Joshua

The man who was bitten by the ticks is the same guy I forgot to send home after he harassed that girl during the opening orientation. What are the odds?

I reckon that the feisty 152 girl had something to do with it. Not that I blame her or anything; I wouldn’t want a creep like that hanging around me if I were her either. If foul play was involved, I’m looking the other way.

A few tick bites isn’t going to kill him. He was sent back to the mainland to be treated and I made sure to tell the producers that he is never to return. He won’t be harassing any of the girls anymore.

I returned to my room in the media offices after the whole tick-bite ordeal. As much as I love it when people vie for my attention, there’s only so much I can take. It drains you pretty fast when you’re among hundreds of people carefully watching you, trying to stand out. Especially when the only one you want to see is the one you have to avoid and pretend not to care about.

That 133 boy, Seungwan or whatever his name was, promised he’d take care of her, and so far, he’s doing a pretty good job of reporting to me. He used the phone I gave him to send me this message shortly after my messy conversation with Dino.

Hi Joshua. Chaeyoung is okay. I told her everything, and she’s relieved. I must tell you that she doesn’t seem to like this game very much. I sense she’s a little stressed because everyone is looking at her, wondering about your relationship with her. The fact she’s braving through this tells me she loves you very much.

I’ll let you know if anything happens. In the meantime, here are some numbers that are giving her a hard time: 92, 38, 146, 122. She asks you to disqualify them.

I make note of all the numbers, planning to let them lose in the first game I have planned, which, for the record, I am very excited about.

-

I watch as all the contestants file in, each one being handed a pre-programmed phone with everyone’s number on it.

I suppress the evil grin from my face. This is going to be amazing.

There are 199 contestants, minus the one we kicked out the other day. There are cameras everywhere, filming everyone, because no one knows where we’ll find an interesting angle to spin for the show. Which one of these sweatsuit-clad simps will show themselves to be evil, untrustworthy, or foolish? This game will reveal it all.

I named the game Paramour’s Dilemma. I worked with a game theory consultant to come up with it, and it’s absolutely brilliant, if I do say so myself. Inspired by the infamous Prisoner’s Dilemma, it’s a psychological game that will surely turn some heads and make a splash as the first installation of Wed Game.

When everyone’s seated, I walk up to the podium and read the scripted introduction to the game from the teleprompter in front of me.

“Welcome, welcome, my dear Wed Gamers, to the very first game in the Wed Game series. I’m so excited about this chance to get to know each and every one of you on a deep psychological level. This game will really test your personality and your priorities. Are you driven? Are you loyal? Are you foolish? This game will show me everything.’

“The game is called Paramour’s Dilemma. Here’s how it will go: all contestants will pair up with someone and talk with one another for 10 minutes. All your conversations are being recorded on the devices you each got when you walked in here. The phone is also recording videos of you, so hold it up if you want a good angle of your face!’

“After the 15 minutes is up, each of you will, in secret, press a button on your device. You can choose either a ♥ or an X.’

“If you both choose ♥, both of you will gain 0 points.’

“If one of you chooses ♥ and the other chooses X, then the one who chose X will get 5 points, and the one who chose ♥ will lose 10 points.’

“If you both choose X, then both will lose 5 points.’

“This will go on for 10 rounds.’

“Anyone with negative points will be disqualified, and the top 5 contestants with the most points will be invited to a private lunch with me. The bottom line is this: if you both always choose hearts, both of you will make it through, but without any perks. Choosing X is a risk, but it might lead to a special perk that could tip the scales in your favor with this whole game.’

“Basically, you have to be careful who you choose as your partner. And you have to also weigh your ambition against your loyalty to your partner. It’ll be a test of human nature, examining your trust, your reliability, and your ambition.’

“Now, since there are an odd number of contestants, every round, one contestant will be drawn at random not to partake in the game. Instead, this contestant will spend the 10 minutes of that round with me. We’ll talk, get to know one another, and afterwards, I can decide to either give that contestant points or dock them points.’

“Here’s the catch: none of you will know your points until the very end.”

I hear people whisper. I can almost see their thoughts whirring as they consider what this means. It tickles me to see their troubled faces. This is so much fun. For me, at least.

“Here are the rules. One: everyone must be paired with another unless that person is randomly chosen to spend the time with me. If your partner is chosen, you must partner with whoever is left. Two: You have thirty seconds after the ten minutes is up to make your selection. If you do not make a selection, it will automatically default to ♥. Three: you must not use any force or physical violence or threats whatsoever. If any of you is caught doing this, they will be immediately docked a thousand points and therefore disqualified. Four: When your partner makes their selection, you may not look at what they’ve chosen. If you’re caught peeking, you will also be docked a thousand points.’

“Everything else is fair game. Now, for the first ten minutes, I want each of you to find a partner. But before we start that timer, we’ll have the first draw indicating which contestant will spend the first round with me.”

I stop and turn to the big screen around me. An arbitrary list of numbers flash through, giving the impression of a random selection, but it’s not random. We hired an animator to make it look random, but I know exactly who’ll be chosen.

Contestants 92, 38, 146, and 122, the ones that Seungkwan reported as being mean to Chaeyoung, will be the first to be picked out at “random.” I’ll dock their points by a thousand, so they’ll be disqualified by the end of it when all the points are revealed. Easy way to get rid of everyone I don’t want hanging around my girl.

The numbers flash and stop at #92. Contestant 92, a tall girl who just looks mean, flails, happy to be chosen. Her friends, congratulate her. I notice that 38 and 122 are close to her, also two of the girls who were bullying Chaeyoung. They must have formed some kind of a mean girls clique alliance.

“The rest of you, please take the next five minutes to secure your partner. Let the game begin!”