novelraw Chapter 13 : Chapter 13
Chapter 13 : Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Ding!
The door opened with a notification sound that we had arrived at the designated floor.
I, Lee Ju-seong, returned to the 1st floor.
Alive and well.
July stepped out of the elevator and passed through a short passage.
Then he immediately turned left.
“The two of you who survived have earned the right to hear the full configuration of this game.”
“First, I should tell you about the Game Zone.”
“The Gym, Hall, Management Building, and Game Tower.”
“These four buildings are grouped together and called the Game Zone.”
This was content that wasn't told before the first game.
To my ears, it sounded like they didn't want to spend unnecessary effort on those who would die in the first game.
The playground was empty.
Was it because we cleared it first?
That wasn't it.
Bloodstains for dozens of people remained on the playground.
The bloodstains wiggled long like snakes and crossed the playground.
Whether quite some time had passed since they were spilled, they had discolored to a dark red as if someone had carved a scar into the ground.
All bloodstains started from the Game Tower, left a long curve on the playground, and reached the Hall.
A wrinkle formed on Park So-yul's brow.
“Ju-seong, that over there……”
I counted the number of bloodstains with patience and nodded once to mean I empathized with Park So-yul's feelings.
“There must be bloodstains left by the injured who finished the game one step ahead of us.”
“Mr. Dealer, is there a medical facility in the Hall?”
July turned his head and stared at us.
The mask's tightening strap was loose, so the mask was slightly crooked.
“The explanation hasn't even finished, yet you're already having a Q&A session.”
“I will tell you everything kindly one by one.”
July, who quietly dismissed us as impatient people, passed through the front gate of the Hall with a balanced gait.
The Hall was shabby as if it had been built 20 years ago.
Passing the front gate, the lobby that appeared had thick cylindrical stone pillars placed here and there, and circular benches were installed at the bottom of the stone pillars to sit and rest.
The part to pay attention to was the people sitting on the benches.
On each bench, one or two players who finished the game earlier were sitting or lying down.
While making groaning sounds.
“Ugh, uuuugh, kh-aaaah.”
“Gurgle! Gurgle-gurgle! Kehk!”
Pale complexions, blood scabs stuck all over their bodies, bandages tied as a stopgap measure.
Every single one of them was in a state that required being taken to the emergency room immediately.
Nevertheless, the injured were left neglected on the Hall lobby benches.
Park So-yul closed her eyes tightly while walking.
“Oh my……”
In the place where Park So-yul turned her eyes away, unable to bear watching, a man in his late 50s was sitting.
The man was gasping for breath in a posture of wrapping his abdomen with both arms.
Inside the wrapped area, part of his internal contents were slightly protruding.
Soon, the chest of the man, which repeated rising and falling, stopped its repetitive movement.
A moment later, people wearing red work clothes and copper masks appeared from outside the building with a stretcher and loaded the middle-aged man's body.
July said clearly with an unwavering voice as if it were a familiar scene.
“You might be curious why these people are dying without receiving treatment.”
“However, considering the title of this game is Money Game, the answer is obvious.”
Park So-yul tilted her head to the side as if she couldn't guess.
On the other hand, I answered immediately.
“One must pay money to receive treatment. Is that correct?”
Since I already roughly knew the structure inside this Money Game, I could answer immediately.
Of course, I showed thoroughness by adding the words ‘Is that correct?’ to avoid giving off the hint that I had prior knowledge.
The light inside July's mask eye holes glistened.
Was it just my imagination that the gaze looking at me felt like it had gained depth?
Whether July's interest toward me would have a positive or negative influence on the new script to be written was unknown for now.
“As expected of Lee Ju-seong. You are quick-witted.”
“Would you please look over there?”
Before we knew it, we had passed through the lobby and come out to the other side of the Hall.
Beyond the Hall, in a place 50 meters away from the Game Zone, a temporary building was placed grandly.
A large single-story temporary building.
Several signboards were hung vertically in a row on the edge of the temporary building.
[Luxury Restaurant]
[Non-Insurance Medical]
[High-Tax Package]
[Security Hotel]
Four signboards were particularly noticeable.
There was a bulletin board with brand names stuck all over it right inside the entrance of the temporary building, so one could tell that dozens of services were being provided inside the temporary building.
July revealed the official name of the building as he entered the temporary building.
“I said I would guide you to the Shopping Mall earlier, right?”
“This is the Shopping Mall.”
“It is the area where a paid restaurant, lodging reception, ticket office for selling boat tickets to return, and medical facilities reside.”
Park So-yul placed her right hand on her left forearm and said.
“Are you telling us to receive treatment with our own money even for injuries sustained during the game?”
“Of course.”
“Ms. So-yul, do you just leave after going to a hospital without paying medical fees?”
“You surely must have always left after paying the proper price.”
“That and this are different.”
“At the minimum…… at the minimum…… ugh…….”
Park So-yul trailed off her words in the end as she was about to say that they shouldn't take at least minimum measures as humans.
To demand at least minimum treatment as a human, the side making the demand had to possess humanity to be persuasive.
However, all survivors were those who had killed or harmed other players because of money.
It was somewhat unreasonable to mention an ethics system based on common sense.
Abnormal is exactly what is normal.
It was a mindset I should hold like a motto inside the Money Game.
July said with a snort mixed in as if satisfied with having crushed her in logic.
“This game is the Money Game.”
“Here, money comes before life.”
And he spoke as if adding to Park So-yul, who was biting her lips, speechless.
“Ultimately, not getting hurt is also an element necessary to earn a lump sum of money in this game.”
“Whether to include this fact in your strategy or not is your choice.”
The medical facility was located in a prime spot near the entrance of the Shopping Mall.
One could look into the interior of the facility through the glass wall, and the interior of the facility was no different from the waiting room of any neighborhood hospital.
The reception desk, the waiting room sofa, and a row of consultation rooms, injection rooms, and operating rooms lined up along the passage leading inside.
About a dozen various patients were staying in the waiting room.
However, not a single one of those caught my interest.
My sole interest was the expression of the patient paying medical fees at the payment counter.
“That person is paying the medical fees. Their eyes are about to pop out.”
“At this rate, they're going to have to register for the ophthalmology department again.”
July chuckled and laughed at my joke.
“Naturally, it can't help but be expensive enough for eyes to pop out.”
“There's no way things like medical insurance would be applied here, is there?”
“I have a hunch that for some reason, medical acts are not the only things that will be expensive.”
“Check for yourself whether your hunch was right or wrong.”
The shop that appeared after turning the corner was a luxury restaurant.
In front of the restaurant entrance, a display case containing food models was placed.
From Western styles like steaks and wood-fired pizzas to Oriental dishes encompassing Korean, Chinese, and Japanese home cooking.
Foods that made one's mouth water just by looking were lined up.
However, for having a fancy interior decoration and a wide range of menus, there wasn't a single customer inside the restaurant.
As a result of checking the acrylic menu board hanging on the wall of the shop, the reason why there were no customers became clear.
[Tenderloin Steak (200 grams) - 500,000 won]
[Topping Custom Wood-fired Pizza (Regular) - 250,000 won]
[Full Course Korean Meal (Select 1 out of 2 types of Kimchi/Doenjang Stew) - 100,000 won]
The cheapest menu was the 100,000 won Kimchi Stew set or Doenjang Stew set.
Other menus easily exceeded 200,000 won, and high-end food like steak exceeded 500,000 won.
There was also wine, and for some wines, they were selling items for 1,000,000 won that could be bought for 100,000 won outside.
After comparing the prices in society, I spoke of the prices of the Shopping Mall.
“A price ten times more expensive than the prices in society.”
“Since you've monopolized it anyway, why didn't you just set it at twenty or thirty times?”
July shrugged his shoulders at my sarcasm.
“It's no use complaining to me.”
“Because it's a price set by the higher-ups thinking it's a reasonable price.”
“Starve if you have no money?”
“Hahahaha, no matter what, we can't proceed with the game by controlling even food.”
“Basically, free food distribution is prepared.”
“If you go to the Hall, you can receive free food distribution.”
Three times every day, they distribute food to players for free at the Hall.
The menu is red bean bread and milk.
In the Hall, besides free food distribution, they provided minimum convenience such as wrapping bandages on bleeding areas.
It wasn't for nothing that the injured with no money were gathered in the Hall lobby.
I thought as I walked following July.
‘I asked this and that because I wondered if any singular points had occurred in the game structure due to my actions, but the basic structure is exactly like the Money Game drama I know.’
‘Up to the part where people flock to medical facilities in the beginning and there are no people at the restaurant, it is identical to the existing flow.’
Unlike me, who was tensely continuing an invisible battle of momentum against July, Park So-yul had significantly reduced her words since a while ago.
She seemed to have words she wanted to say but couldn't easily put them into her mouth.
Park So-yul's interest was obvious.
For Park So-yul, who was unable to find the timing to cut into the conversation, I put her interest into my mouth instead.
“So, where can we get the boat ticket to return home?”
“I remember you saying there is a ticket office that sells boat tickets.”
“We're almost there anyway.”
There was no need to hear the location of the ticket office separately from July.
After passing the restaurant and turning the corner, the ticket office appeared with double security of iron bars and tempered glass.
In front of the ticket office, as many as ten people were in the middle of an intense protest.
“What, are you playing games with people now or what! Is this ticket price a price that even makes sense!”
“Bring the person in charge right now! You said you'd let us go back whenever we wanted!”
“It's different from the story you told at the Gym!”
“You should have made the ticket price clear, if you set it vaguely, what are we supposed to do? In this case, only those who earned a lot suffer more loss, so who would accept this?”
All those protesting belonged to the side with clean attire and bodies.
From their clean appearance, I felt that they had played passively during the game to avoid a rough time as much as possible.
They must have taken only a small amount with a low-risk low-return strategy.
It was a strategy that only those with a smaller amount of debt than others could exercise.
It was good to survive safely by sneakily taking a small amount, but the plan went wrong in the process of actually getting the ticket to return home.
The reason why the players were protesting was written on the standing signboard placed in front of the ticket office.
[Regular Ship Fare: 50 Percent of Balance]