Countries of the World - Squid Game | Season 3, Chapter 2

Remaining Players: 139

Before we continue with the story, we will announce the results of the fan vote.

"Hello, players. Welcome to the results of the viewer vote. As you know, this is televised. The viewers at home got to vote on who should stay and who should go. They can choose up to (5) contestants who should be eliminated, and the (3) with the highest votes will be promptly eliminated.."

"I will read the votes aloud, one by one."

"I'm nervous." 110|Mississippi admitted, trying to delay the rapid perspiration of himself.

"The first vote is for... PLAYER 177: Palestine." 

"Haha." 233|Israel laughed.

"The next vote is for... PLAYER 196: Ukraine."

"PLAYER 023: Iowa."

"PLAYER 211: California."

"PLAYER 196: Ukraine."

"PLAYER 141: Belize."

"PLAYER 177: Palestine."

"PLAYER 177: Palestine."

"PLAYER 250: North Korea."

"PLAYER 250: North Korea."

"PLAYER 023: Iowa."

"PLAYER 161: Cyprus."

"PLAYER 141: Belize."

(Confessional: 141|Belize)

"Ah tink di choices deh mi had mek fi sehv miself mek mi unpopula wid di vyuuwahz."

(End Confessional: 141|Belize)

"PLAYER 250: North Korea."

"PLAYER 141: Belize."

"PLAYER 141: Belize."

"PLAYER 211: California."

"PLAYER 177: Palestine."

"PLAYER 211: California."

"PLAYER 177: Palestine."

"PLAYER 246: Australia."

"PLAYER 246: Australia."

"PLAYER 246: Australia."

"Wait, what?" 246|Australia looked dumbfounded.

"PLAYER 250: North Korea."

"PLAYER 141: Belize."

"PLAYER 141: Belize."

"PLAYER 161: Cyprus."

"PLAYER 177: Palestine."

"Attention, players. The votes have been counted."

"Euh, zis ees so nerve-wracking, non? And je didn't even get any votes, can you believe it?

"PLAYER 177. PLAYER 141. PLAYER 250. Eliminated." 

A large puff of smoke cascaded through the metal doors as three guards, pistol in hand, approached the three eliminated players, all of whom were frozen in fear where they stood.

[Do you have any last words?] One of the guards asked.

"NA AM GLEATEST MAN THAT EVER LIVE-" 250|North Korea shouted, but was interrupted by the ringing of bullets.

177|Palestine, 141|Belize, and 250|North Korea were gunned down in an instant.

233|Israel was doing a little dance in the corner as he watched the carnage.

"Serves her right." 055|ColinShadow peered around the bodies suspiciously.

"Ye, she seeminged leckless." 223|South Korea agreed referring to 141|Belize.

Eliminated: 3

While everyone was standing around, chatting, the guards got in formation on the stage.

[Attention, players. The next game is about to begin.]

Many unhappy groans echoed through the dormitory.

"I don't wanna do this." 211|California whined.

"For once, I agree with her." 067|ItzIngenious rolled his eyes.

"Everthing will being fine." 189|Kazakhstan tried to reassure everyone.

[Please follow the staff into the gaming area.]

The sudden announcement sent shivers through the spines of most. Many of the players grabbed their numbered jacket from their bunks, as the frigid fright of uncertainty loomed over them all.

The players lined up, and in single-file line, they embarked through the blue door at the corner of the dorm.

They entered a myriad of doors and staircases, all colored with bright pastel blues, yellows, and pinks.

Ominous, pulsing, distorted children's music lulled through the speakers as the players were led down the staircase into a completely white room with ovular windows. The same room as the carnage that ensued after Game 1, but the staff had successfully gotten up all of the blood and corpses.

"I don't wanna be too close to the front." As people started crowding in the center of the room, 055|ColinShadow made his way to the back of the pack.

"Something es about to happen." 087|Nicaragua shuddered at the possibilities.

From overhead, groups and groups of people stood strewn throughout the room, each with a blue patch with a white O on their chest.

"Attention, players." The female voice returned. "Please divide yourselves into groups of 10. You have 30 seconds."

Nobody even bothered to see who was in their group, they just scrambled to find somebody to be in their group to make ten.

^{They are sitting shoulder to shoulder in the exact order listed below.}

"Attention, players."

The groups were sitting side-by-side in straight, parallel lines of 10 players each, except for the two lines at the very back, which were 3 players each. 274|Paraguay was sitting in his wheelchair, with 142|Bolivia on his left and 104|Malta on his right.

"Will Group 1 please follow the staff into the game hall?"

The brightly lit hall featured a high blue ceiling and rough with sandy floors. The walls were adorned with rainbows and clouds akin to those sketched by a kindergartner. There were multicolored fences against the wall, and clotheslines of flags of various countries of the world hung above the players and across the room.

In the center of the room were two large circular tracks made up of five lanes each, a red, yellow, green, blue, and purple line, fashioned to form a circular rainbow, and in the center of each track was six chairs. There were six evenly spaced white lines throughout the track, and there was a chair at each line, but positioned inside of the track. There was a flag by each chair and a guard seated in each chair, except for the chair at the finish line. Each chair was accompanied by a table with something on it, and a big white number 1-5.

There was also a table at the sixth line, the finish line, and on that table was a timer. There were two of these five-laned tracks, exact mirror images of each other.

The doors clanged and whirred as the ten players of Group 1 were immediately filled with intimidation. 092|Massachusetts held his hand over his mouth in shock.

As prompted by the guards, the ten of them walked forward relatively in unison.

"You gotta be kiddin'." 110|Mississippi was dumbfounded at what he saw.

"No what I was expect at all." 202|Uzbekistan chimed in.

"Attention, players. The game that you will be playing is..." 

"O ні..." 196|Ukraine murmured.

"A six-legged pentathlon."

"Sounds like a lot of work." 073|Pennsylvania whined, annoyed that he hadn't gotten any food in a whole hour.

"Your group will be divided into two teams."

"So how are we going to divide ourselves?" 092|Massachusetts asked.

"I am think they are pick for us." 196|Ukraine replied.

The guard spun on his heel and made a complete 180. He then forcibly halved the group by shoving 196|Ukraine to the left, and 092|Massachusetts to the right.

(Confessional: 092|Massachusetts)

"The guard just sliced us down the middle. However, I think this is the chance for me to get out of my comfort zone and work with some people I definitely wouldn't have worked with otherwise. Besides, I'll still win. I'm the best. At everything. Duh."

(End Confessional: 092|Massachusetts)

"The first team to finish will survive. The other will be eliminated."

"Each team will have their legs tied together. Each player will play a minigame. The first game is... ball in a cup."

"Who's gon' do that?" 110|Missisisippi asked.

"Я can doing it." 196|Ukraine replied.

"149, can you handle ball in a cup?" 092|Massachusetts asked.

"Probably I am can handling it." 149|Algeria shrugged.

"The second game is... flying stone."

"Ich can tossing it ünderhänd, like toward the side of de stone." 072|Liechtenstein offered.

"Vous am just do in how vous am feel comfortable." 042|Seychelles responded.

"I am think I can handle the stone of throwing, lah." 276|Singapore volunteered.

"Well, that's it, then." 092|Massachusetts beamed.

"The third game is... Gonggi."

"Was ist 'Gonggi'?" 072|Liechtenstein asked.

^{You may not know what Gong-gi is, so I'll explain it here.}

^{The goal: Successfully complete all five levels of play.} 

^{The stones: Traditionally played in pebbles, but in the context of Squid Game, played with small weighted plastic pieces with weighted stones. There are five pieces, one red, one yellow, one green, one blue, and one purple, just as are the lanes on the track.} 

^Levels: 

^{Level 1: Throw one stone in the air, pick up one stone from the ground, and catch the airborne stone. Repeat until all stones are picked up.}

^{Level 2: Throw one stone in the air, pick up two stones from the ground, and catch the airborne stone.}

^{Level 3: Throw one stone in the air, pick up three stones from the ground, and catch the airborne stone. Then, pick up the remaining one stone and catch the airborne one again.}

^{Level 4: Place all five stones on the ground, toss one in the air, and scoop up all four while the one is in the air. Catch the airborne stone.}

^{Level 5: Toss all stones in the air, flip your hand so the back is up, and catch the stones on the back of your hand. Then, toss the stones again and catch them with your palm.}

"Well, who's fast with their hands?" 110|Mississippi asked.

"I'm fast with eating." 073|Pennsylvania replied.

"Ah, we'll take what we c'n get. Yer in the middle." 110|Mississippi sighed. "You just gotta be better than the other team."

"I think am can handling this." 202|Uzbekistan offered.

"Alright, thanks for volunteering." 092|Massachusetts smiled.

"The fourth game is... House of Cards." 

"I got the steadiest hands 'round. Plenty of practice rollin' bl- I MEANT playin' card games." 110|Mississippi smiled toothily.

"...Oui..." 042|Seychelles rolled her eyes.

"Well, I guess this one is on me. It's a difficult one, and I'm obviously the best. At everything." 092|Massachusetts sighed at his own brilliance.. "That just leaves you, 102."

"The fifth game is... Jegi."

"Alright, so you gotta take the shuttlecock, and just keep it in the air by kicking it three times." 092|Massachusetts explained. "Can you do that?"

"Yeah man, I s'pose suh." 102|Barbados shrugged.

"That means it's all up to you, girl." 110|Mississippi turned to 042|Seychelles. She nodded in response.

"Attention, players. Please take your places at the start line." 

The two teams separated and went to the start lines on their individual tracks. They stood shoulder to shoulder.

"Alright, so let's trade spots." They shifted around spots so that the person doing the Gong-gi could be in the middle (073 and 202).

On both teams, the five players linked arms, as guards bent down in front of them to tie their ankles together.

Suddenly, 073|Pennsylvania started breathing heavy.

"Hold on, big guy. You gettin' nervous?" 110|Mississippi asked.

"No, I'm just hungry." 073|Pennsylvania shrugged.

"...Oh."

The shoulder-to-shoulder lines were only a few feet away from each other. 110|Mississippi, who was on the far left of his line, looked left and made eye contact with 092|Massachusetts, who was on the far right of his line.

"The team that finishes first will pass this game. The losing team will be eliminated. Remember, every second counts. Let the game... begin."

With a revolver shot from a guard, the game commenced.

"FORWARD MARCH!" 110|Mississippi commanded.

The five of them stepped together in unison to work with their "six legs".

"ONE! TWO! ONE! TWO!" They stepped together in formation, making sure to yell it to throw off the other team.

Meanwhile, the other groups watched intently from the white room to see what they could expect from the game.

The other team was going a bit slower.

"Guys, you are go a bit too fast, lah!" 276|Singapore complained.

"We have to hurry. Stop b[censored]ing and step!" 092|Massachusetts demanded.

"Let's just slow it down." 276|Singapore stopped moving.

"Lawd hav muh mercy." 102|Barbados grumbled in exasperation.

The first team finally approached the first line, and they stopped, still shoulder-to-shoulder, their left tied to each other's right ankles.

196|Ukraine was handed the ball-and-cup.

"Take your time. You got it." 110|Mississippi tried to be encouraging.

(Confessional: 110|Mississippi)

"I know that I c'n be a bit rowdy at times, but I c'n also really be a real nice fella."

(End Confessional: 110|Mississippi)

196|Ukraine tossed up the stringed ball for the first time and positioned the cup to catch it. Unfortunately, it bounced off the rim.

"You're close." 073|Pennsylvania observed.

As 196|Ukraine took another attempt, the other team also approached the line.

149|Algeria was handed the ball-and-cup and got to work.

He started with long, slow throws, and it bounced off the rim quite a few times.

Meanwhile, with 196|Ukraine, after a couple more tries, he got the ball into the cup. The guard made the shape of a circle with his arms, and the team took it as a signal to move forward. The unified walking ensued.

"FORWARD MARCH!" 110|Mississippi bellowed again.

"ONE! TWO! ONE! TWO! ONE! TWO!" They marched as they sought the next line.

149|Algeria was still hard at work with the ball and cup, and as the other team got to the second line, 149|Algeria finally got it. As he handed back the ball and cup, the group began the trek to the second line.

Now, 072|Liechtenstein had to take a rock and throw it at a small standing-up stone, kind of like a gravestone, and knock it over.

He positioned it in his hand, and tossed it at the stone, but it just missed.

"Ach!" The entire line had to move forward and then back again just so 072|Liechtenstein could retrieve the rock.

Meanwhile, on the other side, 276|Singapore scrutinized the stone, and with one lucky flick of the wrist, he successfully knocked down the stone.

"YES!" 092|Massachusetts exclaimed. They then began the six-legged march to the third line.

072|Liechtenstein was still making attempts at the stone.

The second team had made it to Gong-gi.

"Can you reach down to it?" 092|Massachusetts asked. The pieces were on a miniature table on the floor.

"Can us all bending down?" 202|Uzbekistan requested, and the others obliged.

The first team was still attempting at the stone. 072|Liechtenstein was becoming frantic.

202|Uzbekistan attempted the Gong-gi. He put all of the pieces on the table. He threw the green one in the air, picked up the yellow one, but the green one bounced off of his fist. He scrambled to pick it back up and put it on the table.

At last, 072|Liechtenstein had knocked over the stone, and they made their way to Gong-gi.

As they all sat on the ground, 073|Pennsylvania eyed the pieces. Then he got to work.

(Confessional: 196|Ukraine)

"Я am never know how much the big guy that is of eat very many food is so coordinated."

073|Pennsylvania was absolutely flying through the levels, much to the amazement of his team. For the final level, he put the pieces on the back of his chubby hand, and within a second, they were in his palm and they got a clear from the guard to move on.

"Wow." 110|Mississippi muttered as they stood. "FORWARD MARCH!"

202|Uzbekistan finally picked up the pace, and in a few seconds, he was done too. They made their way to the cards as well.

092|Massachusetts promptly got to work on the card house once they arrived, as did 110|Mississippi.

110|Mississippi controlled his breathing as he placed down the base for the seven-card house. He then placed the flat card over the top. He braced himself for putting the two cards on top. He placed them, and it trembled a bit, but stayed in place. They looked for clearance from the guard. Once it was received, they made their way to Jegi.

The other team, meanwhile, was just now getting to the house of cards. "Dammit, look how far they've got." 092|Massachusetts sighed.

"Do not looking at them." 202|Uzbekistan demanded.

042|Seychelles grabbed the shuttlecock, and she began kicking, but fumbled.

"Don't worry, you've got this." 110|Mississippi nodded.

042|Seychelles tried again, and with light kicks... she completed it.

"GO GO GO!" 110|Mississippi prompted his whole team to rush for the finish line.

092|Massachusetts saw this, and knew that it was all over. The team just sat down at the house of cards station to await elimination. 276|Singapore began to cry.

"YES!" 110|Mississippi pulled 073|Pennsylvania and 196|Ukraine into a tight embrace as they celebrated when they crossed the finish line.

Meanwhile, bullets came from somewhere in the ceiling area, and produced a gushing pool of blood at the other track.

"PLAYER 202. PLAYER 092. PLAYER 276. PLAYER 102. PLAYER 149. ELIMINATED."

After the guards untied them, the five of them darted for the door to be the first ones back to the dorm.

Those not in a group automatically advance to the next game.

The morning horn sounded, and everyone, still groggy, was waking up and getting their usual tracksuits on.

As usual, the players were standing around and conversing in the dormitory.

"Wah yuh tink di nex' game gine be?" 098|Guyana asked through a mouthful of antidepressants.

"Am not know." 219|Tuvalu replied.

"I'on wanna play this game no mo'." 135|Georgia sighed.

"Everyting gwine be alright, nuh worry yuhself." 098|Guyana tried to be reassuring, though it seemed that not even she believed what she was saying.

(Confessional: 233|Israel)

"אֲנִי cannot believing that I am here. Am was sure that whole the students am hate me and want to make concentration camp for me, but the prize money was promise to me 3,000 year ago."

(End Confessional: 233|Israel)

Many were sitting on their bunks, chatting and eating the cold oatmeal that they are given to eat for breakfast.

A small group, however, were heading down the hall to use the bathroom.

"I gotta take a leak." 249|Idaho whined.

"Yeah, I gotta go too." 241|Kansas agreed.

"We'd better go before the line gets too big." 054|Capybarra stood from his bunk.

"We should going, then." 086|Greece and 161|Cyprus joined the other three as they went through the blue door toward the hallway to the bathroom.

As they were passing by, however, a door cracked open suddenly in the hallway on the way to the bathroom. There were many doors, but they were all tightly bolted shut, except this one.

"What is this?" 161|Cyprus peered in the door.

"What is in there?" 086|Greece asked. "It look many scary."

"It looks like a maintenance room." 241|Kansas observed.

"Are you going in?" 054|Capybarra asked.

"Ναί, let's do it." 086|Greece went through the door, along with the other four people. Inside the room was various industrial equipment, generators, transformers, boilers, and the like.

The thing that seemed out of place, though, was the lit vending machine.

"CANDY!" 054|Capybarra jumped for joy.

241|Kansas leaned in to see what was written above the coin slot. 1 coin = Treat.

There were various snacks inside the machine. There was some coins, shiny gold coins with a gold-plated Jeppy on them, hanging on the lip of the receptacle where the snacks are retrieved. 054|Capybarra picked up the coin.

"I want the Sour Patch Kids." 054|Capybarra stated.

"Go ahead." 249|Idaho smiled.

054|Capybarra bent down to extract the bag from the snack receptacle. He tore open the bag and held it out.

"Go ahead, take one." 054|Capybarra smiled as he offered the candy to the others.

249|Idaho and 161|Cyprus happily took one. "Thank you so much."

(Confessional: 054|Capybarra)

"Immediately afterward, I wanted to share the rare joy of this candy with the rest of the dorm."

(End Confessional: 054|Capybarra)

054|Capybarra happily skipped back to the dorm, and when he got there, he rallied people around him.

"I have an announcement, I have an announcement!" He exclaimed.

Once everyone was facing his direction, he spoke.

"There was a vending machine, with snacks." Shocked faces ensued.

"It said '1 coin = 1 snack'. We picked some candy."

"Ehhh, I call bull[censored]." 203|Tennessee smirked.

"Oui, je am skeptical." 075|Monaco looked around for someone to gossip with.

(Confessional: 054|Capybarra)

"I was actually very surprised by the amount of skepticism in the dorm."

(End Confessional: 054|Capybarra)

"I'm kind of disappointed about how little we're trusted in here." 054|Capybarra frowned as he spoke to 249|Idaho. "We just wanna share."

"We don't need no candy. Don't fall for that [censored]." 135|Georgia tried to warn 174|China, who looked like he was considering it.

Elsewhere in the dorm, people were discussing the last challenge.

"Which game were you play?" 228|Kingsfisher asked.

"I was play house of cards." 275|Egypt replied.

"Yeah..." 228|Kingsfisher looked uncomfortable.

"Yo was playing ball cup game." 240|Guatemala replied.

"Attention, players." 

"Oh Dios mio." 130|Cuba sighed.

"Prior to the pentathlon game... You were told that every second counts."

"Ïбати." 196|Ukraine cursed under his breath.

"You participated in five minigames, each of which was timed."

"I having chill down my spine." 233|Israel shivered.

"We have randomly chosen three out of the five minigames. Those are... Gong-gi... Ball-in-a-Cup... and Jegi." 

"The following players were the slowest of the dorm in their respective minigame... and must now stand on the stage."

A montage appeared on the monitor of the players as they were called.

"009 - Ball-in-a-Cup."

"066 - Jegi."

"036 - Gong-gi."

The unfortunate three trudged up the stairs, hugging and shaking hands once they got up there.

"Oh no..." 036|Lingonax murmured.

"Is não over yet." 066|East Timor smiled sadly.

Their numbers and faces appeared on the big screen above the stage.

"The fate of these players..."

Everyone looked intently for answers.

"Is elimination."

"WHAT?" 036|Lingonax half-screamed, before he was shot from the back by guards that were not previously seen.

"PLAYER 036: LINGONAX. ELIMINATED."

"Oh m[censored]a." 066|East Timor tried to dodge the bullet, instead accidentally leaning into it. Her body spun and flopped onto the ground. 009|Fiji fell on top of her.

"PLAYER 066: EAST TIMOR. ELIMINATED."

"PLAYER 009: FIJI. ELIMINATED."

"Flops." 211|California chuckled to herself.

Eliminated: 3

(Confessional: 161|Cyprus)

"Am get many sick of this game."

(End Confessional: 161|Cyprus)

"Attention players. Please follow the staff into the game hall."

The 68 remaining players lined up in a single file line to follow the pink-hooded guards to the game hall once more.

They were led through the familiar myriad of staircases. Up, and down, and up again, and down again, until they were finally taken to a similar white room.

This time, however, dominating the center of the room were four large colored squares: vibrant purple, sky blue, dandelion yellow, and magenta. Each square contained exactly 16 matching colored dots arranged in a grid-like pattern for players to stand on.

"What is?" 086|Greece asked to himself, immediately confused by his surroundings.

"Pick une color." 075|Monaco nudged 172|Chad.

"Violette." 172|Chad nodded.

"How many spots are there? Same amount as players?" 159|Kentucky asked to 235|Colombia, who was obviously counting the dots.

"No es enough. Only sesenta y cuatro, amigo." 235|Colombia replied.

"You'd better pick one as fast as you can." 159|Kentucky chuckled.

"Yo will picking that one over there." 235|Colombia pointed to one of the dots in the yellow square.

"Attention, players. Please divide yourselves equally in the four colored squares. You have one minute."

The players heard the timer start, and immediately it was a scramble to find a dot.

[Their order in the group is also their order in line, with 235 being at the front and 184 being at the very back, and so on.]

Those not in a group:

"Is your group full?" 249|Idaho asked.

"Да, sorry." 185|Montenegro shrugged, struggling to keep himself awake.

"3...2...1..." 

The entire room counted down the timer, and as it buzzed off, 249|Idaho and 205|Croatia looked worried. 253|Serbia didn't really seem to care, and 274|Paraguay... well... he had other things on his mind; he was currently running his fingernails along the rubber on the wheels on his wheelchair.

"Those who are not in a square..."

249|Idaho held his breath.

"Will not play the game." 

"DA!" Both 205|Croatia and 253|Serbia exclaimed at the same time, until they had realized that they said it at the same time, and then just glared at each other.

"KNEW IT! I had a gut feeling!" 249|Idaho pumped his fist in the air, kissing his fist and then putting it up in the air to signify thanks to God.

"Can he genuinely shut the [censored] up?" 211|California muttered to herself.

(Confessional: 249|Idaho)

"I'm looking at everyone on one of those dots, and I'm thinking to myself: 'you [censored] idiots!'!" He chuckled to himself. "64 going in, who knows how many will come out? Hopefully it's none of them."

(End Confessional: 249|Idaho)

The players began to be led into the game hall by the guards, starting with the purple square, then the pink square, then the blue square, and finally, the yellow square.

"Good luck, guys." 249|Idaho offered as the rest of the players were led into the game hall.

"Oh, go to hell." 211|California scoffed as she was one of the last to leave the room.

"Classy." 249|Idaho snickered.

"What was that?" 211|California turned back around.

"Nothing!" 249|Idaho smiled toothily. 211|California just rolled her eyes and got back in line.

The blue panel doors swung open, to reveal a basketball court. From the corners of the court leading to almost the center were 16 spaced out dots in a straight diagonal line for each color, for a total of 64 dots in basically an X pattern. There was one black dot in the dead center of the court.

The players chatted nervously as they jogged onto the court.

"Really?" 214|Kiribati seemed to underestimate the game.

The players grouped up by their respective teams and awaited further instructions.

"Welcome to your third game. The game is... CATCH!" 

From the white room, where the four left out of the squares remained, they were feeling pretty confident.

"Am many certain that we making right decision." 205|Croatia smirked.

"Is this dodgeball?" 249|Idaho asked.

"The third game, CATCH!, will begin shortly." 

"Wait, catch-" 253|Serbia was about to speak, when she was interrupted by a very loud scream. The three of them turned around to find the source.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A completely maniacal 274|Paraguay let out a bloodcurdling screech, one that frightened the others in the room. Even some of the guards moved a little.

"What the hell?" 249|Idaho turned to stare at him. However, 274|Paraguay's eyes were completely glazed over, and he was drooling profusely. He was in no state to reason with anyone.

"...Anyway!" 253|Serbia sighed. "Am hope that they all die and we are final four. Well, most of us." She glared at 205|Croatia, who glared back.

"Sounds way too good to be true." 249|Idaho laughed.

The focus went back on the game room.

"Each group must line up on their colored dots. A thrower will stand on the black center dot, and throw the ball to someone at the front of one of the four lines."

"Yo definitely am throw first. I am play beisbol mi whole life." 235|Colombia demanded.

"If the ball is caught, the thrower passes the game, and the catcher will throw next. If the ball is dropped... both the catcher and the thrower will be... eliminated."

"Oh my god." 067|ItzIngenious ran his hands through his hair and tried to calm his breathing.

(Confessional: 067|ItzIngenious)

"I dunno if I'll get to, but I want to be in the front of the line. I was always picked last for dodgeball, or basketball, or anything like that. Anything so I can be at the front, get an easy throw, and pass the game."

(End Confessional: 067|ItzIngenious)

"Every time that the ball is dropped, a new ball will be put into play. There are only 10 balls. Once all of the balls have been dropped, the game is over. Any players that remain will automatically pass the game. You have five minutes to decide the order in which you will play."

"I wanna go first!" 039|LuckyCat exclaimed as soon as the timer started, and the yellow team began strategizing.

"No, I wanna go first! I wanna start the game!" 211|California interjected.

"Hey, guys, guys, calm down!" 203|Tennessee attempted to calm the crowd. "We may not look like the strongest catchin' team, but they gotta wanna throw to us to actually throw to us."

The players mostly nodded in agreement.

"We put our worst players at the front, to make it so they're not comfortable throwing over here. We put our best throwers at the back, in case we actually have to make those long throws." He continued.

"Good plan, good plan." 125|MeMeMe333 began clapping for 203|Tennessee, and most of the rest of the team followed suit.

Elsewhere, other teams were also strategizing, particularly the blue team.

"If we put our strongest players in the front, then we can toss to each other and guarantee that we make it through. When we don't think that we c'n make a throw, we turn and toss it to someone in another line. And do you think that they'll toss to us if we're all the way in the back of the line, when they've got potentially easier throws to make?" 197|FreeStater offered.

"Exactly, we have to stick with our own team." 110|Mississippi nodded in agreement.

The purple team was also discussing strategy.

"Alright, so what if we try this... I'm not a bad actor, if I do say so myself. What if we put someone toward the front, and when other players are looking for someone to throw to, they're like 'I can't close my fingers to catch, I have a bone condition' and we come up for a name for this 'bone condition', and nobody's going to ever throw to them, and the entire team behind them will be safe." 257|BautyArg offered.

Some seemed to consider this, while others shook their heads.

"I doubt that would even work." 138|Nevada replied. "All of the competitions in the Pentathlon required closing your fingers to grab something, throw something, or something like that. So why would they believe that you suddenly have a bone condition?"

257|BautyArg seemed a bit frustrated at being challenged, but couldn't really argue with the logic.

Finally, the pink team was discussing their strategy.

"I'm going to throw something out there, and it might seem a little crazy." 241|Kansas offered. "Remember, the person throwing the ball is going to be judging who's potentially catching it. They're going to be judgmental of 073 a lot." 

"Wow." 111|Dominica scoffed. Everyone looked around uncomfortably, especially 073|Pennsylvania.

"Why, because of his weight?" 222|England asked. "That's a bit mean, innit?"

"No, just because of way that people looking and talking." 161|Cyprus interjected to stick up for 241|Kansas.

"Exactly, so 073 is going to be judged harsher than the rest of us. If we put him here," 241|Kansas gestured toward around the middle of the line, but the side more at the front, like 6th or 7th _lol from the front, "no one's gonna throw anything to 073."

"I am agree." 161|Cyprus chimed in.

"Wh- why do I have to be the scapegoat?" 073|Pennsylvania looked confused and a little sad.

"Just listen. Is perception." 168|Nigeria joined in.

"But wh-" 073|Pennsylvania began to frown.

"People judge you, Pennsylvania, and if they say 'hey, I'm not throwing to him' then everyone behind you, including you, will be safe." 241|Kansas tried to explain.

Some of the rest of the team was snickering and laughing at his logic, and that he was 'highkey scapegoating Pennsylvania' as 211 would say.

"This is just like grade school dodgeball again." 073|Pennsylvania's voice began to crack in sadness.

"I'm not gonna let you single out one person like that." 054|Capybarra interjected. "That's not okay."

Others in the group agreed with 054, while 073 had to walk away a bit to calm his breathing and not get upset. If only he had a sandwich or a slice of pizza or something. He started to cry, but fortunately nobody noticed at the time. ☹︎

He got in his spot in line, but the tears were still rolling down his cheeks. This time, though, the people next to him noticed. 054|Capybarra pulled him into a one-armed hug, while 111|Dominica looked at him with sympathy.

"It's okay, people are showing their true colors, and now everyone knows what kind of person he is." 054|Capybarra offered, and helped 073|Pennsylvania wiped his tears.

"Attention, players. Your positions in line are now locked." 

(Confessional: 054|Capybarra)

"That's just cruel. We should just treat people the way we want to be treated."

(End Confessional: 054|Capybarra)

The guards brought in the rolling rack with ten blue tennis balls on it. He put it next to the black center dot.

"PLAYER 060, as the player in the first spot with the lowest number, you will throw first. Let the game... begin."

"My team putting mi at the front, so I am just throw to my team." 060|Honduras crouched down and locked eyes with 257|BautyArg. "I am throw to you, okay?"

He lightly tossed the ball, and 257|BautyArg safely caught it.

"PLAYER 060, PASS." 

060|Honduras walked off to the bleachers, and 257|BautyArg walked forward from his spot in the purple line to take his place.

As planned, he tossed it to 050|Latvia, with seamless results.

"PLAYER 257, PASS."

As 257|BautyArg strode off to the bleachers, 050|Latvia started for the dot.

"Once you give up the ball, it's their ball." 067|ItzIngenious pointed out. "I can catch the ball."

"It does not making a difference." 050|Latvia replied sternly.

"We want to save our team." 067|ItzIngenious responded flatly.

"This no is team sport." 050|Latvia snapped.

050|Latvia walked to the center dot.

"Am throw to 110, because is many closer."

"Wow, so she's changing up the plan on us?" 138|Nevada complained.

"It no make difference!" 050|Latvia protested.

"Throw me it and I'll catch it!" 067|ItzIngenious snapped.

"You will still throwing it, it not mattering." 050|Latvia argued.

"THROW ME THE BALL AND I WILL CATCH IT!" 067|ItzIngenious yelled angrily.

With a loud sigh, 050|Latvia turned back to her team and got into position.

With a normal toss, 067|ItzIngenious caught it with both hands.

"I told you." 067|ItzIngenious pumped his fist.

050|Latvia said nothing, and just strolled for the bleachers.

By now, many players had successfully completed their throws and were through to the bleachers. But when 223|South Korea's ball bounced off 075|Monaco's fist, many covered their mouths in shock and horror as they were executed in front of everyone by the guards.

"PLAYERS 223 and 075, ELIMINATED."

245 got through without issue, and then it was 073|Pennsylvania's turn to catch. He was still a little shaken up from being singled out in front of his whole team.

054|Capybarra smiled sweetly at him. "Ready?" He asked.

073|Pennsylvania calmed down a little, and then nodded.

054|Capybarra swung his arm in preparation, and then tossed the ball, and it landed straight on 073|Pennsylvania's chest, which he proceeded to catch.

"YES!" 111|Dominica and 054|Capybarra clapped for him, as did others in the line.

073|Pennsylvania went off to the bleachers with newfound self-esteem.

To streamline the game and preserve my character count, here are the results of CATCH!

Survived CATCH!: 48

Eliminated: 20

For those reading, you have the opportunity to vote from the list of the 48 remaining players below, and the (1) player with the most votes will be eliminated. 

Remaining Players:

You can place up to 3 votes. For your votes to count, you must provide the three-digit number representing that player. 

For example, if you wanted to place 3 votes for Player 500|Nickelz, your vote could look like this:

(500)(500)(500)

VOTING ENDS December 14, 2025, at 12:00 PM CST.

Thank you for reading. If you'd like to join the main high school series, or even participate in potential future seasons of Squid Game, comment under this blog or this blog.