Here's What Happened to the $45.6 Billion Won in Season 1 of 'Squid Game'

Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers for Season 1 of Netflix's Squid Game.

At the end of Season 1 of Netflix’s Squid Game, viewers watched Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), known as Player 456, be crowned the victor of the death-defying games, which garnered over 2.2 billion hours of viewing time and more than 265,000 views, according to Netflix.

In addition to winning the Squid Game, Gi-hun also collected the prize money, 45.6 billion to be exact, though his victory is classified as unwilling, as it was more given to him than earned. With Season 2 of Squid Game slated to debut on Netflix a day after Christmas, on Dec. 26, 2024, fans are wondering what happened to the 45.6 billion won that was won in Season 1. Well, here's where it went.

The 45.6 billion won Gi-hun won in Season 1 of Squid Game was placed into an account for him, according to Netflix. The prize pool increased by 100,000,000 won each time a player was eliminated, aka brutally killed, until it reached the final amount.

Gi-hun initially didn’t spend much of his prize money, according to ScreenRant, likely due to the traumatic way he earned it. When he does use some of it, he spends it to make amends for Cho Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) and Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon). He had also acquired debt prior to entering the games, so it’s possible some of the money went toward that as well.

After the contestants are narrowed down to the final three — Gi-hun, Sae-byeok, and Sang-woo — Sang-woo uses the celebratory steak dinner and the knife from his meal to take out Sae-byeok. Sae-byeok was already vulnerable due to injuries sustained in the glass bridge game, making her an easy target.

With Gi-hun and Sang-woo left as the final two, Gi-hun decides to forfeit, which would mean walking away from the prize money, as long as his friend could stay alive and they both could walk free. However, Sang-woo, after committing acts of betrayal, chooses to stab himself in the neck, taking his own life so that Gi-hun can win and care for his mother.

Although Gi-hun wins, the knowledge that the games are used as a form of entertainment, as revealed by the Front Man during his ride back to reality, leaves him with a lingering desire for revenge. And that’s where Season 2 picks up.

Season 2 of Squid Game opens three years after the events of the first season. According to the Season 2 synopsis, viewers learn that Gi-hun "gave up going to the States and comes back with a new resolution in his mind." This season follows Gi-hun as he "once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death contest with new participants gathered to win the 45.6 billion won prize."

Squid Game Season 2 premieres on Netflix on Dec. 26, 2024.