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Mari was frozen as she listened to what the man in the mask had to say. "How are we supposed to believe you?" Mari turned to see where the voice came from to see a brave man in the second row start talking. "You suddenly put us to sleep, took away our phones and wallets, then dragged us here to this mysterious place. Now you show up and say you'll pay us handsomely for a few games? Do you expect us to believe that?" Mari didn't react but she looked at Sae-byeok nervously, she hadn't tried to talk to her anymore but she was sticking by her whether it was for her protection or something else, Mari wasn't sure.
"We had to enforce those procedures to ensure the utmost security in bringing you here. We'll return everything once the games are over." The masked man said, Mari had many questions but she wasn't brave enough to ask them herself so she just made herself small so she wasn't seen by anyone. "How come you are wearing those masks?" A woman asked, Mari, peaked her head up in interest, she assumed it was for privacy but now that it was pointed out she did think it was a bit weird. "We do not disclose the faces or personal information of our staff to the participants. It's for the sake of fairness and secrecy. Please understand." The man in the front said, Mari didn't trust a word he said but it wasn't up to her, all 456 people were at the masked men's mercy. "I don't trust a word you just said. Enticement, abduction, confinement. After all that illegal activity you give us these excuses without revealing who you are. Give us one good reason why we should trust you."
"Player 218, Cho Sang-woo." The masked man reached his hand out and shut the lights off before the screen above him changed. "Age, 46. Former supervisor of Team Two at Joy Investments. Embezzled money from his clients, invested it in derivatives and futures, and failed. Current loss, 650 million won." Mari froze as she watched as the screen cycled through the people and the masked man explained the debt. When it got to her a pit grew in her stomach, she felt the ghost of the slap on her cheek when she watched the footage over and over again. "Player 29, Yi Mari, 650 million won in debt." Mari sighed and put her hand over her mouth rubbing her face. "Oh my god," Mari muttered when the next video was of Ji-yeong getting slapped, the masked man's words were fading into the background as she stepped on her toes trying to see if she can find Ji-yeong. "All of you in this room have crippling debts and are now on a cliff-edge. When we first went to you, you did not trust us either. But as you know, we played a game and gave you money as promised. And so you trust us and volunteered to participate according to your own free will. You have one last chance to decide."
The man paused, Mari gulped and clasped her hands together as she waited for him to say something. "Do you want to go back and live out your pathetic lives running from creditors? Or will you seize the last opportunity we are offering?" As much as Mari hated to admit it, he was right. "What kind of games are we playing?" Mari gets the courage to ask, twitching slightly when everyone stared at her with judgemental eyes. "For the sake of fairness, we cannot disclose any information prior to the games." Mari looked down at her hands, she was starting to play with her fingers nervously when another voice sounded. "Excuse me. Just how much is the prize money?" Instead of responding the masked man raised his hand again and hit a button on the remote that he was holding.
Some circus music started to play as a yellow light shined on her, she looked up to see a giant clear piggy bank come out of the ceiling. "The prize money will accumulate in that piggy bank after each game. The amount will be revealed to everyone after the first game. Those who do not wish to participate, please speak up now." Mari held her breath, an odd feeling overcame her as she was waiting she felt nervous that someone was going to speak up and ruin the game for her, she needed the money.
When the masked men deemed it good enough for the right amount of silence to pass and he nodded his head off to the side, Mari watched in shock as 7 podiums were brought out. "Please line up in a single file line." The man instructed, Mari looked at Sae-byeok in confusion but she just shrugged and started to walk towards the 2nd line so Mari decided to take the one next to her knowing that it wouldn't be bad to stick next to her friend, at least until she finds Ji-yeong.
Shortly it was Mari's turn, she stepped up to the podium with her hands sweaty as she grabbed the pen that the man offered. She looked at the header which had the words player consent form on it, she quickly scanned the rest of it ignoring the voice in her head to fully read it before signing it at the bottom. She never read any documents before she shined it so she wasn't going to start now. Mari was instructed to turn around and get into a new line so Mari did as instructed, she looked at the masked man that was near her nervously before turning to keep her eyes forward in case she would get yelled at.
"The game is about to begin. All players, follow the staff's instructions and proceed to the game hall." Started to blare from the speakers that were fixed to the wall, so Mari followed the line wondering what awaited her and if it was all worth it.
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NOTES:
Yes, her not fully reading the consent forum will bite her in the ass later. This is your reminder to thoroughly read any paperwork before signing it.
