PAWNS [squid game]

□6□

"Fuck, I didn't see you cross the line. I thought you were dead," Saebyeok breathes, slapping Jiah's shoulder.

"I thought you were fucking dead," Jiah scoffs, nudging Saebyeok back. "Took your ass ages to get to the end."

"Did you see that shit?" 068 plops down on the floor with them.

The players had been returned to the room with all the bunk beds. Everyone was shaken and exhausted and found places to collapse.

"No, what happened?" Jiah feigns surprise.

068 frowns, pulling her knees to her chest. "You don't have to be mean about it."

"It makes sense," Saebyeok speaks up. "The huge budget of everything. The consent forms. The anonymous guards. The fact we're all people who were going to die regardless of where we were."

"A heads up still would've been nice," Jiah mumbles. "Plus, the gas and needle."

"Needle?" 068 asks.

"I was trying to say it earlier. The gas didn't do anything to me on the drive here. I still fell asleep because it was like five in the morning but.."

Jiah rolls her left sleeve up. Saebyeok and 068 lean closer to inspect the small wound in the bend of Jiah's arm.

"When they pulled over, I woke up. Before I could say anything, the door flung open and another guard stabbed my arm with a needle. It knocked me out and I woke up here."

"They don't want us to see anything at any cost," Saebyeok whispers.

"If I would've known that, I would've faked being passed out," Jiah sighs, pushing her sleeve back down.

The doors open and the remaining players hurry to their feet.

"Congratulations for making it through the first game," the guard with a square on his mask speaks.

Dohyun looks at the guns the others carried.

"Here are the results of the first game."

The screen on the wall that showed 456 begins changing.

Dohyun felt dizzy as the numbers spiral down.. down.. down..

201.

Dohyun nearly throws up.

"Out of 456 players, 255 players have been eliminated. 201 players have completed the first game."

Silence overtakes the room.

Dohyun's shoes echo as he steps forward.

"Sir.. this.. this isn't a variety show. Where am I? How.." his voice cracks. "How did this.."

"Variety show?" a man questions- another player. "People were murdered and you think you're on a variety show? Who do you think you are?"

"Sir," another woman steps forward, tears at a constant as she falls into a pleading bow. "I'll find a way to pay off my debt. Please spare my life."

Britney was terrified.

People rush forward, clearly begging to go home. The foreign words, the smell of blood that lingered on some people's clothes, the death.. everything. Britney didn't know what to do. What to say.

As people get more and more riled up, a gun fires.

Britney cries to herself in a lost world.

"The game can be terminated if the majority votes," a player reminds.

Jiah looks st the man- 218.

Jiah wonders if that was in the consent form. At the possibility, she glares at 068.

The guard grants the crowd the wish to vote to end the game. On one condition.

"But, before we vote, we will reveal the prize amount from the first game."

With a single press of a button on a remote, the lights dim and a gold hue cascades from the giant piggy bank.

Arcade-like music plays as stacks of momey begin falling into the bank. Never ending.

Jiah had never held more than five million won before. The only reason she'd come in contact with that much was because she was helping Boss pack their shit and leave when the cops tried to bust them.

That night, Jiah said fuck the money. She had to protect her family. Boss' wife was there visiting. All the girls were there. Jiah shoved the girls out of the building, telling Boss to get his wife out.

She'd ran outside, right in front of the cops. They had weapons drawn. But, Jiah wasn't afraid of dying. She was afraid of someone she cared for dying. So, she took off running with an empty bag to make the cops assume she had the money.

That was only the second time she was arrested.

The money finally stops falling into the bank.

"The number of players eliminated in the first game: 255. Allocated prize momey for eack player: 100 million won. Therefore, a current total of 25.5 billion won has been accumulated into the piggy bank."

"If you quit the games now, the 25.5 billion won witll be sent to the families of the eliminated players- 100 million won each. However, all of you will return home empty-handed."

The voting podium was set up within an hour.

It was the voting process itself that took all day.

It was easy to vote. One by one, players chose green-circle to continue playing or red-x to stop the game.

They went in reverse number order.

As Dohyun reach the stand, he didn't hesitate to slam his hand on the red button.

Jiah saunters her way over when it's her turn. With a quirked eyebrow at the guards, she taps the green button with two fingers.

Saebyeok voted to keep playing. 068 voted to stop. Deoksoo even chose to stop.

Britney stands at the podium, nervous twiddling her fingers.

"Green to play, red to stop," Jiah informs.

Britney looks over in shock of hearing English so suddenly. Jiah winks at her with a grin.

Britney sighs in relief, pressing the red button.

The votes came down to quite literally the final person. The elderly man at 001 stares at the buttons for a few minutes.

Jiah didn't care if she played or got sent home.

Britney was planning on her way back to America.

Dohyun had his fingers crossed, mentally praying the man would end this madness.

The sound of the red button makes half the room break into cheers.