Quiz Show
Quiz Show
"I kind of like that sort of thing."
I took a sip of iced tea and continued. Mm. Sweet.
"A little... imbalance from the contrast between mood and situation? For example, think of it like this. It's a fairy-tale world. A prince and a princess live happily, laughing together. They decide to throw a banquet with their animal friends in the forest."
"Up to this point, it's a beautiful picture, right? But then you add a twist. The handsome prince, the beautiful princess, the brave lion, the cute rabbit, and the laid-back turtle all gather together and... well, smoke cigarettes."
"Big bro, what kind of creepy nonsense is that?"
Seo-eun stared at me with a horrified expression.
Come on, no need to look that appalled...
"I think I know what you mean."
"Big sis?"
Seo-eun stared at Soo-bin in shock, as if she had been betrayed. Flustered, Soo-bin waved both hands and hurried to explain.
"No, I mean... I think I understand what Dain is getting at. You're talking about that slightly cruel-fairytale vibe, aren't you?"
"Yeah, that. Something like that."
I nodded.
To be more precise, though, it was closer to... how should I put it? A drama built around a Squid Game motif.
The squid game, marbles, dalgona carving, and so on.
Things so familiar that merely hearing about them stirred childhood memories.
The dissonance created when those things were used not for harmless games, but for survival and death.
Instead of receiving a dalgona as a prize for carving out the shape correctly, failing meant a gruesome death. Rules like that were cruel, absurd, and familiar all at once, creating a powerful sense of dissonance.
...If I tried explaining that to these two, they'd just tell me to stop rambling and talk straight. Seo-eun would outright say it, and Soo-bin would say it with her eyes.
And honestly, it's hard to get the point across because in this world, that drama with the Squid Game motif doesn't exist. One less national-pride element. As a patriot, that genuinely saddens me.
"So... this terrorist attack is going to be like that?"
"Exactly. Every attack needs a clear concept. We've done the dilemma thing twice already, so this time we're going with a cruel-fairytale concept."
***
[THE EGO SHOW]
[Now Live]
At 25,000 feet.
All communication with the outside—phone calls, internet, everything—cut off.
An enclosed space in the sky.
About eighty people were aboard.
The cabin was so quiet that only breathing could be heard.
No—more precisely, only the sound of people talking had vanished.
Everyone sat in silence, listening to the voice coming through the speakers.
[Welcome to the greatest quiz show in the sky—The Ego Show Live!]
[Now, let's begin the game!]
They had never imagined
that the voice they had half-listened to on the news over dinner,
the voice they had laughed at while watching YouTube,
could sound this terrifying.
It was unmistakably a voice they'd heard at least once on a broadcast.
Slightly frivolous yet cheerful, it was the kind of voice that made people listen despite themselves.
So why did that same voice coming through the speakers now evoke such primal fear?
Only now did they find themselves replaying everything Egostic had done.
Two large-scale terrorist attacks.
More than ten people killed by his own hands.
An Association-designated A-rank villain, "exceptionally brutal and highly likely to escape."
Everyone had laughed, calling him Mangostic.
Only now, confronted with him in reality, did they understand
why Egostic was called a villain.
His voice over the speakers sounded like an innocent child happily running a game.
But the content of his words was utterly cruel.
[Okay, the rules are simple!]
[Rule 1. Do not make a sound! The moment anyone makes a sound, one of the three wires attached to the bomb is automatically cut! When all three are cut... you know what happens, right?]
[Rule 2. No communication! Cheating is a crime, a crime. If you get caught communicating in any way... well, I'll just detonate it. We can always do a quiz show another time.]
One terrifying statement after another drained the color from the passengers' faces.
Some swallowed hard, some teared up, and some closed their eyes and prayed to God.
Regardless of their reactions, the voice continued over the speakers.
[Right then, let me explain Rule 3, the core of the game.]
At the same moment, the displays on the seat backs in front of them changed.
A black-and-white animation in the style of a 1980s American cartoon began playing, and English text appeared.
[EGO's Funny Non-Sense Quiz]
'A nonsense quiz...?'
As if answering the question forming in everyone's minds, Egostic's voice continued over the speakers.
[The rules are simple! I'll give you ten nonsense quiz questions, and all you have to do is answer them correctly! If even one person gets all ten right, I'll release the plane quietly and safely! But if everyone fails? Boom. The bomb goes off!]
It sounded almost too simple.
Answer ten nonsense quiz questions?
The sort of game elementary schoolers played when they had nothing else to do.
Far too childish for adults.
But with their lives at stake, everything changed.
[I'll read the nonsense quiz questions one by one myself! You'll also be able to read them on the display in front of you. Where do you send your answers, you ask? Check the text-message app on your phones! You should have a message from an unknown number, right?]
As soon as he finished, people hurriedly took out their phones. Sure enough, there was a message.
[THE EGO SHOW - Send answers here!]
A single message from an unfamiliar number.
How anyone could send a text on a plane with no signal was a mystery, but there it was, unmistakably.
The announcement resumed over the speakers.
[Once the question appears, you have three minutes to type your answer and send it! Wow, three minutes! That's enough time for a cup of ramyeon to cook. Pretty generous, right? You know how those three minutes feel like forever when you're waiting to eat. I gave you plenty of time for your sakes. Ha ha.]
'Plenty of time, my ass, you maniac!'
They could only think it. No one dared say it aloud.
Egostic had warned them that the moment anyone made a sound, he'd detonate the bomb.
[Get even one question wrong, and you're out! No retries. If you fail the first question, knowing the answers to the remaining nine won't do you any good, right? Still, surely one person among all of you can answer every question correctly. I have faith!]
The rules sounded outrageously unfair.
But they had no veto power.
Before they could collect themselves, upbeat music began playing over the speakers.
Over the lively music, Egostic's cheerful shout rang out.
[Alright! Without further ado, let the first-ever Ego Show begin! First question! How many people can fit in a Titanic lifeboat?]
Instantly, the question appeared on the displays in front of the passengers.
[First Question. How many people can fit in a Titanic lifeboat?]
Below it, bold red numbers began counting down.
[3:00]
[2:59]
[2:58]
Everyone hurriedly started typing answers on their phones.
Before long, time ran out, and Egostic's voice returned over the broadcast along with the upbeat music.
[Yes! Time is up for the first question. The answer is... nine people! In Korean, 'lifeboat' is gu-myeong boteu, and gu-myeong sounds like the Korean phrase for nine people. Hey, I made the first one easy, and almost everyone got it right. Koreans truly are a people of wit and humor! Impressive.]
Those who had sent [9 people] received a message reading [Correct!].
Some let out sighs of relief, but a few faces had gone stark white.
Regardless of their reactions, Egostic's broadcast continued.
[Right! Let's move straight to the second question! What is the hottest fruit in the world?]...
***
*
[Hell of a quiz show lol]
[Wow if I were on that plane I'd have pissed myself]
[Egostic is a legit villain, who's the one who's been hyping him as a hero? Those people are about to die up there]
[Fact: as long as it's not me]
[But how did he even install a bomb on a plane? Don't they screen explosives super thoroughly?]
[No clue lol]
[What's the pilot even doing... Could an emergency landing work or what?]
[Feels like Egostic would just blow it all to hell if they tried.]
*
"Chairman, while the culprit is doing this up in the sky, what exactly can we do?"
"We're useless."
The chairman watched the broadcast with a grim expression and continued.
"Go get some popcorn, Stardus."
Stardus grabbed the popcorn beside her and hurled it straight into the chairman's face.