In a dark, sterile room, a pair of gloved hands carefully extracted fresh organs, tossing each one into a nearby box with a wet thud.
The one performing the gruesome task wasn't a Guard—but a Player.
Player 111.
Standing beside him were two Masked Guards—one with a Circle, the other with a Triangle.
Player 111 glanced at them impatiently.
"You can tell me what the next game is now, right? If I die, you won't be able to keep doing this little side business."
The Triangle Guard handed him a boiled egg.
"We can give you a hint before the next game," he said flatly. "But once the lights go out, we can't protect you."
Player 111 frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"The higher-ups want to stir up infighting," the Triangle explained. "They plan to let the players kill each other tonight—thin the herd before the next round. Once it starts, we're not allowed to interfere."
"What?!" 111's face paled. "Then what the hell am I supposed to do?"
The Circle Guard spoke quietly. "Find the strongest team before the lights go out. Stick with them."
111 fell silent for a moment, pocketed the egg, and left.
Behind him, the Square Masked Man in the monitoring room deleted the footage of Player 111's secret meeting.
Elsewhere, Player 101 was in the restroom, whispering with Big Sister 212, who had just joined his crew. Their "discussion" about the "origin of life" was as crude as it was opportunistic.
Later, inside the dormitory, Player 101 stared furiously at the meager food in his hands—a single boiled egg and one bottle of beer.
"Bastards!" he shouted, slamming his fist against the table.
It was obvious this amount of food wouldn't even fill half his stomach.
212 leaned close and whispered something into his ear.
Moments later, 101 sneered and led his crew of five to cut in line, joining the back of another queue.
From his corner, Kai observed everything quietly.
Relations between him and Seong Gi-hun's group were still strained, so he didn't warn them. Instead, he leaned toward Kang Sae-byeok, who sat beside him.
"Thanks for saving me earlier," Kai said softly. "So, let me repay you with some advice. If I'm right, the game organizers are deliberately shorting us on food. They're trying to trigger chaos—to make the players start killing each other before the next round."
Kang Sae-byeok frowned. "How does that even connect? You think people will starve to death overnight?"
Kai smirked. "No. But hunger creates desperation. Look over there—Player 101's already cutting in line. The Guards distribute food one per person. If his group of five takes an extra round, that means five others won't eat. What do you think happens next?"
"You're saying they'll kill over an egg and a bottle of beer?" she asked, disbelief in her tone.
"Normally? No," Kai replied calmly. "But this is a death game. What if the next round tests physical strength? If you haven't eaten or drunk anything, you're already dead. In that case… would you really gamble?"
Kang Sae-byeok felt a chill run down her spine. Cruel as Kai's logic sounded, it was airtight.
Kai continued, "When the lights go out tonight, there's a high chance the players will turn on each other. We need to prepare now. Even together, you and I can't take on 101's team—they've got muscle, and numbers."
After everyone received their rations, Kai motioned for Kang Sae-byeok to follow him toward Seong Gi-hun's group of four.
Seong Gi-hun didn't even look at him, deliberately turning away.
Kai sighed. "I know you still hate me, but what I'm about to say concerns everyone's survival. Just hear me out."
Seong Gi-hun hesitated, then slowly turned back.
Kai explained his theory in full.
Cho Sang-woo nodded thoughtfully, Abdul Ali and Oh Il-nam(Old man 001) remained silent, but Seong Gi-hun still frowned.
"These are all just your guesses," Seong Gi-hun said. "Maybe private fights are forbidden. Maybe the organizers didn't think anyone would take extra food."
Kai gave a cold smile. "This is a death game, not a playground. Naivety will get you killed."
Seong Gi-hun opened his mouth to argue—but a shout erupted from across the room.
A male player yelled angrily from the food line, "We didn't get our food! How is it already gone?!"
The Guard replied indifferently, "Food is distributed based on the number of players."
Player 271 shouted, "But we didn't get any!"
The Guard ignored him and pushed the cart away.
Then a woman pointed across the dorm. "They lined up twice!"
All eyes turned to 101's group.
Player 271 stormed over and tried to grab 101's beer. In the struggle, the bottle shattered on the floor.
Enraged, Player 101's face twisted. He grabbed 271 by the collar and punched him—once, twice, again and again—until the man stopped moving.
The counter on the dormitory wall clicked down from 73 to 72, and the prize money rose to 38.4 billion.
Kai smiled grimly. "Told you so."
Seong Gi-hun, Cho Sang-woo, Ali, and even Kang Sae-byeok all fell silent, the reality finally sinking in.
A few minutes later, Player 111 approached 101's group, said something quietly, and was welcomed in.
Now, 101's team had six people—and real power.
Three hours later, the Guards announced lights-out.
The players reluctantly returned to their bunks.
Kai lay back, staring up at the ceiling. His nerves were on edge. His team had six members too, but they were weaker compared to 101's group.
101's crew consisted of hardened men—except for 212, who was cunning enough to count as dangerous herself.
Kai's team? Kang Sae-byeok was skilled, but still just one person. The old man, Il-nam, was frail. Ali was strong, but too kind-hearted. And Kai himself… well, he was no fighter. Against 101's men, he'd be dead in seconds.
What looked like six versus six was actually four versus five at best.
And Kai wasn't sure his teammates would even risk their lives to protect him.
"No," he muttered under his breath. "I need a plan—a way to make sure I survive the night, no matter what happens."
His sharp mind began spinning, analyzing every possible angle, every loophole he could exploit.
Because in the Squid Game, only one rule truly mattered: survive.