The girl was in debt. A whole lot of debt after her small business got shut down. 700 million won in total.
She was walking down the steps of a large metro station, when she finally reached the ground she began to look around, taking in her surroundings.
She was just looking around when a man approached her, he had a black suit on and he was holding a briefcase. She knew who he was though. And she knew what he was here for. "No." The girl said as she glared at the man stood before her.
"I haven't even said anything yet." The salesman said, his smile not faltering a single bit. "I already know what you are to say. And i say no." The girl said a frown appearing on her face.
"Well lets do this then. If you don't get the card to pop on the first try. I will leave you be." The salesman said, one of his brows arching up.
The girls eyes narrowed as she stared. "Okay." She said. "Good choice." The salesman said as his smile returned and he picked out a red card and a blue card from inside his pocket.
He placed the red card on the ground and handed the blue one to her. The girl took the blue card and stared down at the red one. Silently saying to herself she had to get the wrong shot. She took a deep breath before she threw the blue card ontop of the red one. *pop* , the red card flipped onto its back.
"Well done. Here." The salesman said as he grabbed another card, he then passed it to her before leaning down and grabbing the red and blue card. "You know what happens next. Don't you." He said before turning around and walking away.
The girl let out the breath she was holding in, she then turned around and sat down on a small seat in the metro station. She placed her hands on either side of her head and stared at the ground. "Shit." She muttered before letting out another sigh and looking back ahead of her.
The next few days were paranoia for the girl. Wondering when she would just wake up inside of the games. If she would. She was walking to her car, she unlocked it and climbed inside. She then locked the car again before she climbed into the backseat.
The girl then laid down, her head hitting the soft pillow which was placed on the backseat. She grabbed a blanket and placed it over her body before she closed her eyes. And fell asleep.
Her eyes began to flutter open, a light was making the whole room brighter than it should be. The girl sat up. Her eyes widened. Her face paled. She looked around and saw the familiar setting. The stacks of bunk beds. The confused people. The green tracksuits with numbers. She was back in the games.
At first she didn't believe it. She thought she was crazy. She placed her hands out infront of her , she then used her right fingers to pinch her left hand. She let out a wince. No this was real. She let out a shaky breath before she climbed off of the bunk bed, she then walked down the platform of stairs in between two stacks of bunk beds.
The doors then opened. And nine of the guards walked out. They stood on the platform before all of the players. The square guard was in the middle. All the players gathered in the middle of the room.
"I would like to extend a hearty welcome to all of you. Everyone here will participate in six different games over six days." The square guard began. The voice was slightly muffled due to the mask but very clear.
"Those who win all six games will receive a handsome cash prize." The square guard said before stopping. "Excuse me." Someone among the sea of players said, raising their hand. The player 120 stepped forward slightly from the very back. "You said i'd be playing games, but you practically kidnapped me. So how can I believe that" Player 120 said.
"I apologise. Please understand that it was necessary to maintain the game's security." The square guard said. "Whats with the mask then?" Another player said from the crowd. "Is your face also a secret?" The woman asked.
"Yeah! Why are you hiding your face!" A man called out. "Is this some kind of illegal gambling house?" The man asked.
"Even the dealers don't cover their faces in those places." Another woman said. "To ensure fair gameplay and confidentiality, it is out policy not to reveal the faces and identities of staff." The square guard said. "Please understand." The guard finished.
Suddenly a girl raised up the jacket of the green tracksuit. "Did you take off my clothes and put these on me?" She asked. "Whats with the shoes." A man with purple hair said as he held the white sneakers in his hands looking at them.
"My shoes are limited fucking edition." The man with purple hair said holding up the white sneakers he and everyone else was provided with. "They're hard to find!" He complained. "Your going to replace them if they get ruined?" He said his voice raised.
"These dont fit and the colour sucks." The girl from before. Also known as player 196 said as she stared at the jacket she held up.
Player 196 then looked back at the guards her face lighting up slightly.
"Can i just have what you're wearing instead? I like pink." Player 196 said with a grin. "Im sorry, but that is not possible. You must be in your uniforms for the games." The square guard said.
"What about my phone?" Another man asked as he pushed to the front of the crowd. This man was Player 333. "Why did you take my phone and wallet? Give them back, please." Player 333 said.
"We're keeping your belongings safe. We'll return them once the games are over." The guard said. "At least give me my phone. I need to check the crypto market." Player 333 said. "If i loose money, will you compensate me?" He said.
"We will return it to you once the games are over." The guard repeated. "I need to monitor the real-time prices!" Player 333 said his voice now raised. "Do you know how much I've invested?" He said.
"Player 333, Lee Myung-gi." The guard said as they clicked a remote, the screen at the top of the platform the guards were standing on then turned on. A video of player 333 being recruited then played. "Age 30, used to run a YouTube channel, called MG Coin. After convincing subscribers to invest, in a new crypto coin called Dalmatian." The guard said.
"Causing losses of approximately 15.2 billion won. You shut down and disappeared. You're wanted for fraud and for violating telecom and financial investment laws." The square guard said.
"Current debt levels, 1.8 billion won." The guard said. Then another video played of player 196 being recruited. "Player 196, Kang Mil-na, 45 million won in debt." The guard said.
"Player 120, Cho Hyun-ju, 330 million won in debt." The guard said turning its head to look in the direction of player 120.
"Player 230, Choi Su-bong, 1.19 billion won in debt." The guard said as a video of player 230 played on the screen. People in the audience looked over to the purple haired man in shock.
"Player 198, Jang do-yeong 1.4 billion won in debt." The guard said. "Player 226, Kim Yeong-sam, 1.9 billion won in debt." The guard said.
The guard kept going on, saying the players with hight debts how much debt they are in to all the other players also. Until they got to the last person. "Player 100, im Jeong-dae, ten billion won in debt." The guard said.
People began muttering to eachother about this mans debt and how much it is. "Ten billion? Whos that?" People said as they looked around. Player 100 yelled breaking the mummers. "What are you looking at?" He yelled.
"Do you think its easy to get a ten-billion-won loan?" He yelled. "They don't lend that kind of money to just anyone!!" The man exclaimed. "Only to those capable of paying it back!" He said.
"All of you in this room have crippling debts, and are now on a cliff-edge. " The square guard began. "When we first came to you, you did not trust us either. But as you know we played a game and gave you money as promised." The guard said before continuing.
"And so you trusted us, and volunteered to participate according to your own free will." The guard said. "You have one last chance to decide. Do you want to live like a piece of trash, running from creditors? Or will you seize the last opportunity we are offering." The guard said.
Then a large glass pig began to submerge from the ceiling. "What you see now is the piggy bank where your valuable prize money will be stored." The guard said, all the players began to look up to the piggy bank above their heads.
"After each of the six games you will play, the prize money will accumulate in this piggy bank." The guard said. "How much is the prize money?" Player 007 spoke up, asking his question.
"The prize money for the games is
45.6 billion won in total." The guard said. Everyone then gasped and looked at eachother, murmuring to eachother again about this revelation. "And one of us will get it?" Player 007 asked.
"We will give you the details about the distribution of the prize money after the first game." The guard said. After many discussions, questions and answers going back and forth. The people would now have to sign a piece of agreement paperwork with their signatures.
"Those who don't wish to participate speak to us now, we always give you a chance to leave the games." The guard said as people began to line up to sign at six in total stations of guards.
It was finally the girls turn from the metro station. Her eyes scanned the agreement forms. 1. A PLAYER IS NOT ALLOWED TO VOLUNTARILY QUIT THE GAMES. 2. A PLAYER WHO REFUSES TO PLAY WILL BE ELIMINATED. 3. THE GAMES MAY BE TERMINATED UPON A MAJORITY VOTE. IN CASE OF A TIE PLAYERS WILL VOTE AGAIN. 4. IF THE GAMES ARE TERMINATED PLAYERS WILL DIVIDE THE PRIZE EQUALLY.
And finally at the bottom of the sheet. Signature. The girl looked around at the people and then back down to the sheet before she picked up the pen and signed her name. 'Yun Ha-yung.' She then placed down the pen and walked from the line.
After everyone had signed the papers they began to make their way to the staircases, and also where they would take their photos.
Ha-yung knew this all too well. She just kept her head down as she walked. She then reached where she had to take her photo.
She walked into the area and stood infront of the screen. 'Smile' the screen said. Ha-yung just had a straight face. The picture then snapped and she walked out of the booth part and began to head for the many flight of stairs, following the line of people who were walking also to the first game.
The green doors to the first game opened and all of the players began to walk out, to look at their surroundings. It was like a field was painted onto the walls, the yellow grass, the sky, the clouds. The ground was a sandy colour, and at the front was a tree with no leaves and a huge doll. Along with two guards beside the doll and the top which was normally a roof was opened to the fresh sky.
"All players please wait a moment on the field." The speakers announced. "Let me repeat, All players please wait a moment on the field." The speakers repeated.
The green doors then closed behind everybody and everybody began to murmur and look behind them at the closed doors. "The first game is Red light, Green light." The voice in the speakers said. As the speakers continued to speak, telling the rules of the game a man pushed through everyone and stood before them all. Player 456 the tag said.
"Everyone!" The man yelled, trying to get everyones attention. "Everyone, listen up! Pay attention!" The man yelled again waving his arms. "Listen carefully! This is not just a game! If you lose the game, you die!" The man yelled to everybody.
Everyone stared at the man in confusion, some stared at him in the face of I don't believe you. Or you are crazy. Murmurs broke out, everyone talking about what he had just said. "Hey! What are you talking about?" A woman asked. "We're going to die playing Red light, Green light?" The woman said in a mocking tone.
"Red light, if they catch you moving they will kill you! They will shoot you from somewhere! Stay on your toes! If you get caught you die!" Player 456 continued to yell to everyone.
"The dolls eyes are motion detectors!" He yelled pointing to the doll. "You have to believe me!" The man yelled in frustration.
As he finished his sentence the doll began to turn around. "No matter happens , do not panic and start running!" Player 456 yelled.
'Let the game begin.' The speaker announced. And then a 5 minuted timer began. And the doll began to say Green light and Red light slower than usual and the players began to move forward. Player 456 had his hands out signalling when to stop. He moved his hands slightly and everyone stopped moving. "Freeze!" He yelled.
The dolls head then turned around and began to look at all of the players trying to detect movement. "Well done! You just need to stay calm like this!" Player 456 yelled, his back to the dolls head. "We just have to move and stop at the right time!" He said.
The dolls head turned back facing the tree and it began to say red light, green light again and the players began to move forward. "Freeze!!" Player 456 yelled before the dolls head turned. And everyone froze. The game went on like this for around two minutes. And no one had been eliminated yet.
"Is he high or what?" Player 196 said. "Nope. No one is like that when they're high." Player 230 said from beside player 196.
The conversation went on for a few seconds, before it stopped, a bee then began to fly over to player 196. It then landed on her neck. "Whats that.." Player 196 asked.
"He knows you're a flower, theres a bee on you." Player 230 said. "A bee?" Player 196 exclaimed as she jumped and moved around trying to get the bee off her. She then paused. "Crap, i just moved." She said. And then suddenly a gun shot went off and the girl was shot in the head.
A woman who was originally beside player 196 looked down and saw the girls dead body. She screamed, and moved back, and then she aswell got shot. This time everyone saw. Many people amongst the crowd began to run back towards the door, although some stayed still knowing if they moved they would end up like those. The people who were running all got shot.
"Let me repeat, you can move forward while the tagger shouts. "Green light, red light." If your movement is detected afterward, you will be eliminated." The speakers said.
The game then continued. Some getting shot and most not. A few moments passed and player 456 showed them all that if they are behind someone their movement isn't detected. Everyone listened and the next time the doll was turned away they all began to get into lines behind a tall person. And that is how the rest of the game played out.
Some made it past. Some didn't. But in the end they were told the rules. They should have obeyed.
author's note— if you are reading this hello! And thank you for reading the first chapter. It is very long, apologies on my behalf. Hope you had fun reading. Goodbye! 2759 words.