– This is hilarious.
– I think Gene PD just wanted to bring in a horror element into this. He made the quizzes an excuse to frighten the contestants.
– You know what? I’d do the same thing. I love watching people in fear.
– That might be a fetish.
The second episode was finally underway, and even more people tuned in for this one.
Students were the biggest audience, especially those studying in high school and university. It was a show that stimulated their brains, and they wanted to see if they could also answer such questions too.
However, this episode seemed more centered on the comedy aspect, as the horror house in the Death Area was very well made.
Bacon PD adjusted his cap, rolled his shoulders, and nodded at no one in particular.
“I’ve shot documentaries in North Korea. This is nothing,” he muttered.
– HAHAHA. Is the old man scared?
– They’re using a night vision camera. I could just imagine how dark it is in there.
– Bring him out of there. He’s going to get a heart attack!
He stepped inside, and the door shut behind him.
He walked down the dimly lit hallway. Then a wooden horse on the floor creaked. Bacon PD let out a scream so high-pitched it might have summoned banshees.
He stumbled backward, nearly falling on a strategically placed rubber rat that squeaked under his foot, triggering a mechanical thud from a closet nearby. The door popped open. This time, it showed a real clown.
Another scream was heard.
The people in the Life Area turned to each other. They knew the walls were soundproof, but Zeno felt like he heard a scream.
He tilted his head. “Is he okay?” he muttered.
Bacon PD was already having a hard time keeping his fear in check. However, finding the riddles was even more challenging. Due to the obstacles around him, he only got to two.
Then, he answered exactly one question… about 1990s pop culture. And he whispered it like it was a state secret.
The sirens blared when his time was up.
He emerged looking like he had been dragged across a haunted playground. He was in the safe zone, causing him to sigh in relief.
“Minjae,” Lucy’s voice echoed again. “Enter to your Death.”
Minjae stood with a cocky smirk. “This is going to be a piece of cake.”
He was ready to show the cameras what brains and bravery looked like—
“AHHH!”
First jump scare. A mannequin head fell from the ceiling.
– Well, he ate his words right on the spot.
– Why did I think a guy like him would be good at jump scares?
– He’s a freak but is easily freaked out, huh?
Minjae had his knees pulled to his chest before he could register what happened.
“WHY WOULD ANYONE HANG HEADS FROM CEILINGS?!” he screamed, pointing dramatically at the plastic head that now rolled to his foot.
But to his credit, he answered the first riddle perfectly. Then the second. Even while flinching every thirty seconds.
One monster—a guy in a mask crawling backward—sent him into a panic. When he came out, he tried to look smug, but he had accidentally buttoned his jacket crooked and had cobwebs in his hair.
Bacon PD was in his seat, still creeped out by his turn. However, his expression gave nothing away.
“Mandy. Enter to your Death.”
Mandy, the lawyer, walked in like she owned the building. She had faced the scariest criminals, so she knew she would excel in this.
A monster in the corner moaned and reached out—
“Touch me and I will sue this entire show,” she snapped, raising one well-manicured finger.
– Dang. I don’t even want to mess with her.
– Is this fair?
– I feel like the ghosts aren’t doing their best.
– She’s even scarier than the ghosts.
She power-walked past mannequins. At one point, a prop zombie lurched from a closet, but Mandy shoved it back in with one arm while answering a logic puzzle with the other.
It wasn’t the ghosts she was having a hard time with. Instead, it was finding the riddles.
“Where is it?” she muttered. “Where’s the last one?”
With a minute left, she managed to find the last question, but to her surprise, it was something she couldn’t answer—a mathematical question that needed a few minutes to solve.
((90+87−42)÷5+(56×3−27))×(18÷(3+3))+(144÷12)−(25+30÷5)=
The sirens blared, and she wasn’t able to answer it.
“Whatever,” she muttered. She had gotten all the other questions right anyway.
When she came back, she adjusted her blazer and sat down without a word.
Minsu’s name was called next.
He sighed and stood. “If this is my last day on Earth, know that I love the friendships we built,” he said to the other contestants.
When he entered, he was filled with nerves, but to his credit, he only flinched at times.
– Well, of course, he went to the military.
– Minsu is very smart, I’m telling you!
– Yeah, it seems he’s putting up an act, huh?
The first question he stumbled upon was once again the math equation. He shook his head.
“Nah, I’m going to waste my entire time on this.”
With that, he continued to look for the other questions. Having hunted many enemies in the past, he also hunted the questions pretty easily.
In the end, he answered 8 of the 10 questions.
Once he was in the waiting room, he shivered once more. “Oh, that was creepy.”
Billy was similar to Minsu. He gave everyone big, watery eyes before going in. “I’m really scared,” he whispered, wrapping his arms around himself.
– Aww, our baby. Don’t be afraid.
– We love you, Billy! You’re the best.
– He’s so cute, isn’t he?
– He’s like a bunny. So innocent!
“Fighting,” Annie encouraged with a small wave.
Billy walked in… and was terrifyingly efficient.
He whimpered here and there. A few quiet “eep!”s at rubber snakes and blood-splattered mirrors. He managed to answer six questions, and the comments were going crazy with how cute he is.
He came out with a tiny pout and said, “I just did my best.”
Jenny was next. She walked in like she had just stepped into a trash dump.
“Oh my goodness, what is that smell?!”
She nearly retched when she saw a toilet bubbling. Her disgust didn’t help her performance, but she managed to gag her way through two questions. She was muttering “nasty” and “ew” every five seconds.
One question was written on a tile wall above a tub filled with fake blood. She got it right without even glancing in.
“NOT putting my hands in that. I have standards,” she announced before moving on.
Annie and Ari were pretty similar.
Both walked in braver than they felt. Both screamed at the first jump scare. Both huddled in the corners of different rooms, breathing hard.
And both ended with nearly identical points.
– What the heck? Their names aren’t the only things similar.
– Yeah, they’re like the same person in similar fonts.
– Who’s leading at the moment?
– It’s Mandy, I believe. They didn’t show the others’ total points. However, it seems that these two have done pretty well.
As soon as Annie entered the safe zone, the others glanced at each other, gauging each other’s scores.
“Is no one going to reveal theirs?” Minsu lightheartedly asked.
They were all silent, with Billy giggling. “I didn’t get much,” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck.
“I got a lot,” Minjae bluffed, squaring his shoulders.
“I’m fine as long as I don’t get the smallest points,” Jenny muttered.
Minjae smirked. “You don’t have to worry about that. The last person is going to have the least amount of points.”
Meanwhile, Zeno was all alone in the Life Area.
“Zeno Han. Enter to your death.”
Zeno stood quietly, not bothering with any ritual.
He entered the dark arena, and he could already tell he wasn’t alone. There were actors all around.
Fortunately for him, he wasn’t scared of these at all.
In his opinion, humans were even scarier.