The masked men lifted up Young-jun and Da-qiang's corpses and placed them into coffin-shaped gift boxes.
Meanwhile, outside — Ming-yu was resting when he suddenly heard a few faint beeps. He stood up and began frantically rummaging through the supplies.
Suddenly, he saw it — a timed bomb.
He tried to remove it, but it was stuck tight.
No time to think. He grabbed some gear and dashed outside.
Jun-su was standing outside, watching the sunset and the distant island ahead.
He thought to himself, "That must be the one."
Just as he turned to call Ming-yu—
Ming-yu burst out and shouted,
"RUN!"
Without another word, he pulled Jun-su and they jumped into the ocean.
Moments later — BOOM!
The boat exploded behind them.
Inside the Game Master's office, the phone rang.
The Game Master picked it up.
A voice on the other end said,"They've been dealt with."
It was Jun-su's captain.
The Game Master was silent for a moment, then replied:"Keep monitoring."
And hung up.
Back in the dorms, Player 68 had just walked in when Player 99 ran up to him.
"Zhi-xuan!" 99 called out.
He hugged him tightly."I thought you were dead!"
Player 370 slapped 99 on the shoulder."I just got back and you didn't get that excited. Don't tell me you like him — are you GAY?"
99 pushed him away."You're the gay one. F*** off, idiot."
370 glared at 68 and Zhi-xuan as they walked away.
"F***ing hell…" he muttered.
Soon after, everyone looked up at the giant piggy bank above. The player count was now "42," and the prize money reached "41.4 billion won."
Suddenly, Jung-hyuk stood up and shouted:"I want to call for a vote. With over half in agreement, the game can be terminated. It's written in the consent form!"
From afar, Yoo-hyun stared at him with disdain.
The main doors opened. A masked man stepped forward and said:"We respect every player's free will."
He rolled out the voting console.
Yoo-hyun turned to Bei-bei."Where's Da-qiang?"
Bei-bei replied,"I don't know."
Zhen-yan added,"I think he's dead."
Yoo-hyun scoffed,"That loser? Da-qiang? He couldn't even beat a cockroach."
The masked man announced,"Voting will proceed in numerical order. Player 18."
Player 18 stepped forward. He looked at the masked man, then pressed the circle button.
"Player 39."
Hesitating slightly, 39 pressed circle.
"Player 62."
Bei-bei, trembling, pressed X.
Yoo-hyun glared at him viciously.
"Player 68."
Pressed X.
Several more votes were called.
Outside, Jun-su and Ming-yu crawled up onto the shore, panting heavily, staring at the island ahead.
Back inside, the score reached 18:10.
Jung-hyuk ran out."Everyone! Don't you get it?! If this goes on, you'll ALL die!"
Yoo-hyun stepped out."Who the hell are you anyway? Since the beginning you've been saying we'll die — how do you know that?"
Player 370 joined in:"Yeah! You've been trying to scare us from the start. Who are you really?"
Chaos erupted among the crowd.
Jung-hyuk shouted,"I've played this game before. Everyone who played it with me — died."
Player 262 asked,"And you kept all the prize money for yourself?"
Jung-hyuk nodded.
Yoo-hyun laughed,"Bullsh**. If you had all that money, why the f*** would you come back?!"
Jung-hyuk answered,"Yes, I have money. But if you vote to leave now, not only will you live — I'll help you with my money. Please, believe me."
Zhen-yan shouted,"Why should we believe you? You'll vanish the second we get out!"
Jung-hyuk pressed on,"I really, truly will help all of you. Please—"
CLICK.
A masked man pointed a gun at Jung-hyuk's head.
"No interference with the voting process will be tolerated. Voting continues. Player 99."
99 pressed X.
"Player 262."
Pressed X.
"Player 239."
Pressed circle.
At that moment, the Game Master was hosting the VIP guests.
Jun-su and Ming-yu watched from afar, sneaking in behind them.
Inside, the vote tally reached 19:19.
"Player 329."
Soo-mi pressed X.
19:20
"Player 341."
After wavering between the buttons, pressed circle.
20:20
"Player 357."
Jung-hyuk stepped forward and pressed X.
20:21
"Final vote: Player 370."
He pressed circle, sneering at Player 99 as he did.
Final tally: 21:21
The masked man said,"Let us summarize the result of the vote."
Zhen-yan asked,"It's a tie. Now what?"
The masked man replied,"Clause 3 of the consent form: In the event of a tie, voting will be repeated."
Player 262 asked,"When will the re-vote happen?"
Masked man:"To give everyone time to consider their future, the vote will resume tomorrow. Please reflect carefully."
The players returned to their bunks.
Jung-hyuk stared at the numbers: 21:21.
A strange sense of unease crept into his heart.
Scene shift. Two triangle-masked guards were patrolling.
Suddenly — Jun-su and Ming-yu jumped them and choked them unconscious.
Soon, they were wearing guard uniforms, blending into the ranks.
In the dorm, Soo-mi took her food and sat beside Jung-hyuk.
She comforted him,"It's okay… about Young-jun…"
Jung-hyuk's eyes burned with anger as he looked toward Zhen-yan.
Elsewhere, Zhen-yan and Yoo-hyun approached Bei-bei's bed.
Yoo-hyun said:"Bei-bei, Bei-bei… what the hell? We agreed to work together. Why'd you betray us?"
Bei-bei kept eating.
Zhen-yan, losing patience, snatched away the food."Did you hear what he said to you?!"
Bei-bei didn't answer."Give it back!"
Zhen-yan looked at the food in his hands, then tossed it to the floor — and stomped on it repeatedly.
Then stepped back:"Go ahead. Eat."
Bei-bei lunged at Zhen-yan, grabbed a glass bottle, and smashed it on his head. Just as he was about to stab Zhen-yan's throat—
Li-ye kicked him away.
"You've gone nuts!" Yoo-hyun shouted, punching Bei-bei.
Just as Zhen-yan was about to strike back, Jung-hyuk kicked him aside and punched Yoo-hyun, knocking him down.
Then he helped Bei-bei up.
Player 262 came to assist.
Zhen-yan yelled,"You crazy b***ard! Why are you interfering?!"
Jung-hyuk replied,"You're the crazy one."
They helped Bei-bei back to his bunk.
Zhen-yan and Yoo-hyun stared at their backs.
Jung-hyuk turned to Bei-bei:"You okay?"
Bei-bei nodded slightly:"Thank you."
262 looked at Bei-bei with concern.
Scene shift. A masked man found the two dead bodies on the ground.
Elsewhere, Player 99 pulled Zhi-xuan aside:"Stay away from Player 370. He didn't even blink when he killed last round."
Zhi-xuan glanced at 370, who was eating nearby.
Then — 99 kissed Zhi-xuan's cheek.
Zhi-xuan looked shocked:"What was that for?"
99 held out his pinky:"Promise me — we'll make it to the end together."
They pinky-swore.
99 left with a satisfied smile. Zhi-xuan touched his cheek, and smiled faintly too.
Zhen-yan turned to Yoo-hyun:"Did you notice? When we were fighting earlier, the masked men didn't stop us. Wanna stir things up tonight?"
Yoo-hyun grinned:"You sneaky little…"
Meanwhile, the Game Master was entertaining the VIPs.
Game Master:"A special game is about to begin. Do you want to watch it together?"
VIP 1:"I'd love to see it."
They entered a sleek, corporate-style conference room.
A screen slowly descended from the ceiling.
VIP 3 said in Chinese:"真是蔚为壮观啊!"
VIP 2 asked:"What a beautiful sentence. What does that mean?"
VIP 3 replied:"It means majestic."
Just then, a masked guard approached the Game Master.
"Intruders discovered."
The Game Master paused, then said:"Secure the VIPs. Capture the intruders."
Broadcast announcement:"Lights will turn off in 30 minutes. All players, return to your dorms."
Jung-hyuk looked at the countdown clock and sat with his group.
"If anything happens tonight, just crawl under your beds. Got it?"
They nodded.
Inside the control room, another broadcast echoed:"Special game commencing shortly. All Admins, Guards, and Laborers, report to your assigned positions."
Ming-yu and Jun-su were among them.
Inside the dorm, Player 370 stared at Player 99 with a strange look.
Then—
Broadcast:"Lights will go off in 30 seconds."
Everyone climbed onto their bunks.
The countdown began:
"10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"