Squid Game: America (Eternal)

Reason

Preparations for the next game are complete- cards. For this game, players have to partner up with someone they have close ties with. Everyone conversed and chose their partners quickly. Player 238 doesn't trust anyone in the room. The only one who left with no partner was 316. Nobody trusted him. But she did. So she had no other choice but to take his hand.

238: You got some nerve being in for this. An average person wouldn't want to tag along with a person like me. You know how hard I can be.

316: Well, I'm here now. You don't intimidate me. If anything, you make me want to stay here with you-anyone. Everyone else here made a choice not to-even those guys who embarrassed you earlier.

238: They're nothing but a bunch of scumbags. And, I probably shouldn't have excluded you because you're nothing like them. I know you know why I did. I just-

316: Save it. Don't apologize for your feelings.

238: Do you mind giving me a sec?

316: Sure.

238: (walks up to Gale) Are you guys trying to pull something?

062: What are you talking about? No, I'm not.

238: 316 says differently.

062: Ok. Do you want to know what's up? The night before we got back in this hellhole, he crossed my path. Let's just say he's nothing like us. He's a saint, man. There is no reason why he should be stuck here.

238: He never said he was. You know what else? He chose to be my partner without hesitation. But this will all be over soon. (walks away)

062: We'll see about that.

All the players are taken to a big room with the interior of a small old town. The elders stood there in silence as they observed it. It started to bring back so many memories from their early years. Each couple of players was given one stack of the classic playing cards. Then, one enforcer took each team to a particular area of their own. Players 238 and 316 sat on a small staircase under a roof. Once everyone was in their place, the voice came on.

Announcer: For this round, you are free to play a card game of your choice. Finish your competition within the 30-minute timer. The player who loses gets eliminated. Let the round begin.

316 looked straight at 238 as she sat in front of him with her back turned. They had plenty of time for playing a simple card game. So 316 just decided to talk until then.

316: Aren't you getting tired of this? Always being exploited? Being told what to wear, what to eat, when to be tough? It's all making you sick. You're tired of it, aren't you?

238: Look, I don't have much of a choice. Frankly, neither do you. It's not like you even deserve to be in this hellhole, as far as I know.

316: What's that supposed to mean?

238: I mean, you are not an insecure good-for-nothing failure like all the ones here. I don't even know what you did to even get yourself here.

316: All of that wouldn't matter. I'm still no different than you. So what, you want me to rub my "perfection" in your face? That wouldn't make you feel any better, would it?

238: I feel like I'm talking to a damn wall. You may be a saint and know about what I have said and done, but you have no idea where I am coming from. You have had a lot of things granted to you. You had to get social with these idiots just to get attention.

316: You think so? Because I beg to differ. My name is John. I probably sound like any other guy. You can say I was greedy, selfish, and so stuck up. I had no discipline to do anything for myself. (Holds up cards) So, I gambled for my gain. My poor mom disappeared in the dangerous streets sometime after. I never saw her again. But before that, she gave me all that was left in our home: a Bible. I thought hard about this when I got locked up. My father constantly bombarded me with his religious ways. He said it was mercy. I hated that he was a pastor. I never trusted anything he said because it went against my perspective on life. But after he passed to the gangs I was surrounded by; I had to do something different. This lifestyle was leading me nowhere. After opening up the Bible I was given, it was different. I thought I was invincible. In reality, I was lost. But after making it a priority, I was found. The rest is history. After hearing all this, do you still think I'm the only innocent angel here?

238: Wow. I had no idea. I shouldn't have assumed. But wait, why are you here again?

316: The investors went down the drain in my town after I left. Before I knew it, I was flat broke. Everyone stopped doing good, and that led to destruction.

238: No kidding. Anastasha is my name. You know how hard I am. And I just don't understand why you are treating me this way. Everything was normal for me until my mom woke me up crying in the middle of the night. I heard police sirens everywhere. She said there was a shooting that started a fire in a nightclub. Several people were fatally injured, and a few were dead. One of them was my dad. Those words destroyed me, and this was on my 12th birthday. He was my everything. After he suffered the gunshot wound to the neck, I started to suffer the most deadly damage that time couldn't heal. I couldn't be happy anymore, and I just felt hopeless. My mom was losing everything. That's why I let myself get this way. I did anything to take what I could. No matter who it was, who I tied with, or what the outcome would be. Then things just spiraled into hell. I am responsible for it, but I just wanted the pain to disappear. I didn't want to feel anything! So then, what is even the point of moving on?