Chapter 1:
Welcome to The Game

"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings." -Lao Tzu

The streets that are located in Hongdae are buzzing with people from all around South Korea on a chilly Friday evening. High school students are seen gallivanting around there while a bunch of middle-aged women are shopping at the mentioned place. It is lively and vibrant with life that a particular young man envies.

Despite feeling envious, the young man just continues to sit at one of the benches on the streets of Hongdae. He looks on as people pass by and laugh at humourless jokes. He watches, feeling nothing, as they chatter endlessly with a happy note obvious in their voices. The young man envies the people around him but he knows that he can never be like them.

It is too bad, really, because he is unbearably young. He is still in university but he looks at life with such negativity that no one should ever possess. Letting out a sigh, he continues to look for the person that he is supposed to find. After what seems like years, the young woman that he has been waiting for appears right in front of his eyes.

The young man brightens at the sight of her but he controls his expression. Approaching the young woman, he makes sure that his face looks upset and confused so that his acting will seem true. As soon as he is only a few inches behind her, he taps her shoulder twice.

Turning around, the young woman raises her eyebrow quizzically. She opens to speak but the young man beats her to it. “Excuse me, Miss, may I borrow your phone for a second?” he requests as politely as possible but he makes sure to put in a tone of desperation in his voice to convince her.

The young woman hesitates for a little while before asking, “What do you want to use it for?” Her eyes are flashing with suspicion and he cannot help but think that she is smart. It is good not to trust strangers and this shows that the young woman in front of him is not a naïve person.

He bites his lips intentionally before putting on his best pleading look. “Please, Miss. I really need to send a text to my older brother. You see, I just happened to receive a call from him, saying that my mother is in the hospital, and just as I was about to tell him where I was so that he could pick me up, my phone died,” he explains easily as tears begin to form in his eyes, making his lie look even more believable.

The young woman with pretty doe eyes pauses for a moment as if she is thinking about it. The young man knows that she will give in soon if he keeps up with his crocodile tears act. Seeing that she still has not given him any response, he lets a tear fall down his cheek before he wipes them away quickly. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to lend me your phone. I’ll just ask someone else,” he says, letting his voice wobble slightly.

Just as he is about to turn away, the young woman calls out, “I’ll lend you my phone.” The young man fights off the smirk that is about to appear on his face and turns it into a smile of gratitude.

“Thank you so much!” he exclaims loudly, acting like he is truly grateful. The truth is, his mother is well and healthy. She is most probably at a spa at the moment, getting skin treatment so that she will not have wrinkles or something close to that. His mother is vain, after all. His mother is not even close to sick.

The young woman takes out her phone from her handbag and hands it to him. Just as the young man is about to take it from her, she retracts her hand. Puzzled, his eyes meet hers and she says, “There’s one condition, though. You have to text your older brother right in front of me.”

He nods in agreement, knowing that this is the most he will get from her. She hands him her phone and he smiles while bowing his head in gratitude. She looks as he types his text message and sends it to an unknown phone number. He gives the young woman back her phone and bows again. “Thank you so much for lending me your phone,” he thanks her again.

She merely nods in response as she takes back her phone. “I hope your mother will get well soon,” she replies briefly, flashing him a small smile.

The young man nods. “Me too,” he says.

As the young woman walks away with her phone in her hand, the young man lets a smirk that he has been holding back etch itself on his lips. He turns away to the opposite direction from where the young woman is heading to. He whips out his phone from his pocket.

1 new text message has arrived, says the notification on his phone.

He taps his phone to read the text message. It is from an unknown number. A smirk appears on his lips as he reads the text message.

I’m at a street in Hongdae, right in front of Da Vinci Café. I’m using a kind stranger’s phone to text you because my phone died. Please pick me up as soon as possible because I’m worried about Mum. –Your younger brother

The young man grins and saves the unknown number that has just messaged him as Im Yoona.

Dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a white singlet with a black cardigan wrapped around her body, Yoona enters the restaurant that she is supposed to meet up with her best friend, Sooyeon. Sooyeon is a year older than her but they hit it off quite well. Besides, who says that your best friend has to be the same age as you? There is no such rule as that in life.

Upon entering the restaurant, she looks around for Sooyeon until she sees her best friend wave at her enthusiastically. Yoona flashes her a smile before walking towards her. She sits on the opposite of Sooyeon and lets out a small sigh. “Why do you want to meet up here?” she asks in an almost accusing tone. “This is an expensive restaurant and you know that I can’t afford it.”

Sooyeon merely chuckles at her statement and the younger woman feels like throwing the high heels that she is wearing at the older woman’s face. “I know that, Yoona,” she responds calmly, undeterred by Yoona’s accusing tone. She smiles genuinely. “That is why it is my treat,” she announces happily.

Yoona lets out a small sigh before shaking her head. “You’ve treated me more than my two hands can count, Sooyeon,” she chides gently. “Don’t bother spending your money on me. Save it for your future children. They need it more than me. I’m already an adult and I can find a job on my own.”

Her best friend snorts at Yoona’s last statement. She shakes her head in contempt. “That’s the problem, Yoona,” she says bluntly. “You can’t find a job on your own. It’s been three months since you graduated from Seoul University and you still don’t have a stable job to support you and your expenses.”

“Maybe I should just get married,” Yoona says wryly. Her previous statement is meant to be a joke and it would have been funny if only her tone is different.

Sooyeon rolls her eyes at the younger woman’s attempt to joke but she does not comment anything on it. Instead, she leans closer and flicks Yoona’s forehead causing her to let out a loud cry in pain. Yoona glares at the older woman as she rubs her forehead. “That hurts!” she exclaims out loud in annoyance.

The older woman seems to be apathetic instead of sympathetic. “Serves you right,” she tells her bluntly. “You’re the one who keep on switching jobs even though those jobs are pretty decent for a living.”

Yoona makes a face at Sooyeon. What the older girl has said is true. The problem is not about her unable to find a job. She has always managed to get a job at any place she wants because she has a degree and her grades are high. Her looks might also play a role in it but she just lost interest in those jobs within a week which led her to quit.

As the younger woman keeps quiet, Sooyeon waves the waiter over and tells him their order without even consulting Yoona about what she wants to eat. It does not matter because the doe-eyed woman eats practically everything that is edible.

The doe-eyed woman turns towards the window of the restaurant. She watches as people pass by her and she remembers what has happened before she arrived at the restaurant. She briefly wonders if the young man that she helped just now has met up with his older brother. She hopes that his mother will be fine. Truth to be told, the reason why she was reluctant about lending him her phone is because her credit is running low. She is far too lazy to top up the credit on her phone.

However, seeing how desperate and upset the young man was, she decided to be a good person and let him use her phone. The reason why she wanted to see what he was going to text his older brother was to make sure that he was not lying. There are too many scammers nowadays and she did not want to be duped.

“Earth to, Yoona,” Sooyeon calls out, snapping her back to reality. The older woman shakes her head for the umpteenth time that evening.

The younger woman grins sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I was just thinking about something,” she apologises. “Anyway, I was wondering why you wanted to meet up all of a sudden.” It is not that she does not want to meet her precious best friend but the two of them have decided to meet fortnightly. They have just met a few days ago before Sooyeon suddenly called her, saying that she wanted to meet her.

The older woman smiles at her remark but she does not say anything yet. She seems to be choosing her words carefully. Just as she is about to speak, Yoona interrupts. “Are you getting married, Sooyeon?” she questions with a gleam in her eyes. Sooyeon’s jaw drops open at the sudden accusation. Before she is able to deny it, Yoona continues, “You are, aren’t you? Oh my God, I can’t believe this! You’re going to ask me to be your bridesmaid, right? I’m so happy for you, Sooyeon. Tell me, who is the unlucky guy that has the honour of marrying you?”

At this point, Sooyeon is already face-palming, not bothering to interrupt Yoona’s excited speech. She tunes the younger woman out as she continues to chatter enthusiastically about wedding gowns and dresses when the reality is, no one is getting married.

“So, what do you think, Sooyeon? Do you agree with me?” Yoona asks, smiling brightly at the end of her speech.

Sooyeon hates to break it to Yoona that no one is getting married because she does not want to ruin the younger woman’s mood but she knows that she has to. She cannot lie and say that she is getting married because Yoona will certainly want to meet her future husband and ask her persistently about the wedding date and preparation. That is why, to save herself from all the trouble, she decides to tell her the truth.

“I’m not getting married, Yoona,” she states plainly.

The younger woman does not seem to be disappointed by the news. Instead, she continues, “Oh, it’s not you. Then, I guess it’s your younger sister, then? But Soojung is still in university, isn’t she? Shouldn’t she concentrate on her studies first? She wants to be a doctor, right? She needs to-”

“No one is getting married, Yoona,” Sooyeon cuts her off, unable to take the younger woman’s delusional speech any longer.

Yoona simply laughs at that. “I know,” she replies, grinning cheekily. “It was fun to see you getting all exasperated. So, tell me. What do you want to tell me?” Truth to be told, she also wants to delay the time so that Sooyeon is able to say what she wants to say clearly. She knows that the older woman is searching for the right words to say so in a way, she is doing her a favour.

“Okay, since you really are in need of money, I suggest that you play this game,” Sooyeon says what she has on her mind, at last. She passes a sheet of paper towards Yoona and the younger woman takes it.

Yoona examines the piece of paper in her hands carefully. Be sure to join this game to stand a chance of winning up to one hundred billion won, she reads. All you have to do is to trick the other players and win the valuable prize! Sign up for free at www.thegame.com and we’ll send you a letter if you are accepted and more details will be provided in the said letter.

“I’m not joining, Sooyeon,” she says after reading the poster. “I don’t see why I should. I may not have a stable job but I still have a good amount of money left by my parents for me to support myself. Thank you for recommending it to me, by the way.”

Sooyeon looks a little bit disappointed at Yoona’s declaration. She lets out a small sigh. “Think about it, okay?” she pleads. “You stand a chance to win, Yoona. You’re the most manipulative person I’ve ever met. You’re smart and you can see through most people.” She looks at the younger woman with puppy eyes that Yoona has never been able to resist. “I’ll be joining too so you don’t have to worry about being in a room full of strangers.”

Heaving a small sigh, Yoona gives in, at last. “Okay, fine. I’ll think about it,” she says. Sooyeon beams at her happily and the younger woman wonders why she always complies to her best friend’s demands.

***

Im Yoona stares at the screen of her laptop that is placed on top of her lap. The website that is written on the poster that Sooyeon gave her earlier is displayed on the screen. She wonders if she should join. She knows that if she keeps up with her fickle attitude, she will most likely have financial issues and the easiest way to get money is to join this game.

Besides, how hard could this game be? She is a master of manipulation and tricks. She can easily make people do what she wants them to do. It will be as easy as a pie to win this game. Or so she thinks. She knows that she should not be complacent or overconfident but she cannot help herself because so far, she has never met anyone other than herself who is capable of trickery.

Okay, maybe, Sooyeon is good at lying and acting too but she is sure that she can perform better than her best friend. After all, Im Yoona has had to live in a world of deceit and lies ever since she was bornt.

After a moment of thinking, the young woman finally makes her decision. It does not hurt to join this game. At the very worst, she will be eliminated. That is all. It is not like she has anything to lose at the moment. And so, she presses the ‘Apply for the game’ button on the website.

The website redirects her to a page where a form has to be filled in. She fills in the form easily because there is no strange questions. Only the basics are asked. After she has finished filling in the form, there is a short note below.

By clicking the ‘Apply’ button, it means that I agree to the terms and regulations of this game. Anything that happens inside this game shall be kept a secret and no one should ever know about the existence of this game except for the participants themselves and the hosts. If I get injured during the game or if any of my secrets are revealed, the hosts and organiser of this game shall not be held responsible. If I, by any means, fail to keep this game a secret, I will be disqualified and fined one hundred million won.

At that, Yoona hesitates. Well, how hard will keeping the game a secret be? She is absolutely sure that she will not reveal this game to anyone. She knows how to keep her lips sealed. Besides, she does not want to be fined that big amount of money. Also, getting injured in a game is not likely to happen and she keeps no secrets and so, without further hesitation, she clicks the ‘Apply’ button.

It takes quite some time for the page to load and after it has successfully loaded, a new message is displayed on the screen.

Congratulations! You have successfully applied for this game. If you are accepted, a letter containing more details about this game will be sent to you.

Yoona closes her laptop with a small smile on her face. She imagines the amount of money that she will possess once she has won the game.

***

A day passes and nothing happens. A week is gone and still, no letter has been sent to her. After that, Yoona has totally put the game on the back of her mind because she assumes that she is not accepted into the game. How long does it take to type a letter of acceptance, anyway? That is why she has come to a decision to forget about the game and move on with her life.

Life, as usual, is boring. She is currently working part-time here and there to collect money for this month’s rent for her apartment. Needless to say, she feels an urge to just quit and find a new job but she refrains herself from doing so because she really needs the money.

It is the third week after she has applied for the game when she receives the acceptance letter, at last. She has just gotten back from her job and she checks her mailbox for any important letters. Looking at the envelopes at a first glance, she thinks that all of them are just spam and so, she goes up to her apartment.

As soon as she reaches there, she throws the letters on the table and takes a shower because she has perspired a lot while doing her job and she feels disgusted. After that, she decides to look at the letters to see what they contain.

A particular envelope catches her attention. It is gold in colour and the handwriting on top of the envelope is very neat. She wonders what kind of letter it is and immediately tears it open. Her eyes scan the words on the letter and she breaks into a wide smile.

Dear Im Yoona,

Congratulations! You have been chosen to participate in The Game that you applied for three weeks ago with nineteen other participants. We would like to apologise for the late arrival of this letter. It took us quite some time to gather the people who are suitable for this game.

This is not a game that you can easily win. This is a game of deceit and lies. This is a game that may make you lose faith in trust and whatnot. If any of this happens, we will not be held responsible for it.

Are you ready to lie? Are you willing to trick? Are you going to betray?

If you are, come to Block 121 on Cheongdamdong Road at seven in the evening. Your attendance is required there on every Saturday night unless the hosts decide otherwise, starting from tomorrow. If you fail to arrive on time, you will immediately be kicked out of the game and have to pay one hundred million won as compensation. Don’t forget to bring this letter to prove that you are a participant of this game.

We sincerely hope that you will enjoy the game and please follow the ultimate rule of the game in order to succeed: Do not trust anyone.

Welcome to the game, Im Yoona.

Yours Sincerely,

Song Qian

***

The next evening soon comes as quick as lightning and Yoona does not know whether she is prepared for it or not. What she knows is that, she is anticipating to play the game. It sounds interesting and she hopes that the game will live up to her expectations. She wants to win but she is also looking for entertainment.

She arrives at the house at half past six after riding a taxi to get there. She can see the other participants gather around and talk. One person catches her eyes. It is a guy who is wearing a black leather jacket and black pants with a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes. She raises an eyebrow quizzically before she decides to shrug it off.

The house is big, she notes. It is a three-storey bungalow and it is pretty. A table has been placed at the corner of the yard in front of the bungalow and a young woman is standing behind it, passing lanyards that have names written on them to the participants who are lining up to receive them. Yoona joins in the queue.

“Hello there!” the woman in front of her turns around and greets. She gives Yoona a smile so bright that it causes her eyes to twinkle. She seems like a cheerful person and harmless but Yoona knows that looks can be deceiving. “My name is Hwang Miyoung. It’s nice to meet you!” she exclaims loudly as she bows.

Feeling a little bit taken aback, Yoona bows back and returns the woman’s smile with a smile of her own. “Hello,” she greets back pleasantly. “It is nice to meet you too.”

Miyoung beams at her happily and she begins to talk about how she came to know about this game. She says that a friend of hers told her about this game and she decided to join because she has nothing else to do. From her endless chatter, Yoona also finds out that the woman in front of her owns a cyber café and is an IT genius. Miyoung also offers to repair her laptop if anything happens to it for free and Yoona gladly accepts the offer because she does not think that she has enough money to send it to a shop if it does break down. Life is all about connections, anyway.

Soon, it is Miyoung’s turn to receive her lanyard and Yoona is given a break from listening to pointless stories. As soon as the owner of the cyber café is done, she goes to the other participants to introduce herself. Yoona heaves a sigh of relief for having to escape from Miyoung’s endless chatter.

Yoona gives the young woman in front of her the acceptance letter and the young woman with a tag that says ‘Amber Josephine Liu’ hands her a lanyard and Yoona hangs it around her neck. “Feel free to explore the bungalow but please make sure that by seven o’clock, you are required to gather in the meeting room. There will be directions around the bungalow, don’t worry,” Amber assures before moving on to the next participant.

Yoona nods even though the young woman does not see it and decides to find someone to talk to. It is then, the guy who has caught her eyes earlier enters the bungalow. Since she has nothing else to do, she decides to follow him and try to get him to talk to her, if possible. He does not seem like the type of person who likes to talk, though.

The young woman enters the bungalow and she sees the guy with the sunglasses enter the meeting room. She makes a face to herself. To think that she actually thought this guy is interesting. He is obviously only interested in the game. She glances at her watch and lets out a small sigh. It looks like exploring the bungalow has to be done during another time. It is already six forty-five.

Following the guy’s footsteps, she enters the meeting room and hesitates. She does not know where to sit. Other than the guy with the sunglasses, some other people are already seated too and they are chatting happily. Yoona finally decides to just sit next to the guy who has caught her eyes earlier.

As soon as she sits next to the guy, the guy stands up to move away but Yoona grabs his wrist to prevent him from moving. “Hey, you’re going to sit next to someone eventually so don’t bother changing your seat,” she says.

The guy turns around and observes Yoona from head to toe, causing her to feel extremely uncomfortable. Suddenly, she feels insecure of the pair of jeans and shirt that she is wearing. Judging by the guy’s clothes, she assumes that he is rich because his clothes are obviously expensive. Letting out a small sigh, the guy just sits down next to her and Yoona smiles.

She leans closer to him. “Why are you wearing sunglasses, anyway?” she questions curiously. “There’s no sunlight here and it’s not even hot.” The guy just sits there, ignoring her question. He does not even bother to glance at her. Infuriated by that, she pokes him. “Are you, perhaps, trying to act cool,” she looks at his lanyard, “Oh Sehun?”

At that, Sehun finally looks at her and seems to fix her with a judging stare. She is not exactly sure because she cannot see his eyes. “What I do is none of your freaking business,” he says bluntly. Then, he faces to the front again.

Yoona rolls her eyes and mumbles something about how she is only trying to be friendly before deciding to ignore the guy next to her. “You weren’t being friendly. You were being nosy,” Sehun points out without even turning to her. Then, silence ensues again because neither of them knows what else to say.

The young woman decides to look around and she sees that the seats are beginning to fill up. Nobody sits at the head of the table because it is obvious that the seat is for the host. Yoona glances at everyone, feeling bored. She sees someone whose name is Choi Jinri chatting with people and socialising. The owner of the cyber café is already here too and she seems to be in the middle of sharing a story with three other people whose focus is solely on her.

Yoona is not fooled. She knows what Miyoung and Jinri are trying to do. She can see that the two of them are good with words and they have innocent faces that make people think that they can be trusted. She knows that the two of them are trying to charm the people around them because who knows when they will need them?

The young woman looks around for Sooyeon and as soon as she spots her, she waves happily. Her best friend waves back and she sees that Soojung, Sooyeon’s younger sister, is here too. The two of them are also talking to others in case they can be important for them to win the game.

“Do you know her?” a voice asks and Yoona turns around in shock. A young man has taken the seat next to her and he flashes her a bright smile. He has deer-like eyes like hers and he looks like a genius.

“Know who?” she returns, raising her eyebrow at the guy who suddenly appears next to her. She did not even notice his presence.

Yoona glances at his lanyard and notes that his name is Luhan. It does not sound Korean and she studies his features carefully before nodding to herself. He is a Chinese, certainly.

“Jung Sooyeon,” Luhan answers. The smile does not leave his face and Yoona finds herself getting irritated because of it. She does not like people who smile like that because it is just too creepy, in her opinion.

“Stop smiling,” she snaps instead.

A chuckle escapes Luhan’s lips and Yoona raises an eyebrow at him questioningly. Instead of being offended, it seems like the young man is amused for some reason. “I asked you a question, Yoona,” he chides gently.

“Why do you want to know?” she asks instead of answering him. There is no way she wants to reveal details about her private life with a total stranger. She is not that stupid to do that.

Luhan opens his mouth to say something but at that moment, a woman enters the meeting room and claps her hands twice for attention. All eyes are on her as she stands right in front of everyone. She gives everyone a smile and Yoona cannot help but feel that there is something sinister about that smile.

“Hello everyone,” the woman greets politely and bows. “My name is Song Qian and I am the host for this game.”

Loud applause echoes throughout the room and Qian maintains the smile on her face. Yoona notes that this woman, just like Luhan, is a Chinese. Qian looks like a classy woman. She is obviously very wealthy and Yoona can see it just by the way she walks.

The doe-eyed woman looks around her to see the other participants’ reactions. Some of them are just indifferent while most of them are awed by Song Qian. Well, that is not exactly a surprise because this woman has class, after all.

“This is not a normal kind of game,” the wealthy woman speaks and everyone in the room leans closer to her to hear more about the mysterious game that they will be playing. All the details that have been given to them so far are vague. All they know is that they are supposed to trick the other players somehow using their intelligence.

Qian looks at everyone around the room and Yoona feels uncomfortable as the woman’s gaze lands on her. Her eyes are so deep that it feels like she is able to know what is on her mind. She does not like it at all but she does not avoid her gaze. She does not want to show that she is intimidated. As if sensing her inner thoughts, Qian smirks slightly. She looks directly into Yoona’s eyes as she says, “I’m giving all of you one last chance to pull out of this game because once I’ve told you about the first round of the game, none of you is allowed to quit.”

Everyone in the room exchanges glances as if trying to see who will walk out of the meeting room right now. Yoona briefly considers standing up and walking away but she has her own pride. If she walks out of this room at the moment, it will show that she is nothing but a coward. Im Yoona is certainly not a coward.

“At the count of three, if nobody wants to walk out of the door, it will be closed and the game will officially begin,” Qian says again. She stares hard at every single player as if daring them to walk away.

“One,” she begins counting.

Yoona, along with the other players, looks around the room, trying to see who will go out of the meeting room. Suddenly, a young man stands up. Yoona looks at his lanyard and ‘Kim Jongin’ is written on top of it. Everyone turns to look at the young man.

“Are you going to leave?” Luhan voices out his wonder to Jongin.

Jongin scoffs, as if he is trying to say that there is no way he will leave. “No, I’m not quitting this game,” he announces as if the idea of quitting the game is ridiculous. “I just need to go to the bathroom for a little while. It’s urgent.”

Groans of disbelief fills the room and Yoona finds her lips forming an amused smile at Jongin’s antics.

“You may go, Jongin,” Qian permits him. “Please make it quick. By the time you come back, the game will officially begin. All of you have a few more minutes to think about whether you want to stay in this game or quit.”

Jongin nods gratefully and he calmly walks out of the meeting room. Yoona observes him from head to toe and snorts to herself. “Kim Jongin is smart, isn’t he?” Luhan asks rhetorically. “From his body language, it does not seem like he needs to use the bathroom urgently.”

“I know,” Yoona murmurs. “I’m trying to figure out why he wanted to go to the bathroom.”

Luhan chortles at that. Yoona turns to look at him quizzically. “It’s easy,” Luhan responds, smiling genuinely. “He didn’t like the tension in the room so he tried to ease it by saying that.”

Now that Yoona thinks about it, Kim Jongin does seem like the playful type of person. He looks like someone who cannot stand any tense atmosphere. She does not say anything back to Luhan and instead, she taps her index finger on the table impatiently.

One.

Two.

Three.

At long last, Jongin returns to the meeting room and the door behind him closes. No one has left the meeting room which means that there will still be twenty participants altogether in the game. Everyone looks at Qian, who has decided to sit down at the head of the table, expectantly. They are waiting for the host to say something.

Qian lets a sly smile touch her lips. “Give a round of applause to all of you who have decided to stay in the game until the end,” she commands and everyone claps their hands robotically. “And now, the game that you have been waiting for will begin. This is a game that may make you lose faith in trust. This is a game where all of you are supposed to be morally corrupted. Only the strong survives. Trick the other players, make them fall and most importantly, do not trust anyone.”

“Anyone can be your enemy,” Qian continues to speak. “The person next to you can end up betraying you. The friendliest person in this room can end up being the most cunning person you’ve ever met. The ones with an innocent face can also be the person you cannot trust the most. In this world, everyone puts up façades to hide what is underneath them. This is a game that will cause you to put up your façade but at the same time, you have to drop it.”

“I don’t understand your last statement,” a participant with the name of Kim Joonmyun says.

Qian laughs amusedly at that. With a twinkle in her eyes, she replies, “You will understand it in the end, Joonmyun. That is, if you last long in this game.”

Yoona looks at Qian in interest. Although her tone is not laced with sarcasm or anything, the doe-eyed woman knows that Qian is mocking Joonmyun but Yoona does not know what for. She just continues to look at the wealthy woman and waits for her next statements.

“Although the ultimate rule is not to trust anyone, no violence is allowed in this game. I do appreciate violence,” Qian pauses before smiling wickedly, “only if it is done by me. So, no violence allowed.”

Qian’s words send chills down Yoona’s spine and the doe-eyed woman does not like it at all. She is rarely afraid but those words actually make goose bumps rise on her arms. She rubs her arms tentatively and shudders. Qian sees her actions and she smirks again at that as if she knows what kind of effects she has on Yoona.

With a pretty smile on her luscious lips, Qian stands up from her seat and spreads out her arms in a welcoming gesture. “Welcome to the game, everyone.”

Author's Note: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter of my new story as much as I enjoyed writing it. It has been so long since I felt so pumped up about writing. The flow of the story will be quite slow and I do not guarantee the safety of any of the characters in this story. Even the main characters can get hurt too because it is more fun that way. The romance might also be a little bit slow too but it will come eventually. Thank you for reading, subscribing, commenting and upvoting! I really appreciate it. Enjoy reading the next chapter! :)