How a Regressor Conquers the Tower of Urban Legends
Chapter 50
Do you know that kind of logic puzzle?
The one where one person is telling the truth or lying, while everyone else is doing the opposite.
They show up surprisingly often.
I'd even heard that some large corporations used them in hiring tests.
Anyway.
I turned my gaze.
The middle-aged man with glasses was staring at me crookedly.
"...So you're choosing me."
He scratched his cheek and looked at me.
"Yes."
"See? You understand, don't you?"
Then he nodded broadly at me.
"Good. Come to my house."
The man went inside.
The others clicked their tongues and looked at me.
"Looks like we'll have another corpse to clean up."
"It's not too late! Please, come with me!"
"I'm scared..."
I watched them mutter for a moment, then turned away.
I followed the man inside.
His house was nothing special.
Compared to Floor 0.5, the interior looked overwhelmingly lacking.
Still, having somewhere to lie down was better than nothing.
"You can use this room."
"Thank you."
"You made a very fortunate choice."
The man grinned and nodded at my thanks.
"Everyone except me is a monster. You have no idea how exhausting it is pretending to live like a human among them."
"..."
I quietly looked at him, then opened the room door.
There were a few things I wanted to confirm.
"Have many people passed through here?"
"Many people?"
"Yes. Dozens, maybe?"
"No. You're the first."
"I see. Then living together with things that aren't human must be difficult. How do you manage?"
"Do you only live around people you like? You just put up with it because you have no choice."
"...I see."
"If I could leave, I wouldn't live like this either. But what can you do? That's life."
"I understand. I have a boss I don't particularly like either."
"Ha! Well said."
The man laughed heartily and pointed toward the room.
"Go on. Get some rest."
"..."
I carefully stepped inside.
It was a simple room.
"Haah."
The old mattress springs squealed loudly when I sat down.
"..."
"Are you nervous?"
The mascot was anxiously looking around.
As if we'd agreed beforehand, it nodded vigorously.
Understandable.
"But if you think about it carefully, this is the right answer."
I cleared my throat.
"All right. Think about it."
I slowly started explaining it to the mascot.
"Let's assume someone here is lying. It's actually pretty simple."
First, remember what the old woman said.
The child is human.
Then the child said the middle-aged woman was human.
And that woman said the man was a monster.
Those three were effectively supporting one another while pushing out exactly one person.
"So all we need to do is place the old woman and this man on opposing sides and think from there."
One of those two sides must be lying.
In other words, one side must be the monsters.
"But the woman said that this man was lying."
"!"
"If this man's statement is true, then more than one person has to be lying."
If the man was right, then the old woman, the middle-aged woman, and the child would all be wrong.
"!!!"
The mascot nodded as though it understood.
Then...
"?????????"
It suddenly jumped as if it had realized something.
"?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!??"
It grabbed my arm.
"?!?!?!?!?!!!!?!!?!?!?"
"Yes. That's right. This man is a monster."
"????????!???!?!?!??????"
Stop jumping.
I looked at the mascot bouncing around and continued.
"But doesn't something feel off?"
"...?"
Only then did it stop jumping and tilt its head.
"Look. By that logic, there should only be one monster and the other four should all be human."
That created the ridiculous situation where choosing randomly gave you an eighty percent chance of success.
Thinking carefully would actually put you at a disadvantage compared to guessing with your eyes closed.
"More importantly, what exactly is a monster?"
Monster was an extremely subjective term.
To humans, a monster meant something non-human.
But...
A monster.
It was simply a word used to describe something different from oneself.
That was the trick.
They had never defined what monster meant.
From their perspective, a creature that walked on two legs and spoke instead of howling could just as easily be considered a monster.
Of course, my conclusion still had a hole.
"Naturally, this man could still be a monster. Because my conclusion isn't exactly 'this man is a monster.' It's more like 'this man is saying something different from the others.'"
"?"
"But look at this."
I carefully pulled out the scrap of paper.
[To my friends who became monsters and can no longer sleep in peace, I sincerely hope death reaches you someday.]
Friends.
"He said 'friends.' Plural."
"...!"
"Right. There are multiple monsters."
The answer was in the note.
Four people on one side.
One person on the other.
This man and everyone else.
But that still didn't tell me which side was human.
The note did.
"The moment it says 'friends,' we know the monsters are the majority."
Otherwise, it would've said friend.
"So this man is the human."
"..."
The mascot said nothing.
I looked away.
Outside the window, the sun was sinking.
Darkness followed soon after.
Creeeak.
The door opened.
"You're clever."
"Were you listening?"
The man stood there holding a candle, staring quietly at me.
"Sorry. The electricity's been out for quite a while."
"It's fine."
"...It's a sad thing."
The man looked outside.
The world beyond the dark house was far too quiet.
Except for the occasional creaking sounds.
"Living as a human isn't easy."
"..."
I said nothing.
Maybe I couldn't.
This time, that man was human.
Next time, he might not be.
Just as the elderly woman had been human for No. 24, this man was human for me.
And...
"Do you remember how you came here?"
"What do you mean, came here? I've always lived here."
He answered indifferently.
"Living is living. There doesn't need to be a reason."
"That's not exactly wrong."
"Anyway..."
The man stared out the window.
I followed his gaze.
"I'm glad you're alive."
"..."
"Living every day surrounded by monsters isn't easy."
