Pink attire with geometric shapes on a black mask…
“I sincerely welcome all of you here today.”
At that moment, a black-haired man with an undercut hairstyle opened his mouth.
“More importantly, where is this place and why did you kidnap us without saying anything?”
After a brief silence, one of the masked figures began to speak.
“This is the lobby of the arena where the TS game will take place. You can simply call it an auditorium.”
“The process of bringing the participants here through unavoidable means was a measure taken due to security concerns.”
“We sincerely ask for your understanding.”
The gathered people began to murmur.
Honestly, I didn’t understand either.
They kidnapped us because of security?
I wanted to ask where my phone had gone, but…
I decided not to, knowing it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.
Then, a black-haired man wearing glasses spoke up.
“How can we believe that?”
“Carrying out such a large-scale kidnapping… confiscating personal belongings…”
“Isn’t this too contradictory?”
Well said.
[Clank]
At that moment, the lights in the auditorium began to turn off.
As people were murmuring, the monitor above lit up.
“Participant 107, name Kim Seongho, age 28.”
“Employed at a mid-sized company but fired after 7 months, followed by a massive debt due to gambling.”
As soon as the words ended, an image appeared on the monitor.
[Thwack!]
[Whoosh-]
[“W-Wait a moment…!”]
[Squish]
[“Ugh…!”]
The sound of eggs cracking could be heard vividly.
The man with glasses turned his head away, his face reddening.
Snickering sounds began to be heard from around.
“All of you participants are people who are in massive debt and at the edge of your lives.”
“We will give you one last chance.”
“Will you continue living with debt like trash?”
“Or will you take this final opportunity we’re offering?”
…
The entire auditorium was enveloped in silence.
Then, one of the masked figures on the stage spoke again.
“You will participate in a total of 12 games over about a month.”
“Those who survive until the end of these games will be given a large sum of prize money.”
At that moment, number 164 next to me raised his hand.
“Then… are there eliminations?”
“In case of elimination, there are 1st stage elimination, 2nd stage elimination, 3rd stage elimination… and ‘final elimination’.”
“And for each elimination, there exists an appropriate ‘punishment’.”
Number 164 pondered for a moment before speaking again.
“Can’t you explain it more simply?”
“I’m sorry, but due to time constraints, this is all the information we can provide.”
“We hope you enjoy yourselves.”
[Step… Step…]
[Whoosh-]
[Bang!]
Those masked figures appeared suddenly and disappeared just as suddenly.
Afterwards, we were each given a piece of paper and a pen.
The paper read as follows:
◈◈◈
[TS Game Participation Agreement]
{Article 1: Participants cannot arbitrarily discontinue the game.}
{Article 2: Participants who refuse the game will be treated as eliminated.}
{Article 3: The game can be discontinued if the majority of participants agree.}
{Article 4: Agree to unavoidable measures taken due to security matters during the participation period.}
Signature: ____
◈◈◈
There were many suspicious points, but I reluctantly picked up the pen.
◈◈◈
Signature: Sung Ji Yoon
◈◈◈
One by one, people signed and returned to their beds.
‘Was it number 107?’
[Step.. Step..]
I walked towards number 107, who had been humiliated earlier.
Then I began to speak to number 107, who had his head lowered.
“Honestly, what you said earlier was good.”
“It’s fine…”
“Come on, everyone else was too scared to say anything.”
“Number 107, why don’t we form a team together?”
“… Please call me Seongho.”
There was nothing to lose by teaming up with someone like this.
“My name is Sung Ji Yoon.”
I shook hands briefly with Seongho before we parted ways.
At that moment, an announcement began to play over the speakers.
[The first game will begin shortly]
[Participants, please move in order towards the door on the left side of the stage]
…
As I slowly entered the door, I saw a large structure.
“W-What is all this…”
I stared in amazement.
It felt like a giant kids’ cafe.
Looking up, I could see lights on at a few doors.
It seemed we had to go to those doors.
…
[Bump, Bump..]
“Excuse me.. Please move aside..”
“You shouldn’t go in first.”
The inside of the door was narrower than expected.
Above all, it was so dark that bodies frequently collided.
As most people gathered in the waiting room, the frequency increased.
It became hard to breathe due to the entangled people.
[Clank]
[Whirr-]
Then the door in front slowly began to open.
My eyes hurt from the sudden light.
[Step… Step…]
I was amazed at the unexpectedly high scale.
It looked like an outdoor stadium.
The walls, dozens of meters long, were wallpapered with rural landscape patterns.
In front of the sandy ground that seemed to be over 100 meters long…
There was a familiar-shaped doll and a timer.
Then the guidance announcement rang out.
[The first game is ‘Red Light, Green Light’]
Could it be the game I knew…?
I had played it a long time ago.
Other people also began to stir at the unexpected game.
[You can move while the doll is saying “Red Light, Green Light”,]
[If you move after that when the doll turns around, you’re out]
“Oh, we meet again?”
When I turned my head, number 164 with yellow hair was next to me.
Up close, the yellow-haired person looked quite young.
“By the way, Red Light, Green Light… isn’t it unexpected?”
“Do kids these days even play this game?”
“I’ll have you know I’m a freshman in college;;”
A college freshman means… 20 years old?
“Haha, you’re still young.”
Despite looking young, he was indeed older than he appeared, but still young.
Come to think of it, at 20 he was about to go to the military.
Going to the military right after this game…
It was a bit sad.
…
[Then we will start the game.]
When the announcement ended, 5 minutes appeared on the timer in front.
It seemed we had to reach the finish line within the time limit.
[Whirr-]
Then as the doll turned around, people started running.
Number 164 in particular ran out quickly.
[Pat pat..]
I started running too, not wanting to fall behind.
[Red Light, Green Light~]
As the doll turned around, I managed to stop just in time.
“Ah~ I messed up.. hehe..”
Perhaps due to his youthful vigor, number 164 in front swayed.
[Number 164, eliminated]
To not even get the prize money and go straight to the military…
I offered my deep condolences in advance.
[Bang!]
[Poof-]
Then, with a gunshot, smoke rose around number 164.
A silhouette of a twisting body could be seen in the smoke.
[Crackle… Sizzle…]
An inexplicable electrical sound was heard.
“Ow… it hurts…”
As the smoke cleared, there was…
A completely different person there
Looking at the features, yellow long hair.. slender nose.. large breasts..
A rare beauty of a woman, even on the streets, appeared.
“Number 164.. is that you..?”
“Mister, what’s wrong with you?”
“Why is my voice like this…”
Then a man in front backed away in confusion.
“I… I’ve never heard of such a thing… Hiyat-!?”
[Bang!]
[Crackle… Sizzle…]
“My body…!”
This time too…
The scene of a man becoming a woman unfolded.
“How is this possible…?”
“That door…! We have to get out of here…”
One by one, men started running back towards the door they came from.
Following those men, other men also started running towards the door they had come through.
“Where are the police? Police…!”
“Move! I didn’t want to play this kind of game!”
“What the hell is that-!”
[Thud-! Thwack-! Boom!]
Before long, chaos erupted as bodies entangled and people pushed each other.
I too fell as my legs gave way in the chaos.
[Whirr-]
Then the sound of aiming began to be heard.
And…
[Bang!, Bang! Bang!, Bang!]
[Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!]
[Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!, Bang!]
…
At that moment, a man who was running tripped over my leg.
[Bang!]
“Huh!?”
The smoke began to clear.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Before my eyes was a large chest. It was soft.
“A-Are you alright…?”
“It was goo… No, no… I’m fine.”
Before my eyes was just a pretty girl with long black hair and a beautiful smile.
…
“More importantly, what on earth happened…”
I carefully turned my head, and there wasn’t a single ‘man’ to be seen.
Just then, the announcement started playing again.
[We will repeat the instructions.]
[You may move while the doll is chanting “Red Light, Green Light”,]
[If you move after the doll turns its head, you will be eliminated.]