LET THE GAMES BEGIN • squid game

( 11 ) fever

" Starting over again from nothing with all that guilt." He throws him to the floor and leaves him to sob as he looks around at everyone.

" Is everybody here ready to do that as-well? Go ahead, stand up! Let's see who thinks they are. Get up and get out of here!" His shouts only grew louder, and Sae-byeok kept a tight grip on Nari.

Nari quietly cries, overwhelmed with everything. She just wanted to go home.

||

Later that night, all the players were dozing off as the player from the tug of war game prayed loudly.

Nari couldn't shut her eyes. She was too scared. Convinced someone would kill her in her sleep. When it all grew quiet, and everyone fell asleep, she saw the man from before moving to stand on one of the platforms and tying a blanket on one of the poles, in the shape of a noose.

Nari's eyes widened, and she jumped up from her bed and raced towards him.

" What are you doing?" She whisper shouted, and he jumped.

" Just go away, kid. Let me be." Nari sighed, trying to come up with a solution.

" Sir, please, just come down and it'll be okay-"

The man cackled at her words.

" It'll be okay? No. It won't. Just go back to bed. You can't stop me." When she didn't move, he shoved her back and she tripped, hitting her back on the floor.

She quickly scrambled to stand and ran to her bed, covering her ears. She could hear when he dropped, as he choked and struggled. Then it stopped.

She looked behind her, and she wishes she didn't. There he hung, face blue and body swinging. She quickly looked away and cried into her elbow as the night went on.

||

The lights switched on the next morning. Nari didn't sleep. Four guards walked in with the signature coffin, and Nari put her face in her hands as her legs were crossed.

Everyone else noticed his body, and they all looked horrified. Nari couldn't bare to look.

" Player 69, eliminated." The stupid PA ladies voice rang out.

The money added into the piggy bank, and Nari turned to Sae-byeok beside her.

" I tried to stop him." Nari muttered.

" I was awake and saw him tying the noose.
I tried to stop him but he just pushed me away." Sae-byeok put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into her chest, rubbing her back.

" It's not your fault. Seemed like nothing would stop him." She reassured, pulling away. Her facial expression didn't change.

" Attention, all players. The fifth game is about to begin. All players, follow the staffs instructions and swiftly make your way towards the game hall."

||

They were led through the now familiar pastel hallways, before arriving at the same white room they'd been in before.

They were all silent as they entered, and before them stood 17 mannequins, each wearing a pink vest numbered one to seventeen.

" Welcome, players, to the fifth game. Before we begin, please make your way down the steps and choose one of the mannequins you see presented before you. Once you've chosen, take the corresponding vest. They are numbered one through seventeen."

Many people raced forward to certain numbers, but a few of them were left. They only had two options. Front or back.

" Your attention, please. The numbers you see on the mannequins correspond to the order in which you will be playing. Please make your decision carefully." Nari breathed deeply.

They all watched as Gi-hun made his way over to the lower numbers, then stopped.

Sae-Byeok raced forward, pulling Nari along with her, and ran to number 15 and 16. She pulled off 15 for Nari and 16 for herself.

" Is it a good idea to be one of the last?" Nari asked as she put the vest over her head. The woman only shrugged as they walked off to the side.

Gi-hun thought about his decision, ultimately going with 17.

As the doors opened, the player stepped into what looked almost like a circus. A glass bridge later in front of them, two squares on each side.

" Hello, players, let me welcome you all to the fifth game. The fifth game is glass stepping stones. The stepping stones before you are made from one of two types of glass, one will be tempered glass and the other will be normal glass. The tempered glass stepping stone is strong enough to hold the weight of 2 people. However, the normal glass will break even if just one person steps on it. For this game, you will guess which one of the next two tiles is the tile made of the strong tempered glass, and only step on this across the 18 pairs of tile. You may then cross over to the other side safely and pass this game." The man wearing the first vest looks startled, and understandably.

" That means the numbers on us..." He turns to the guard beside him.

" Are the order in which you will cross the bridge." The masked man replies. The first man starts to shake.

" But then, how do I tell which is the tempered one?" He asks, but gets no answer. He has to guess.

" For this game, you will have 16 minutes. Players must cross the bridge within those 16 minutes. And now, with that, let the game begin. Each player, take off your shoes, then go up to the tiles in order."

The clock starts to countdown, and 96 stands on the edge of the platform, nervously glancing between the two tiles.

" What are you doing? We're losing time!" A man shouts.

101 steps forward and whispers to him, before turning away.

96 finally, jumps, and Nari sucks in a breath. He doesn't fall.

The players exclaim, thankful that he made it.

He jumps to the one ahead of him, and it cracks under his weight; sending him shooting down to the ground.

Nari gasps. She is so screwed.

||

Had to cut it short since it was getting kinda long I'm sorry y'all