Chapter Text
Kang Mi-na groaned, rubbing her temple with the palm of her hand. She felt like she had’just been shot through the head… her ears were ringing, and she had a TERRIBLE headache.
She felt weak. If someone tried to attack her, she wouldn’t be able to fight back. She didn’t even have the energy to speak. However, things felt… oddly calm. She could feel sunlight on her back, although she couldn’t see it. Her face was in the grass, and she found that she barely even cared if her clothes got dirty.
Mi-na felt… so relaxed. To anyone else, it would’ve been alarming… but, not to her.
That is, until a voice spoke.
“Looks like we have a new arrival.” It was a female voice, so Mi-na wasn’t too worried at first, but then she thought a little. She didn’t know this person. The voice was foreign to her. What if they meant her harm?
“Bring her. She doesn’t look awake.” Another voice joined the first, sounding more monotone.
“Maybe there was a mistake? Maybe she’s… dead -dead?” The first person spoke again with a small giggle. God, they sounded psychotic. Mi-na didn’t know if she wanted to see the person now.
All of a sudden, she felt hands hook under her arms, pulling her along across the grass. She couldn’t fight back. She couldn’t open her eyes. She couldn't even panic. All she could do was remain still, hoping that what was about to happen wouldn’t be too painful.
Mi-na opened her eyes slowly, groaning softly. She was in a much more comfortable position, which was good… plus, the texture on her back was soft. She still felt weak, like her muscles had just given up on everything, but she could move now.
She slowly sat up, blinking to try and focus on what was in front of her. She seemed to be in a small kind of shed, with wide windows all along the top of the walls, a simple light attached to the ceiling.
She was lying on a bed, it seemed, and although light was coming through the window, darkness shrouded the objects around her.
“You’re finally awake.” Mi-na whipped around to her right, hearing the voice of the first person she had heard. “I was getting tired of watching you sleep…” The person was basically invisible, a mere silhouette, leaning over to be closer to the terrified girl. The darkness made the entire thing even more scary, until there was a loud click , and the door swung open.
As the door opened, light poured into the room, revealing that the person sitting there was just a girl, looking not much older than Mi-na, shielding her eyes from the light.
“Ji-yeong, stop creeping her out.” The person in the doorway, seemingly another girl, spoke.
The first - Ji-yeong - sighed, rolling her eyes. “I was just trying to do something, we haven’t had a new person in ages!”
The older-looking woman sighed as well, turning to Mi-na. “What’s your name?” She spoke, her voice monotone. She was definitely the second voice that Mi-na heard.
“Kang Mi-na.” Mi-na spoke. She had a strange sense of trust in the new arrival, one that she couldn't explain.
“I’m Kang Sae-byeok. You’ll be in here while we wait for your room to appear.” The woman explained.
Wait, what? Appear??
[Lol]
Gyeong-su groaned loudly, rubbing his head. His shoulder was hurting, but his head was hurting even more, so he tried to get his priorities straight. He slowly sat up, limbs feeling stiff. He didn't remember much.
The last thing he remembered was getting kicked to the ground by Thanos during Mingle… and then waking up here. He knew there was something in between, but he just… couldn’t place what.
He was in a weird-looking shed, with long windows spread across the entire top of the walls, light seeping through the glass. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the room with him.
How did i get here… he thought nervously. Had he been dreaming? He was on a bed, after all… but this wasn’t his room. Was he dead? Was this heaven? Hell? Purgatory? Was he dreaming now ?
Despite his swirling thoughts, he slowly got up from the comfortable bed, moving to where he thought was a door. Luckily, he was right, and it pushed open with ease.
Gyeong-su was practically blinded by the sheer amount of light that suddenly came into his eyes, and he grunted, trying to shield himself from it with his hands. When his eyes adjusted, all he saw was a long stretch of grass, with a couple clumps of trees in the distance.
“Hello!” Gyeong-su felt himself jump out of his skin as he heard a voice come from behind him, and he turned around quickly, only to see a man who looked a few years older than him, with darker skin and almost black eyes. “I’m Ali. What’s your name?”
Gyeong-su just stared at him. Questions were emerging in his head, slightly overwhelming him. Where was he? Who was this person? Ali, apparently. How did they both get here? Were they prisoners? Were they dead? Was this a fever dream, or something?
“You probably have a lot of questions.” Ali smiled at him, a smile that made Gyeong-su relax a little. “They’ll be answered within 3 days, though, i swear.” The promise was… oddly specific. “You’ll be in that room,” Ali pointed back to the shed. “Until your own room appears.”
Wait, what?
Kim Young-mi opened her eyes, feeling a throbbing pain in her chest. Not the kind that you get when you feel sad; the kind where someone has just stabbed you. Hard. Needless to say, it wasn’t pleasant.
She didn’t know where she was, but she was tired, and the bed she was on was really comfy. But… she remembered being stuck outside of the rooms in Mingle. So, either that was a dream, or she was… dead.
That meant she had to get moving, she had to get answers. Maybe Hyun-ju would be here… but she hoped that the older woman wouldn’t be. Because if she was, it’d probably mean that she was dead.
Young-mi slowly got up from her bed, groaning loudly as her head throbbed. She was in a shed, she thought, one that was really dark on the inside. She didn’t have much trouble finding the door though, and to her relief, it was unlocked.
She had to shield her eyes to not be blinded by the light that shone into her face when she opened the door, so she had clearly been stuck in the dark for a long time.
Young-mi noticed a few things as her eyes slowly got used to her surroundings. One thing was that the shed she had woken up in seemed bigger on the inside. And another, more importantly, was that there were people standing in the distance.
Maybe Young-mi could get answers from them.
There were 6 figures, and as she moved closer to them, Young-mi could hear that one of them was shouting at the other.
“WHY aren't you watching over her? We agreed on who would watch who!” A tall woman who seemed rather young shouted at an older one with curly hair.
“But it was so boring, watching her sleep! She’ll be fine, this place is easy to navigate!” The older woman retorted, crossing her arms.
“Not when you’ve just woken up!” The first woman spoke again. Around them were gathered two men and two other women, some watching like the fight was interesting, others like they wanted to be anywhere else but here.
But, out of the faces, Young-mi noticed a face that she recognised. It was the boy; the boy that had been part of the purple-haired man’s team. He had vanished during Mingle, and Young-mi hadn’t seen him.
The young girl took several hesitant steps towards the group, legs feeling slightly unsteady from having been asleep only mere moments ago.
That was when one of the girls who was watching, a very pretty one, turned her head towards Young-mi and pointed towards her, speaking to the people who were with her. This made everyone’s heads turn to look at Young-mi.
“Well there she is!” The older woman with curly hair spoke, gesturing with both of her arms towards her. The woman nudged the girl she had been arguing with earlier, the latter giving her a scowling look. Young-mi slowly approached the group, fidgeting with her fingers nervously.
“Uhm.. where am i?” Upon looking back at the boy she had recognised, she added “Where are we ? And who are these people?” She had tons of questions, but also a sinking feeling that not many of them would be answered.
“I’m Sae-byeok.” The girl who had been shouting at the curly-haired woman spoke. “This is Ji-yeong,” She pointed to a girl with a nose piercing, who waved cheerfully. “This is Ali.” She pointed at a friendly-looking man. “And this idiot is Mi-nyeo.” She pointed to the older woman with curly hair.
“Well i told you she’d manage, didn’t i?” Mi-nyeo argued. Then they were back to fighting. During this, the two who hadn’t been introduced approached Young-mi.
“I’m Gyeong-su.” The boy introduced himself. “You were in the same games as us, weren’t you?” He asked. Despite being on the slightly manic-looking guy’s team, he didn’t seem unkind.
“And i’m Mi-na.” The other girl, the person who looked pretty, spoke, fiddling with one of her hair strands. She had a strange, slightly darker patch of skin in the middle of her forehead, but it was barely noticeable. “You?”
“Young-mi…” Young-mi spoke hesitantly. Then she thought of something. Maybe they had been told of why they were here? “Do you guys know what this place is?”
To her disappointment, both shook their heads. “I got told that my questions would be answered, but so far I haven't seen much.” Gyeong-su shrugged. Mi-na nodded.
“Do you think we’re dead?” Young-mi asked, dreading their answer. The two looked at eachother, clearly just as worried as Young-mi. They all wanted to insist that the people with them share any information they had, but they didn’t have any way to convince them to.
So, the group just stood in silence. Well, apart from Sae-byeok yelling at Mi-nyeo, which was still loud as anything. It was obvious that they did NOT like each other that much.
All of a sudden, a loud voice rang through the calm area.
“MY LIL’ BOY GYEONG-SUUU!!” The voice spoke in English, seemingly getting closer. Gyeong-su turned around, only to be almost tackled to the ground as another man lunged towards him, hugging him tightly.
The man had bright purple hair, and although his face was buried in Gyeong-su’s shoulder, Young-mi recognised him instantly.
“Thanos??” Gyeong-su spoke in disbelief as the purple-haired man pulled away from the hug, still holding onto Gyeong-su’s shoulders.
“Gyeong-su, i’m sooooo sorry for pushing you in Mingle, i was high and didn’t realise until too late, and it made you die-” Suddenly, Thanos seemed to realise that he was holding onto Gyeong-su, who was just as shocked as him. “Hol’ up…”
The purple-haired man felt down Gyeong-su’s shoulders, down his arms. Young-mi and Mi-na glanced at each other, unsure what exactly was happening.
“Wait, what do you mean die-?” Gyeong-su asked him nervously, putting a hand over Thanos’.
“Holy shit, you’re real??” Thanos raised his eyebrows. He seemed to be trying to decide if he was happy or sad about this information. “I thought you were a hallucination…”
Another man jogged over to the perplexed spectators, panting heavily. He was wearing glasses, and his hair was very neatly parted.
“Sorry… i tried to catch up to him, but as soon as he woke up he sprinted across the whole place…” The man spoke between gasps for breath. Sae-byeok scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“Typical you.” She scowled, crossing her arms over her chest. The man sighed, shifting to be at a slight distance from her and Ali. Young-mi faintly wondered why, but then Thanos suddenly sank to his knees with a grunt.
“The fuck-?” He looked up at Gyeong-su, who was clearly as confused as all the other players.
“If you had listened to me,” The man who had followed Thanos straightened, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “You’d know that you woke up too early. ” Thanos rolled his eyes.
“Okay calculator watch, why can’t i get up?” The purple-haired man asked brattily. The man he was addressing gestured for Gyeong-su and Mi-na to help him up, and they did so, each supporting one of his underarms.
At this, Thanos finally noticed Mi-na, his eyes widening.
“Woah, you’re here too??” Mi-na seemed exasperated for a moment, but then he added “This is a crazy dream. I don’t usually get these even when I’m high.”
The two held him up firmly, afraid that if they dropped him he’d just fall to the floor.
“My name is Sang-woo, not calculator watch, for the record.” The man with glasses spoke suddenly, stepping forward to be closer to Thanos. “And the reason you can't stand is because usually new arrivals need to rest for at least two hours before they can handle being here. You didn’t even sleep through one .”
Thanos attempted to shrug, instead just making an awkward rolling motion with his shoulders. “What can I say, I need to be up and running.” He still clearly saw this as some joke.
“Someone knock him out.” Sang-woo requested, and Thanos’ eyes widened as Ji-yeong cracked her knuckles.
“Woah woah, wait, that's not necessary!!” He chuckled nervously, but the girl wasn’t backing down. She quickly punched him in the back of the head, making him groan in pain.
“Oh. Whoops. That didn’t work.” She shrugged, preparing herself for another hit. Thanos raised his arms in an attempt to stop her, but she jabbed him in the back of the head once more, this time knocking him out successfully. His head lolled to the side, limbs going limp in Gyeong-su and Mi-na’s grips.
“That was unnecessary.” Mi-na pointed out. “You could’ve just asked him to go back to sleep.”
Sang-woo rolled his eyes. “Please. Him?” He pointed at the unconscious man. “Once he’d seen you and him,” He gestured to Gyeong-su. “There was no way he was gonna go back to sleep. Then he would've had tons of side effects, and it would’ve just been a pain to deal with.”
Young-mi didn’t like that Sang-woo man much. And it was clear that Sae-byeok didn’t like him either.
“Still, that was brutal.” Mi-na shuddered. It wasn’t really, compared to what Young-mi and Gyeong-su had witnessed, but, of course, Mi-na hadn’t been there to witness it, had she?
“But super satisfying.” Ji-yeong stretched, grinning slightly. Young-mi glanced at her, trying not to judge her. True, it must be satisfying to shut up the overexcited man, but still…
“Anyway, you’ll be given the answers you want in a few hours, when he wakes up.” Sang-woo gestured to the unconscious man, who was still being held up by the shoulders by Mi-na and Gyeong-su. “You can let go of him now, by the way.”
Simultaneously, Gyeong-su and Mi-na both let go of Thanos, who slumped to the floor immediately. For a moment, Gyeong-su worried that he was dead, but then he heard him grunt.
Gyeong-su noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He squinted at Thanos’ motionless shape to try and make it out… there it was. On the side of his neck, four puncture marks.
Immediately, he sank to his knees, trying to roll the unconscious man over. Mi-na glanced at him like he was crazy, but Gyeong-su was too worried to care. He finally managed to roll Thanos onto his back, and sure enough, there were four more small punture marks on the top of his throat.
“What are these?” He asked worriedly to the people who seemed to know more than him. “Did you guys do something to him? He didn't have those before.”
Mi-na and Young-mi both leaned in to look at the unconscious man closer, and their eyes widened when they saw the same thing that Gyeong-su did.
Mi-nyeo looked to Sae-byeok awkwardly, who sighed. “We told you, everything will be explained to you when he wakes up.”
“But he was awake!” Mi-na rounded on the other woman, anxiety and anger clearly influencing her actions. Sae-byeok just stared at her blankly. “You guys knocked him out. Tell us, and tell us now.”
That’s when Ali stepped up. “Let’s just tell them. They deserve to know, don’t they? After what happened to them…” His words only made the three in question (well, four with Thanos, but he was still unconscious on the floor.) exchange a worried look. Sae-byeok sighed.
“Fine. But let him do it.” She pointed to Sang-woo, who rolled his eyes.
A few moments later, all of the people were sitting in a circle, the players on one side, and the… well, the people who knew stuff on the other. Thanos was still unconscious, lying on the ground next to Gyeong-su, occasionally letting out groans.
“So, this place seems like your world.” Sang-woo began. “It’s not.” He stated the obvious. “This is a different plain of existence, in which some of those who are dead have arrived in. Notably…” He paused dramatically. “Those who participated in the Squid Games. That’s what we call the games you participated in.”
“Wait wait wait,” Mi-na began. “You mean to tell me that i’m dead ??” Her voice betrayed her dread. Sang-woo just nodded.
“But, so that means we’re… we’re all dead?” Gyeong-su felt dread settle in his stomach. Then he glanced down at Thanos. Was he dead too? What had caused those puncture marks??
Young-mi stared at the floor with wide eyes as realisation set in. She was dead. Actual, proper dead.
“Stay calm,” Sang-woo spoke ineffectively. Nope, Young-mi, Mi-na and Gyeong-su were definitely not staying calm. Well, what could you expect, realising that you had lost the right to live.
That was when rapid footsteps began to approach, snapping all three of them away from their trance.
“Who the fuck are you??” A female voice spoke. Gyeong-su recognised that voice. He turned around quickly, only to see that his suspicions were correct. “Gyeong-su? Is that you??”
“...Se-mi??”