TGFTE 120

Chapter 120…

In the peaceful animal village, a storm named Lee Ji-han had quietly landed—

Rustle, rustle…

—moving in silence.

“For now… excluding the humans grouped together.”

Over there, a raccoon-looking Kim Bbong-tta, a rabbit named Kim Ye-eun, and a bull named Ga-eul-cheol were chatting.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Right, right]
[Nice! Keep it up!]
[Let’s go after the ones walking alone first]
[That’s it, my son! The loners are our prey!]
[Dadㅋㅋㅋㅋ Calm down, please!]

A sleepy-eyed cat was sweeping the yard.
The nickname floating above his head read <BuggedGameReviewer>, one of the hometown association members helping Ji-han’s election campaign.

“Ah, Ji-han-nim! Welcome! You’ve got the front-yard sweeping mission, right—”

He couldn’t finish the sentence.
Ji-han moved lightning fast—shhk, shhk, shhk!—and stabbed his small kitchen knife into the cat’s abdomen several times.

[Whoaㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Instant killㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[BuggedGameReviewer: ??? I—I just said hello…]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ But wasn’t that way too blatant?]

Immediately after—

Pitter-patter-pitter-patter-pitter-patter!

Ji-han took off running without looking back.
Sure, his chubby pig avatar waddled cutely, but when combined with his explosive speed—

[???]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is he using vents?]
[He doesn’t even know how to ventㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[This is hilariousㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s not a waddle speed!]
[Creepy… but funnyㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ji-han! Run! Run for it!]

It looked ridiculously funny—but one thing was certain:
No one had witnessed the gruesome murder(?).

[He just stabbed him, huhㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Yikesㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[The character’s too cute for this—it’s absurdly funny]
[Even the stabbing made “boing-boing” soundsㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[That mismatch is what makes this game goldㅋㅋㅋ]

“The map’s kind of complicated.”

Ji-han commented blandly as he ran.
He was trying to memorize the layout of the map.

Over-focus syndrome.
When it kicked in, the world narrowed to a point and time slowed down.

It helped with reflex-based games—but in a wide-map hunting scenario like this,

“I’ll have to move very carefully.”

—it became a major handicap.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ But you already got an instant kill]
[“Move carefully” = “Already stabbed someone first”]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s Ji-han logic]
[I’ll start studying Ji-han-speak from today]
[Goal: 800 Ji-han IQ points!]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Stop teasing himㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

Despite the noisy chat, Ji-han’s beady little eyes darted around, scanning the whole village.

“Ah, disciple?”

A chubby skunk approached—Namgung-hyung.

“Namgung-hyung-nim, hello. You’re a skunk?”
“Haha, yes. Cute, right?”

He wagged his fluffy tail.

[He turned his back?]
[Stab him!]
[Kill cooldown’s not up thoㅇㅇ]
[But isn’t Namgung-hyung crazy good at this game?]

Namgung-hyung, Ji-han’s master from Gangho Sword Chronicles, a man of insane reflexes.
Ji-han’s kill cooldown wasn’t done yet—he couldn’t strike first.

“Haha, yes, you’re really cute.”
“And you, my disciple, are adorable too. Haha.”

A tense, yet awkward, standoff.

“Well then, shall I continue patrolling?”
“There’s a patrol mission?”

At that question, Namgung-hyung’s eyes sharpened.
A moment of stillness—

Fwoosh!

Both drew their knives at once—

“Kyaaaah! BuggedGameReviewer’s dead!”

A scream.
Namgung glanced toward the direction of the voice, then at Ji-han, and smirked.

“Haha, my disciple—you’re like me! But if you stab someone and run this way, they’ll track your route right away!”

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Namgung-hyung’s a killer too]
[Thank godㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[He’s got an ally now!]
[The righteous swordsman and the demon lord unite!ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Heavenly Demon, join forces and rule the land!]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ The Heavenly Demon fan’s losing itㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“Ah, really?”
“Yes. There’s something called a vent. You can move through sewers to hide your path…”

Riiing!

A siren blared.

“Emergency meeting. Just keep quiet there, I’ll cover for you, disciple.”

The screen dimmed.
They gathered inside the village chief’s house.

In the center lay BuggedGameReviewer’s body, leaking jam(?) onto the floor.
Nine animals surrounded it.

“Who could’ve done something so horrible!”

The bull, Ga-eul-cheol, spoke dramatically—he was a streamer too, after all.

“Who found the body first?”
“M-me. I was with Cheol-nim and Bbong-tta, and when I went for the yard-sweeping mission, I saw… that.”

The rabbit, Ye-eun, raised her hand timidly.

“But doesn’t the killer usually kill and report?”

The penguin, Mari, snapped.
Her mood was foul—because she had a crush on Ji-han.
Seeing him again was great, but she couldn’t be on his team this round.

“I was going to ‘accidentally’ bump into him and chat! Why does fate keep wrecking my plans!”

“N-no! It wasn’t me!”
“Still, it’s kind of suspicious.”
“Even you, Bbong-tta oppa!?”
“But Ji-han-nim’s awfully quiet, huh?”

As Ye-eun protested, the orca avatar Golden Dolphin spoke sharply.

“Me? Oh, I was—”
“With me,” Namgung-hyung cut in. “We were doing missions together.”
“Huh. You were with Namgung-hyung, huh?”

A standoff between two top streamers.

“And why’s that?”
“I’m the Detective role. I check everyone’s jobs. I’ve met a few people—Ji-han-nim, Namgung-hyung-nim included.”
“Detective, huh? Then we should protect Golden Dolphin!”

They played like it was chess—showing cards, baiting each other, setting traps.
In this cute animal village, it looked more like a psychological war among professionals.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ He revealed he’s the detectiveㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[So if he dies, Ji-han and Namgung get blamedㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[He laid a trapㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[These big streamers are pros at mind gamesㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“But… what if he’s not actually the detective?”

Ji-han’s naive comment shattered the assumption everyone had taken for granted.

“You said you checked people’s roles—who did you check?”
“Mari—she’s a citizen. Ye-eun too.”
“But I could say that too. Bbong-tta’s a citizen. Namgung-hyung’s a citizen.”
“Right! Ji-han! I am a citizen!”

Kim Bbong-tta wagged his tail eagerly.

“So accusing someone just because you didn’t cross paths with them seems… unfair, doesn’t it?”

That innocent tone—

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Does he have a motor in his tongue?]
[Kills with words instead of a knifeㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Everyone’s impressedㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[He’s breaking through with logic againㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[That’s Ji-han’s true talentㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“And if you knew Mari and Ye-eun were citizens, why didn’t you say so when Mari was accusing Ye-eun earlier? Wouldn’t that have cleared both of them?”

That one line pierced the room like a blade.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Damn!]
[Who said Ji-han can’t act?]
[That’s a serpent tongue right thereㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[The Heavenly Demon speaks!]
[Behold the ‘Heavenly Demon Mouth Technique’!]
[Mouth techniqueㅋㅋㅋㅋ Stopㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

“Yeah! Ji-han’s right! Why didn’t you defend me?”
“Exactly, he’s right!”

Ye-eun (frustrated) and Mari (smitten) ganged up.
The Heavenly Demon Mouth Technique had worked.

“I-I was just narrowing down suspects more efficiently!”
“Oh! Time’s almost up!”
“Then let’s just vote him off and see!”

Golden Dolphin’s excuses drowned under Ga-eul-cheol’s time warning and Bbong-tta’s chaos.

“I’ll vote for Golden Dolphin.”

Ji-han clicked vote.
A good, innocent detective vanished into the void.

His true role, of course, remained hidden.
When the screen darkened, everyone respawned to their previous locations.

“Wow, disciple. That was amazing! You’re so good at this!”
“Huh? I just said what made sense.”
“He must’ve been a real detective. That confidence—”

Namgung-hyung wagged his tail, but froze when Ji-han said:

“So there’s really a role that checks others’ jobs?”
“Eh?”

[Namgung-hyung: ???]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ You shocked himㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Ji-han’s an actual newbieㅋㅋㅋㅋ He didn’t know that role existsㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[So he thought the guy was literally asking everyone’s jobs one by oneㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[I’m dyingㅋㅋㅋㅋ]