I checked the clock.

“7:30,” I said to myself. “I have about 30 minutes to get ready.”

I looked at the card in my hand. An experiment to get smarter? Yeah, right. As if that existed. Though at this point it’s my only chance. No one’s even hiring me anymore.

“Hey, what are you doing this early?”

Startled, I quickly turned toward the source of the sound and saw my brother pouring the last of the cereal.

“What did I tell you about eating so much?” I told him. “You know we haven't had much ever since…nevermind.”

I checked the fridge. Nothing.

“Well, I’m heading out for, uh, errands. See you!” I said before leaving.

It was slightly painful to lie to him like that, but it was for a good cause in case something goes wrong.

When I arrived at the location, something felt off about the area. However, there were about 15 other people so I assumed it was the right place. Suddenly, someone stepped out of the door to the building.

“Hello everyone, nice to meet you,” the man said. “I will be your host today. Come inside for the opportunity of a lifetime.”

I hesitated. Was this really safe? I started to have second thoughts. I ended up entering last and sitting on seat 16, though slightly reluctantly.

“So I’m assuming all of you know what’s at stake here.” After a few quick murmurs of experiments and nods of agreement, he continued. “Great! Let’s get right to it then. Numbers 1 and 2, please step forward.”

They confidently marched forward.

It looks like he’s going numerical order. Which means I go last. At least I can get an idea of the type of competition this is.

Numbers 1 and 2 were presented with a buzzer each.

“Your question: which king was famous for creating the Korean alphabet?” the host asked. Before I could fully grasp the question, Number 2 pressed his buzzer. His light lit up.

“King Sejong,” he answered.

“Correct,” the host replied. “Number 1, you are eliminated.”

He was promptly escorted out. From the looks of it, it was a trivia game. No matter, I had studied trivia like this for a while. I was prepared for this.

Suddenly, a loud bang reverberated throughout the room.

“Was that…a gunshot?” someone whispered to me.

“It came from the room that Number 1 was just escorted to, right?” I whispered back.

Well, looks like this additional motive was something I wasn’t prepared for.