Confused, he patted himself down before realizing that both his knife and bandages were gone - most likely confiscated - as he cursed silently at his misfortune. Looking around, he sees an array of metal bunk beds pushed against the walls of the rectangular room. He was at the back wall, and in the front wall opposite him was a void of any beds. Instead, there was only a metallic door inside a small circular pocket inside the wall, which seemed to be impeccable. He heard groans coming from seemingly everywhere as everyone around him was waking up, and a few started climbing down.
"So, this is where everyone goes..." Sunny was slightly amused as he thought the place would be... worse to say the least.
Fluorescent lights covered the roof and slightly above the highest beds. The lower parts of the walls were painted white, with the portion above being painted green. After looking a little harder, he noticed there were two doors that were the same distance apart from the metallic door that sat at the opposite end of the room, with the left one being pink and the right being green.
Sighing, he pulled off the white blanket that covered him as he made his way down the beds and towards the center of the room. While still above, he noticed that the white-headed girl was away from the center and instead was stuck to one of the corners that was left of his bed. Deciding to go against the crowd, he made his way towards her as she noticed him long before he arrived.
"Why are you hiding away in here despite knowing what you were signing up for?" She hadn't told him that she had joined on her own, but he could infer that, based on how she looked previously, that she wasn't necessarily from the outskirts, nor an orphan.
She looked at him for a second with a look he knew all too well: irritation.
"I don't have to tell you that, and neither am I willing to share." Sunny didn't spend his energy
getting mad, as he wasn't that curious about finding out her reasons for joining.
"That's fine, you don't have to tell me your reason for joining, but you can at least tell me why you're hiding here in the dark. You know, considering were teammates and all." Sunny had no
dignity, so he wasn't above leveraging their pact to get an answer out of her.
"... fine... to put it simply, since we won't have much time, I have people chasing me, and I'm certain they've also followed me here to the games, so I would like to steer clear of whoever they are." Sunny was dumbfounded to say the least, and started to regret his decision to team up with her.
If she had people going after her, then that would only cause more risk of him dying, and that far outweighed having her as a teammate.
'Wait, what did she mean by not having much time-?" Before he could finish, he thought he received an answer as the metallic walls from earlier opened up, showing what was inside, which looked like an elevator. However, that wasn't what caught his attention as everyone else in unison looked at the armed red guards walk out in perfect formation towards the top of the black staircase that led to the elevator.
Most of the guards wore triangle masks and held guns; however, in front of them was a guard who wore a square mask instead of a triangle, like the rest.
"Welcome, players, to Squid Games. You have all been selected to play these games in order to win a life-long stash of cash. All of you have either entered with consent or taken by force. However, all of you have been given an equal chance to win, regardless of your social class. Now, the first game shall commence soon as you all get situated." The triangle guard spoke in a booming emotionless voice that made Sunny couldn't help but shiver a little.
Soon after the guard finished speaking, they all turned around together before heading towards the elevator doors as one of them pushed a button, and soon they were gone. Mumbling and voices echoed throughout the room as everyone started talking to each other. Nephis and Sunny made sure to stay out of sight in the dark corner so as not to make themselves easily noticeable, as neither of them attempted to start up a conversation.
'I wonder if she knows what the first game will be, too.' Sunny thought silently as he took a quick glance at Nephis.
He already knew what the first game was, as it was pretty obvious even before he had arrived.
'Red light, green light.' Anyone with a brain cell would know that the code they had given to get in would also know that it was most likely the first game as well.
As they stood silently, a small blob of people started to form at the center of the room in a circle. He could hear yelling starting to emerge as he soon heard the sound of a fist being thrown and the sound of something soft being hit before collapsing to the ground. Sunny was curious as to what was happening, so he climbed along the metal legs of the beds until he was able to peer above the crowd.
At the center stood a tall, imposing man with scars littering his face, although his face had a devilish smile that Sunny hated. He didn't hate the smile necessarily, but he hated it because on the ground in front of him lay a blond-haired woman with her right cheek slightly swollen. Putting two and two together, he realized that a fight must've broken out between the two, and it seemed that the man was at an advantage. The young teenager herself seemed to be no older than he was, with an angered expression as she balled her fist and said something to the man.She staggered back up before throwing a punch at the man, but he didn't stay still as he dodged and punished her with a right hook to the stomach.
'Ouch, that must've hurt.' Sunny winced before climbing back down, as what they were saying to each other was unintelligible
Reaching the ground, Nephis looked up from the wall she was leaning on and stared at him with an impassive expression.
"What's going on over there?"
"Just a man beating down on a weak girl, I despise those who go down on the weak, but I'm no hero." She only stared at him before nodding, as if understanding what he secretly meant.He wouldn't be saving the girl out of morality; he valued his life before others always, and the girl seemed to be the same. He wasn't surprised by that. Who would trust and put their life on the line for someone they just met? There was that one time with Aiko, but the thugs didn't pose that much of a danger to him as they were the equivalent of a low-level crook. But, just by looking at the man, Sunny could tell he had no shot at facing him on a one on one.
"Let's try to recruit her when they're done with her," Nephis said to him in a stern voice that seemed to leave no room for discussion, as if she were the leader of their duo, well, trio if the girl agreed.
"Fine."***Soon, the violence stopped as the man and the people creating a circle around them dispersed, but he noticed a few followed the man, so he guessed those were his followers. The blond woman was left on the ground, bruised badly from head to toe, but nothing fatal, and only slight bleeding from the mouth. She looked around before looking at them - although he guessed he was only looking at the spot and not at them directly - before making her way over to them.Sunny was slightly grossed out by her appearance as she only spared them each a glance before hiding herself in the corner of the two walls directly behind them. He was slightly hesitant to let her waltz through and put herself in a prime position for a backstab, but he doubted that she would be able to land a good punch even if he wasn't looking in her condition. Sunny and Nephis locked eyes, and as if reading each other's thought Sunny moved away from them a little as she approached the girl.
He didn't need to pretend not to hear their conversation because, despite him being a few feet away, he couldn't hear their whispers with all the chattering that happened all around them in the room.
Eventually, Nephis approached him with the blond girl remaining at the corner, which confused him a little, as he expected the blond girl to tail her.
"She said she'll think about it for now but will stay near us at the very least."
"Great, that's just what we needed, a woman who will use us for safety and discard us the moment danger walks in. What the heck did you say to her? I thought you were recruiting her, not playing mother?"
"I was, but she was slightly disoriented still from the beating, either way I told her to come to a decision right after the first game, or the deal's off, happy?"
"That is... acceptable, I guess, although I expected you to do worse."
"Why's that?"
"Because you're a horrible and incompetent talker." He didn't try to sugarcoat the truth because he simply didn't care to. She simply was a bad talker; he could tell from his first conversation with her that although she must've been great at a multitude of stuff, she wasn't a very social person or someone who could easily talk to someone.
"..."
She stayed silent as he guessed she was trying to make a retort, but before she could think of one, a loud robot-like voice blared from the speakers at the corners of the room."Players, please line up in columns to be escorted to the first game. Any attempt at disrupting the process will get you eliminated." As the voice played, guards poured out from the elevator once again, and two of them stood in front of the left door.
Sunny and Nephis - along with the blond-haired girl who kept her distance from them both - walked into a single file line that stretched all the way to the back of the room. Peeking at the front of the line, he saw people walking into the left door that he had seen earlier, which was next to the elevator. Guards surrounded them but made no movements to try anything on them as they walked slowly towards the door.
Eventually, it was their turn to enter the doorway as the walls that had been white and green before switched to a bright green color. Yellow columns surrounded them as they slowly marched like a slave caravan as they went upstairs and down hallways. Sunny mindlessly looked around as he saw the hallway open up into a giant open column-like room with there being stairs being above and below them, yet it seemed Sunny will never know where they led to as they were led into a tight corridor.
It said this way, with fluorescent lights hidden from above, provided them with dim lighting as Sunny took the opportunity to take a look at the girls. Looking behind him, Nephis seemed to be relaxed and unreactive as she walked along as if nothing could shake her indomitable determination to win. The blond girl seemed to be more nervous, or perhaps she was just tired and afraid from the beating she had taken earlier, as she slightly shook from time to time in front of him. Her hair was still stained with blood, tinting it with a light shade of red, as she seemed to put little to no effort into cleaning herself.
Sunny could tell the girl was on the verge of giving up, or at least that's what it seemed like at first glance. However, upon taking a close inspection of her eyes, like he secretly did earlier, she had determined and steady eyes that formed a juxtaposition with her body as she wasn't ready to throw the towel.
'At least I won't need to worry about her having a mental breakdown during the game; that would be unfavorable.' Sunny still didn't trust the girl to have their back, as she was still an informal member reaping the rewards from a formal member, as he wondered if Nephis's decision was a good one.
His thoughts were interrupted as they entered a large rectangular room with people splitting up into 4 lines. Each line led to what seemed like an open photo booth as he heard the flashes of
cameras from his position while covering his eyes from said flashes.
'What the hell...' Sunny thought as the two guards guarding the entrance turned to Sunny as if telling him to move along.
He didn't cause a ruckus as he, along with Nephis and the girl, moved in the furthest line on the left as they slowly walked towards the camera. Eventually, it was Sunny's turn as he noticed a dark circle with a camera lens inside it with a green screen below that read, "Please smile". Sunny wasn't in the mood to smile, but not wanting to cause any trouble, he did his best attempt at a smile, as he was sure it came out horrid and cringe as he felt his face redden as he walked away.
Passing the checkpoint, they were allowed a little room to roam, but were ultimately led to another staircase. After waiting for Nephis and the girl, the three went up, and he groaned as he entered another spiral staircase that was filled to the brim with staircases leading to only God knows where.
After reaching the top of the staircase, he was led into a large room with four doorways leading into the same green gate that was closed. It seemed they had free rein here as people were talking and forming packs while the guards stood idle at the corners. The trio simply hid near one of the corners inside the doorways as Cassie stood further back than them to not be noticed again.
"I'm guessing you know what we're going to be playing?" Sunny asked Nephis, who looked behind her with a confused expression.
"Why would I know such a thing?" She asked plainly, as if she really didn't have a clue in the world of what was to come.
"C'mon, cut the crap, we both know what it is, red light green light, it's the damn code we needed to even enter the games. And if I was able to figure that out, then I'm sure a girl of your caliber would've figured that too."
"I guess I'm not with a total idiot," She muttered under her breath as Sunny had to seriously hold himself back from throwing a punch. The guards made it pretty obvious that as long as they're around, no violence would occur, the point being that as long as they're there.
"Anyway," Sunny said bring her attention back to him while calming himself, "I was asking in case you knew anything else that might be relevant to helping us survive," Sunny asked as he tried to read her face.
Nephis gaze became unfocused for a moment as she was deep in thought before responding, or perhaps she was wondering if she should give him information or not.
"Behind these closed gates, there will be a huge robot and a considerable distance between us and it. Our objective will be to reach the robot before the time limit reaches zero. The robot will start off with "green light", and hoping you know how to play the simplest of games, you will stop completely whenever it yells out "red light". If it does, stop moving as much as you can and don't make any movements, as the guard will have sniper and gun posts up above to deliver death. That is all I know and everything I think we will need to know." Sunny listened and took note of everything she said as he digested the new information. The girl behind him was also most likely thinking about it, as Nephis had raised her voice high enough for her to hear but be drowned out among the crowd, allowing the info to be heard only by them.
Sunny wanted to ask her how she knew of this, but he didn't want to anger her or potentially cause a rift in their already fragile partnership. Either way, it didn't matter to him how she obtained her info, as she was willing to share at least some of it with him. The blond girl stayed silent as she stayed away from them, minding her own business, which he wasn't exactly complaining about. He wondered if she knew anything about the next game. She didn't look malnourished, and other than the blood stains on her clothes, she seemed like a perfectly grown girl.
Being normal meant being a citizen in this day and age, so he could infer that she was at least a citizen before joining the games. Seeing as how she was treated by the burly man from earlier, though she didn't seem to be popular with the crowd, it was unlikely she had gained any information, like how Nephis had possibly gotten her information from the crowd. Being a citizen among peasants like them could have the benefit of bribing them with whatever they smuggled in, which he was unsuccessful in doing, if they were able to smuggle anything in, that is. He also wondered if that was how Nephis had obtained her information, since his theory was merely a theory. He had woken up after her, so she could've used that small window to talk to people or the guards around while using whatever she brought in to get info.
Suddenly, without warning, the locked gates opened up as Sunny covered his eyes with his backhand as a bright light hit his eyes. After adjusting to the brightness, Sunny took a quick look around the huge courtyard that was now revealed. There was a white line on the ground a few feet away from the entrance and another far off. There was also a robot doll girl behind the far-off white line, and up above, the sun had risen, revealing it to be late morning. Hundreds of players walked onto the sandy ground as murmurs spread through the crowd, everyone both afraid and curious about the first game.
"Stay behind the white line and near the wall," the blond girl spoke to them as she led them to the back wall, allowing the people behind them pass. Sunny and Nephis didn't object, but we're certainly confused and curious as to what brought this up as they followed her lead.After everyone had adjusted to the new environment, the doll suddenly boomed with a deep and powerful voice.
"Welcome players to the first game, Red light, Green light."