Life Out There is Hell Anyway!

Squid Game 1: Money, Debts, and Gamble

This is a continuation of the series of articles that I'll be writing about the K-drama series Squid Game.

The world is a cruel place to be.

Life is not fair, and it will never be. There are a lot of negative things that are going on around us.

People are stealing money to make both ends meet. Others are even willing to cover their hands with human blood just to acquire all the material things they want to possess. While some people become victims of loan sharks because banks won't allow them to have a loan as they can't give assurance if they will be able to pay or not.

Others are struggling to survive because they are not given equal opportunity. Some people might have jobs but they are not paid well and sometimes not paid at all because of the corrupt owners of the company they are working on.

Other people are suffering from illnesses and are not cured because they can't afford to bring themselves to the hospital. Some children were separated from their parents because of some circumstances, and some were totally abandoned. Some are having depression because they lost all of the money and properties they worked so hard to have. Some have a lot of debts to pay but don't have any idea how to pay them because it's just too much.

Wherever we look at it, there is always something negative to see that makes this world an actual hell to live on.

We are not taking the same path but all of us are encountering problems in life. From one problem to another, it seems that life just wants to knock us down, yet it doesn't want to kill us. It just keeps torturing us by giving us a lot of trials and difficulties, and if you are too weak to handle life's miseries, you will not gonna make it until the end.

Life is too cruel that once we are presented with a chance that might change our lives forever, from being poor, hopeless, penniless, to being rich and having a lot of money, we grab the opportunity without a doubt.

But what if that opportunity will cost your life if you fail in it, is the money that you will be able to receive worth it?

Would you choose to try to win the prize with the consequence of dying if you lose in it or to live in a miserable world?

I don't want to spoil you but in this episode, after the first game, the players were given the chance to vote if they want to continue and proceed with the other games or stop the game already.

I was surprised with the result of the votes because almost half of the players were willing to continue the game, risk their lives, and die just to win the prize.

Each player of the game is worth 100Million Korean Won. I asked myself, "Is that how much they think they are worth?" Yes, they may be hopeless, struggling, and have a lot of debts to pay, but no amount of money is worth your life. However, if you have experienced a lot of inequality and unfair treatment in life already and no matter what you do and how much you try, everything just doesn't work, then you would think that it is worth the risk and that you have nothing to lose anymore.

One man shouted,

"Life out there is hell anyway."

And this sums up all of the possible reasons why 49% of the players decided to continue. The amount of money that they will be able to win in the game is just too huge that it will change their lives forever, and it will eventually solve all of their problems in life. Money is so important for them that they are willing to risk their lives and push until the end even if they will die fighting.

And at some point, we are like the players who are willing to risk our lives just to make money. Sometimes, even if we are sick and our body badly needs some rest, we have no choice but to go to work because if not, we won't have money to buy our basic needs. Even if the job requires all of our physical strength, we still do it for the sake of money.

There are a lot of dangerous works out there like being a construction worker, truck driver, miner, police officer, farmer, seaman, pilot, iron and steelworker, roofer, welder, and a lot more. Even with the simple jobs we have, we are still risking our lives.

You may not notice it but you are risking your life every time you go to your work and perform your task just to earn something for a living. And that makes us not different from the players.

You are willing to lose your life for a job that will replace you after a couple of weeks once you die. So take care of yourself and always make your health a priority because no amount of money is worth your life.