The dorm area felt different with player 1 and Ali. But guess who was still here Mi-nyeon. She never died. I remember what she said when we walked in. She'd sat up and looked at us all. "Deok-su, honey, so glad you won." She said to him, he stammered and struggled to find what to say.

"How...how the hell..." He said to her in disbelief.

"What? You're looking at me like you've seen a ghost. Are you okay? The masked guys all called me this, 'the weakest link.' Like when nobody chooses you as a partner for things when you were a kid. Hey, this guy knows about it. The weakest link! And after that, they gently escorted me back to this dorm. Because...they said that it's all a part of a rule that...in the old days...not to let a kid turn into some kind of an outcast, I guess. Goddamn it! It's amazing, isn't it?" She asked before cackling. I looked at how many people were left. 17. I was just hoping I would make it through the next game. Surely I couldn't be any worse than this. We all gathered in our usual spot.

"Haneul, you're more quiet than usual. Are you ok?" Gi-hun asked me, I shook my head.

"It was hard, she made me promise all of these things before she sacrificed herself for me. I don't think I'll ever forget her and what she did." I said to them all.

"It's ok, you did what she did because she knew that you had a better chance at living." Sang-woo said to me, I guess that was true. When we were given food I was eating it on Sae byeok's bed because where else would I go. She was still upset over the game.

"Hey, I know it's hard. It's hard on everyone but we'll get through it." I said to her while sniffling. I saw player 69 who was alone. He'd just killed his wife. He took a stand. The guy just lost his whole world. I would hate to know how that feels. He stood in the middle of the room.

"Let...let's just stop all this. I can't keep doing this. I can't. The majority must agree. Well, come omen let's get out. Half of us, that's all need to end this right now. Don't any of you want to leave this horrible place? Anyone who wants to go, stand up. Let's get out of here." He said, no one stood with him. "How can you call yourselves human? How many of you can continue with this insanity just for the money? You just had to kill the ones you were closest to at this place, and you're good with that just to get the money?" He asked while crying, he was grieving after this game. We all were, maybe not Sang-woo. I hadn't seen any emotion from him and that had to have a reason.

"So what if we stop now? You think your wife will stop being dead if we all go now? And she'll forgive you for letting her get murdered? If you can't keep going, then why are alive right now? You should've been the one who died in there instead. See that? That's the price of being in here. And your wife and the others paid it with their lives. And you wanna go and leave? You wanna start from the beginning again? You ready to do all that, huh? Starting over again from nothing with that guilt. And is everybody here ready to do that as well? Go ahead! Stand up! Let's see who thinks they are. Get up and get out of here!" Sang-woo shouted, no one dared to move. The only thing we could hear was player 69 crying over the loss of his wife.

"I hate this game." I said to Sae byeok before eating some of my potato.

"I know but we're so close to the end. We can't give up." She said to me. But what if I did. Give up that was. After we'd eaten I cuddled up next to Sae byeok and fell asleep when the lights went out. I'd felt like I'd barely slept when the lights and music came on. I was exhausted. The alarm went off and they brought a coffin box in. Who died? I looked around and saw player 69 hanging. I gasped and then help Sae byeok.

"Player 69, eliminated." The announcer said, I let out a few tears. Money went in the pot before the number changed to 16. "Attention, all players. The fifth game is about to begin. All players, follow the staff's instructions and swiftly make your way towards the game hall." The announcer told us, we then made our way to the games room. I felt numb. Dehumanized by this whole thing. When we made it to the room there were 16 bibs in front of us. All with numbers from 1-16. This was an order. "Welcome, players, to the fifth game. Before we begin, please make your way down to the steps and choose one of the mannequins that you see presented before you. Once you've chosen, take the corresponding vest. They are numbered 1 through 16. Let me repeat the instructions. Please make your way down the steps and choose one of the mannequins that you see before you, and take the corresponding vest. They are numbered 1 through 16." She said before I looked around at the numbers. The religious one went forward and chose 6. He whispered something but I didn't listen. Another man went forwards and chose 7. I then went forwards and chose 13. Another guy came in front of me and chose 12. "Your attention, please. The numbers you see on the mannequins correspond to the order in which you will be playing. Please make your decision carefully." The announcer said while I was putting my bib on. I waited for Sae byeok to chose. When she did she walked over to where I was stood. She was 15. Sang-woo was 14.

"I wonder what the game is." I said to them as we waited for Gi-hun.

"I don't know, this will probably be the worst especially if we have an order." Sang-woo said to us.

"Just as long as you stay alive I'll be ok." Sae byeok said before kissing me.

"I hope that isn't the last time we get to do that." I said to her, once everyone had chosen we stood in a line and entered the space. There was what appeared to be a bridge. It looked like a circus in here.

"Hello, players, let me welcome you all to the fifth game. The fifth game is Glass Stepping Stones. The stepping stones before you are made from one of tow types of glass, one will be tempered glass and the other will be normal glass. The tempered glass stepping stone as strong enough to hold the weight of two people. However, the normal glass will break even if just one person steps on it. For this game you will guess which one of the next two tiles is the tile made of the stronger tempered glass, and only step on those across the 18 pairs of tile. You may cross over to the other side safely and pass this game." She said to us, this was definitely unfair. I felt bad for player 1.

"That means the number on us..." The first player said.

"Are the order in which you will cross the bridge." The masked man said, I let out a shaky breath. Player 1 looked back at Gu-hun before back at the masked man.

"But then, how do I tell which is the tempered one?" He asked but nothing. He then went over to the platform.

"For this game, you will have 16 minutes. Players must cross the bridge within those 16 minutes. And now, with that, let the game begin. Each player, take off your shoes, then go up to the tiles in order." The announcer said, he then slipped his shoes off. Player 96 started shuddering. It took him a minute and a bit to chose which platform to go for.

"What are you doing?" One man shouted.

"We're losing time! Just jump!" Another shouted.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" Someone shouted, I saw Deok-su go to the front.

"Hey. Take your step now or I'll push your ass." He told him, I would like to see him go first.

"I'll go. I'll go, okay? I'll go. I'll go right now." He said to him shakily.

"And please try to choose carefully, huh." The girl who was going second said to him. He jumped on the right one and it didn't break.

"You did it." Someone said to him.

"You picked right." Someone said to him.

"Oh! Yes, that's it. Keep doing that one after the other." The woman said to him. She must be scared having to go second.

"Come on." A guy said to him.

"You got this. That's it. Go on." She said to him.

"Come on." Another guy said. He then jumped again but it broke. He screamed before hitting the ground. Player 308 then went.  She looked back at us.

"Step one was left. Step two is on the right." She said before choosing. She picked the wrong one and screamed. I hated this.

"You can do this." A woman said to the next player before he made his move.

"Hey you got this." A guy said to him.

"Hurry the hell up and go!" A man shouted at him. He was staying something but I could hear over the shouting. When he went he bolted across the platforms before it broke beneath him and he fell. I hope someone saw which route he took. More than one person was going across now, one after the other.

"Sae byeok, I'm scared. I don't think I can do this." I said to her while looking down.

"You can do this, I may not be right behind you but if anything happens I will try and win this for you, and I hope that you would do the same thing." She said to me, we then heard screaming of the guy that fell.  Then the next woman fell.

"There are ten tiles left, and 11 people still playing. If they manage to step on one or two each, the four of us can get across to the end." Gi-hun said to us, I was hoping that we could.

"That might not be the case. If one of those players get scared and starts to run down the time, we are in danger at the back of the line." Sang-woo said to us that was true, I slipped my shoes off and then hopped onto the platform. I had a fear of heights so this was the worst. The religious guy got down and started to pray.  We were going to die if he didn't move. I blocked out every noise including the voices and just tried to focus on breathing steadily. I heard a scream before the religious guy moved along, he was then pushed off.  We all kept moving one space forward. When Deok-su got to the front he froze up. Unexpected for him, he wouldn't move. So we all suffered.

"Hey, everybody, listen! Anyone wanna get across? Well, you better go first then." He shouted at us all.

"Ah shit." Sang-woo said from behind me.

"This cannot be happening." I said while trying to steady my breathing again.

"Haneul, it will be okay. Just breathe." Sae byeok said to me calming me a little.

"What are you doing?" A guy asked Deok-su.

"You deaf or what, asshole? I'm not going until you do." He said in response.

"Are you crazy, man? But the rule is we go in order." The guy said making Deok-su laugh.

"You can just kiss my ass. We're in hell here. There's no rules in Hell. You wanna go so bad? Go ahead." Deok-su said to him.

"You scumbag! If you don't move up, I'll push you then." He said to Deok-su, if I was him I wouldn't even wanna do that.

"Okay. Well then, come on. Then do it! We'll all die her together! Hey, listen, everybody! I'm not dying here for anyone. So come on, let's do this! Get up here and go ahead. If you don't, we all die. Your choice, dickhead." Deok-su told him.

"Stop that bullshit, you asshole. The clock is ticking. You gotta go soon." He said to Deok-su.

"You'll be waiting here till we're all dead." Deok-su said before guffawing. We had 5 minutes left. We weren't going to make it.

"Damn it, you better go! Please just go on!" The man shouted at Deok-su, Mi-nyeo went onto the same platform as him and pushed him.

"Just go!" She shouted, Deok-su pushed him over the side. A waste of a life. An opportunity for us to make it. I could tell that Deok-su was scared now that he was faced with Mi-nyeo. "My god, you're all such idiots. Man, you used to act like such a tough guy. Babe, what happened to you? Are you really pulling the shit? Oh, man, you're pathetic." She said to him.

"You're just an ugly old bitch, okay. Look, I'm not moving forward. Not at all." He said to her before laughing.

"Deok-su. All of these people dead but the worst thing is...I let you fuck me in the bathroom that day." She said to him, I take it they fucked in the bathroom after me Sae byeok did.

"Why don't you go first to die?" He asked her.

"Fine. Sure." She answered making me confused.

"You mean...meaning you'll go?" He asked her.

"Yeah. It's Han Mi-nyeo here. You don't think that I'd be able to do something quite as cowardly as...waiting here till I die." She said making him laugh.

"Come on then. Go ahead." He said letting her jump onto the platform. She then grabbed him. "What are you doing?" He asked her.

"You're such an idiot. Did you believe I'd really die so you could go on?" She asked him, he then tried to pry her hands off of him.

"Let me go." He said to her.

"Remember? We said we'd stick together right to the end." She said to him, I liked her. She was brave.

"Crazy bitch, let me go! Damn it! Get your fucking hands off me right now!" He shouted, they moved closer to the edge.

"You betrayed me. Now you're going to die." She said to him.

"No please. I'll go first, okay? Huh? Let me go, please. Please!" He shouted at her, she wasn't letting this go so easily.

"You coward. Deok-su. I need you to know...you've got such a tiny dick." She said to him making me laugh a little. I was so glad I wasn't straight.

"You goddamn bitch!" He shouted before she leaned back and they both went down together. We then moved forwards again. The next player then died leaving 5 of us. The guy in front of me looked down at the glass.

"Move. Quick. You can't just stop." Sang-woo said to him.

"Hold on. Wait, one second. I can tell the panels apart." He said to us, this was great news. We could all live.

"You can tell them apart?" I asked him.

"I used to make glass for over 30 years. You can't normally tell, but...when you look at tempered glass when it's lit from one side, then you can see faint stain marks." He said before standing up and going on the one in front. I then moved forwards along with the other. He then looked at the glass again. "Another hint, the sound. Tempered glass is made at a heat over 700 degrees. Pound on it with a hammer and it rings clearer than normal glass." He said to us, if he went first we all could've made it.

"Why wasn't all this brought up earlier? If you had led everybody from- -" Gi-hun started to tell him.

"Why would I? The players up here tried to kill us at every chance." He said before jumping onto the platform. We then moved forwards again. The lights then went out when we he was looking at the last platform.

"What's wrong? What's the problem?" Sang-woo asked player 17.

"I can't tell them apart in the dark." He said to us, we barely had just over a minute left.

"All right, which one. You need to choose now." Sang-woo said to him, we really did need to move.

"I need to listen to the sound. You got anything to throw?" He asked we then started to check our pockets. I shook my head. "Do...do you have anything?" He asked the others. Gi-hun then pulled something out, when it got to me I realized it was a marble. Player 17 threw it onto the glass panel and we heard it clink across.

"I need another. I need to here the right one, so I can be sure." He said to us, we didn't have another one at all. Sang-woo jumped onto my platform before jumping onto player 17's platform. "I can't tell what it is." He said to us.

"I'll pick, okay?" Sang-woo asked before pushing him. He fell through the wrong platform. I felt scared. I then made it to the other side. We all did, we heard a beep followed by all the glass breaking. Little pieces kept cutting at my face causing me to be in a little pain.

"Sae byeok, are you ok?" I asked her seeming as she was in pain. She shook her head.

"Are you okay Haneul?" She asked me I nodded. All I wanted was for her to be okay. We all made our way back to the dorm.