The Screaming Silence
The real-time chat on the [Room] thread always saw its scroll speed explode during the live broadcast. This third episode was no exception.
Naturally, the most discussed topic was the death of Yoo Jieun. It couldn't be helped; death was one of the most thrilling elements one could expect from this drama.
And as if to remind everyone that this was a survival drama, the third episode began by showing Justin. He was slumped against the wall, his neck broken in a miserable angle.
For a moment, the chat scroll stopped.
The participants were shown biting their nails, expressing their anxiety. Lee Yeonwoo, who had been watching them all quietly, stood up and approached Seo Jinwook.
The tension surged. And when Seo Jinwook finally slapped Lee Yeonwoo across the face, the chat literally began to explode.
It was a development that couldn't help but be exciting from the start. No one had expected that Lee Yeonwoo, of all people, would get slapped. But the following development was even more shocking.
The moment Song Jaewon knocked Seo Jinwook down, the chat began to be flooded with refreshing cheers.
Seo Jinwook was thrown into the room and tied up. The participants talked about the vote. They wondered what they should do. Nam Minhee's acting as she suggested they should vote for Seo Jinwook was quite remarkable.
It was a captivating expression. She, who had done everything to save people outside, was now talking about killing someone. The self-loathing, disillusionment, and unavoidable fear and anxiety were exquisitely embedded in her performance.
And that was the same for Hyeseong. He perfectly recreated the image of an ordinary citizen who couldn't handle his own anxiety. Thanks to that, even though the situation itself wasn't particularly impressive, the chat was filled with praise for Hyeseong.
Even though he was playing an unlikable character who couldn't control his emotions, there were no complaints. People were too busy admiring his delicate and vivid acting. Of course, not everyone was only talking about Hyeseong's acting skills.
The identity of the culprit who killed Justin was also a major topic. The scene of Justin being murdered hadn't appeared yet. It was a situation where it wouldn't be strange for anyone to be the culprit. Of course, the most likely candidate was Lee Yeonwoo. She was an experienced actor, after all. But Kim Sunwoo was just as unsettling. The reaction he showed when Park Moonhyun and Justin died was clearly not normal. Kim Sunwoo, who had looked like a corpse throughout the show, had a light in his eyes when they died. As if their deaths were secreting dopamine.
So, this subtle confrontation between Lee Yeonwoo and Kim Sunwoo made the viewers even more tense.
In a way, they were the two maintaining the most composure in this space. But maintaining composure in a space where it didn't belong felt bizarre. Their gazes, as if they were slowly tracing and observing each other...
It was around then that Yoo Jieun was caught on screen. Perhaps panicked by the situation where people were dying one after another, she was hugging her knees and rolling her eyes around. It was while the chat was filled with 'T_T' at her pitiful appearance.
Someone brought up suspicion about Yoo Jieun, and that opinion was immediately denied. It was because no one thought Yoo Jieun could be the culprit. But when Lee Yeonwoo looked at her with sparkling eyes and spoke...
When she said that, and when Yoo Jieun even ran away, the chat froze in an instant.
It was chaos and fear. And as if to drive a wedge into them, a flashback played over Yoo Jieun, who was vomiting while hugging the toilet.
Just before the vote. Justin, who had been calling her as she tried to enter her room. Yoo Jieun entered Justin's room with a dazed face. Seeing her, Justin brightened up.
A blank expression, as if he had no idea. Yoo Jieun gritted her teeth and turned her back.
Justin sensed something was wrong when Yoo Jieun turned back. The stress and panic that had steadily accumulated since being trapped here had exceeded the critical point and finally exploded. Yoo Jieun approached Justin.
Yoo Jieun, who had strangled Justin, wailed. When she came to her senses, what lay before her was Justin, dead with his tongue lolling out. Seeing that, Yoo Jieun left the room with a deathly pale face. And then, the broadcast announcing Justin's elimination followed...
It was an atmosphere where people felt sorry for Yoo Jieun in many ways. Both for the fact that she had been eliminated in reality, and for the harsh things she had to go through in the work...
If only it could happen exactly like that, there would be nothing more to wish for. But everyone knew it was an almost impossible task. Kim Sunwoo, Yoo Jieun, and the viewers beyond the screen.
Tension mounted. Knowing that Yoo Jieun would die, every moment felt like a bundle of suspense for the viewers. It felt like it wouldn't be strange for anything to happen at any time. When Yoo Jieun approached Seo Jinwook, who was tied up in the room...
But Yoo Jieun ran out of the room. And then...
She faced Kim Sunwoo. And at this moment, the viewers' hearts couldn't help but tighten in a different way.
At that moment, Seo Jinwook's room lights went out, and a shadow stepped in. Seo Jinwook raised his voice in surprise.
The shadow left a steak knife in front of Seo Jinwook. At the same time, the shadow took out a small piece of cloth and wedged it into the gap of Yoo Jieun's door. So the door wouldn't close. And the chat finally exploded.
Seo Jinwook ran out amidst the broadcast. If he didn't want to die by vote, he had to kill first. But the participants were already in their rooms. Even if he tried to open the doors, they wouldn't open. Except for one. Yoo Jieun's door. Seo Jinwook entered Yoo Jieun's room and faced a dazed Yoo Jieun. And with a sigh of relief, he smiled brightly. Along with a boyish smile that didn't suit a criminal.
And the scene that followed was... blood splattering on the white wall, and Yoo Jieun's voice screaming in tears. And then...
A calm, composed voice proceeded with the broadcast, which didn't suit the scene. As the participants drawn by the broadcast flocked to Yoo Jieun's room one by one, looking at Seo Jinwook with dazed faces, Seo Jinwook smiled with a blood-stained face.
While everyone was frozen looking at Seo Jinwook, only one person slowly approached him. It was Kim Sunwoo. Seeing him approach blankly, as if he didn't see the blood-stained knife in Seo Jinwook's hand, everyone shouted for him to stop. But Kim Sunwoo walked on steadily. Finally arriving in front of Yoo Jieun, Kim Sunwoo squatted down in front of her.
Naturally, no answer returned. Kim Sunwoo, looking blankly at Yoo Jieun, slowly closed her eyes. And at that moment, the chat room scroll stopped. It was because Kim Sunwoo's presence at this moment was so overwhelming that they couldn't spare any attention for the chat.
They couldn't take their eyes off him. His gait, his gaze, his breath, his trembling... everything about him looked so precarious, as if it would burst at any moment.
A scream. A cry of a human reaching their limit. At this very moment, when the sense of crisis that something was about to happen soared, [Room] faded out, dyeing the screen pitch black. And facing that blackened screen, the chat room kept silent for a while. As if they were so shocked they didn't even have the spirit to speak.