The moment (Y/N) regains concussions, her eyes open noticing she's on the same bed as she once was before. Including the same clothes and shoes. She got herself off the bed and walked down to the ground to see many people had returned. Looks like we're all desperate. (Y/N) thought. While looking around, (Y/N) saw Sang-woo plus player 199 talking to two other players that they seemed to know. (Y/N) walked over to join them considering she hasn't seen anyone else she knew yet.
"Sang-woo! 199!" (Y/N) yelled as she waved at them.
All four of them turned their heads to see (Y/N), being surprised that one of the youngest players here came back. While player 199 waved back at (Y/N).
"You came back?" Sang-woo said.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I, sir?" (Y/N) teased him.
"Can everybody stop calling me SIR." Sang-woo said in an irritated tone, crossing his arms.
"You know her as well?" Player 456 asked.
"Correct. He bought me ramen." (Y/N) mention.
Player 456 chuckled "Didn't know you were that heartwarming guy." He looked at Sang-woo then back at (Y/N). "Oh, you should join up with us. If you aren't in a group yet."
(Y/N) was about to answer player 456 before in the corner of her eyes, she saw her math teacher, Mr. Wang had come back. Wang hadn't noticed (Y/N) yet but from far away, (Y/N) could tell he was already in a group. With him chatting with a couple of other men. (Y/N) came back to reality when player 456 repeated his offer for her to join their team.
"I'll gladly join." (Y/N) accepted his invitation.
While they all decided to start chatting away, the workers from the above were keeping an eye on them with the multiple camera angles in place. Whereas the Frontman was not. He was distracted looking at one of the titles with the player's picture were on. Many of the workers assumed he was just blankly looking at the ground out of boredom, which wasn't the case. The Frontman was looking at player 026, his daughter to be more specific. Why did she come back? After seeing the first game? The Frontman wondered. He looked at (Y/N) picture to see much she had changed. Her hair grew much longer compared to years ago. What surprised the Frontman the most was how she still had the same glasses that he got her. He would have thought that she would have bought a pair of new ones but he guessed he was wrong.
A pair of footsteps were approaching him, so he finally snapped out from his unsteady mind since he still had an operation to deal with.
"Out of 203 players, 187 players have returned. The re-entrance rate is 93%." The manager told him.
"Continue to monitor those who didn't return. And keep me posted." The Frontman requested.
"Yes Sir." The manager nodded.
The manager walked away, where the Frontman was now looking at the main screen with the full view of the players. He noticed that many players were assembling a team. And luckily (Y/N) had joined the team with the host was in. Anyhow it was almost time for the players to receive their food. The player got into separate lines awaiting to finally receive their meal. (Y/N) received her food and headed to her group that had already just started eating their plate. (Y/N) sat by Sang-woo and player 199 while hearing player 456 speaking about his childhood. (Y/N) was quite interested in hearing player 456 speak but she could tell Sango-woo was easily unamused. Not once had he smiled or left an amusing comment.
"Gi-hun." Sang-woo said.
"Hmm?" Gi-hun murmured.
SO that's his name. (Y/N) discovered.
"Let's try to stay on the subject. How about putting your mind to what game it could be?" Sang-woo suggested putting up the weakest smile.
"Hhm..." Gi-hun muttered. "Hey, no one can figure that out. We'll find out when it's time." He told Sang-woo.
"He's right." (Y/N) agreed as she took a bite from her rice.
"You know, considering the last one that we did. I think that there'll be another old game kids played, just like I used to do." player 01 pointed out.
"I'll bet you right there." Gi-hun agreed. "Think all of the ones they could choose."
Gi-hun started listing off a couple of games however he stopped when he couldn't come up with any more games in mind. That's when (Y/N) joined in to list some more games that Gi-hun didn't mention.
"There's capture the flag, hide and seek, Four square, Simon says, heads ups seven up, Jenga or musical chairs. That's all think of I can think of at the moment." (Y/N) said.
"IF we were playing hide and seek, (Y/N) would be the best playing considering she's the shortest one here. Meaning she can hide in small spaces." Sang-woo accidentally joked.
"Wow. That hurt." (Y/N) faked gasps.
Everyone laughed, while Sang-woo was confused as he was being serious about what he just said. Nonetheless, he went along with it as he continued eating what he had left of his food. Player 199 admitted that he didn't know how to play any of the games that (Y/N) and Gi-hun had listed to the group. Where Sang-woo assured him that those games will be easy to understand and that he'll even teach him how to play. (Y/N) also chipped in, willing to help as well where player 199 very much appreciated their kindness. Eventually, they all finished their food and (Y/N) volunteered to take the plates back to the guards.
(Y/N) collected all of their plates and she started walking to the guards to hand the plates back to them. Just when (Y/N) was heading back to her group, a man with a tattoo on his face stopped her.
"Give me your glasses." He demand.
(Y/N) looked back up at him confused. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Give me your glasses." He raised his voice.
"Look here shithead, the answer is no." (Y/N) scowled at the man.
Player 101 paused for a second. "I know you from somewhere, don't I?" He questioned.
(Y/N) held still for a moment when looking at player 101. Jang Deok-su. She remembered. (Y/N) didn't realize that it was him much earlier since the last time she saw him was when her grandfather was beating the shit out of him years ago. She didn't know why her grandfather had beaten him but he had strictly told her never to be near him if she ever saw him. That's when she took a step back.
Deok-su smirked. "You're (Y/G/N) granddaughter aren't you?"
(Y/N) didn't have time to reply when Deok-su attempted to throw a punch at her. Obviously, this got a lot of other players' attention, with (Y/N) dodging a lot of his hits except one that caused her glasses to fall off from her face. (Y/N) scrambled to run towards her glasses up till Deok-su pushed her out of the way. He was about to grab the glasses before being hit in the head by player 067. Player 067 grabbed the glasses that were inches away from Deok-su, then proceeded to spit on him. (Y/N) slowly lifted herself up, with a smile forming onto her lips. At first, Deok-su was going to get himself back up and knocked both of the girls out till he saw the sight of the guards staring at him. Like if they were ready to kill him.
So he decided against it. (Y/N) walked towards player 067 politely asking her for glasses back. Player 067 hesitatingly does so, with both of them looking into each other's eyes as if they were testing each other's supremacy. (Y/N) grabbed her glasses back gently while thanking player 067 for her help. (Y/N) walked back to her group where everyone right away asked if she was alright. During which (Y/N) told them certainly she was fine, after all, she only got hit once.
Time went by quickly, with the lights all shut off while some people were asleep or were trying to. It was hard for people to rest when player 212 was complaining to the guards that she needed to use the restroom. (Y/N) was one of the people who was unable to sleep so she just stared at the ceiling. Eventually, player 212 stopped yelling her lungs out when they let her and player 067 go to the restroom. (Y/N) again forced herself to sleep, that's until she felt someone was staring at her. She looked around her surroundings to see that Deok-su, along with a couple of his men were looking at her then looked away when they saw she was looking at them. In (Y/N) mind, they were going to attempt to kill her once she fell asleep. (Y/N) knew she was vulnerable with her not being near her teammates. She looked around to see if one of her teammates were close to her and luckily one of them was nearby.
That person was Sang-woo. Sang-woo was wide awake, just dying of boredom at the moment. He wondered how his mother was doing until he heard footsteps approaching his bed to see it was (Y/N) coming up to him. Causing him to sit back on his bed showing he wasn't asleep.
"Do you need something?" He asked.
"Sorta of. I was wondering if it's possible if I can stay by you tonight?" (Y/N) asked nervously.
"Are you five or something?" He insulted.
"Look. I just need someone to make sure I don't get killed. If I do fall asleep. Alright?" (Y/N) said honestly.
When Sang-woo didn't respond back to her, (Y/N) was ready to walk away until she heard Sang-woo mutter something.
"What was that?" (Y/N) said, turning herself back to face Sang-woo.
"You can stay here." Sang-woo told her.
(Y/N) couldn't help herself but grin that he actually agreed to let her stay with him tonight. Sang-woo moved aside to the other side of the bed for (Y/N) to be able to sit right next to him. Which (Y/N) gratefully did, since now she was no longer in view for Deok-su to be able to see her. Sang-woo grabbed the blanket that was near him and gave it to (Y/N) given that she probably needs it more than he does. Originally (Y/N) rejected taking the blanket, whereas Sang-woo wasn't taking a no for an answer.
(Y/N) lost the battle, so she took the blanket but she made sure that Sang-woo would have one side of it while she had the other side. So (Y/N) wouldn't feel guilty having the blanket all for herself. With (Y/N) generosity of sharing the blanket, that's when Sang-woo recognized that she was too optimistic towards him. He didn't understand why she trusted him so much, the only thing he did was buy her a cup of ramen.
"Sang-woo." (Y/N) said, causing him to look back at her. "What happened to your glasses?"
"Forgot about them." He lied. "Why?"
"No reason, I just asked since I'm bored." She admitted.
"Bored and scared? Interesting combination."
"Aren't you the same exact way?"She pointed out.
"No...why would I be?"
"Oh I don't know, we might possibly die tomorrow." She reminded him.
"Fair point."
Silence remained between them once again, and neither of them had fallen asleep. (Y/N) suggested to Sang-woo that they could play a game called, I spy. Sang-woo gave an exaggerated sigh to (Y/N) since all he just wanted was peace and silence. However, playing a game with (Y/N) wouldn't hurt him, so he agreed. Time had clearly passed where the duo was actually enjoying having a competitive match trying to see who can find the item the quickest.
All Sang-woo had to do was find the item that has the color white on them. Which was extremely difficult to search for with many items being that color. Watching Sang-woo struggle gave (Y/N) some entertainment now seeing that he knows how to have some fun. And that he wasn't always a serious guy. Right when Sang-woo was about to take another guess, players 212 and 067 walked past them whispering about possibly seeing what the next game was. That immediately got (Y/N) and Sang-woo's attention with them looking at each other confirming their interest.
"You should ask her what she saw tomorrow." Sang-woo said to (Y/N) in a low voice.
"Why me?"
"One she seems to like you since she helped you out earlier. Second, didn't you see that she took a glance at you?"
" She did?" (Y/N) tilted her head quizzically. "I thought she was looking at you."
"Why would she look at me? I"ve never talked to her. But you have."
"Strongpoint. I'll try talking to her tomorrow."
They both continued playing I spy until Sang-woo was going to throw in the towel, until he felt something land on the side of his shoulder. He turned his head to see that (Y/N) had fallen asleep on him and that she had forgotten to take her glasses off. I guess I took too long. Sang-woo thought as he smiled just for a slight second. He considers leaving her glasses on her face seeing that it wasn't his problem.
Then he recalled that the frames from (Y/N) glasses could possibly be damaged if she slept with them throughout the night. Which he couldn't afford to happen as she was one of his teammates and he didn't know if she could fully see without them. Sang-woo delicately pulled (Y/N) glasses off from her face and closed the temples of her glasses. Then he puts them inside of his pocket, so it would be kept safe. He'll be giving her glasses back in the morning once she finally wakes up. Unfortunately for (Y/N) that morning came very soon with Sang-woo trying to shake her off from his shoulder.
"(Y/N) wake up or we'll miss the opportunity to get breakfast." He told her.
"One more minute." (Y/N) mumbled, not realizing she was still laying on his shoulder.
"It's now or I'll happily push you off." He stated.
"Fine." (Y/N) groaned in exhaustion.
(Y/N) removed herself away from what she assumed was a pillow she slept on. To see that in fact, she had fallen asleep on Sang-woo's shoulder. When Sang-woo's shoulder was finally free, he instantly stretched his arm out after feeling numb for hours of keeping his arm still. The tiredness that (Y/N) had seconds ago promptly went away when she apologized to Sang-woo for drifting off on him. Sang-woo ignored her apology as he handed her glasses back to her before walking off to grab some breakfast. (Y/N) put her glasses back on bringing her vision back to be able to see things far away again. She was about to follow right behind Sang-woo before seeing player 067 talking with the crazy player 212.
(Y/N) started eavesdropping on their conversation, hearing that player 067 had possibly seen the workers cooking something for the next game. Something that had sugar in it. Player 212 didn't seem to be pleased with the answer since she stormed away mumbling about some matter of hers. (Y/N) walked up to player 067, following that she wasn't joining like the rest of the people getting their breakfast.
"Not hungry?" (Y/N) asked her.
Player 067 looked up at (Y/N) being surprised she came up to talk to her. "Do you need something?" She said bluntly.
"That was rude, but I'll let it slide." (Y/N) smiled. "So what's your name?"
"Why?" Player 067 questioned her.
"Cause I need to know what's my hero name that saved me yesterday."
Player 067 rolled her eyes, "I'm not your hero. Can you just leave me."
"Nope."
Player 067 gave her a death glare.
(Y/N) sigh. "Very well. If you want to talk I'm sure you know where to find me." She hinted.
Player 067 watched (Y/N) as she walked away from her and went in line to receive her meal. How much player 067 wanted to have a conversation with (Y/N), she knew that she couldn't afford that. She promised herself that she wouldn't get attached to anyone or to trust a single person in the deadly place she was in. At any rate, all the players that were still alive would soon be dead. Or worse, they would get her killed. (Y/N) was behind Wang in line where she had a decent conversion even if he was disappointed that (Y/N) had come back to the games. Finally it was time for (Y/N) to get her meal and she expected to get the same food as everyone else.
By her beyond belief, she was given a (F/F) along with (F/D). She looked at the workers if there was a mistake on their behalf. Yet the workers continued to stare at her, waiting for her to leave. Which (Y/N) reluctantly did so, walking back to her group while wondering why they gave her this specifictly. Only three people knew that her favorite drink and food was, and those were her mother, grandfather and her father. Her mother was clearly dead, grandfather in the hospital and her father---that instantly made (Y/N) stop in place. It couldn't be him. Could it? (Y/N) thought being a possibility.
She continued on where she sat down next to Sang-woo again. Everyone noticed that (Y/N) had gotten a better meal compared to the rest of them causing some players to gossip about her.
"How did you get a different meal?" Gi-hun asked her.
"I don't know. They just gave it to me." (Y/N) said before taking a bite from her delicious (F/F).
"You're getting lots of stares, you know." Player 199 told her.
(Y/N) looked at the other side of the room, to see that he was right. Many people were pointing at her or were looking at her in disgust with jealousy in their eyes. Except for player 067, Wang, and his group, they seemed not to care at all. That's when the old man spoke to (Y/N) telling her to ignore the rest of the players and that she should enjoy her meal. Subsequently, she did so, enjoying her food just in case it could be her last one. Once every player was done eating, they were all escorted to another area where they will all play the next game.
While walking up the stairs, (Y/N) told Sang-woo what she overheard player 067 had seen. The answer that (Y/N) gave him was not the one he expected. So he started thinking about games that involved sugar in it. When the players all entered the new area, it was much stranger compared to the previous room. The room that they were in was filled with a playground area that children would go play in with their friends. Not a place that someone would be murdered in.
The walls of the room were all blue with child-like drawings of clouds on every side of them. Despite how childish the room was, there were four shapes that were evident enough that it was supposed to attract the player to look at them. Each of the four shapes was a triangle, circle, star, and umbrella. That's when the PA system announced to the players to create a line in front of the shape once they decided to settle on their decision.
"So our options are circle, triangle, star, umbrella." Gi-hun said.
"I don't know. They seemed very familiar." The old man said.
"What does the smell of sugar have to do with any of the shapes?" (Y/N) said quietly enough for Sang-woo to hear her.
(Y/N) waited for Sang-woo to reply to her but he didn't. She turned to look up at him to see that he had completely zoned out. Or she thought he was remembering something. (Y/N) then elbowed him trying to get him back to reality.
"Sang-woo." (Y/N) said out loud.
Sang-woo quickly snapped out of his train of thought now looking at (Y/N). "Huh?"
"Got anything?" (Y/N) asked him.
"Not yet." Sang-woo said convincingly.
"Should we play this together?" Gi-hun proposed.
"That could be dangerous. At this point, we don't know anything. I think it would put us at a disadvantage if we choose one." Sang-woo pointed out.
"You think?"
"There is a saying. 'Try not to keep your eggs in one basket.'" Sang-woo quoted.
Gi-hun chuckled. "He was first in his class in SNU business school and in my hometown, he was a genius. A prodigy."
"That's beside the point. " (Y/N) said. "So what shapes are you guys going for?"
Sang-woo had chosen to go with the triangle, player 199 went with the circle, the old man had gone with the star, and Gi-hun went with the umbrella. While (Y/N) struggled to decide which shape that she wanted to select. All the shapes were unique in their own way but (Y/N) had the feeling that one of them had to have a disadvantage over the others. In the end, (Y/N) decided to choose the star just like the old man. Every player got into the file line where they all received a round tin container from the guards. (Y/N) opened her container that attained a honeycomb that had a star she had to select right in the middle.
The PA system right away started to explain the next game that sounded very simple. However, it was not. The shape that each person had handpicked is what they had to carve out of the honeycomb in order for them to pass. (Y/N) looked back down at her shape with uneasiness coming over her. Regardless, she was glad she went for the star instead of the umbrella. At that point, she remembered that Gi-hun had picked the umbrella shape. (Y/N) looked at Gi-hun to see that he was clearly in distress of the umbrella he had chosen for himself.
"With that, let the game begin."
Without wasting another second, (Y/N) grabbed her mini silver needle and started cutting lines of the shape gently as possible. Carefully she cut off the pointed angles off first, making sure they weren't edged of breaking in half like the Titanic. When they were all seven minutes in, one player that was on the slide broke his shape. He was directly shot straight in the head causing his body to slip down the slide leaving a trail of blood behind him. Suddenly many of the guards shot several players that had also accidentally broken their shape. Causing (Y/N) left hand to become unsteady, with sweat dripping down from her neck.
Many times she had to stop to push her glasses back onto her face with it slowly falling down whenever she crouched down. (Y/N) looked back at the time to see that they all had four-minute left. She had to pick up the pace. When having your life on the line, (Y/N) swiftly carved out the last pointed angle from her star, to see she had finally done it. She lifted her star up to show the guard that she had defused her death sentence.
"Player 026, passed."
(Y/G/N) - Your grandfather's name
Published : 11/4/2021