Chapter 2150 – 2150. Eternal Eden
I started the interview with Kang Sang-gi.
As soon as Kang Sang-gi entered, he bowed. Ninety degrees. Seeing his waist bent at a perfect right angle, it seemed he had completely submitted to me.
I was reasonably satisfied. If he had come in with his back straight, I would have smacked his head.
Anyway, since he was willing to play along, I decided to watch him for now.
The interview went on casually. I didn’t have much curiosity about a guy like him.
“Who do you think is the parasite hiding in the apartment?”
He flinched.
Kang Sang-gi paused. He rolled his eyes and asked back.
“Is this… a tip-off?”
“Don’t overinterpret it. I’m just asking for your opinion. You, as a resident of the apartment, know the situation better than I do, an outsider.”
“…The most suspicious person as a parasite is Lee Ye-bin. That woman knows how to manipulate people cleverly.”
“Anyone else? You’re not going to say Lee Ye-bin is the only parasite, are you?”
“Irina from building 101. I suspect that woman is also a parasite.”
I almost lashed out and killed Kang Sang-gi in that instant. How dare he slander my woman as a parasite?
*Grind*
As I ground my teeth in anger, Kang Sang-gi was startled and lowered his head, watching my reaction.
“I know the political situation in Saetbyeol Apartment. It’s best to keep it moderate.”
“…Yes. I’m sorry.”
Kang Sang-gi rattled off other names. Most of them were people from buildings 101 and 102. Perhaps because of my warning, he mentioned a few names from building 103 as well.
“Okay. You can go now.”
“Um, Sung Yu-jin.”
“What.”
“It’s nothing much… I was rude yesterday, wasn’t I? So, as a token of apology, I brought a small gift.”
What he took out of his pocket were precious metals. Gold and jewels. They were worth much more than money, at least. Gold was also a safe asset.
“Hmm. I’ll accept the gift.”
There was no reason not to accept it when he was offering.
“I believe you’ll do well in the future. You can go now.”
“Um, there are more gifts. Why don’t you come to building 103? I’ll escort you. It might be better to have the interview there…”
“This bastard… Do you think my time is cheap? Or are you trying to kill me there? It’s obviously a trap.”
“No! It’s definitely not a trap! These are just gifts I prepared because I want to get close to you, Sung Yu-jin! I’ve prepared drinks and women! I won’t disappoint you! One of our guys is a great singer!”
“…Drinks and women? Hmm. Since you prepared it for me, I can’t refuse. Choi Hye-jin, you stay here and guard the house.”
Choi Hye-jin shook her head.
“He’s horny again.”
Kang Sang-gi’s hospitality was quite satisfactory.
• • •
The next day, at noon.
I called the apartment residents back to the plaza. Just like yesterday, the atmosphere was ominous. First, I distributed food to the people. Two days’ worth of food per person.
It was relief supplies from the government, mostly canned goods and old rice. The amount of ramen was small, but it was quite popular. I heard that ramen was even being used as a substitute for currency. Well, it was none of my business.
It would have been easy to monopolize the food, but managing it was a hassle, so I distributed it fairly. Even after distributing it fairly, there was food left over. This was because of those who died yesterday and one more person who went missing this morning.
“Kang Sang-gi.”
“Yes, Sung Yu-jin.”
“I heard food support is coming tomorrow afternoon? The remaining food, let building 103 take it.”
“R-really? Is that okay?”
Kang Sang-gi was naturally delighted.
“Yeah. I liked your sincerity yesterday.”
Kang Sang-gi happily took the remaining food. People from other buildings stared at them. The people from building 103 didn’t care about the stares and cheered.
After the food distribution was over, I drew my sword, slung it over my shoulder, and started to set the mood.
“The parasite was active last night. One person from building 102 went missing. The most suspicious people are those who were close to the missing person, right? Those whose names are called, come forward.”
I killed the missing person’s family and three friends. There were no parasites.
“Those parasite bastards… They’re meticulous.”
“……”
The people’s gazes were sharp. Especially the eyes of the people from building 102 were cold. I spat at them.
“What, you got a problem?”
The people from building 102 lowered their eyes. As the atmosphere turned hostile, the representative, Lee Ye-bin, had no choice but to step forward.
“Three innocent people died. And that’s all you have to say?”
“It was an unavoidable sacrifice in the process of finding the parasites.”
“……Your method is wrong. At least there should be solid evidence! Are you planning to kill us all like this?”
I strode towards Lee Ye-bin. Her eyes wavered as she saw the blood on my sword. She unconsciously backed away from me.
“If you’re a human, don’t defend the parasites. You look like one.”
Anyone who opposes me is a parasite.
“O-okay.”
Lee Ye-bin shrank back.
Regardless, I called out other people. A total of 15 people. Five from each building were called out to the center of the plaza.
They trembled like death row inmates. Some sat on the ground and sobbed. Choi Hye-jin knocked out the noisy ones with a baseball bat.
“These are all people suspected of being parasites based on tips. It would be easy to kill them all to check if they’re parasites… but I don’t think you’d accept that. It’s a hassle, but I’ve decided to go with a democratic method. Excluding abstentions, if more than half vote in favor, they will be executed.”
Isn’t the citizens’ vote the fun part of the Mafia game? The parasite hiding in the crowd right now must be on edge. Probably the residents too.
“The vote will be conducted in secret. The method is by pressing a button.”
With Na Chae-young’s help, I created a simple voting machine. It was delivered by drone this morning, and the installation was simple. Most importantly, as it was a machine, I could manipulate it.
“The person to be executed will be given a final statement opportunity of 1 minute right before the vote. Now, let’s start the first vote. Hwang Hyung-soo. You have 1 minute. Start talking.”
“I-I’m not a parasite! I haven’t even left my house since last night! Please, everyone! Please save me! P-please press the oppose button! Please!”
His statement was closer to begging for his life. I watched without intervening.
The voting proceeded quickly.
“127 in favor. 320 against. 521 abstained. Hwang Hyung-soo will not be executed.”
“I-I’m alive… Th-thank you! Thank you! *Sob*!”
Hwang Hyung-soo sat on the ground, tears of joy streaming down his face.
I clicked my tongue inwardly. There were more opposing votes than I expected. Still, I was comforted by the fact that there were many abstentions. Those who abstained meant they didn’t care whether people lived or died.
The next votes continued. Ten votes were held, but no one was executed.
The anomaly occurred when it was building 103’s turn to vote.
A middle-aged security guard with hollow cheeks knelt before the people, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.
“E-everything I’ve done so far, I didn’t do because I wanted to. Kang Sang-gi! Kang Sang-gi made me do it! The suicide incident three months ago was also manipulated by Kang Sang-gi behind the scenes! I’m not at fault!”
“This crazy bastard! What the hell are you talking about!”
Kang Sang-gi shouted frantically. As Kang Sang-gi rushed out to beat the middle-aged security guard, Choi Hye-jin stopped him.
“Mister. You have to follow the rules, right?”
“Th-that guy is lying!”
“Well, that’s not my problem. People will judge for themselves.”
Choi Hye-jin thumped Kang Sang-gi’s head with a baseball bat. Kang Sang-gi had no choice but to step back, scowling. He glared at the middle-aged security guard as if he would kill him.
“You bastard! Don’t talk nonsense and just die! You’re going to be executed!”
“It’s all your doing! Yesterday, you offered that guy drinks, women, and money too!! Damn it! You’re the biggest bastard!!”
“This crazy bastard, really!!”
I was watching because it was interesting, but a minute had already passed.
“Stop. Time’s up. Start the vote.”
Result.
“420 in favor, 207 against, 321 abstained. Execution confirmed.”
I didn’t manipulate it at all.
This guy wasn’t dying because he was a parasite. He was dying because his reputation was trash.
“N-no, please save me!”
“Shut up, parasite. The will of Saetbyeol Apartment has chosen your execution.”
Instead of blaming me, he blamed the apartment residents.
“You bastards!!! You’re all murderers! You’re all murderers!! I’ll become a ghost and curse you all! Especially Kang Sang-gi and Lee Ye-bin! You two were lovers who were always together!”
Lee Ye-bin’s face contorted, and she tried to shout something. Before that, I swung my sword and executed him. He sowed suspicion right before he died. The apartment residents were already wavering. Especially building 103 was wary of their representative, Kang Sang-gi.
After that, the voting continued.
The ratio of opposing votes and abstentions decreased, and the votes in favor gradually increased.
“Ah, the interviews will be conducted randomly, so keep that in mind.”
Everyone knew that the interview time was also the time for tip-offs.
• • •
Before starting the interviews, I had Choi Hye-jin check the atmosphere of the apartment.
“It’s very grim. They’re not even talking to each other. Some are even fighting? Especially the atmosphere in building 103 is a complete mess.”
“What about building 101?”
“It’s better than the others. At least they’re not shouting.”
“Really? Bring Irina. I need to have an interview.”
Irina entered. She was wary of me, covering her body with a large jumper and her face with a hood and mask.
“There’s a tip that there’s a parasite in building 101. What do you think about that?”
“…There haven’t been any problems in building 101 recently.”
“Because there are no problems, you’re even more suspicious.”
“……”
“There’s also a tip that you’re a parasite.”
“I’m not a parasite.”
“If it’s not you, who in building 101 is suspicious?”
“……There are no parasites in building 101.”
“I understand your opinion. You can go now.”
Irina turned to leave. I spoke before she opened the door.
“By the way, the person who tipped you off is from building 101. If you need help, tell me. I have a good feeling about you. I’ll help you no matter what.”
“……”
Irina left quietly.
Choi Hye-jin tilted her head.
“Is this going to work?”
“Of course, it will. I don’t know for sure, but she’s definitely wavering.”
I chuckled.
The voting continued, and a week passed in a flash.
The voting wasn’t entirely meaningless. Through tips and voting, we actually found two parasites. The problem was that people were going missing every night. Maybe there were more parasites than I thought.
And the conflict between buildings 101 and 103 escalated, and finally, a battle broke out.
