“Hey, what the—? Are you crazy?”
“Yes, if you win, I’ll give you the promised one million won.”
The man said, handing me a ddakji.
One million won? That’s a lot of money, honestly. But what…? Kicking my balls?
…
I can’t let that slide!!!
I immediately picked up the red Ddakji.
[Thud]
As if yielding to my emotions, the man immediately put down his ddakji.
“Am I… going first?”
“Yes, you can hit my ddakji first.”
That guy’s underestimating me.
Sorry, but you can’t underestimate my ten years of ddakji experience.
As a kid, I grew up being called the ‘Ddakji King’ in my neighborhood.
I’ve flipped all kinds of king-sized ddakji with my partner.
I’ve abandoned my partner now, but it doesn’t matter. My skills haven’t rusted at all.
“Go, MY DDAGJI!”
[Whack!]
I slammed the ddakji down with all my might.
That blue ddakji will definitely be flipped over.
‘Alright… time to give me the one million won as promised.’
…
“…I’m screwed…”
The ddakji didn’t flip.
[Clack!]
[Whoosh-]
When the man hit with his ddakji, the back of my ddakji was revealed.
“Wait… just a moment!”
[Thwack]
“Ugh!”
The pain, as if one of my balls had fallen off, made me dizzy.
“Ugh…”
I couldn’t even make a sound from the pain.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be kicked too hard.
Then, one of the men started to speak to me.
“Are you alright? Would you like to continue?”
“Ugh… ugh…”
I wanted to make a sound, but it wouldn’t come out.
I couldn’t even think straight in the first place.
…
But as time passed, the pain soon subsided.
The condition that they’d give me one million won if I won the ddakji game was strange in the first place.
There must be some kind of trick on that ddakji, or he must be a considerable expert.
“Would you like to continue?”
The man asked again, and I fell into thought.
It definitely hurts more than I imagined.
…But somehow, I felt like I could win the one million won.
“One more round…”
The man smiled and said,
“Alright. I’ll give you the first turn.”
“And feel free to call me Kongyu.”
Kongyu… that’s a pretty unique name.
Is he someone who’s been in any ddakji competitions?
But I felt like I could win this time.
As I picked up the blue ddakji again, he put down the red ddakji.
I thought back to the days when I was called the ‘Ddakji King.’
“Uwaaaaah!!”
[Whack-!]
…
“Would you like to continue?”
“Just one more round… sniff…!”
I think I’ve lost about six times already.
Now my balls are numb.
I can’t feel anything.
This… even if I get the one million won, won’t it all go to medical bills?
But as the pain subsided, I picked up the ddakji again.
Some indescribable ‘something’ kept making me challenge him.
It was as if the scent of my childhood was coming back to life.
First, if I get the one million won, I should go to the hospital first.
How many minutes had passed? Kongyu started to speak again.
“I’ll give you the first turn again this time.”
I’m going to win this time.
No, I have to win.
If I keep losing, my lower region will explode first.
I slowly started to loosen my clothes.
Recalling my childhood, I lightly stepped on the edge of the blue ddakji.
‘I’m sure it was like this when I was young…’
After trying the ddakji one last time, I maintained my gaze.
‘Hoo…’
[Whoosh-]
[Clack-!]
This… it flipped!
As I felt that sensation, I felt a momentary ‘tingling’ sensation.
[Whoosh-]
Yes…!
Now I just have to crush the balls of that Kongyu or whatever his name is.
“You… come here!”
[Whoosh]
“…Congratulations.”
[Clack!]
Kongyu, who blocked my path, handed me a wad of 50,000 won bills.
“What… was this real?”
“Yes~ It’s 20 bills of 50,000 won as promised.”
I was flustered and started counting the bills one by one.
‘One… two…’
As Kongyu said, there were exactly 20 50,000 won bills.
I think I’ve got the hang of it now.
I’m sure I can earn about 5 million if I play a few more rounds.
In addition, an indescribable excitement seized me.
“Um… is it possible to play one more round…?”
I blurted out the words unintentionally.
“Rather than that, shouldn’t you take care of your lower body first?”
Ah, I forgot.
Come to think of it, the feeling in my lower region was still numb.
If I continued like this, I could become a eunuch after receiving 5 million won.
“The reason I played this ddakji game is…”
Kongyu handed me a business card.
“If you want to earn even more money, you can come to this address.”
The business card had the words ‘TS Game’ written on it.
It was quite a suspicious business card.
More than that, I knew they’d use ddakji games for promotion, but…
It was a name I’d never heard of.
It must be a gambling establishment.
I had tried gambling before to escape poverty.
I simply took 1,000,000 won and played my first game, but…
The result was disastrous.
Since then, I haven’t touched gambling.
…
When I hesitated to take the business card, Kongyu spoke again.
“If you think it’s gambling, you can think of it that way.”
“But isn’t the real fear being ‘yourself’ left behind, unable to choose anything?”
The emotions of my childhood began to surge.
I thought for a moment that I was being cowardly.
I felt pathetic for avoiding the choice.
[Grab-]
I quietly picked up the business card.
[This stop is OO, OO Station. The doors will open on the right.]
“I’ll be on my way now.”
[Shuffle… shuffle…]
Soon after, the subway arrived.
Kongyu quietly straightened his suit and started to board the subway.
I could only watch Kongyu in silence.
“Ah! Come to think of it, I have to go to a part-time job interview!”
[Thump! Thump!]
I ran towards the door at full speed.
[Bang!]
I tried to get on the subway, but it was already too late.
Because my lower body was numb, I narrowly missed it in front of the door.
Kongyu was quietly waving his hand.
“Seriously… if I play ddakji with you next time, I’m going to crush your balls first!”
As Kongyu quietly smiled, the subway started to move.
[Shuffle… shuffle…]
“Ugh…”
Anyway, it was hard to move because my lower body was numb.
I decided to go to the hospital to visit my mother.
…
“Oh my~ What on earth did you do to bruise your testicles like this?”
“Ah… well… I got hit a little, haha…”
“What are you, a human punching bag? Anyway, I’ll call the police for you.”
“Ah… no, no! It’s okay…!”
It’s embarrassing if this gets out.
Somehow, I glossed over it and went to see my mother.
…
[Shuffle… shuffle…]
I’m walking down the street now, looking at the business card.
The conversation with my mother was quite impressive.
“This business card…”
I looked at the business card once.
“Circles and triangles… and squares?”
It was a business card that was difficult to understand.
On the back, there were only three shapes and an address.
“OO Complex, today at 12 o’clock, pass the intersection next to Starbucks… the road to the small alley…”
There weren’t any buildings to speak of in this place.
Since the time is written, it seems like I have to move directly.
It’s definitely a gambling establishment.
It’s 7 p.m. now… about 5 hours left.
I went to Starbucks and started drinking a coffee.
As I looked out the window in thought, I saw a playground.
There was a playground across the road from the Starbucks intersection.
There were many children in the surrounding neighborhood, so they were playing until this late evening.
Quietly watching the children playing until late, I was reminded of my childhood memories.
“…Nice. The pleasure during the ddakji game was amazing.”
As I watched the games, I remembered the ddakji game from earlier.
It definitely hurt just thinking about it, but…
The pleasure of winning one million won was amazing.
At that time, an inexplicable desire began to surge.
I didn’t know what it was, but…
I wanted to do it again.
…
It’s 11:58 p.m. now.
I’m standing in the alley now.
Then, I saw a car coming from far away.
“Is that it?”
It was quite rare for a car to be driving at this time.
I walked towards the stopped car.
“Um… can I get in?”
There was no answer.
It was quite suspicious, but I decided to get in for now.
The inside was cleaner than I thought.
And the seat was comfortable.
Then, I heard a voice from the front seat.
“Then we’ll be departing~”
[Vroom-]
With the sound of the engine, the car started to move.
[Fsh-]
Then, a suspicious gas started to spread throughout the car.
“Wait… just a moment!!”
I realized that something was wrong and tried to speak, but it was already too late.
My eyes became heavy and closed on their own.
“Ugh…”
As my body became languid, I completely lost sight of what was in front of me.
Along with an inexplicable excitement.
✦✦✦
“Where… am I?”
[Rustle…]
I was lying in bed.
As I slowly got up, there was a large building.
Dark and stained floor…
Green walls and lights on top…
Except for the countless beds and people, it was like the school auditorium from my childhood.
There were many people lying on the surrounding beds.
It seemed like I was the first to wake up.
The people’s clothes were uniform.
Thin green tracksuits…
And a white patch with a number on the left chest.
I unconsciously looked at my clothes and number.
“The clothes are the same… and… number 456…?”
Then, the people who were lying down slowly started to get up.
“Where… is this…?”
A man next to me started to speak.
Most of the other people seemed to have entered this place for the first time.
“Excuse me… do you know where this is?”
The man next to me spoke to me.
Looking at his appearance, he had yellow hair and a slender nose…
He was quite handsome on the streets.
Looking at the white patch, it said number 164.
“I… don’t know either…”
I exchanged simple greetings with number 164 and looked around.
One by one, people started to get up from their seats around me.
Before long, the entire auditorium was filled with the bustling sound of people.
I’ve been alive for 26 years. This was the first time this had happened to me.
Gradually, the bustling sound began to fill the entire auditorium.
Most of them seemed to be getting up.
[Shuffle… shuffle…]
I also got out of bed and started looking around.
There was a stage in front, and the number ‘456’ was visible above.
As I continued to look around… most of the people here were men.
It seemed like there were no women in the first place.
…
[Thoom-]
[Bang!]
Then, I heard the sound of the door opening, and suspicious people came out from the stage.
Pink clothes… and masks with the shapes I saw on the business card…
Gradually, people in the same clothes as me started to gather in front of the stage.
“We sincerely welcome everyone who has come to this place.”