Killer Addiction - (Squid Game)

Chapter 30 - Go Back To Hell

A huge screen played over a glowing sign in the heart of the bustling metropolis.
Club HDH.
A crowd of young people in costumes waited outside to be seen by the bouncers, their outfits each more colourful than the last.
Across the street, Gi-hun, Dae-eun, Woo-seok and Jun-ho sat in Jun-ho's parked car.

Gi-hun flipped the gold card in his hand, studying its contents for the third time since they'd parked up.
"Whoa... look at all these people. Why's it so crowded tonight?" Woo-seok asked.
"It's the date." Dae-eun replies, moving from her position in the back seat to peer over Gi-hun's shoulder.

"Halloween. It's a Western holiday. You're supposed to dress up in a costume to ward away evil spirits lurking around when the sun goes down."
"The guy they call the Front Man..." Gi-hun turned to Jun-ho. "...you said he always wore a grey hood and a black mask?"

Jun-ho only nodded, his eyes fixed at the Club across the road, likely scouting the area for the game staff.
Woo-seok leaned over his shoulder with a revelatory gasp, as if he'd deciphered the Enigma code.
"He chose today so he'd blend in with everybody!"

"...would the Front Man really come out to a night club, though?" Dae-eun questioned, earning a questioning glance from Gi-hun. "I'd say we stand a better chance at seeing the pink soldiers."

"The what?" Woo-seok perked up.
"She's talking about the guards the games use. Pink jumpsuits and black masks with shapes on them." Gi-hun replied.
"The shapes indicate roles, too." Jun-ho added.

Both Gi-hun and Dae-eun turned.
"They do?" The former asked.

"Circles are just labourers, they can't even talk without permission. Triangles are the game's executioners, they tend to have machine guns. And the Squares are managers, they give out orders."

"So it is a hierarchy?"
"Is?" Gi-hun casted a cursory glance as the white-haired girl spoke, causing her to clear her throat.
"I er...theorised the shapes on the masks weren't just for show when we were in there the first time."
"I get the feeling you have a lot that you didn't tell me the first time around."

Dae-eun worked her jaw.
"No need to make you overthink everything when we were just trying to survive."
Gi-hun sighed and checked his watch

A few minutes to midnight.
Stuffing an earpiece into his ear, the man turned to the white-haired girl.
"Alright, let's go. Any of this goes south, we have the gunmen stationed nearby."

As Jun-ho unlocked the car, Gi-hun and Dae-eun stepped out, the two sharing a glance before making the crossing to the venue across the street.
Upon arriving at the entrance, a hand pressed against Gi-hun's chest, preventing him from advancing further.
"Whoa- hold on there, buddy. You gotta wait your turn like everybody else."

Without even blinking, Gi-hun produced the gold card from his pocket, holding it up to the bouncer.
Dae-eun watched as the bouncer's expression shifted, glancing at Gi-hun, then her, before miraculously stepping aside.
Creepy...

"Dude- what-" The other bouncer beside him protested.
"Let 'em in."
"But they-" The bouncer went silent under his colleague's silencing gaze.
"Let. Them. In."

The bouncer shrank in his skin, waving the two inside.
The two passed from the darkened doorway into a hallway, pushing through a crowd of party-goers before arriving in the club's hearth.
Light pulsed overhead as the crowd on the packed floor moshed to the music.

The beat of the blaring noise was loud that Dae-eun could feel it in her fibres. The vibrations sending shivers through her every time she took a step.
Gi-hun glanced over his shoulder, checking she was behind him before continuing forward.
The white-haired girl pressed a finger to her ear.