Just to jog the memory of those who’ve watched the newest Korean drama taking the world by storm, “Squid Game,” as well as to inform all those who’ve yet to watch it, a mysterious man (notably played by Gong Yoo) hands out a calling card to the show’s main character, Seong Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae), which has an 8-digit phone number that becomes the “opportunity” that hundreds of players take to finally be free of their debt-ridden lives. Little do they know that by calling that number, they’ll be signing away their lives to play the ultra-dangerous Squid Game.
Image Courtesy of Netflix
Ever since the series premiered on Netflix, a ton of viewers have called or texted that number out of curiosity and, surprisingly enough, it turned out to be a real number!
It’s unclear whether the show creators were truly not aware that the supposed fictional phone number they put in the series wasn’t unowned or that they failed to double-check, but the true owner is now facing the price through sleepless nights and interrupted day-to-day routines due to incessant calls round the clock.
The man, aged 40+, told reporters that he receives an average of 4,000 calls per day which he initially thought were merely spam. It wasn’t until he actually got to talk to a caller that he discovered that it was his number used on the show. Unfortunately, he is unable to change it as he’s had it for a decade now and he uses it for his business.
The other crazy thing about this is that his wife is also suffering these endless messages because her number is exactly the same as his, only with a different last digit.
The production team is reportedly negotiating with the owner to resolve the issue, but someone else seems to have other plans. A South Korean presidential candidate is said to have offered 100 million won (approximately 4.2 million pesos) to buy the number for unknown reasons.
Perhaps this incident should teach future production teams to be more careful when showing “fictional” contact details onscreen!
(ALSO READ: 5 Reasons You Need to Watch “Squid Game”)
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