Reincarnation as retribution for Seo In-gook in Death's Game

10 November 10, 2023December 10, 2023

Reincarnation as retribution for Seo In-gook in Death’s Game

by solstices

A new teaser is out for TVING original Death’s Game, giving us another glimpse into the many reincarnations of Seo In-gook (Cafe Minamdang). The drama remains tight-lipped about its plot, choosing to only dole out sneak peeks into its premise, but given the outstanding cast? My hopes are high anyway.

As the camera pans across the stormy seas of hell, Death — played by a heavily-eyelinered Park So-dam (Record of Youth) — declares, “Choi Yi-jae. You will die a dozen times.” Yi-jae, played by a bespectacled Seo In-gook, can barely believe his ears. A tear track lines his cheek, but Death is impassive.

“Your soul will transmigrate into twelve different bodies that face impending death,” she explains. No matter what life Yi-jae is thrust into, death is an inevitable fate. As Death narrates, we’re shown a montage of Yi-jae’s twelve trials. Lee Do-hyun (The Good Bad Mother) stays placidly unimpressed in a bustling club, while Kim Jae-wook (Crazy Love) broods in an eerily-lit red room (he’s reminding me of Choi Yoon’s torment crossed with Mo Tae-gu’s creepiness, and I am very much here for it).

If Kim Jae-wook represents the devil’s temptation, then presumably the churchgoer Kim Ji-hoon (Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area) stands for the angel’s salvation. Steering us away from the darkness, Go Yoon-jung (Alchemy of Souls 2) looks ethereal under a cherry blossom tree, while Lee Jae-wook (Alchemy of Souls 2) furrows his brows in front a pier.

Adding to the diversity of Yi-jae’s lives, a uniformed Kim Kang-hoon (Reborn Rich) stands amidst the disarray of his school’s gym, while Jang Seung-jo (Strangers Again) attends a fancy wine party. Finally, we have Oh Jung-se (Revenant) in a police station, Choi Siwon (Work Later, Drink Now 2) at what seems to be a shooting range, and Sung Hoon (Perfect Marriage Revenge) in a broadcasting station, overseeing a skydiving program.

So, how did Yi-jae end up in this perplexing situation? Apparently, it’s a punishment of his own making. Perpetually broke and unemployed, Yi-jae had decided to end it all, and Death deemed him deserving of punishment for taking life too lightly. If Yi-jae wants to avoid going to hell, then he’ll have to try his hardest to thwart death — and hopefully learn to value life in the meantime.

Directed and written by PD Ha Byung-hoon (18 Again, Go Back Spouses), the webtoon adaptation Death’s Game premieres on December 15.