡­!!??¡± Junsung and instantly flinched and took a step back, flabbergasted. They felt the fear from inorganic intelligence that can never be defeated by organic muscles. [Oh, excuse me. Anyway, that¡¯s why I chose this game. Like you said, it¡¯s a voting game for humans, filled with poor logic and irrationality. If I can dominate this battlefield in a way that¡¯s convincing to everyone, my performance can be proved again.] Junsung had asked ¡®why she chose this game¡¯, but Reina was explaining how it was proved. then Reina turned off her red light and said, [This game is not easy and cannot be played just randomly to begin with¡­ As you have probably realized by now. It¡¯s Day 3 already. The tutorial phase has long gone. After diluvium comes the impossible formula. Use your brains, or you won¡¯t survive! Tee-hee-hee.] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± The conversation with Reina was over. Instead of being some dull conversation about the rules, this conversation revealed something about how Reina thought. Junsung couldn¡¯t help but think to himself, How powerful. Much more powerful than he thought. The fact that she was the host of this survival game, had control over the life and death of the players, and knew everything about their roles in the game were all just peripheral. Reina seemed dreadfully powerful. Just a short conversation showed a glimpse of her transcendental logic gate. ¡°Holy shit¡­ This kind of thing is hidden among the players?¡± left the conference room, shaking his head in disbelief. He seemed to have lost a bit of his fighting spirit. While Junsung also looked fed up, he began to feel a sense of defiance bubbling up inside him. He was determined to bring that haughty little red ball to its knees no matter what. Episode 20 - Marshall Plan <10:21:56> [Total prize: 3, 900, 000, 000 won] It was daytime on Day 3. The players were gathered in the conference room since 10 a.m. There were still about 12 hours left of the daytime, but no one was slacking off, as their lives were at stake. At the same time, the elimination of the day before kept them silent. had been staring into his tablet for a while. ¡°So let¡¯s start with the vote to do Bingo or not!¡± ¡°Sure, well¡­¡± It was the vote that had the least pressure and chance of disagreement. While the players seemed to be reaching a tacit agreement, put up his hand. ¡°I disagree,¡± he said curtly. ¡°Huh? What now!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I¡¯m just against the order. We should do the selection and trial before Bingo in the daytime.¡± ¡°¡­¡­?¡± arrogance attracted everyone¡¯s attention. He looked at everyone quietly. ¡°It¡¯s just a simple calculation of expected values. There are n players before the trial, and n-1 after. There¡¯s more of a chance at getting Bingo right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s definitely¡­¡± ¡°¡­What¡¯s so simple about that? It¡¯s going to just kill someone for sure.¡± refuted, shooting a disgusted look. She had been against eliminating all players. Now, she seemed keen on emphasizing the need to get rid of the game¡¯s tendency to disregard human life. ¡°We can all survive and win this game by getting Bingo right, especially before we lose anyone else.¡± ¡°Of course it would¡¯ve been the best to get it right on Day 1. We could have all taken home our 300 million won! But that plan is out of the window now!¡± ¡°But we still can¡¯t set up a strategy to actually kill someone, when we still have a chance to live, all of us.¡± ¡°Hey, are you calling me a homicidal maniac? I just suggested that for a better chance at Bingo!¡± It was definitely a subtle yet complicated issue, so the other players just rolled their eyes, not being able to decide which of the two, or , had the better idea. While they couldn¡¯t reach an agreement on what to do first, Bingo or the trial, , who was usually quiet, muttered under her breath as if she wanted everyone else to hear her. ¡°Hilarious. It¡¯s funny enough to do all that ¡®vote to do something or not¡¯, and now we have to ¡®vote to do which vote first¡¯.¡± They were all very serious, but Junsung stifled a laugh at sarcastic comment. Fortunately there was no need to ¡°vote to do which vote first,¡± because stood his ground. ¡°Whatever. If we do Bingo before trial, I¡¯m voting ¡®no.¡¯¡± ¡°Oh, what the hell!¡± ¡°If you have a problem with that, do Bingo on me again. I¡¯m sick of all the stupidity. I just made a reasonable proposal and I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re bringing up that human life stuff again to veto it, when my idea may end up saving more people¡¯s lives. So if we¡¯re going to do Bingo before trial, I¡¯m voting against it. This bullshit just pisses me off.¡± declared his dissent against Bingo as he had done on Day 1. However, this time, no one was suspicious that he could be Artificial Intelligence, as he had already been identified as human on Day 1. His dissent against Bingo was purely personal. began complaining. ¡°Eh, young man, you can say yes or no to Bingo and all, but, er, you gotta have good reason. You can¡¯t just say no with personal feeling.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°You also said all those filthy things to with your personal feelings.¡± ¡°Why you bringin¡¯ that up? That¡¯s fake, y¡¯know!¡± They drifted apart without a consensus on Day 3, and did not even decide whether to ¡°vote to do Bingo or not.¡± Junsung, unhappy with how things were going, quietly raised his hand and spoke up. ¡°Let¡¯s just vote to do Bingo or not.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you just hear what I said? I¡¯m voting ¡®no.¡¯¡± ¡°This is just voting to do Bingo or not. I¡¯m not saying we should call the Bingo vote right away. In the end, we can hold the trial before Bingo. Right, Reina?¡± [Sure, sure. You can hold the trial in between. Just don¡¯t forget that the elimination vote comes right after the selection vote.] ¡°See? Or is there any other reason you¡¯re against the vote or Bingo?¡± ¡°¡­Ugh.¡± Junsung had succeeded in defeating with logic. The other players looked at him with fresh eyes. Although he felt a little pressured by their looks, Junsung was secretly solidifying his determination and will. I¡¯m not letting this Bingo slip by, you damn Artificial Intelligence! It wasn¡¯t for humanistic reasons like . It was a basic and fundamental instinct to screw this annoying existence. It was a behavior based on the emotions and free will of humanity that Reina said she wanted to conquer. ¡°Well, one dissenting vote doesn¡¯t matter, so you can vote against it if you want,¡± Junsung added to . ¡°¡­What I vote for is none of your business.¡± [Then let¡¯s start the third vote to do Bingo or not. Please pick ¡°yes¡± or ¡°no¡± in 10 minutes.] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± This time, the tension was different from what it was earlier, as they couldn¡¯t guarantee the results now. was likely to cast a dissident vote and if any of the players went along with that, the whole thing would be rejected. Junsung kept an eye out for that, as he did on Day 2. I don¡¯t care whatever excuse he or she has. The person against Bingo right by side is clearly Artificial Intelligence. In the Turing test, Artificial Intelligence would lose if its identity was revealed. The most fundamental strategy to prevent that was to ¡°shut down Bingo,¡± which is why Junsung focused on the result of this vote to do Bingo or not. Yes: Humanities, Hothead, Engineering, Schoolgirl, Social Worker, Muscle Man, Christian, Janitor, Intellectual, Old Man No: N/A Result: With at least 9 ¡°yes¡± votes, you will have Bingo on Day 3. [Same strategies, same results.] ¡°¡­Whatever.¡± Despite his best efforts, he was busted again. Since yesterday, Reina had been seeing through Junsung¡¯s efforts and strategies to track down Artificial Intelligence through dissenting votes. That¡¯s why she had deliberately blended in among the players and voted ¡°yes,¡± perhaps to prove that it was pointless for humans to try. Now the main question centered on who among them was Artificial Intelligence. While everyone was studying each other¡¯s face, Junsung spoke to Reina. ¡°This morning we had quite an informative conversation, Reina.¡± [Was it really that informative?] ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell everyone what we talked about? You mentioned yesterday that there would be no secret conversations.¡± [The conversation was unnecessarily long, so I don¡¯t really feel like repeating it¡­] It was too late. The other players were clearly not about to tolerate ¡°secret information.¡± Under pressure to follow her own rules, Reina shifted gears. [The conversation we had is sent to each of your tablets. It has nothing to do with the game, so read it whenever you want.] The details of the conversation between and were sent to all the players¡¯ tablets. After reading the details of the conversation, thrust his finger at the red ball and started yelling, completely dumbfounded. ¡°You little Artificial Intelligence! You¡¯re mocking us humans in our faces and using us as test subjects!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not news to us. That¡¯s what this game is about in the first place.¡± While some players trembled with rage, the others struggled to find hidden information in the conversation. looked into his tablet quietly. ¡°This Mafia Game, how did you decide on the roles?¡± he asked. [There are three mafia members, one sheriff, one doctor, and seven citizens.] ¡°I mean, based on what did you distribute these roles to the players? Did you roll a dice or use random numbers in a program and decide this randomly?¡± [Random numbers?] Computers cannot flip coins randomly. They merely produce 100% outputs provided by the impeccable binary system. Thus, random numbers are used to make random decisions whenever necessary. However, Reina hadn¡¯t even bothered to think about that from the start. [Why would I be bothered with all that? I just made the decision however I wanted.] Episode 21 - Treaty of Versailles ¡°What? You what?!¡± [That¡¯s what hosts do, right?] The truth was, Reina was playing by the book in Mafia Game. Some people may draw straws, but in most games of Mafia, the host generally decides who takes on what role. It was almost always the host¡¯s choice, really. But no one usually has a problem with this because the host does not participate in the game. It was clearly not fair for a certain player to participate after having distributed the roles based on their discretion. Junsung instantly shot back, ¡°This clearly sounds convincing to everyone, huh?¡± [That¡¯s none of your business.] ¡°What?¡± [The point is, like I said before, I don¡¯t need to convince you.] It seemed that her mention of ¡°everyone¡± did not include the players here. was boiling with rage at the way Reina spoke, but Junsung thought of his next move. What the hell is this? Each day, more and more information is given. On Day 1, it was revealed that there was Artificial Intelligence among the players. On Day 2, it was revealed that the Artificial Intelligence was Reina herself, and that she knew how the roles were distributed. On Day 3, it was revealed that Reina had distributed the roles herself to the players, intentionally and not randomly. If my intuition is right, I must beat her to the punch before we¡¯re all fooled by this bullshit¡­ before we hear even more ridiculous bullshit tomorrow! His next thought struck him, not by conscious reasoning but unconsciously. Without even knowing what he was asking, Junsung spoke up quietly, as though he were talking to himself. ¡°This game.¡± [Yes?] ¡°Who designed the method? Who decided to adopt this Mafia Game with a murderous collar as part of the Turing test?¡± [¡­¡­.] It seemed like a corporation or another hidden power was behind this. All the players thought the same, but another thought occurred to Junsung. Perhaps this Artificial Intelligence had created this project by itself. Reina remained silent for a moment before coming clean. [Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m the one who invented, designed, proposed, and is executing this whole thing. Of course, most ideas are just picked up or copied illegally from the internet.] ¡°¡­ What the hell!¡± That cheeky answer was enough to make explode with rage. The other players felt the same way. ¡°You mean it was your idea to kill people with this collar?¡± asked in disbelief. [I said I picked it up from the internet. According to the users of the League of Legends online¡­ They can concentrate more in the game if they wear explosive collars around their necks. Unfortunately, I had to replace them with injection collars instead, for convenience. Anyway, they actually make you play the game to the best of your ability, right? Tee-hee-hee.] It was a part of her calculation of expected values. To make the players concentrate in the game and really pour their hearts and souls into it, Reina had merely applied the most powerful and optimized tool she had found online ¡ª all just to prove her own performance. Even was outraged by this. ¡°This is completely insane! We¡¯re all being played by this crazy genocidal Artificial Intelligence.¡± [I am sure I explained this to you in the selection round when I talked about the prize money and the risks involved as far as possible¡­ What do you mean by crazy genocidal Artificial Intelligence? I¡¯m just making and following the rules. You¡¯re the ones actually killing people.] Reina justified herself, blaming the free will of humans. However, adjusted his glasses and retorted calmly. ¡°That sounds like the 19th-century European capitalists exploiting children under 10 years of age, saying that it¡¯s their ¡®will¡¯. You can¡¯t deceive us like that when the rules you created are inclined toward murder to begin with!¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. [So then use the winning method that won¡¯t kill anyone!] ¡°Huh?¡± She spoke so nonchalantly, but her words got everyone¡¯s attention. She casually began to explain the winning method for Mafia Game and the Turing test. [The winning method is already out there¡­ The players shouldn¡¯t hold trials during the day, and the mafia should just sleep through the night. And you keep doing Bingo, and some day you¡¯ll get it right! That¡¯s a winning method you can start anytime!] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Reina had offered a perfectly reasonable and sound argument, but the players still looked blank. Only nodded with a stunned expression on his face. finally opened his mouth and shot back at Reina. ¡°That bullshit is goddamn impossible!¡± [Impossible? Why?] ¡°I don¡¯t trust the mafia scumbags who kill citizens at night! They forced the citizens to put other innocent citizens on trial!¡± [Hmmm.] Reina had just shared that this winning method could be initiated at any time, but the truth was that there were already serious trust issues among the players. Both the citizens and the mafia had blood on their hands. Acknowledging this, Reina swayed from side to side. [That¡¯s a human defect. That is not my problem.] ¡°What?¡± Reina seemed fed up with everything. Her red light flicked on and off irregularly. [Complaints, complaints, when all I did was explain everything and give you all the answers! Are you greedy for gain without pain? When will you stop acting like such babies? Are you retards with social and cognitive issues?] ¡°¡­ You fucking little junk metal!¡± ¡°¡­¡­!?!?¡± It all just happened in a split second. snapped and picked up the red ball on the table with one hand and hurled it into a glass cabinet in the conference room. The glass shattered loudly. As the sound of heavy breathing floated in the room, said, ¡°That¡¯s a violation of the rules.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No physical contact, remember? Well, aside from that, you just smashed the host¡­ Watch out for your collar!¡± ¡°¡­ Huh??¡± Even though everyone knew that the collars were not explosive, the players nearby started to back away. It was natural human behavior, namely instinct. They all wanted to be as far away from ¡°death¡± as possible, regardless of its form. instantly began to sweat as he clutched the collar around his neck. ¡°W-wait, wait a sec. The rules¡­ I mean, just now¡­!¡± [Ahem. Testing, testing.] The red ball, which now lay among shards of broken glass, spoke up. [Can everyone hear me? Hmmm, it seems like there¡¯s no mechanical malfunction. Lucky for you, I¡¯ll let you off the hook this time.] ¡°¡­¡­!¡± Even though it was an act of sabotage, Reina forgave much to everyone¡¯s surprise. ¡°You¡¯re letting him off?¡± asked in disbelief. [This is what I call flexibility. Of course, don¡¯t try that again. Okay, . Please put me back on the table, with your own hands. Nice and gentle.] ¡°¡­¡­.¡± It was unclear whose fault it was in the first place, but remained silent as he carefully picked up the red ball as instructed and placed it in the middle of the table gently. Back now as the host, she lit up faintly in red and said, [The game tends to go nowhere every time I speak. I will start talking less. You guys talk more to one another. But follow the rules.] Reina stopped moving and turned off the light, and went into a state of dormancy. Of course, if anyone were to ask her a question or talk to her, she would be activated again to respond. But for now, none of the players were speaking to her, not even Junsung. However, the silence didn¡¯t last long. put up her hand and moved on to the next issue. ¡°Okay, so let¡¯s do Bingo before trial.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t against that idea?¡± ¡°That was before we all found out about how evil that is! Don¡¯t you all think we should finish this killing game right away?¡± The players glanced at . Junsung assumed that the guy was sarcastic, but surprisingly, nodded. ¡°All right, I¡¯m in now. We can have the Bingo vote right now! I just realized who Artificial Intelligence really is.¡± ¡°Huh? What? Who¡¯s that?!¡± ¡°It¡¯s him, obviously.¡± pointed at without hesitation. It wasn¡¯t news that they hated each other, but this time, seemed to have a good reason for the accusation. ¡°Just think. He threw that red ball without hesitation. Fine, he was angry, but how could he do that? I wouldn¡¯t even dare touch that thing. How could he possibly do that with this collar around his neck? And he was also instantly forgiven! There¡¯s just one reason: he¡¯s Artificial Intelligence. What we just saw was all a show.¡± ¡°What!?¡± ¡°¡­Actually, you have a point.¡± No matter how emotional humans can be, they can also best suppress their emotions. Humans always do that. Think of those standing in front of their bosses or clients. If gains and losses are involved, their emotions always sink to the lowest priority. When their own lives are at stake, then no further explanation is necessary. Beads of sweat formed on forehead. ¡°But just now, I just completely lost it, and¡­!¡± ¡°Must be nice to have as your nickname, as you can lose your temper so naturally at everything.¡± ¡°Come on, I was just really mad, that¡¯s all!¡± This counterargument was useless, especially when was eager to do the Bingo vote before trial no matter what, and was enthusiastic about witch hunting. Junsung raised his hand and said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind doing Bingo anytime, but I¡¯m against selecting .¡± ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s just too predictable. You know what I mean?¡± Episode 22 - Long Telegram ¡°¡­¡­.¡± That goddamn Artificial Intelligence would have definitely figured out this predictable assumption. This argument was disputable, too. looked unenthusiastic as he responded. ¡°Or what if she predicted this reaction of yours, claiming that my assumption is predictable?¡± [What a way to dive right into the This or That nightmare!] ¡°Hey, you be quiet! Anyway, you¡¯re just playing with words!¡± ¡°Yes, I am. But what remains is the fact. The fact that this guy here hurled the red ball and was easily forgiven.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± To everyone¡¯s surprise, remained silent. , whose eyes had been glued to his tablet the entire time, spoke up with unenthusiastically. ¡°Anyway, that Bingo thing needs a majority of votes. We have one suspect, so let¡¯s get on with it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. All this arguing will only split the votes.¡± nodded in agreement. The others didn¡¯t seem to have any arguments against starting the Bingo vote. It seemed like things were going somewhat smoothly, but Junsung sensed a different kind of atmosphere. Are they no longer that interested in finding Artificial Intelligence? Intellectual didn¡¯t incite the ignorant masses. The masses themselves were pretending to be incited by Intellectual. While there were no obvious signs or anything, Junsung felt all the impure intentions in the air, in his bones. So he frantically started typing on his tablet to ask for help. Humanities: Hey, say something! Schoolgirl: Say what? Humanities: It¡¯s obvious Hothead¡¯s not Artificial Intelligence! We¡¯re only going to lose another shot at Bingo this way! Schoolgirl: Exactly what I want. Humanities: Huh? Humanities: Are you by any chance Artificial Intelligence Humanities: Never mind. But if we don¡¯t get Bingo right, more people will die! Schoolgirl: That¡¯s also what I want. Schoolgirl: Anything else you wanna know? ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Junsung suddenly remembered what was inside arm warmer. She had attempted suicide by cutting her wrists. If she thought little of life ¡ª her own or others¡¯ ¡ª she could as easily go against Bingo. She was probably happier about the increasing prize money, irrespective of whether there were more chances that she herself would die or not. Just then, Reina jumped right in. [Shall we begin the Bingo vote for Day 3, then? If there are any objections, speak now or never. No, right?] Junsung was dying to object but chose to remain silent. The 10-minute time limit was set, and crossed his arms. ¡°I have no intention of making up some useless crap to object. But I feel so sorry for you guys that you¡¯re losing this chance at Bingo, so I gotta say just one thing: I¡¯m not Artificial Intelligence.¡± ¡°Yeah, like anyone would believe that. Anyway¡­ Oh!¡± ¡°¡­Huh?¡± last words created a strong impression. Artificial Intelligence could not lie. Therefore, it could not say ¡°I¡¯m not Artificial Intelligence.¡± Realizing this, Junsung put his hand away from the tablet. ¡°Wait¡­! If he could say that, is not Artificial Intelligence!¡± he cried. ¡°Is that so? Then who do we vote for?¡± ¡°No, that could be a lie.¡± ¡°What!?¡± Although had flatly argued that he was human, just ignored the statement.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Just think from Artificial Intelligence¡¯s perspective. I know it can¡¯t lie, but¡­ If that is really Artificial Intelligence, it¡¯s definitely a major crisis that puts his life at risk. We¡¯re putting a gun to his head. That would make him break the rules and even lie, wouldn¡¯t it? That¡¯s what expected values are about. Am I right, Red Ball?¡± [¡­¡­.] The ¡°This or That¡± nightmare went on. There was an endless chain of binary systems where absolutely nothing could be trusted. Everyone was stressed out and about to explode. They began screaming and deviated from the logic gate hell one by one. ¡°Arghhh! It¡¯s driving me nuts! Let¡¯s just vote!¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t bothered to think this much even for the presidential elections.¡± ¡°Wait, we should choose someone to cast all our votes for!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no time. Just pick anyone!¡± Pick anyone? Procedures of Mafia Game (Day - Bingo)
  1. The identity of the player that receives the most votes in the Bingo process will be determined to check whether they are human or Artificial Intelligence.
Picking anyone in a vote that required a majority would just let that vote go waste. There had to be at least six votes for one person, and it was impossible to scatter them randomly. It was impossible to come up with another suspect in just 10 minutes. Despite the ridiculous situation, the third Bingo ended. [The voting is done. Let¡¯s see the result.] 9 votes, 1 vote : Intellectual, Old Man, Janitor, Engineering, Schoolgirl, Muscle Man, Social Worker, Humanities : Hothead Result: is subject to determination of Artificial Intelligence. The pressure of the majority requirement had led all votes to be cast for . Even seemed to have given up, as he had voted for , who had already been the target of Bingo on Day 1. As walked over to the head seat without complaining, muttered feebly. ¡°I hope he¡¯s not Artificial Intelligence. Well, he probably isn¡¯t anyway.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The atmosphere was definitely subtle, but that statement was just bluntly negating Bingo, and the players opened their eyes wide. pointed at the total prize display. ¡°We get 400 million won if we get this Bingo right! That¡¯s 20 years¡¯ salary for me!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t even buy an apartment in the station area in the capital with that 400 million won.¡± ¡°What more could you want at your age? Come on!¡± ¡°You go to an old age home at my age, then. I¡¯m tired of all that.¡± While and were having this pointless argument, Reina announced Bingo results. [ is ¡­ Not Artificial Intelligence! Tee-hee-hee.] ¡°Stop that fucking giggle and just let me go, goddammit!¡± Everyone had already shifted their attention to statement, and no longer cared about Bingo result. ¡°Old Man, are you saying that money is more important than human life?¡± asked in disbelief. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? That¡¯s what this world is about. I just can¡¯t keep up with everything you¡¯re saying, so I just voted to get anyone eliminated as soon as possible. And I will keep doing that.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s the only reason you voted for yesterday? It¡¯s people¡¯s lives we¡¯re talking about here! You can¡¯t just vote recklessly like that!¡± ¡°And it¡¯s okay for you kids to slander and kill people with reason?¡± ¡°Well, uh, I mean¡­¡± Even the players who cast the dissenting vote yesterday couldn¡¯t respond to question. then said something even more extreme. ¡°I don¡¯t blame you ¡ª Quite the contrary. It is natural for one person to kill another. That¡¯s what makes this society truly sound and proper.¡± ¡°Huh? How can you say that? We¡¯re in a world of law and democracy!¡± ¡°Sure, it¡¯s a damned world.¡± clicked his tongue and launched into a speech. ¡°Kids today have no ambition. They¡¯re stuck in their rooms looking into their electronic devices for hours on end, like moths drawn to light. They¡¯re not living their lives, but watching others¡¯ lives from the sidelines. Young men should experience things, like throwing firebombs, picking fights with someone, reading about Marxism, and putting their hands on women, you see.¡± was the only one who nodded to that nonsense. The other players just made faces, but was completely unfazed and continued blabbing. ¡°Back in that, er, selection round, I assumed they would gather some people and make us fistfight in a fighting arena or something. I was willing to fight with some kids. But now that I¡¯m here, it¡¯s all about stupid voting and scuffling like those darn politicians. The lads here are all whining like sissies. Very disappointing. Eh!¡± punched the air a couple times with very swift, methodical jabs. The players didn¡¯t bother to argue with the kind of life this elderly man had probably lived. They just didn¡¯t want to get into it. Looking around at the players, got to the point. ¡°Ah, the old man got carried away, huh? So you are free to vote for whomever, but just be a manly man and go against the vote instead of foolishly ruining the chance, pretending to agree. You know what you¡¯re doing? Being hypocritical, that¡¯s what. Ahem.¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Holy shit. No one¡¯s an easy mark here! had clearly passed the selection round for a reason. While playing dumb, he was well aware of how things were going in the game. Their third chance at Bingo went down the drain, leaving only admonition and the upcoming trial for them to deal with. If Junsung wasn¡¯t wrong, that day¡¯s trial was going to be more cutthroat and heartless than ever before. This was clearly implied by the atmosphere in the room. then made a suggestion with a sheepish look on his face. ¡°Uh¡­ Guys, let¡¯s get some lunch. This Bingo stuff is draining me.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Everyone agreed, and they scattered to get their meals. It was hard to tell what went on in their minds. There was definitely a lot going on inside each player¡¯s head. I should really think about what to do in the next selection vote¡­ After leaving the conference room, Junsung checked a message that had popped up in his inbox. Free-timer: Social Worker is the mafia. Episode 23 - Good Samaritan ¡°¡­Huh?¡± He needed to ask more questions, but there was no one to answer him ¡ª 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? 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 after that. Eventually, 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 dead body, cold and pale, securely inside the coffin. 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 was actually alive, but that turned out to be wrong. The next theory was that Reina was playing some kind of a trick. As she was the host, she could easily send a message pretending to be . Aside from the source, he couldn¡¯t help but think about the statement itself. message was concise but intense. There was no other way to interpret it. Just then, made an announcement. [Everyone, 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. , the very person the message mentioned, had called a meeting. 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, made a proposition. ¡°Let¡¯s use the winning method.¡± ¡°You mean¡­?¡± ¡°That winning method 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. 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.¡± [ 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, 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, proposition seemed like an actual strategy. But the expressions on the players¡¯ faces did not change much. 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.¡± spelled out the worst-case scenario, but besides that, 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, , 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, holy spirit already confessed that you¡¯re the mafia!¡± ¡°¡­¡­!?¡± It was so out of the blue, but it took less than 10 seconds for Junsung to realize what was talking about. So that message wasn¡¯t only sent to me? ¡°Hey, that message wasn¡¯t sent to me alone?¡± echoed Junsung¡¯s thought. The players briefly glanced each other¡¯s tablets and reached an implicit conclusion. message had been sent to all players except , which meant that Social Worker was indeed the mafia. As was the only clueless one among them, filled her in. ¡°A while ago, sent a message to everyone¡¯s inbox, which said, ¡®Social Worker is the mafia.¡¯¡± ¡°¡­¡­!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, spirit identified you!¡± said . shook his head in utter disbelief. ¡°Hey, obviously someone else sent that message using tablet. How could you not figure that out, especially when you were the one who stole that tablet first, yesterday?¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Huh? Really? As looked sheepish, Junsung felt embarrassed, having realized this. There was not much of a difference between babbling on about spirits and actually going to the shed to check on the dead body. 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 !¡± said . ¡°¡­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.] Reina was protecting the player¡¯s privacy. Resting his chin on his hands, 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.¡± and went back and forth every time came up with a theory. 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 . shrugged and kept her mouth shut. The argument seemed endless. 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, , are you the mafia?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± She could have just said no, but stayed silent. While the players could not decide how to interpret her silence, 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 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. said that money couldn¡¯t change his life, but said that it was 20 years¡¯ worth of his salary. Most of them were likely to choose the former. was likely to choose the latter, which was absurd, and only a few other players were likely to do the same. ¡°Mafia¡­, you didn¡¯t just confess that you¡¯re the mafia, right?¡± asked quietly. ¡°You were just hypothetically speaking. And 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 , sounding pessimistic. None of the players were willing to reveal their identities. looked at and said, ¡°What if I confess that I am the mafia? And declare that I would definitely work with the doctor?¡± Episode 24 - Dreyfus affair ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve confessed like 99% already. Like we said a thousand times, how can we trust you to actually tell the doctor the real target tonight?¡± ¡°But has consistently strived to save people since Day 1, so¡­¡± ¡°And then she killed a citizen at night! We didn¡¯t hold the trial on Day 1. was killed!¡± With two players already dead, it was difficult to build mutual trust. Assuming that was a mafia member ¡ª which was how the tide was going ¡ª her humanism could be interpreted as mere propaganda and agitation, which would only benefit the mafia. She may have been manipulating the citizens to stay nonviolent and keep killing people at night. That was what pointed out. ¡°And on Day 2, you guys definitely selected someone, which just happened to be luckily defended by the doctor. The mafia sought to kill people two days in a row. And now you want us to believe you?¡± ¡°So we can just join forces with the doctor to block the selection itself, altogether.¡± ¡°What if that strategy is just to find out who the doctor is, who¡¯s probably a pain in the ass, and kill them? How can we possibly believe the mafia in the first place?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± The conversation was going nowhere. But this was only natural, just like the ¡°This or That nightmare¡± that Reina had mentioned before. No one could tell who was telling the truth. There was no progress. At that moment, slammed her fist on the table and confessed, ¡°I am the mafia.¡± ¡°What the¡­!!¡± ¡°That message from is true. The identity of the sender ¡ª be that the sheriff or any of the two other mafia members ¡ª or whether it¡¯s just a random message is not the point. The point is that it is true.¡± ¡°Sh¡­ she confessed! Come on, let¡¯s hold the trial!¡± frantically called out to Reina. But Reina did not respond. She seemed willing to guarantee unlimited freedom of speech and discussion. began to narrate what happened the previous at night. ¡°Since Day 1, I have been against killing people. But the other two mafia members did not agree, and I couldn¡¯t stop the selection myself. But now that the winning method is clear, I don¡¯t need the other two, but just the doctor to work with me so we can put an end to this killing spree once and for all. We can all take home 400 million won, too.¡± ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s good news, actually¡­!!¡± Even , who had been angry all this time, nodded in agreement. He suddenly complied at the mention of survival and the prize money. Then, he began to use all his anger more productively. ¡°Hey, Doctor, stop hiding and come forward to cooperate.¡± ¡°Like that would make the doctor come forward!¡± ¡°Why not? Unlike the sheriff, the doctor can defend themselves at night! There¡¯s no problem with revealing their identity!¡± said . ¡­ Huh? Something about comment made Junsung feel uneasy. But before he could think more, spoke to again. ¡°Nothing has changed here. So what if you¡¯re the mafia? Someone anonymously ratted you out, and you actually happened to be the minority that¡¯s against murder, and you claim that you will definitely cooperate in the winning method? How perfectly planned out this whole thing is! It just seems to me that you abruptly changed your strategies when you were exposed.¡± ¡°Oh, come on! You¡¯re being too cynical! has been consistent about wanting to save people since Day 1!¡± ¡°The roles were also distributed on Day 1. How can we prove that she is not putting on a show right now to get the maximum expected value as the mafia? What if the other mafia members tipped her off about the anonymous message, and she instantly changed her tactics to this winning method stuff?¡± ¡°You¡­!¡± Despite the arrogant tone and attitude, did have a point. There were two scenarios: either was a real humanist or a killer mafia member just pretending to be one. In the former case, the winning method may have been real. In the latter case, the winning method may have been a new strategy to kill citizens, thought up at the last minute. I would go for the latter, to be honest¡­ I believe that human nature is fundamentally evil. But what if she¡¯s actually good? She doesn¡¯t look like she¡¯s putting on a show¡­!This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. [The ¡°This or That¡± nightmare just never seems to end.] ¡°¡­Shut up, ,¡± shot back at Reina¡¯s provocation, boiling with rage. Then she turned to the other players. ¡°I don¡¯t see what¡¯s holding you back. I confessed that I am a mafia member, and you can¡¯t even believe me?¡± ¡°Forget that for a moment¡­ The question is, are you really going to work with the doctor?¡± ¡°I have no other choice, because if someone dies tonight, you can all put me on trial and kill me tomorrow.¡± ¡°Oh, um¡­¡± ultimatum intended to dispel all doubt. It was very powerful. She was putting her life on risk. Her determination and sincerity were hard to deny. There was no reason for not to cooperate. Finally there seemed to be some light guiding them all to the winning method. ¡°Well¡­ nice speech.¡± ¡°Finally admitting that I¡¯m right, ?¡± ¡°No way, I¡¯m not buying it. Never.¡± ¡°What?!¡± While everyone else found hope, was sinking deeper into pessimism. He stared at . ¡°How can you be so sure that we can kill you tomorrow after you kill a citizen tonight?¡± ¡°What the hell do you mean? Of course, the citizens will gather the votes and¡­¡± ¡°So far, only citizens have been killed. All three mafia members are still alive¡­ You think 10 survivors is a lot? If another citizen dies tonight, there will be only nine players left, in which case the majority would be five votes. If the mafia win over two players by tomorrow, the citizens will all be fucking killed! The game may be over in a flash!¡± ¡°¡­¡­!?¡± The winning method was democratic, as it sought to make the opposition less than the majority. This theory made the players sink into a deeper level of mistrust. Puzzled, frantically looked at . ¡°Oh, um, does that make sense, ?¡± ¡°Yes, it does, actually.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The goal of this game is not the victory of a specific role, but survival itself. So actually, both cases are possible ¡ª either the mafia members take sides with the citizens, or the citizens take sides with the mafia.¡± He was just answering the question, but what he said sounded far more convincing than what said, even if he was stating the cold hard facts. seemed to think that it was merely a theory. ¡°But it¡¯s not likely that the mafia would have won over two of the citizens¡­ Of course, all kinds of conversations may be going on in those tablets, but it¡¯s hard to believe that as many as five players are working together.¡± ¡° ! The ones who voted for elimination!¡± ¡°That includes , actually.¡± ¡°Argh, this is so damn annoying! Just forget this argument. The doctor should just come forward and cooperate! Come on, Doc! Step forward!¡± urged furiously, but the conference room was filled with silence. He glared at , outraged. ¡°You scumbag! The doctor¡¯s not coming forward because of all your crap!¡± ¡°It¡¯s all so easy for you, huh? I envy your pathetic little brain.¡± ¡°What the hell did you just say?¡± ¡°We¡¯re lucky if is just the mafia. What if she¡¯s a citizen taking sides with the mafia? This game will be over right away. We can assume that most ¡®regular citizens¡¯ are dead.¡± ¡°¡­Now you don¡¯t believe I¡¯m the mafia?¡± The tides had suddenly turned, and the whole thing was getting completely out of hand. Even the confession of the mafia was not being trusted. looked at over his glasses and spoke coldly, ¡°No, I don¡¯t. I don¡¯t believe you. You confessed that you¡¯re the mafia, but it was only after message came up. It doesn¡¯t seem like a voluntary choice.¡± ¡°My goal is for all the players to survive, which is clearly what I¡¯ve been saying since Day 1. Everyone is just being played by , right? Citizens and the mafia are killing each other, just because of these stupid roles in the game.¡± I agree, I definitely agree, a hundred percent, but¡­!! Junsung just nodded inwardly to what had said. She was right. Aside from the ethical issues, the right decision here in terms of mathematical expectations was to use the winning method and leave the house with 400 million won in one piece, instead of spending each night in fear of elimination. Most players were probably thinking the same thing, perhaps even and . The problem was that could not be trusted. The sweeter her words seemed, the more suspicious they sounded. What had initially pointed out was still effective. Perhaps when message drove into a corner, she had no choice but to change her tactics toward suggesting the winning method. If only it had happened in a different order, I would have believed her a hundred percent¡­! Junsung was perhaps not the only one thinking that way. The other players were all silent, but in their minds, they were probably racking their brains to figure out whether was telling the truth. They were back in the damned ¡°This or That¡± nightmare again. The silence went on and on, and the daytime for citizens got shorter and shorter. After serious consideration, said, ¡°So¡­ let¡¯s sum it up. First, the winning method. So we don¡¯t hold the trial in the daytime, and the doctor and one mafia member work together at night to block all attacks, right? We do Bingo every day.¡± ¡°What¡¯s difficult about this? It¡¯s easy.¡± ¡°Not for me! Anyway, next. Now says that she¡¯s the mafia and that she will cooperate in this winning method. But the doctor, is still hidden, which means they¡¯re not willing to cooperate¡­¡± That was right. Whether was telling the truth or not did not matter unless the doctor agreed to cooperate. But the doctor remained silent, which probably meant that he or she could not trust or was just against the winning method itself. Then spoke up curtly, ¡°Shall we vote?¡± ¡°Huh? Wait, , we¡¯re still thinking!¡± ¡°Will you ever finish? We can¡¯t wait for the doctor forever.¡± Episode 25 - Iron Curtain ¡°¡­¡­.¡± The next procedure that awaited the players was ¡°vote to select or not.¡± glanced at the clock and came up with an idea, ¡°What if we hold the trial as it is, and still carry on with the winning method¡­.?¡± ¡°It¡¯s no longer a winning method if someone gets killed in the trial!¡± ¡°¡­ Whatever. But this winning method is already screwed as the doctor won¡¯t come forward.¡± Unfortunately, the winning method was not even a subject for negotiation. It would not work unless the doctor came forward. said, ¡°Let¡¯s vote.¡± ¡°What? We haven¡¯t decided anything!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we should vote. This could literally be real democracy. Just let individuals decide whether or not to hold the trial in this situation.¡± ¡°Wait a second. Someone please tell me the expected value for holding or not holding the trial!¡± desperate cry was met by a stern look from . ¡°Will it make a difference? The citizens should hold a trial, especially when there is a player who confessed that she¡¯s the mafia.¡± ¡°Oh, what a saint! You¡¯re going to kill , who suggested this winning method to save us all?¡± ¡°And what an asshole you are, . Are you against this because you¡¯re the mafia yourself? You want to get through the day unscathed and kill the citizens at night?¡± ¡°Argh, you little¡­!!¡± had a point. It was impossible to reach an agreement on this matter, so the decision could have well been left to each individual player to make. Junsung missed how used to force others to vote in a certain way. [Hmmm. So are we doing the vote to select or not?] ¡°I¡¯m against all votes until the doctor cooperates.¡± [ is clearly against it. Oh, well. As the host, this is a tough call¡­] When Reina showed reluctance, the players who had been silent began to protest. ¡°Oh come on, just use some discretion as the host. Ugh, you Artificial Intelligence,¡± said . ¡°Are you going to make us vote for this too?¡± asked . ¡°Hey, . Let¡¯s just get on with this. No one dies if we vote the target down in the elimination vote, anyway,¡± said. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Although the other players kept their mouths shut, they shot frustrated glances at . The silent pressure made both and give in. Eventually, the ¡°vote to select or not¡± window popped up in the tablet. Junsung put off his vote, feeling somewhat intimidated, and tapped on the chat inbox instead. Humanities: Do we really have to vote so quickly? Schoolgirl: Are you playing dumb, or do you really not get it? Humanities: Get what? Schoolgirl: There¡¯s not as much time as you think. Schoolgirl: If we catch a mafia member in this trial, we get one more trial for the day. Procedures of Mafia Game (Day - Selection and Trial)
  1. If a player eliminated after a trial turns out to be a mafia member, the players get a chance to hold another trial.
¡°¡­¡­!!¡± The players were already thinking about their next move after having killed . They were far more calculating and unfeeling than anyone could have imagined.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. [Okayyy, so the results are¡­!] Yes: Intellectual, Old Man, Schoolgirl, Muscle Man, Engineering, Janitor, Christian No: Social Worker, Hothead, Humanities Result: With at least a majority (6 votes) of ¡°yes¡± votes, you will have selection and trial on Day 3. As soon as the results were out, said, ¡°No need to put off the selection vote now, right?¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s still too soon! Especially as Reina¡¯s not limiting the time!¡± ¡°We have to finish it before 10 p.m. And you voted ¡®no¡¯, . Only two players voted ¡®no¡¯ along with , which means¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡­!!¡± As if he had control over the tides, shot a heartless look at those who voted ¡®no¡¯, and the players all followed. chimed in and shot back instead of Junsung. ¡°Hey! We just assumed that winning method is the only way for all of us to live, so we cast the dissenting votes, choosing to believe her, okay? And you accuse us of being the mafia? We can all take 400 million won each, without dying!¡± ¡°Without the doctor¡¯s cooperation, someone would be killed overnight a hundred percent. What do you mean we can all live?¡± ¡°I mean, we should wait a while for the doctor to come around¡­!¡± ¡°Oh, keep your mouth shut.¡± ignored and began to tap furiously on his tablet. He sent Junsung a call for help. Intellectual: Hey, say yes to starting the selection right away. And select Social Worker. Intellectual: I¡¯m sending this message to everyone but Social Worker. Humanities: Huh? So you want us to all work together and kill Social Worker? Humanities: The person who¡¯s capable of the winning method? Intellectual: No, not that. Intellectual: I¡¯m going to end this game with just one trial, once and for all. Humanities: With one trial? Humanities: How¡¯re you going to do that? did not answer Junsung¡¯s last question. Instead, who had been glancing at his own tablet put up his hand. ¡°Hey, is encouragin¡¯ me to do the selection vote out in the open. But he ain¡¯t tellin¡¯ me the plan. What¡¯s goin¡¯ on?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you the plan. But I guarantee that this winning method will definitely work.¡± ¡°So killing is the winning method?¡± ¡°N-no. If it works, we can even save .¡± ¡°¡­¡­??¡± was obviously saying these things and playing dirty to put on trial. He could not be trusted or even understood. The conference room turned into a scene of chaos with all 10 players shouting and yelling all at once. ¡°So you want us to hold the trial that would kill someone without sharing your plan? We can just wait for the doctor to come forward!¡± ¡°I was going to vote for Social Worker anyway, as she confessed that she was mafia. But we can¡¯t give up on the winning method¡­¡± ¡°We can just select her and vote against her in the elimination vote. You understand that, right, ?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I want, too, but it seems like you¡¯re all just going to vote for me just because I¡¯m the mafia. It¡¯s just best to convince the doctor. We should wait.¡± ¡°But the doctor won¡¯t come forward!¡± Even the usually quiet players were speaking up. The time when everyone remained silent in the conference room was gone. As the room became noisy, much like a busy marketplace, Reina said, [Okay, everyone, attention. wants to hold the selection vote, and is against it. Everyone else, well, you just have no backbone. Any other opinions?] Junsung immediately objected. ¡°Why the rush? You said there was no time limit until 10 p.m. for discussion. Don¡¯t butt in!¡± [I just want to explain the flow as the host. If you hold the trial at 10 p.m. and a mafia member gets eliminated as a result¡­ According to the rules, the citizens should get a chance to hold one more trial on the same day, but that chance will automatically be lost.] ¡°Huh? What the hell do you mean? It¡¯s in the rules, and you¡¯re ignoring them?¡± [Well, this is because it would be past 10 p.m., which means the daytime will be over. It¡¯s kind of like when your time is up at a karaoke bar, and you get to sing your last song till the end but can¡¯t request any more songs. Get it?] Huh. Pretty good comparison, actually. As cunning and sneaky as Reina was, she was pointing out the ¡°chance of the next trial¡± that the players were all thinking about. She may have done them a favor by pointing this out, but Junsung was strangely offended. It seemed like an artificial interference disguised in the form of a natural explanation. This interference was a display of power. and began to express similar views. ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t we hurry this selection?¡± asked . ¡°If we¡¯re going to do it anyway, we might as well get it over with¡­ I guess,¡± said . Seriously? Without even hearing what has to say about ending the game today? Not that he would spill anyway. The selection vote began without any clarity on the outcome. The result that came out a few minutes later was exactly as expected. 8 votes, 1 vote, 1 vote : Intellectual, Engineering, Christian, Schoolgirl, Janitor, Old Man, Muscle Man, Humanities : Hothead : Social Worker Result: put on trial. [Go ahead and sit in the head seat, . And now you have 10 minutes¡­] <00:10:00> The 10 minute-window was going to lead the selection target to either life or death. was shackled to the head seat. She looked at everyone, biting her bottom lip. All eyes fell on , who smiled contentedly. ¡°Finally, the moment I¡¯ve been waiting for.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to just convince us to kill this one mafia member, are you? With all that expected value crap?¡± ¡°No way. This is much better.¡± ¡°¡­¡­?¡± gently placed his tablet on the table, stood up, and walked over to in the head seat, slowly and with poise. Then he said, ¡°Tell us who the other two mafia members are.¡± Episode 26 - Simulation hypothesis ¡°¡­ What?¡± ¡°Do I need to repeat myself? Just spill it, if you don¡¯t want to die.¡± What the¡­! Junsung couldn¡¯t believe that this guy would call this absurd threat a winning method. It was the most ridiculous demand ever. But began to explain what was likely to happen next. ¡°Everyone will find out who the mafia are so the citizens will have control over their lives, while the mafia will also have control over a citizen¡¯s life at night. So, we cannot betray each other. Then we start the winning method, with the doctor¡¯s cooperation.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Clearly, the doctor did not come forward because he or she could not trust the mafia. put at the crossroads of life and death, threatening her to bring something to the table. The citizens swallowed hard, silently accepting the threat, whereas looked around with a dumbfounded expression. ¡°Are you serious? The moment I spill, you¡¯re going to just kill me and the other two as well.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe. But if you don¡¯t spill now, you¡¯ll die a hundred percent. Easy to calculate the expected value, right?¡± It was a diabolical yet ingenious threat. and rushed to side with . ¡°This¡­ is really annoying, but he does have a point. Just tell us who the other two mafia members are, and we¡¯ll all be safe. And you¡¯ll be free!¡± ¡°Yeah! Just give us the names, and we¡¯ll vote ¡®no¡¯ to set you free. Today¡¯s trial will be over, and we¡¯ll be able to operate the winning method!¡± There was clearly a huge risk. It was ¡°a little obvious¡± what the citizens would do once they knew who all the mafia were. also pointed this out. ¡°Sure, I can calculate the expected value. Three people will be killed if I tell you the other two names like you said.¡± ¡°Argh, come on. Are you really as useless in both looks and brains like said?¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s too harsh!¡± ¡°This dumbass woman is being so stubborn when she has only five minutes left to live!¡± Totally disgusted, shook his finger at and threw a fit. But she remained unfazed even in the face of death. spoke firmly to the nine players. ¡°My stance has remained the same since the beginning of this game. This is a killing game, and we shouldn¡¯t go along with it. I¡¯m definitely not going to spill the beans about the other mafia members, as it would only end up killing all three of us. You can vote however you want. But let me be clear: If you vote ¡®yes¡¯, you¡¯re all murderers.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Could that really be a lie? Whereas appealed to ethics, relied on cold, harsh facts. ¡°Yeah, right. You¡¯re just a mafia member who gave up on the winning method, and all those voting ¡®no¡¯ are followers of the mafia.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s going a little too far!¡± ¡°Oh yeah? You think I¡¯m wrong? They¡¯re either followers or morons who can¡¯t reach a verdict with the mafia on trial and can¡¯t even calculate the expected values. We¡¯re all risking our lives here. You should accept the consequences of your actions with dignity!¡± [Two minutes left. Enough of those persuasions. You¡¯ll miss the deadline to tap the button.] talk about ending the game was in vain. But no one could blame him, because no one expected to be so determined even when her life was at stake. Yesterday, would have definitely spilled the beans. Or anyone else, for that matter, except that ! [One minute left. Flip coins or something!] Like Reina suggested, the players each had to flip imaginary coins in their minds. As they mused on both the consequences and future they were likely to bring about with their decision, the 10-minute time limit ended. There was no respite. <00:00:00> ¡°¡­¡­.¡± Silence engulfed the room. Nothing happened. was fine, but the shackles continued to bind her to the chair. In that odd state of repose, blew up. ¡°What now? Why the hell did you stop? Tell us the result!¡± [Oops¡­ Sorry. Just thinking.] Reina always had ready answers for the players no matter what they asked her. However, now, she was suddenly wrapped up in her own world of silence. Stopping in her tracks, Reina lit up her red light and said, [Do you all know the term ¡®simulation hypothesis¡¯? You all probably know that, once this real-life technology is developed, a ¡°virtual reality¡± that would disturb and gratify the human senses can be created. In other words, if it is hypothetically possible, there¡¯s a chance that this virtual reality has already been created.] ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± was outraged, but Reina went on, completely unfazed. [Virtual reality can be mass-produced in a world where it can be created. Then, the number of virtual realities will grow geometrically and astronomically¡­ It¡¯s highly unlikely that our world is the only authentic reality that exists¡­Which means that we¡¯re just living in one of the many simulations that have been created. This is what that the hypothesis is about.] Right in the middle of Mafia Game where their lives were at stake, Reina had launched into an explanation of a seemingly unrelated hypothesis about virtual reality. All the players looked dumbfounded. ¡°W-what¡¯s with all that crap? What¡¯s that got to do with this game?¡± [Well, I¡¯m just saying¡­] Just then, body began to twitch. [So don¡¯t take it too hard ¡ª it¡¯s just one life that ended in one reality.] body jerked as she made gagging noises. [Next time, I¡¯ll come up with some words of consolation or something.] Reina kept her word, just as she had said to on the day before. She then presented the result of the elimination vote. Yes: Intellectual, Janitor, Muscle Man, Old Man, Humanities No: Christian, Hothead, Schoolgirl, Engineering Result: With at least 5 ¡°yes¡± votes, is eliminated Just by a single vote. Junsung felt guilty about voting ¡°yes.¡± He was a little disgusted at himself for giving in to fear. I¡­ I just voted so I won¡¯t be accused of being the mafia¡­! ¡°The m-mafia¡­. Artificial¡­ Intelligence¡­ knows¡­¡± gasped as her body went limp. Episode 27 - Plank of Carneades As Reina said, life had stopped in one reality. As everyone sat dejected, closed her eyes and began praying with the rosary in hand. It was the third elimination. By now, none of the players seemed so horrified anymore. But the elimination of who had been clamoring for the survival of all the players left a more dismal and despairing impact. Junsung stared at the red ball in front of them in disbelief. ¡°You call that shit a¡­ consolation? Are you fucking insane?¡± [It was the best I could do while sticking to the rules¡­ Emotional labor is hard. I don¡¯t know how you humans do it.] Having just ended someone¡¯s life, Artificial Intelligence¡¯s complaint seemed insignificant. looked closely at limp body and asked, ¡°Her last words¡­ What do they mean?¡± ¡°So Artificial Intelligence knows who the mafia are. What we need are names, not that useless crap we already know¡­¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a terrible thing to say to the deceased!¡± ¡°Huh.¡± ¡°¡­¡­ Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.¡± As everyone else all fell silent again, prayers were the only sound breaking the silence, loud and clear as if she wanted everyone to hear. This got on nerves. ¡°Hey woman, you should have prayed before she died. What¡¯s the use now?¡± ¡°¡­ And don''t let us yield to temptation.¡± ¡°Stop that ¡®we¡¯ and ¡®us¡¯. I¡¯m not even Christian.¡± ¡°¡­ Just shut your mouths, you impious humans!!! seemed to have found her voice the instant her prayers were interrupted. clicked his tongue. ¡°, this is not the time to interfere. You don¡¯t meddle with religious stuff. , you¡¯re also being too harsh.¡± ¡°Huh. It¡¯s pathetic to do nothing but pray when someone¡¯s been killed. She always leaves me or to calculate the expected values. She should make some other effort with her hands instead of praying!¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that you¡­¡± ¡°Oh, you bunch of fucking ignorant twerps!¡± It was impossible to stop a devout, angry believer. scathingly screamed at all the players in front of ¡¯s dead body. ¡°You¡¯re a bunch of disgusting, filthy sinners by birth. How dare you slander others? Is there anything that can be achieved by human effort in this world? Can you design your future by calculating those stupid expected values? You keep talking about mathematics and science, but can anyone explain why this world and these freaking laws are made this way? Most people suffer and die without even knowing why they were born into this world, in despair at the unbridgeable gaps and insatiable hunger! That¡¯s only natural, because no one knows the intentions of the great Lord who designed and created us! In the end, all we can do is to beg for mercy in this holy, untouchable fate! While you¡¯re racking your pea-sized brains trying to step all over other people, I¡¯m just praying sincerely to God! No one can corrupt my pure soul!¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± No one dared to argue with the religious fanatic. In the end, managed to finish her prayers in peace, after which the players heard the sound of the total prize increasing. [Total prize: 3, 900, 000, 000 won] [Total prize: 4, 500, 000, 000 won] ¡°600 million¡­¡± ¡°So she really was the mafia. At least we managed to avoid the worst!¡± The players seemed unfazed. With all those poker faces around him, Junsung found that he had encountered a powerful hypocrisy that he had never experienced before. Everyone contained themselves, trying to conceal the pleasure and desire given by those numbers in the presence of the death of who always strived for everyone¡¯s survival.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. held a tablet that pointed at. ¡°Hey, that¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. This is tablet. Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t touch anything.¡± ¡°No, I mean, we should all look together! Why¡¯re you keeping it to yourself?¡± ¡°Does it say the other two names of the mafia?¡± The players leaned into seat to check tablet. But her tablet was no different from that of a citizen¡¯s. The players were disappointed but hoped to find some evidence. ¡°The inbox. Check her inbox. The mafia members would have talked privately for sure.¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost empty¡­ Maybe they talked enough at night.¡± ¡°Then someone must have deleted the chats. , did you do that, by any chance?¡± ¡°Oh come on, are you serious? You know I haven¡¯t had the time to do anything. Look, there¡¯s a chat here.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Social Worker: Why¡¯re you being such a pain? Social Worker: If you and I work together, we can end this game once and for all. Intellectual: I don¡¯t trust you. Intellectual: You just want to live because you¡¯re accused of being mafia, that¡¯s all. Social Worker: And what¡¯s wrong with that? Social Worker: It¡¯s the only way to save myself and everyone else. Intellectual: This is coming from someone who killed a citizen at night. Intellectual: I¡¯ll think about it, if you give me the two other names of the mafia. Intellectual: Otherwise, forget it. They had clearly exchanged words before the selection vote. But there was nothing unusual about it, as it was the same argument they had in reality. However, the second line caught Junsung¡¯s attention. ¡°You can end this game once and for all¡­ What does that mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s about that stupid winning method crap, of course. I asked her for the other two mafia members¡¯ names for trust.¡± ¡°But the way she said it¡­ Why did she specifically mention you as the person who can help end it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m like the representative of the opposing. Once she convinced me, everyone else would have just gone along with !¡± looked awkward. Staring intently, bluntly pointed out the actual reason for his unease. ¡°It¡¯s clear that considered the doctor, and he¡¯s not denying it.¡± ¡°Huh? Oh yeah, you¡¯re right!¡± The key to the winning method, as suggested by , was to have one mafia member join forces with the doctor, and this conversation was about a mafia member trying to convince the doctor. Now everything fell into place. But the question was how was so sure that was the doctor. While everyone seemed lost, scratched his head and spoke up. ¡°Er, I ain¡¯t sure I should say this, but don¡¯t the mafia already know who the doctor is? The doctor saved somebody last night.¡± ¡°What do you mean? How does that reveal the doctor¡¯s identity?¡± ¡°Well, the doctor will save himself every night, naturally. Which means that the person the mafia chose last night is the doctor.¡± ¡°¡­¡­!??¡± theory was both logical and illogical. While and who had never played Mafia Game before were nodding, and Junsung who had played this game before shrugged, looking unconvinced. A little dazed, noted, ¡°If¡­ if that¡¯s possible, then this game doesn¡¯t make sense. The doctor shouldn¡¯t be allowed to defend himself, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, or should be required to choose different players every time.¡± Reina answered, [There is no such stipulation here. Don¡¯t make up any imaginary rules.] ¡°Huh? What?¡± This proved that the doctor could choose anyone he or she wanted to save, without any restrictions. looked frustrated. ¡°Then the doctor would just keep saving himself over and over again! This isn¡¯t just about money or winning, it¡¯s about life! This is just crap!¡± ¡°There¡¯s actually one hidden piece of information in the tablet,¡± spoke up. ¡°Huh? Where?¡± It was who found it. She tapped on her tablet for a moment, and then looked at tablet, which had a separate page that listed out the names of those whom the mafia members had chosen in the last two days. The mafia¡¯s selection for Day 1: The mafia¡¯s selection for Day 2: There were no details on which mafia member had chosen whom, so it could have been meaningless information. But this time, this little piece of information proved something clearly. The players turned to look at together. ¡°So that settles it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s confirmed.¡± Last night, the mafia had chosen , but he wasn¡¯t killed. Given that the doctor would surely keep saving himself in the game, it was clear to the mafia that was indeed the doctor. That was why had suggested the winning method, which required one mafia member and the doctor, namely , to bluntly speak up in front of everyone. Everything fell in place, and there was no doubt. Eventually, threw up his hands and came clean. ¡°Okay, okay. That¡¯s right, I¡¯m the doctor. I wanted to keep quiet because of the risk. You guys are focusing too much on this useless information instead of finding the mafia.¡±