TFWSDW 35

~Chapter 35~

With a voice that sounded almost absentminded, Antonio delivered a sharply pointed remark.

“Wahaha. As expected of someone who survived the Labyrinth—different indeed!”

‘He’s saying that on purpose, isn’t he? Damn spy.’

“Hmm, why don’t you share these things with me, Candidate? That hurts my feelings,” Usher suddenly interjected.

Contrary to his words, there wasn’t a hint of actual disappointment on his face. He was grinning shamelessly, as always.

I wanted to snap back immediately, but—ugh.

The moment our eyes met, the words left my mouth automatically.

Father tried to turn me away too late. The truth spilled from my lips unbidden.

“Th-thank you.”

“Hm?”

“I mean it.”

Usher’s expression turned oddly complicated.

If I had to interpret it, it was probably along the lines of ‘Has this little brat completely lost it?’

‘Can’t you see I’m deliberately not saying “sorry”? That’s because I’m not sorry, you fanatic.’

Whether you struggled or not didn’t matter to me one bit. You could eat my middle finger for all I cared.

I was still under his brainwashing, compelled to answer truthfully, so that was the most sincerity I could wring out.

‘But I guess I really am grateful, in a way.’

Thanks for not causing trouble. Thanks for using your brainwashing to crank up my survival instincts.

That much, at least, was completely genuine—if only by the smallest degree.

“Did you enjoy your final rest?”
“Did you enjoy it?!”

The Judge, who had vanished, silently reappeared and seated itself at the bench.

‘So it begins.’

The child in Laura’s arms stirred awake, and even Usher straightened his usually lax posture.

We weren’t alone in this place.

‘Our side’s hostages…’

They had been dragged over, bound tightly, and were now seated forcefully beside us.

When our eyes met, one of them cried out.

“P-please save us…!”

“M-me too, please, I have children, children at home!”

I gave them a brief nod before shifting my gaze.

“Guests, the trial of the Second Space shall now begin. All rise.”

The Judge shuffled through a stack of books on the bench, then raised its three heads.

By now, I was somewhat used to the sight of its triple canine faces.

“First, choose your leader.”
“No, you don’t get a choice.”
“No choice at all.”

A hand tipped with claws as long as a beast’s talons pointed straight at me.

“You. You’re the leader, human.”
“You are the defense!”
“Defend them!”

I hadn’t been expecting anything else, so I wasn’t rattled.

“W-would that be… alright?”

I hesitated deliberately, glancing at my teammates as though frightened.

‘They’ll already see me as an extraordinary Candidate after this trial anyway, but appearances still matter.’

“Wahaha, I’m fine with it. But are you alright, Candidate?” Antonio said smoothly.

“I-I’m fine as well, Candidate…” added Laura nervously.

“Agreed,” Usher chimed in lightly, as though playing a game.

Finally, Father gave a solemn nod.

“No objections, then?”

There couldn’t be.

‘This is exactly what I wanted.’

I slowly raised my hand.

“Uh, before we begin… where are Teams Three and Four?”

There had been twenty people in total when we entered. With roughly four to six people per team…

“Will those teams’ trials proceed after ours?”

I made a casual guess, and the Judge answered readily.

“No, Teams Three and Four are elsewhere.”
“We are everywhere and nowhere.”
“The punishment for guilt is death!”
“Death!”

At that, I gave up neatly. Teams Three and Four were beyond our reach.

‘There’s nothing we can do for them.’

At least there were key characters on their side, so they wouldn’t die in this chapter.

Or so I had to hope.

‘We have our own crisis to deal with.’

I lifted my eyes. Suspended in midair was a woman bound tightly.

She was one of the hostages the other team had failed to save when Gidme was present.

“Shall we begin this human’s trial?”
“Let’s begin!”
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Mimicking the sound of a gavel with its voice, the Judge slammed its fists on the desk.

“A-ahh, ahhh…!”

Only now, standing at the defendant-and-defense bench, did I realize—

The hostage suspended in the air had something translucent blocking her mouth.

‘No wonder all we could hear were her sobs.’

It was something the game had never revealed.

“The accused is a 42-year-old woman who stole food from a general store! Rather than show remorse, she claimed, ‘If I hadn’t stolen, my two-month-old baby would starve to death tomorrow,’ making excuses and thus aggravating her crime!”
“The penalty for this wretch’s vile offense is… death!”
“Death to the guilty!”
“Death!”

I spared the barking dog-heads a sidelong glance before looking back at my teammates.

Those who weren’t designated as the defense were standing behind me, separated by a considerable distance.

Game Category [Post][Chatter]

Paranormal Edition

‘The Judge’s Law’

(Excerpt omitted)

By the way, the nickname for these three-headed mutts is “Execution Parrots” or “Death Dogs.”
The reason? You’ll understand the moment you see them.

These bastards do nothing but screech “Death!” over and over with their damned dog mouths (not even an insult, just a fact).

Do not get swept up in it.

All the hints you need to rescue the hostages are hidden in what these things say.

As with all paranormal “trial” phenomena, it may look like a courtroom, but it’s nothing but a hollow imitation—
a fashion trial with no real law or structure.

So what do you do once you hear the supposed details of the crime?

You bluff your way through.

“Defense, begin your argument.”

A trial with no prosecutor—just the defendant, their defense, and the Judge.

There had once been a rumor on the forums that one of the game developers must have been royally screwed over by the courts to design something like this.

‘Otherwise, why torment beginners with a trial system like this?’

I lifted my gaze.

“Your Honorable Judge.”

For reference, this three-headed mutt was different from the Judge I’d seen previously in the “Trial of Truth” chamber.

“Did you hear? It called us honorable.”
“As we should be!”
“Ahem. Ahem.”

They clearly loved being flattered.

And since the rest of the team could only see my back from here, I smiled as brightly as I pleased.

“Your sentence of death is utterly absurd and a blatant violation of every nation’s laws. It makes me want to scowl!”

This chapter resembled the style of a certain courtroom game.

Except here, instead of pointing out contradictions from prosecutors or witnesses, you had to find flaws in the Judge’s statements.

‘Honestly, if you executed everyone for petty theft, would anyone be left alive in the country?’

Forget the lofty philosophy that punishments were meant to rehabilitate people.

If every nation’s trials worked like this, the number of people thinking ‘I’m going to die anyway, might as well go all out’ would skyrocket.

But would this monster care about any of that?

‘Surprisingly… yes.’

“What? Where is the flaw?”
“In what way?”
“Guilt demands death. Death and nothing else!”

“Death? Of course.”

How nice it would be if all the truly evil ones were taken away.

“But this case is different. If you’re going to capture the defendant and sentence her to death…”

The hostage: a 42-year-old woman with a two-month-old infant. She stole because the child was starving.

A survival crime.

“…then you must also capture the lord of the territory where she resides. Shouldn’t you? Am I wrong?”

“Why bring up the lord?”
“Indeed, why?”

I didn’t break eye contact with the displeased Judge.

This creature could sense fear.

‘I mustn’t falter.’

These trials were all about momentum. Damn it.

“An adult can endure hunger, but a two-month-old infant? No. A child who cannot possibly survive alone must not be left to starve.”

“……”

“Therefore, the lord who created the environment in which the defendant had no choice but to steal must also bear responsibility.”