As the broadcast countdown echoed through the dorm,
"10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1"
Beep.
All the lights went out. A chilling stillness swept across the room.
The VIPs and the Game Master watched everything through thermal imaging.
VIP 4 grinned."Become exciting!"
Zhen-yan and Yoo-hyun began to move. Slowly, stealthily, they crept toward the other players.
Yoo-hyun stood behind Player 131,"Oh, little baby… what are you looking at?"
Scream.
With a sudden strike, he stabbed a glass shard into 131's neck. Again and again.
The dorm lights flickered erratically.
Player 262 looked around at the chaos. People running, screaming.
Suddenly — his bed frame was toppled. He fell hard to the ground.
In the flashing lights, Player 370 spotted Player 99.
Glass bottle in hand, he charged.
99 froze. Too late.
370 kicked him to the ground and stabbed him — again, and again, and again.
Blood soaked the floor.
Player 99 was dead.
Zhi-xuan stood nearby, frozen in shock.
370 turned and lunged at him.
Just as the bottle was about to strike — 262 tackled him away, pulling Zhi-xuan to safety.
Elsewhere, Jung-hyuk grabbed Soo-mi and Bei-bei.
As they tried to flee, Zhen-yan and Yoo-hyun stood in their way.
Jung-hyuk whispered,"Run!"
Then rushed toward Zhen-yan.
Soo-mi and Bei-bei ducked under a bed.
Jung-hyuk slammed Zhen-yan down, then grabbed a bottle and smashed it over Yoo-hyun's head.
Seeing Zhen-yan trying to get up, Jung-hyuk kicked him into the panicked crowd.
Yoo-hyun turned and fled.
Jung-hyuk looked at Yoo-hyun escaping, then toward 262 and Zhi-xuan approaching. He helped them hide under a bed.
Inside the dorm — chaos. It was a living hell.
Necks were twisted. Bodies stabbed. Screams. Blood.
Meanwhile, Jun-su and Ming-yu stood behind the dorm entrance.
They looked at each other — and silently took a step back.
The doors opened. Masked guards stormed in.
But just as they entered—
A grenade rolled to their feet.
BOOM!
All the guards were blown to pieces.
Everything stopped.
VIP 1 stared at the monitor."What the hell."
The Game Master barked into the radio:"Capture them immediately!"
Jun-su and Ming-yu ran to the center of the dorm.
They removed their masks.
Ming-yu shouted,"Jung-hyuk! Where are you?!"
Jung-hyuk crawled out from under a bed, stunned.
Suddenly, a dying masked guard — half his body burned — raised his gun.
Bang!
He fired at Jun-su.
Ming-yu instinctively drew his weapon and shot the guard dead.
Jun-su looked down at the bullet wound… and collapsed.
Ming-yu rushed forward, holding him.
Jun-su gasped,"I... I'm sorry…"
Blood poured from his mouth.
And then — silence. He was gone.
Jung-hyuk watched, speechless.
He asked,"Was he… the only cop?"
Ming-yu, teary-eyed, nodded.
The doors burst open again. More masked men entered, pushing players to the ground and grabbing Ming-yu.
Jung-hyuk knocked a guard away, trying to free Ming-yu.
One of the guards raised a gun to Jung-hyuk,
"Go ahead! Shoot me! Do it, you bastard!"
Jung-hyuk resisted — but was pinned down, hard.
Ming-yu was dragged away.
The masked men began scanning the corpses' ears.
A cold voice came over the speakers:"Player 131, eliminated. Player 201, eliminated…"
Later, Player 262 looked at Zhi-xuan,"You okay?"
Zhi-xuan, choking back tears:"My best friend… that piece of sh** killed him."
A tear rolled down his cheek.
"We grew up together. He was smart. Just didn't know how to fight back. If not for him, I wouldn't have made it this far. He said he'd stay with me until the end…"
He looked toward Player 370.
262 looked too.
Jung-hyuk turned to Soo-mi and Bei-bei,"Are you two alright?"
They nodded.
Then, a masked man entered. He pressed a remote.
The player count dropped.The prize pool increased.
He announced:"23 players were eliminated last night. 19 remain. Current prize pool: 43.7 billion won. We will now begin a vote to decide whether to continue the game."
Meanwhile, Ming-yu was brought to the Game Master's office.
The Game Master gestured for a masked man to sit down.
Then, he told the masked man to remove his mask in front of Ming-yu.
The mask came off slowly…
Ming-yu's eyes widened.
"Zi-kai…?"
It was Kai.
Ming-yu asked,"Why? Why you…?"
Back in the dorm, Player 370 began to provoke the crowd:
"See? If 357 hadn't called for a vote, none of this would've happened. We wouldn't have killed each other. It's all HIS fault. You idiots still trust him?"
Yoo-hyun added,"Yeah. We never should've trusted someone who caused a riot."
The crowd started shouting.
Jung-hyuk stood in despair, watching them turn on him.
The vote ended. Final score: 14 to 5.
The masked man declared:"By democratic decision, the game will continue tomorrow. Thank you for your cooperation."
He left.
Jung-hyuk stood frozen, staring at the ground, empty-eyed.
Scene shift.
The Game Master placed a pistol on the table in front of Zi-kai.
"You have two options. Kill him — or kill yourself."
Ming-yu asked,"Did you… did you kill my son too?"
Zi-kai said nothing. He picked up the gun.
He pointed it at Ming-yu.
Ming-yu stared back.
The Game Master waited.
Suddenly — Zi-kai turned the gun on the Game Master.
Before he could pull the trigger — a guard opened fire.
Bang!
Zi-kai collapsed, lifeless.
Ming-yu stared at his body.
"Why… why would you do something so stupid?"
The Game Master picked up the pistol and aimed it at Ming-yu.
"Three years ago, it should've been you buried in that trash heap. Not your son. But don't worry…"
"You'll be seeing your wife and son soon enough."
Ming-yu stared, furious and tearful.
A single shot rang out.
Bang.