Hunter's Game 2: Terror Valley - Chapter 2

“The correct answer is: the kimchi appeared twice.”

“We regret to inform you that no one answered correctly. After a five-minute break, the second round will begin.”

Sighs rose throughout the hall.

I slumped in my chair, a quiet dread growing inside me at the thought of the four rounds still to come.

Five minutes later, round two began.

“The second video will now play. Duration: three minutes.”

This time it was a vlog about beautiful women at the beach, thoughtfully paired by the game company with cheerful background music.

Women from different countries appeared one after another in bikinis. Some drank juice beneath sun umbrellas, some splashed through the surf, and others lay tanning on the sand.

The shot changed to a hotel’s infinity pool, where the women played in the water, partied, and drank champagne. It was a lively scene, and whenever the camera turned their way, they waved enthusiastically.

Perhaps to make observation easier, no frame ever contained more than three women.

The video ended after three minutes.

“Listen to the question. How many swim rings appeared in the video? Take care: every swim ring visible at any point must be counted.”

“Your one-minute answer period begins now. Sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight…”

The hall erupted in groans again. Other players’ furious shouts came through my translation headset.

“Damn it! I only counted the women—there were thirty-one of them. I never looked at the swim rings!”

“Fuck! I was watching the glasses in their hands.”

“Six women wore sunhats, and three had plumeria flowers in their hair. That’s all I noticed.”

“There were three or four women wearing swim rings at the pool. I think there were more on the beach and in the sea, but I didn’t count them.”

Listening to them, I knew perfectly well I could not answer this one.

Looking back, swim rings had appeared often, but only as background decorations. The camera kept cutting to close-ups of the women, drawing nearly all my attention to them.

“Ten, nine, eight…”

Ten seconds left.

Relying on a hazy impression, I entered eleven.

“The answer will now be revealed. Sixteen swim rings appeared in the video.”

The screen displayed still images of them: in the sea, beside an ice-cream cart on the beach, around the women, in the pool, and near loungers and palm trees.

“Unfortunately, no player answered correctly this round either.”

“You now have a five-minute break.”

The players could no longer sit still.

“This game is testing our memories. One person can’t retain that much information. Let’s work together,” the bald American proposed first.

The silver-haired Russian agreed. “There are five of us. If we divide the screen between us, we might actually have a chance.”

“How do we divide it?” the Japanese schoolgirl asked.

“Easy,” the American replied. “By position. One person watches the top, one the bottom, one the left, one the right, and one the center.”

“Good idea. We’ll do that next round.”

Everyone agreed, and we quickly assigned the areas.

I was responsible for the right side of the screen.