pretty flower | 강새벽

004

"Prize money or no prize money, I don't care." Someone else from the crowd spoke up, expressing their concerns to the masked men "Just please let me out!" 

My knees felt weak before anyone else spoke, causing me to fall to the ground. Gi-hun turned around to look at me, remorse filling his eyes as he stepped towards me, lifting me and bracing me against a bed. 

"Clause one of the consent form: A player is not allowed to voluntarily quit the games." The square man stated. 

"You think you'll get away with all of this? The police will barge in any minute, looking for the people reported missing." '119' spoke again, the crowd nodding their heads and agreeing with his words. 

People continued yelling, trying to convince the masked men to let us go. The square man pulled out a revolver, swiftly, and shot a single shot into the air. Everyone dropped to the floor in fear, cries from people around as they fell aimlessly. The masked men with the triangles pulled out machine guns and pointed them towards us in sync. 

"Clause two of the consent form: A player who refuses to play will be eliminated." The square man spoke as he pulled the revolver again.

"Clause three of the consent form: The game may be terminated upon a majority vote." Sang-woo stood up, walking towards the front of the group. "Is that correct?" 

There was a slight moment of silence before the square man nodded his head "That is correct."

"Then let us take a vote. If the majority wishes to quit, you will have to let us go." 

"As you wish, we will take a vote on whether or not to terminate the games. But before we vote, we will reveal the prize amount from the first game." The square man pressed a button and the lights dimmed once again before the giant piggy bank from before lowered from the ceiling. Money began dropping into the piggy bank quickly, stopping once the bottom was covered. 

"The number of players eliminated in the first game, 256. Allocated prize money for each player, 100 million won. Therefore, a current total of 25.6 billion won has been accumulated into the piggy bank. If you quit the games now, the 35.6 billion won will be sent to the families of the eliminated players, 100 million each. However, all of you will go home empty-handed." 

"Excuse me." The lady from before, '212', raised her hand, turning towards the masked men. "If we make it through all six games, how much do we get?" 

"There are 457 players. So the total is 45.7 billion won. We will begin the vote." 

⎯⎯⎯⎯

The room was divided into two, a piece of white tape separating us from the other side of the room.

"You can see two buttons in front of you. If you wish to continue, press the green button with an O. If you wish to cease, press the red button with an X. Once you finish voting, move to the other side of the white line. The vote will be held in reverse of the number on your chests. Player 257, please place the first vote." 

I look down towards my chest, the number '257' carefully sewn onto the jumpsuits jacket. My knees quivered once more before I felt a slight nudge against my back. I turned to see multiple men and women looking at me with big, hopeful eyes. I started walking towards the box at the front of the room. As the square man had said, there were two buttons; a red one and a green one. I stood there, staring at the buttons, confused as to which one I should choose. 

Red or green?

Yes or no? 

My head was pounding and my body was numb. If I was to go home, I would just continue to be hurt and continue to protect my siblings. It would just include more pain and suffering. Life out there isn't any better than the life in here.