Chapter 42: Genius’s Game (1)
Monday morning. Dojun headed to the address he had been given for the filming of [Genius’s Game].
Looking at the address on the map, it was quite a remote place, requiring a car. Even the usually frugal Dojun boldly took a taxi this time and arrived nearby.
“Wow…”
A gasp of admiration escaped him upon reaching the designated location. His immediate thought was that this must be what a wealthy chaebol’s villa looked like.
The exterior grounds were vast, like a famous overseas resort, with a beautifully landscaped garden surrounding a magnificent and enormous house in the center. It was truly overwhelming at first sight.
“Mr. Kim Do-jun, please follow me.”
Upon arrival, he was guided by a waiting staff member and entered the luxurious building. Inside, there was a space filled with high-end furniture and many rooms suitable for multiple people to stay.
I guess I’ll be living here for the next 12 days.
As Dojun expected, the staff member spoke immediately. “Please put your luggage down here for a moment and hand over your electronic devices.”
He had been notified in advance. During the filming period, he would be staying at the accommodation and would not be able to use any electronic devices. Dojun obediently handed his smartphone to the staff.
“If you have nothing else, please go through that large door. Some participants have already arrived inside.”
With those words, the staff member left.
Dojun slowly walked towards the door, looking around. At a glance, there were dozens of cameras filming. It truly seemed like they were leaving everything to the participants, with only the cameras remaining. It seemed true that modern reality shows tended to minimize staff intervention.
Creak.
Carefully opening the door, he saw four people already engaged in conversation. Dojun immediately bowed and greeted them.
“Hello.”
Startled by the sudden greeting, everyone turned and looked at Dojun.
“Oh, hello.”
“Such a young person has come.”
“He must be that high school student who won various competitions.”
Everyone smiled and welcomed Dojun. They had received the participant list in advance, so everyone knew who was who. Inside were two men and two women.
One man was Lee Sang-moon, a celebrity and former singer who had appeared in Season 1. The other man was Baek Ji-hyeok, a member of a first-generation idol group.
Among the female participants, one was Park Hye-ran, an announcer and runner-up who had appeared in Season 1 with Lee Sang-moon. The other was Park Ju-gyeong, a former girl group visual center whose popularity had waned.
Park Hye-ran and Park Ju-gyeong gaped at Dojun.
“Wow, Unnie, I’ve never seen such a handsome person in my life.”
Park Ju-gyeong’s words made Park Hye-ran nod enthusiastically in agreement.
“I’ve seen a lot of handsome actors, but he’s even beyond that.”
“Both of you, close your mouths. You’re drooling.”
Baek Ji-hyeok, who was watching them, pointed his finger. But Dojun’s appearance was enough to draw admiration even from men.
“No, but he’s a high school senior, good at studying, handsome, and tall too?”
“He’s completely different from you, Hyung. You’re old, bad at studying, short, and ugly.”
“Pfft.”
“Hahahaha.”
As Baek Ji-hyeok teased Lee Sang-moon, the two women laughed, finding it amusing. Dojun approached them and formally introduced himself.
“Hello, I’m Kim Do-jun.”
They exchanged simple greetings, and one by one, the participants arrived.
And the final arrival, as expected, was Hong Ju-ho, the winner of Season 1 and a former pro gamer. The other participants’ reactions to Hong Ju-ho were naturally guarded.
“Seriously, can the winner come out again~?”
“Boo!”
“Honestly, winning twice is a bit shameless.”
“I didn’t get much prize money, so I came out to earn more.”
Hong Ju-ho laughed and made a playful remark, but an atmosphere of overt caution had formed. This was, of course, an expected progression. And in fact, before Hong Ju-ho arrived, a “anti-Hong Ju-ho” faction had almost been formed among them through their conversations.
As the atmosphere gradually matured, a person appeared on the large screen in front of them.
—Welcome, everyone, to [Genius’s Game]. Before we begin, all of you have one gem each. Each gem is worth 5 million won. The total final prize money for winning the finals will be 100 million won plus the total value of the gems you possess.
Everyone nodded, captivated and excited by the same rules as the previous season.
—Now, let the game begin.
Everyone was startled at the immediate announcement of the game.
“What, they’re starting right away?”
“Are we going to have an elimination on the first day?”
—Today’s game is [Bean Planting Game].
The [Bean Planting Game]. It was a card game. Players had to acquire the most wealth by selling or exchanging cards depicting beans.
—It will proceed in a total of 4 rounds, and the person with the most wealth at the end wins.—The winner will receive 2 gems, 2 deathmatch immunity passes, and a hidden hint.—If there are multiple first-place winners, everyone will receive 1 gem, 1 deathmatch immunity pass, and a hidden hint.
“What, there’s a hidden hint too?”
The participants showed a slight excitement at this new element, which hadn’t been in Season 1.
—Finally, the person with the least wealth will become a candidate for elimination and will have to play a deathmatch. We will begin Round 1 in 30 minutes.
After the host’s explanation, everyone exchanged wary glances. Dojun also had no intention of taking the lead; he planned to observe the situation and act accordingly.
While everyone hesitated, Lee Sang-moon was the first to move.
“Alright, looking at this, it smells a bit like a team game, doesn’t it? If there are many people, there’s definitely a winning strategy. Who wants to team with me?”
At Lee Sang-moon’s word “winning strategy,” several people, as if charmed, raised their hands and followed him.
Dojun had also been thinking. This game was definitely more advantageous for the side with more numbers.
Eventually, as time passed, groups were formed. Out of 13 participants, 8 joined Lee Sang-moon’s group.
Dojun’s group naturally consisted of 5 people. Dojun and Hong Ju-ho, plus three others: Min A-yeong, a popular current idol; Yoo Jeong-han, a former member of the National Assembly; and finally, Park Ha-neul, an ordinary participant like Dojun, who was attending KAIST.
As this group gathered, Hong Ju-ho took the initiative to speak. “It’s true that they have an advantage. But ultimately, card luck is important, isn’t it?”
The beans had numbers written on them. In a deck of cards, there were as many identical cards as the number written on the card. For example, if there was a bean card with ’16’ on it, it meant there were 16 ’16-bean cards’ in the deck. When beans were sold, players could acquire 1 to 4 gold depending on the quantity sold.
“Actually, what we can do right now is prevent our opponents from getting good hands.”
It was a passive method for the weaker team. It also meant relying on luck. In that situation, Dojun raised his hand and spoke.
“As Ju-ho Hyung-nim said, there is an element of luck involved. But I’d like to aim for a weakness in their team.”
“A weakness?”
“Yes. First, their strength is their large number, but conversely, that’s also their weakness.”
It was true that the more people there were, the greater power could be exerted. However, that was only possible when everyone was of one mind.
“Looking at the overall atmosphere today, I felt that Sang-min Hyung-nim was somewhat dividing the teams.”
“Ah!!”
“What, what is it?”
At Dojun’s words, some understood, while Hong Ju-ho tilted his head.
“First, you noticed the atmosphere trying to keep Hyung-nim in check, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hyung, you came in last, so you might not know the situation before. Before you arrived, I felt like they were dividing into celebrity and non-celebrity groups.”
Yoo Jeong-han and Park Ha-neul also nodded, agreeing with Dojun’s opinion.
“That’s the trap of their team.”
“So what do we do?”
Hong Ju-ho pressed him, but Dojun grinned.
“It’s still an uncertain stage, so I’ll tell you later. I believe that situation will definitely come. So what we need to do is not necessarily earn a lot of wealth, but accumulate wealth little by little whenever there’s an opportunity. For Round 1, let’s go with this approach.”
For now, everyone nodded as if they understood, and the game officially began.
Round 1 started, and as expected, Lee Sang-moon’s group took the lead.
And the result of Round 1. Dojun’s team earned an average of 6-7 gold in Round 1. The opposing team earned 5-10 gold. Their strategy was for one person to exclusively mark their four, while the rest scored evenly. Round 1 ended, and Dojun’s team gathered again.
“What should we do now? Can we win?”
At Min A-yeong’s words, Dojun shook his head.
“No. It will probably be difficult for one of us to come in first place.”
“Then what do we do? We’ll be elimination candidates!”
With an anxious expression, Dojun maintained his composure and said, “No. The elimination candidate will come from their side.”
“What?”
The other team’s current strategy, as far as he could tell, was to aim for a joint first place. Their intention was for everyone to get first place and create two elimination candidates from Dojun’s team.
“It’s very difficult for all 8 people to get first place. So our goal is to cause division within their team. Who was the person on their team with the least wealth right now?”
“Mr. Nam Il-hoe.”
Nam Il-hoe, a former math instructor, had been exclusively marking them and currently had the lowest amount of gold in Lee Sang-moon’s group, with 5 pieces. In contrast, Dojun’s team had at least 6 gold or more.
“They’ll probably try to boost Mr. Nam Il-hoe. Our strategy this time is to play Round 1 the same way while simultaneously interfering only with Mr. Nam Il-hoe.”
“Ah!!”
Everyone seemed to catch on to his idea, their faces filled with excitement.
A short while later, Round 2 began. Lee Sang-moon’s group was leading, but their overall expressions weren’t good, especially Nam Il-hoe’s face.
Round 2 ended. As before, Dojun’s team earned 6-7 gold, and the other side earned 4-9 gold.
The one who earned 4 gold was, of course, Nam Il-hoe. Nam Il-hoe’s current total wealth was 9 gold. This was lower than Dojun’s team’s average of 12 gold.
Suddenly finding himself on the elimination candidate list, Nam Il-hoe couldn’t help but panic.
“Damn it!!”
As soon as they gathered in the room, Nam Il-hoe swore. The atmosphere instantly froze, but Lee Sang-moon quickly comforted Nam Il-hoe.
“Calm down. I didn’t expect them to play like that. That’s a strategy that completely gives up on winning, isn’t it?”
“In Rounds 3 and 4, you guys have to make sure to support me, even if it means reducing your own shares.”
At Nam Il-hoe’s words, Lee Sang-moon nodded knowingly.
“Il-hoe-ssi, don’t worry. We’ll definitely support you in Rounds 3 and 4.”
“Thank you. I’ll just go to the restroom for a moment.”
Nam Il-hoe went to the restroom to cool his head. However, before he reached the restroom door, Dojun was standing there.
“Mr. Il-hoe, do you have a moment to talk?”
Nam Il-hoe glanced at Dojun and tried to pass him by, as if he had no time. But Dojun’s next words stopped him cold.
“Instructor, if you continue like this, you’ll come in last.”
“What do you mean?”
“They said they’d support you in Round 3, didn’t they?”
“That’s right.”
Nam Il-hoe was somewhat impressed by Dojun’s ability to see through everything.
“Do you really think they’ll trust you until the end?”
“What do you mean…?”
“What do you think will happen if we target Mr. Baek Ji-hyeok, who has the second least gold after you, instead of you, in Round 3?”
“…!!”
Nam Il-hoe realized. If Baek Ji-hyeok’s gold dropped lower than Nam Il-hoe’s, a different conversation could arise in Round 4.
“Instructor, you felt it too, didn’t you? Lee Sang-moon-ssi is drawing a line between celebrities and non-celebrities. If they had to save one of you two, Mr. Baek Ji-hyeok or you, they wouldn’t hesitate to choose Mr. Baek Ji-hyeok.”
From Nam Il-hoe’s perspective, he needed to monopolize Rounds 3 and 4 to have a chance at a joint victory. But if he didn’t receive proper support in even one of those rounds, Nam Il-hoe would once again be the one with the least gold. The moment that thought occurred to him, rage surged.
“These bastards…!!!”
Dojun, seeing Nam Il-hoe filled with fury, lit the fuse to make him explode.
“If we are determined to interfere, a joint first place is virtually impossible. You know that, Instructor, don’t you?”
“What should I do…?”
“There’s only one way. You become first place, Instructor.”
Nam Il-hoe shook his head at Dojun’s words.
“That’s impossible. It’s a gap that can only be overcome if I completely monopolize Rounds 3 and 4.”
“We will help you.”
“You will?”
“Yes. We will also support you so that you can overwhelmingly lead this Round 3. In return, if you win alone, you can give me a deathmatch immunity pass. Do you accept?”
It was a whisper so sweet. Nam Il-hoe, as if enchanted, clasped Dojun’s outstretched hand.
He knew it was a devil’s proposal, but it was so tempting that he couldn’t refuse.
