TMSWJ 2

Chapter 2

“It’s you! You’re the one with the red ink!”

“Why are you suddenly accusing me?!”

“Your eyes were wavering from the moment that guy mentioned the red ink! I saw it with my own eyes!”

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

I watched the people around me fall into confusion.

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

Much less a Mafia game being played as part of a job recruitment process.

It was only natural that everyone was on edge.

“Let’s settle this by majority vote. Those who think this person has the red ink, raise your hands.”

“Just try to pin the blame on me! The moment I leave this place, I’ll kill every last one of you!”

“…I think an anonymous vote would be better. How about we borrow paper and pens from the examiners?”

And just like that, the rules of a traditional Mafia game began to take shape.

It was certainly an interesting development, but…

‘This really doesn’t seem like a maid recruitment exam, does it?’

However, I couldn’t just say, ‘Oh, um, I came here to become a maid!’ and excuse myself.

The atmosphere around me was growing increasingly hostile.

‘Honestly, they wouldn’t believe me even if I told them the truth. They’d probably grab me by the collar and demand to know what kind of trick I was trying to pull.’

I had always been somewhat introverted, and after one failure after another, my MBTI’s capital I had grown even more capitalized.

This wasn’t an easy situation for me.

‘Oh, well. I’ll act suspicious and get myself eliminated naturally.’

And the suspicious behavior I chose was silence.

My plan was simple. Someone would eventually ask, ‘You’re awfully quiet. You’re the Mafia, aren’t you?!’ Then I’d stammer, ‘Uh… um…’ and get eliminated after everyone ganged up on me.

There was just one thing I’d overlooked.

Koreans had been training to play Mafia since elementary school.

When the game began, I found myself instinctively identifying the Mafia members.

Something had gone wrong.

“That man… He really had the red mark?”

“Wasn’t he completely on our side? We identified someone with a red mark together in the previous round.”

Everyone’s gazes darted around the room.

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

He was a mercenary-looking fellow who seemed to have seen plenty of combat. When we’d been told to put down our weapons earlier, he’d laid down no fewer than three swords.

And the second person they looked at was…

“How did that woman figure it out?”

As I felt everyone’s gazes pouring down on me, I rubbed my face.

How had I figured it out?

‘Every time someone attacks him, he tries to shift the blame onto someone else. That’s textbook Mafia behavior.’

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

Instead, they were looking at me with eyes full of admiration.

The three-sword-wielding man gave me a bitter smile.

“I’ve lost.”

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

Exclamations of surprise erupted from all directions, followed by applause.

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

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

I’d genuinely wanted to get eliminated halfway through. But the game was so frustrating that I couldn’t just sit there quietly.

It simply wouldn’t end!

At this rate, I thought we’d still be playing until dawn, so I finally managed to say my first words.

‘I think that person looks suspicious…’

Anyone who had played Mafia enough would understand.

Staying quiet the whole time and then suddenly pointing a finger at someone was incredibly suspicious behavior.

But contrary to my expectations, the people with blue ink agreed with me.

And so, the Mafia members were identified, my words began to carry weight, and eventually…

“Quite unexpected. All eight people with blue ink have survived.”

The manager spoke with a surprised expression.

“I didn’t expect so many people to pass…”

“I-I’ll withdraw!”

Naturally, I was the one who hurriedly shouted those words.

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 did absolutely nothing. I’d rather be the one to leave!”

Watching the blue-ink people begin to take my side, I felt utterly defeated.

Damn this cursed sense of camaraderie!

“I suppose there’s no helping it. It may take some time, but we’ll proceed with the one-on-one interviews as originally planned. Those who have been eliminated may leave.”

At that, the Mafia members collected their respective weapons and began filing out one by one.

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

“Don’t give up just because of me. See this through to the end.”

Me?

I don’t even know what kind of place this is!

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

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

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

‘…Should I just work here, after all?’

It was true that, although I’d never intended to, I’d been the most outstanding player in the Mafia game.

Where else could I possibly rank among the very best in my current situation? Right?

‘All right. Let’s figure out what kind of organization this is by talking to them.’

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

With renewed determination, I followed the manager.

And finally, I arrived at the interview room.

“What? It’s a woman?”

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

That was an exceptionally rare shade of hair, even in this world. His was so white it was almost startling.

His skin was so pale that he initially looked like a sickly person. But when I lowered my gaze, I noticed his broad shoulders, which made him look surprisingly muscular.

Finally, I saw his golden eyes.

And then I froze.

This man… Could he be?

Could he really be…?

“Start by introducing yourself.”

I sat down across from him and opened my mouth.

“Hello. My name is Hiel Kevernen, and as you can see, I’m an utterly ordinary person. I only came here by a complete coincidence, and I just happened to stay by another complete coincidence, so I’m really sorry, but could I possibly go home now—”

“Could you breathe while you’re talking?”

His voice was relatively gentle, but I couldn’t shake the gloom that had settled over my heart.

This man’s name was Rashak Barsen.

He was the male protagonist of the original novel—the very novel I’d been reincarnated into.

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

It’s a little late to mention this, but the original novel in this world was a dark, angst-filled regret romance.

Its title was Holding the Leash of Your Arrogance.

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

That was the familiar yet delicious plot awaiting this man in the future.

His personality was fairly typical, too.

Just as the title suggested, he was arrogant and taciturn. He fundamentally distrusted other people and would simply kill anyone who got on his nerves.

And that very man was my interviewer.

I’d somehow ended up at a recruitment exam for his subordinates.

And the Mafia game had actually been a test for recruiting real Mafia members!

As someone who had lived my entire life as the most ordinary, unremarkable person imaginable, this was far more than I could handle.

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

Even though the original story hadn’t begun yet, what good could possibly come from running into him?

‘And just look at his expression. He’s 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 the page just by glaring at it.

His posture was sloppy, too. If he just had a cigar between those fingers, he’d be ready to star in an entire Mafia movie…

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

I nodded vigorously, thoroughly intimidated.

“And it was all a coincidence that you came here and passed the exam?”

I shook my head vigorously again.

“But the atmosphere was so frightening that you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything until now?”

And once again, I nodded vigorously…

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

“N-No, sir.”

“Everything you’ve said so far is true, isn’t it?”

“H-How could I ever dare to lie in the presence of someone as esteemed as yourself?”

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

I almost wished it were a play.

I had no idea how many times I’d tried to deny reality during the short time I’d spent in this room.

I could even feel every second passing vividly.

One second, two seconds… and by the time about fifty-six seconds had passed—

“You can go.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah.”

I sprang to my feet and bowed.

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

The male lead let out a small, incredulous chuckle, as if wondering whether that was really something I should be saying to him.

Whatever. I hurried toward the exit.

The problem was that the way out was full of obstacles.

The place I was in was an abandoned building.

Perhaps because of that, even the interview room where the boss sat was littered with discarded furniture, construction materials, and all sorts of other junk.

When I’d entered, I’d been so startled by the male lead that I hadn’t paid any attention to my surroundings. But now, as I tried to leave as quickly as possible with that very same man watching me, there wasn’t a single direction in which I could walk without bumping into something.

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

“Ow!”

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

“Ugh!”

Trying to steady myself, I reached out and grabbed the wall.

For some reason, however, a large wooden board that had been propped against it let out a creaking sound and toppled sideways.

“Uh…?”

And in the empty space behind it…

There was a person.

And that person was holding an extremely sharp dagger.

“Get out of the way!”

With the male lead’s sharp shout, the dagger came hurtling toward me.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

…Now that I think about it, there’s something else I should mention.

When I was young, I actually received knight training.

Perhaps because I’d died of an illness in my previous life, I’d been reincarnated with a body that was absurdly healthy.

Acting on instinct, I twisted my body and dodged the assassin’s blade.

“Y-You…!”

Despite my excellent reflexes, even after undergoing all that training, I’d ultimately failed to become a knight for one reason…

I got so nervous when too many people were watching that I couldn’t perform to the best of my abilities.

As a result, I’d lost one sparring match after another.

But in a sudden crisis like this, I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about other people’s eyes.

Without even realizing what I was doing, I drove my fist straight into the stomach of the assassin who had lunged at 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.

So they say that luck accounts for seven-tenths of success, while skill accounts for the remaining three.

Thinking that my luck in this life didn’t seem to be any better than it had been in my previous one, I squeezed my eyes shut.