TSWJ 2

Chapter 2

 An Unexpected Interview

“You! You’re the one with the red ink!”

“Why are you suddenly accusing me?!”

“Your eyes started twitching the moment that guy mentioned the red ink! I saw it with my own eyes!”

“Do you have any proof?! I said, do you have any proof?!”

I watched the people around me descend into chaos.

There was no such thing as the Mafia game in this world.

And this was a Mafia game being played as part of a job recruitment process, no less.

Naturally, everyone was bound to be on edge.

“Let’s settle this by majority vote. Everyone who thinks this person has a red mark, raise your hand.”

“Just try to frame me as the culprit! The moment I leave this place, I’ll kill every last one of you!”

“…I think a secret ballot would be better. Why don’t we borrow some paper and pens from the examiners?”

Before long, the rules of a traditional Mafia game had naturally begun to take shape.

It was certainly an interesting development, but…

‘This really doesn’t seem like a place where they’re hiring maids… does it?’

Still, I couldn’t exactly say, “Oh! I came here to become a maid!” and walk away.

The atmosphere around me was growing increasingly hostile.

‘Even if I tell them the truth, they won’t believe me. At best, they’ll accuse me of scheming and grab me by the collar.’

I had always been somewhat introverted, and after a string of failures, my MBTI’s I had practically become a capital letter carved in stone.

This was a difficult situation for someone like me.

Well, I had no choice.

‘I’ll act suspiciously so I can get eliminated naturally.’

And the suspicious behavior I chose was… silence.

My plan was simple. Someone would eventually ask, ‘You’re being awfully quiet. Are you the Mafia?!’ Then I would stammer, ‘U-Uh… um…’, get dogpiled by the others, and be eliminated.

That was the plan.

However, there was one thing I had overlooked.

Koreans had been training for Mafia games since elementary school.

As soon as the game began, I found myself instinctively identifying the Mafia members.

Something had gone wrong.

“That man… Are you saying he really had a red mark?”

“Wasn’t he completely on our side? We identified a red-marked player together in the previous round!”

Everyone’s gazes darted around the room.

The first person they looked at was the man they had just mentioned.

He had the air of a battle-hardened mercenary, and when we’d been told to put down our weapons earlier, he had surrendered no fewer than three swords.

And the second person they looked at was…

“How did that woman figure it out?”

Under the barrage of stares, I rubbed my face.

How had I figured it out?

‘Every time someone attacks him, he redirects the blame toward someone else. That’s textbook Mafia behavior.’

Of course, there was no way they could have known that.

Instead, everyone was looking at me with expressions of admiration.

The three-sword-wielding man smiled bitterly.

“I’ve lost.”

Those words announced the end of the long, drawn-out game.

Exclamations of surprise erupted around the room, followed by applause.

And in the middle of it all, I stood frozen.

‘This isn’t how it was supposed to go.’

I really had wanted to get eliminated halfway through. But the game had been so frustrating that I couldn’t just sit there quietly.

It simply wouldn’t end.

I figured we’d still be playing until dawn at this rate, so I finally forced myself to speak.

“I think that person looks suspicious…”

Anyone who has played Mafia enough knows this.

Remaining quiet the entire time, only to suddenly point a finger at someone, is incredibly suspicious behavior.

But contrary to my expectations, the blue-marked players agreed with me.

And so, the Mafia members were identified, my words gradually gained influence, and eventually…

“It’s quite unexpected. All eight people carrying blue marks have survived.”

The manager spoke with a surprised expression.

“I never expected so many of you to pass…”

“I-I’ll withdraw!”

Naturally, the person who shouted in a hurry was me.

But the others reacted in a way I hadn’t anticipated.

“What are you talking about?! You can’t leave! We won because of you!”

“Don’t tell me… you’re doing this for our sake?”

“I was the one who contributed nothing. I should be the one to withdraw!”

As I watched the blue-marked players begin taking my side, I sank into despair.

Damn this wretched sense of loyalty!

“I suppose we have no choice. It may take some time, but we’ll proceed with the one-on-one interviews as planned. Those who failed may leave.”

The Mafia members began collecting their weapons and filing out of the building.

The last Mafia member, the three-sword-wielding man, passed by me and patted me on the shoulder.

“Don’t give up. For my sake, see this through to the end.”

Me?

I don’t even know what this place is supposed to be!

“With skills like yours, you could go anywhere… but if you ask me, this place is a perfect fit for you.”

I had come here because I couldn’t go anywhere else.

That perverted sexual harasser had blocked every avenue of employment for me, and this was the only place that had even offered me an interview.

‘…Should I just go ahead and work here?’

It was unintentional, but I really had been the most impressive player in the Mafia game.

Where else could I possibly rank among the top candidates in my current situation?

Right?

‘All right. I’ll try to figure out what kind of organization this is while talking to them.’

The questions they asked and the interviewers’ attitudes should provide some clues.

With renewed determination, I followed the manager.

And when I arrived at the interview room…

“What? It’s a woman?”

I stopped in my tracks when I saw the silver-haired man sitting in the middle of the room.

That shade of silver was rare even in this world. His hair was so white it was almost otherworldly.

His skin was pale enough to make him look sickly, but when I lowered my gaze, I saw broad shoulders that made him look remarkably muscular.

Finally, I noticed his golden eyes.

And then I froze.

Could this man really be…

Could he?

“Start by introducing yourself.”

I sat down across from him and opened my mouth.

“Hello. My name is Hiel Caveron. As you can see, I’m an utterly ordinary person. I only came here by a complete coincidence, and I happened to stay by another coincidence, so I’m really sorry, but would it be all right if I just went home now—”

“Why don’t you take a breath?”

His voice was relatively gentle, but that did nothing to lift my spirits.

This man’s name was Rashak Barsen.

He was the male protagonist of the original novel I had been reincarnated into.

And he was the man who controlled the underworld of the capital.

Now that I think about it, I should mention that the original novel in this world was an angst-filled regret romance.

Its title was Holding the Leash of You, the Arrogant One.

After being forced by his father to marry the female protagonist against his will, the male lead would treat her with indifference. Then, after she became pregnant and ran away, he would regret everything and beg her for forgiveness.

It was a common trope, but a delicious one.

And that was the future awaiting this man.

His personality was fairly typical, too.

Just as the title suggested, he was arrogant and taciturn. He fundamentally distrusted people, and if someone annoyed him, he’d simply kill them.

And that very man was my interviewer.

This was a recruitment drive for his subordinates.

The Mafia game had actually been a test to recruit members of the Mafia!

For someone like me, who had lived my entire life as the most ordinary, inconspicuous person imaginable, this situation was more than I could handle.

Sure, he was the male lead, but he was still a man from the underworld.

Even if the original story hadn’t started yet, what good could possibly come from crossing paths with him?

‘And look at his expression. He looks absolutely terrifying.’

I had no idea what was written on the paper in front of him, but his gaze was so fierce that it looked as though he could pierce straight through it with his eyes alone.

His posture was sloppy, too. If he just had a cigar between his fingers, we’d have everything we needed for a Mafia movie…

“So, you came all the way here without knowing this was our organization…?”

I nodded vigorously, practically trembling with fear.

“And you passed the examination entirely by chance, too?”

I nodded just as vigorously again.

“But the atmosphere was so frightening that you haven’t been able to say anything until now?”

And once again, I nodded…

“Did you bite your tongue or something? Why aren’t you answering?”

“N-No, sir.”

“Everything you just told me was true, right?”

“H-How could I dare to lie in your esteemed presence?”

“Why are you suddenly talking like that? This isn’t a play.”

I wished it were a play.

I couldn’t even begin to describe how desperately I’d been denying reality during the short time since entering this room.

I could feel time passing with excruciating clarity.

One second. Two seconds…

And by the time approximately fifty-six seconds had passed…

“Go.”

“R-Really?”

“Yes.”

I jumped to my feet and bowed.

“Thank you! I’ll live an honest life from now on!”

The male lead let out a small, incredulous laugh, as though he were wondering whether that was really something he needed to hear from me.

Whatever.

I hurried toward the exit.

The problem was that the way out was filled with obstacles.

The place I was currently in was an abandoned building.

Perhaps because of that, even the room where the boss conducted his interviews was littered with discarded furniture and construction materials.

When I’d entered, I had been so shocked by the male lead’s presence that I hadn’t paid any attention to my surroundings.

But now, with the very same man watching me, I was in such a hurry to leave that I couldn’t seem to avoid bumping into anything.

I even slammed my thigh against the corner of a table.

“Ow!”

Then my foot got caught on the leg of a chair lying on the floor.

“Ugh!”

I tried to steady myself by grabbing the wall, but for some reason, a large wooden board that had been propped against it began to tilt with a creak before toppling sideways.

“Huh…?”

And in the empty space behind it…

There was a person.

And that person was holding a very sharp dagger.

“Get out of the way!”

At the male lead’s sharp shout, the dagger came flying toward me.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

…Since we’re sharing things I haven’t mentioned until now, I should tell you that I actually received knight training when I was young.

Perhaps because I had died of an illness in my previous life, I had been blessed with a body that was almost excessively healthy after reincarnation.

Instinctively, I twisted my body and dodged the assassin’s blade.

“Y-You…!”

Despite my excellent reflexes, there was a reason I had ultimately failed to become a knight, even after undergoing extensive training.

Whenever too many people watched me, I became so nervous that I couldn’t perform to the best of my abilities.

As a result, I had lost match after match during sparring practice.

But in a sudden crisis like this, I didn’t have the time to worry about other people’s eyes.

Without even realizing what I was doing, I drove my fist straight into the abdomen of the assassin charging toward me.

When the assassin collapsed, I was so startled that a curse slipped out of my mouth.

THUD!

“Holy sh—!”

The dagger fell to the floor with a clear metallic clang.

The assassin appeared to have lost consciousness on the spot.

I turned around.

“W-Well, I’ll be taking my leave now…?”

The male lead didn’t answer.

They say that everything comes down to seven parts luck and three parts skill.

As I squeezed my eyes shut, I couldn’t help thinking that my luck in this life wasn’t any better than it had been in my previous one.