“A slight… contrast between atmosphere and situation that creates an imbalance? For example, consider this. It’s like a fairytale world. A prince and princess are living happily ever after, laughing together. They’ve decided to gather their animal friends from the forest and hold a banquet.”
“Up to this point, it’s a very beautiful picture, isn’t it? But here comes the twist. A handsome prince, a beautiful princess, a brave lion, a cute rabbit, and a leisurely turtle get together. And… well, they are smoking together.”
“What are you talking about, brother? That’s kind of bizarre!”
Seo Eun looked at me with a disgusted expression.
Come on, there’s no need to look so shocked…
“I think I know what you’re trying to say.”
“Subin unnie?”
Seo Eun looked at Ms. Subin with a shocked expression, as if betrayed, while Ms. Subin frantically waved her hands, as if to say that wasn’t what she meant.
“I mean, it seems like I understand what Dain is trying to say. Something like slightly dark fairy tales? Is that what you’re talking about?”
“Yes, that’s the right vibe.”
I nodded in agreement.
Actually, to be precise, it’s more like… a drama inspired by Squid Game, you could say. Squid Game, marble playing, sugar honeycomb.
Those things that are very familiar to us, things that trigger our childhood memories just by hearing them.
The dissonance of those things not being used for fun games, but for survival and death.
If you perfectly extract the sugar honeycomb shape, you don’t get a treat. Instead, if you fail, you meet a terrible death. That kind of rule. A game with such rules is both cruel and at the same time funny and familiar, which gives it a big sense of dissonance.
…Telling this to the two of them would only result in them telling me to stop rambling and speak clearly. Seo Eun would say it directly, Ms. Subin with her eyes.
And truthfully, explaining this is awkward since there is no drama based on Squid Game in this world. One less element of national pride, which is sad for a patriot like me.
“So… you’re saying this recent terrorism is like that?”
“Exactly. Every act of terrorism has to have a clear concept. I’ve used the dilemma twice, so this time, we’ll go with the dark fairytale concept.”
***
[THE EGO SHOW]
[Now Live]
25,000 feet above ground.
An enclosed space above the skies, cut off from all communication, including phones and the internet.
This place, carrying roughly 80 people, was as quiet as if only the sound of breathing could be heard.
Or rather, people’s voices were the only thing that had vanished.
Silently, without word, they listened to the voice emanating from the speaker.
[Welcome to the biggest quiz show in the sky, The Ego Show Live!]
[Now, let’s start the game!]
They didn’t know.
The voice they casually heard while eating dinner in front of the news.
The voice they chuckled at while watching YouTube.
How that very voice could evoke such raw fear.
They certainly had heard the voice at least once on the broadcast.
Slightly frivolous, yet enjoyable, and simultaneously enough to capture people’s attention.
But why was it that now, coming from the speaker, his voice was so dreadfully frightening?
Only now were they truly reflecting on the things Egostic had done so far.
Two major terrorist attacks.
More than ten people killed directly by his own hands.
Ranked by the association as an ‘extremely brutal and highly elusive’ A-grade villain.
Everyone laughed and talked about Mangostic, but now that they faced the reality, they understood.
Why Egostic is called a villain.
Though his words echoed from the speaker as if carried by the innocence of a child, enjoying the presentation of a fun game.
The content within was unspeakably cruel.
[The rules of the game are simple!]
[Rule number one. Do not make any noise! If anyone makes a sound, one of the three wires attached to the bomb will be cut automatically! When all are cut… you know what happens, right?]
[Rule number two. Do not communicate! Cheating is a crime, a crime.]
✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧ 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓉𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓈 ✧˚·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥·̩̩̥͙✧·̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥˚·̩̩̥͙✧
