: An elderly man with a brain tumor whom Gi-hun befriends.

A year after winning, a traumatized Gi-hun receives a final invitation and discovers that is still alive. Il-nam reveals he is the creator of the games, which he designed for his own amusement and that of other bored, wealthy "VIPs". After Il-nam dies of natural causes, Gi-hun dyes his hair red and prepares to fly to the U.S. to see his daughter. However, upon seeing the recruiter at the subway station again, he chooses to stay in Korea, determined to expose and stop the organization behind the games.

: Players must cross a bridge made of tempered and normal glass; stepping on the wrong pane results in a fatal fall.

The tournament begins with , where players who move after the "Red Light" command are immediately executed by snipers. Following a massacre, the survivors use a clause in their contract to vote and end the games, returning to their desperate lives. However, realizing that their reality is just as hellish as the game, Gi-hun and many others eventually choose to return for the massive prize money. As the games progress, Gi-hun forms an alliance with:

In the first season of Squid Game , (Player 456), a divorced chauffeur and gambling addict, is lured into a high-stakes survival competition to pay off his mounting debts and gain custody of his daughter . He and 455 other cash-strapped participants are taken to a secluded island where they must compete in six deadly versions of South Korean children's games. The Deadly Competition