Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘Squid Game,’ people who are financially destitute receive a chance to turn things around by participating in the game, where they either emerge as winners with more money than they could have ever imagined or die. In the first season, we watch Seong Gi-hun approached by a man, identified as the Recruiter, who plays a game with him before giving him a business card that leads him to the game. In the second season, the Recruiter continues his search for more participants and finds a young man who needs all the money he can get. This is Myung-gi, and his desperation to win the game leads him to do some very strange things while he puts his life on the line every single day. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Myung-gi’s Odds of Survival Decrease With Each Day in the Games
Myungi-gi decides to enter the games because he is in a ton of debt. He used to run a YouTube channel called MG Coin, where he gave financial advice to people. He advised his viewers to invest in a cryptocurrency called Dalmatian, and he was so sure of its success that he even put his own money into it. But then, the currency crashed, and Myung-gi lost everything. Not only did he have the debtors coming after him, he also had people who blamed him for giving wrong advice due to which they, too, have lost a lot of money. At the same time, he also had a girlfriend who was pregnant and whom he told to get an abortion because neither of them could afford a child at the moment. By winning the games, he hopes to change all that, but soon enough, he realizes that the risks are just as high as the rewards.
Everyone comes alone into the games, but a lot of them quickly make friends or become part of groups with the hopes of having strength in numbers and increasing their chances of survival. This does not happen with Myung-gi, who largely remains on his own. Even when he discovers that his pregnant girlfriend is also in the games, he remains by himself because she refuses to have anything to do with him. With each game, Myung-gi focuses on surviving, but he also prioritizes his girlfriend, Jun-hee, because he still loves her and hopes to start over with her when they get out. However, the danger to their lives doesn’t go away, and it’s worse for Myung-gi because Thanos, who lost money owing to his advice, is also there, and he wants his money back at all costs.
Somehow, Myung-gi survives the first three games. For the first two votes, he goes for O because he wants to continue playing the game. But the third time, he votes X because he doesn’t want Jun-hee to be there anymore. Following the tie in the third vote, things escalate as Thanos tries to turn Min-su’s vote to X. When Myung-gi confronts him, a fight breaks out. Due to his hatred, Thanos strangles Myung-gi and almost kills him too. However, Myung-gi had snuck in a fork every player received with their food and uses it to stab Thanos in the neck. The rapper is caught by surprise, and while he tries to get his hands on Myung-gi, the injury is so bad that he never recovers from it and dies on the spot. Meanwhile, Myung-gi hides in a stall, shocked by what he has done, and emerges only when the guards arrive and take all the survivors back to the main hall.
Jun-hee’s Love for Myung-gi Saves Him
While Thanos hated Myung-gi, he wasn’t the only danger to the financial advisor. Following the tie, the Xs and Os become desperate to win the next vote with whatever means possible. Following the brawl in the men’s toilet, the Xs lose three of their players, which means they would fall short in the next vote, and the Os would win, leading everyone to quit the game after the third one. Both parties are desperate to win, and it’s clear to Gi-hun and his gang that the Xs are going to attack the moment the lights go out. However, they have other plans, so they decide not to get involved in the fight and survive to execute the next phase of their plan. Because Jun-hee is a part of the group, she knows it too, but the other Xs don’t, including Myung-gi.
As much as she hates him for the best investment and not being there for her when she got pregnant, Jun-hee still has a soft spot for Myung-gi, enough not to want him dead. So, she tells him to find a spot and hide when the lights go down and not to intervene, no matter what happens. He takes her advice and survives the bloodbath. He is still alive when the lights come back on, and the guards finally intervene. But that’s not the end of it. Here, Gi-hun’s plan of rebellion takes over. The guards are overpowered, and their guns are taken away. Still, Gi-hun and his team need people who can fight alongside them.
Because Myung-gi also wants to leave the games, his first instinct is to join Gi-hun’s group. However, when he looks at Jun-hee, she, once again, tells him to sit tight and not to get involved. He doesn’t have to think about it, and in a way, his girlfriend’s reaction is a stamp of approval to his own thoughts. His aim is to survive the games and leave with the money that will change his life. He knows that taking the fight to the people behind the games will be risky, but still, he feels he should join the rebels, partly because he thinks it would make him look good in front of Jun-hee. But when she herself tells him not to go, he readily accepts her advice and stays back. In the end, it turns out to be a good decision because almost all who leave the main hall do not return, not until they themselves have backed down from the fight.
Read More: Does Player 120 (Cho Hyun-ju) Die in Squid Game Season 2?
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