Chapter: 120
### 120 – Room 107, The Gate Room – ‘Jekyll and Hyde Game’ (11)
—
– Han Kain
The team started scratching their heads, trying to figure things out.
I guess it’s a relief in a way? The Jekyll and Hyde game felt like a variant of the Mafia game, and the only one clueless among us was Grandpa Mooksung.
As he bombarded the others with questions in a frantic manner, I decided to start asking the announcer my own questions.
“How much can you tell us?”
/I can answer within reasonable limits. Of course, I can’t tell you who Hyde is infesting./
What kind of common sense exists in a bizarre game like this? It sounded like they were just going to do whatever they wanted!
But honestly, we are the ones at a loss here, not that thing. So I kept firing questions.
“So, Hyde possesses one of us when the game starts, right? Can the possessed person use their legacy or tools?”
/Hyde is strictly bound by the rules of the game. It will not use a participant’s legacy or harm you in any way except through execution./
So, Hyde isn’t going to start using bracelets or grimoires out of the blue. Got it.
Eunsol then quickly jumped in with her question.
“We have to discuss and find Hyde each round, right? Can Hyde listen in on that discussion?”
That was a crucial question. In Mafia games, the mafia usually sabotages the citizen team’s discussions, isn’t that right?
/Hyde does not take away your free will, even when infesting you. So, it won’t participate in discussions but can listen./
Hearing this, I began to get a clearer picture of what Hyde was all about.
An entity that strictly obeys the rules of the game.
Even while infesting, it doesn’t take away the subject’s free will.
Hyde seems more like an AI created solely for the ‘game’ rather than a self-aware being.
It’s a relief that Hyde won’t mess with our discussions. But being able to listen complicates things even more for us.
Everyone kept asking about the rules, trying to clarify their doubts with the announcer.
The 30 minutes flew by in no time.
—
– Round 1, Han Kain
– Beep!
/Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the Jekyll and Hyde game.
From now on, the first round of daytime is in session. You have 15 minutes to identify who Hyde is and execute them. The doctor can specify a target to protect./
…
Grandpa Mooksung was the first to speak up.
“So, you’re saying Hyde is lurking within one of us?”
“That seems to be the case. However, since Hyde doesn’t take away free will, the person being infested wouldn’t even know.”
I knew that was impossible, but I glanced at Songee just in case.
Songee scanned us with her bracelet.
“I have no idea.”
“They said we can’t find out through legacies. How’s Pepper reacting?”
“There’s no blessing right now, so communication is tough, but aside from that, no reactions at all.”
Songee’s words made it clear; Pepper was comfortably munching on sunflower seeds from the resting space as if nothing was wrong while we either lived or died in extreme tension. It made me sigh.
Can that darn parrot earn its keep?
With no luck from the bracelet or Pepper, everyone fell silent.
Ahri, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke up.
“Would it help if everyone drank my blood to find Hyde?”
“We can’t find Hyde through legacies.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t?”
“It’s strange that we can’t find Hyde with legacies, but we’re allowed to use them.”
“…”
“If they wanted to prevent us from using legacies, they would have sealed them altogether. Leaving them open and preventing us from finding Hyde….”
Eunsol chimed in.
“It means we should use the legacies in another way rather than finding Hyde.”
15 minutes is short as it is. We had less than 5 minutes left.
“Announcer!”
/Yes?/
“The doctor already designated a target, right?”
/Yes, the doctor is already aware of their role./
At those words, we all looked around at each other.
“One of us is the doctor.”
Grandpa Mooksung said in awe.
“Oh! Who? Who are we protecting—”
Thud!
Ahri smacked Grandpa’s head.
Honestly, if it weren’t for Ahri, I would’ve kicked him myself.
“Please! Grandpa Mooksung. If the doctor reveals themself, then Hyde will kill them!”
“Oh.”
With a sigh, Eunsol pointed out, “By the way, always keep in mind that Hyde is listening to our conversation.”
At least I knew one clear fact.
I am not the doctor, and neither is Grandpa Mooksung.
If that grandpa was the doctor, he would have already driven us crazy with questions about who to protect.
“Now there are 3 minutes left. Should we just pick someone at random?”
Ahri nodded.
“Guess there’s no other choice. Let’s just pick one. Seungyub, your turn!”
“Me? My blessing is sealed!”
“Just do it.”
Seungyub hesitated then pointed at Songee on his left.
Songee didn’t protest, but the announcer responded.
/Ladies and gentlemen, have you designated ‘Songee’ as the suspect Hyde?/
!
In an instant, a realization hit me like a ton of bricks!
Before anyone else could respond, I shouted the loudest.
“Wait! Announcer!”
/Yes?/
“If we decide Songee is Hyde, what happens next? Does Hyde get eliminated, or is Songee killed too?”
Only then did the expressions of the others change to worry.
/It is not possible to eliminate only Hyde. The only way to get rid of Hyde is to eliminate the host./
Eunsol grabbed the back of her neck and let loose a string of curses.
“Wow! So it’s not just Hyde that dies, but the host too?!”
Ahri urgently questioned, “Do we have to kill someone every round?”
/No. You can choose to forfeit the search for Hyde if you wish./
As soon as Seungyub heard the announcer’s words, he shouted.
“Cancel! No, wait—sorry, Songee!”
“It’s alright. More than that, we can’t just randomly pick someone to accidentally find Hyde. The chances of randomly getting Hyde are too low.”
At this point, I realized one thing.
The fact that only one participant can be resurrected in the third trial was to prevent this from happening.
Ahri added, “Even if we perfectly respond and find Hyde right away, one of us will still have to die. It’s unreasonable given that a perfectly executed plan still results in a casualty, hence the resurrection is allowed.”
In all this chaos, we ultimately did not point a finger at Hyde.
/The sun is setting now. Daylight is over, and Hyde’s time has come./
My consciousness began to blur…
—
– Round 2, Han Kain.
I jerked awake. Looking around, everyone else was shaking their heads, waking up.
Who did Hyde execute?
…
Everyone was perfectly fine.
The announcer descended.
/Congratulations. The first execution of Hyde has failed. The doctor successfully protected the right target.
In the first round, Hyde was ‘Yu Songee’. Now, Hyde migrates to another person./
…
“Huh? What? I was Hyde?!”
Songee fell back in shock.
Eunsol immediately questioned her.
“Did you feel any sense of alienness? Like a dark aura within you? A wicked voice?”
“I didn’t feel anything occult like that at all.”
Ahri began pondering.
“Does that mean the host itself can’t know they are infested? But the doctor was able to block it in round one?”
Meanwhile, Grandpa Mooksung blurted something silly again.
“Wow! Who is this doctor? They’re unbelievable at this game! How the heck did they guess right of all things? Was it you, Seungyub? You’re uncanny with your picks—”
“Can you shut up already?!”
Ahri kicked Grandpa this time. He finally fell silent with a sullen face.
Elena, who had been quietly observing, decided to speak up.
“You seem to be doing well enough, but doctor, please try to keep hiding for as long as you can.”
As everyone threw different opinions around amidst the confusion, I…
Ah damn it, damn it all!
I started regretting, face buried in my hands!
It was Seungyub who picked Songee right off the bat!
If only we’d been cautious and let Songee take the fall! She would have died, and then Hyde would vanish!
We could have broken the game flawlessly and resurrected Songee without any sacrifices at all!
How did Seungyub pick her so quickly? Especially when his blessing is sealed?!
Was it sheer luck? Whatever it was, I was going nuts just thinking about it.
Ahri, having the same thought as me, grabbed Seungyub’s arm.
“You’re the best, Seungyub! True skill! The blessing doesn’t even matter! Give it another go!”
Seungyub’s face contorted under the pressure.
If he hadn’t known that the host also dies if picked, he might have given it another shot. But knowing that, he couldn’t bring himself to choose again.
This time, 15 minutes felt utterly fleeting.
The knowledge from the first round was clear:
Songee was the first host. We didn’t know who the execution target was, but the doctor succeeded in their role.
That by itself didn’t reveal who the next target for infestation or execution would be.
I was lost.
What criterion does Hyde use to choose whom to infest or execute?
Amidst the confusion, the second round passed by.
—
/The sun is setting now. Daylight is over, and Hyde’s time has come./
My consciousness started fading again…
—
– Round 3, Han Kain.
As soon as I regained my senses, I looked around. Who’s it gonna be this time?
…
Everyone was fine… again.
The announcer descended.
/Congratulations! The second execution of Hyde has failed. The doctor successfully protected the right target.
In the second round, Hyde was ‘Park Seungyub’. Now, Hyde migrates to another person./
As Seungyub stared wide-eyed in shock, I too was surprised.
The doctor managed to defend twice in a row?
The first time could’ve been luck, but twice in a row?
Just doing a quick calculation shows that the odds of guessing correctly are incredibly low.
I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
I had a faint suspicion from the start, but it became clear that Hyde doesn’t choose randomly.
There’s some hierarchy to how they select execution targets.
And among us, there’s one person, chosen as the doctor by the announcer.
Someone must have figured out the criteria Hyde is using.
Someone who understood it just like me spoke up.
“Looks like the dear doctor has had a revelation. The problem is we’re in the dark about what that revelation is…”
Grandpa, finally picking up on things, chimed in.
“I really wish we at least knew who Hyde was after all this… any way to find out?”
The doctor has to know, right? They must know who they protected!
Eunsol, deep in thought, brought out several sheets of paper.
“Time is running out, and I can’t think of a better method. The doctor can’t just give us a lecture, so let’s try this instead.”
She quickly wrote something on the papers, crafting a chart with our names and each round.
Realizing immediately what she was getting at, I exclaimed.
“Everyone, turn around and pretend to write something. Those who aren’t the doctor shouldn’t touch their papers; just the doctor should mark their own. Nothing more than a dot to not give anything away.”
A brief moment passed.
The papers we had were soon gathered back together on the table.
Every paper had no markings except for one, which had two dots.
—
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