Back in season 1, viewers came to know 001 (Oh Il-nam) as the old man who becomes a friend and ally to Gi-hun during the games. At the end of the season, it’s revealed that he'd been lying to Gi-hun this whole time.

The second season flashes forward a few years after Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a.k.a. Player 456, won the games. The trauma of everyone's death from Season 1 still weighs heavily on Gi-hun's conscience, causing him to devote himself and the $45.6 billion won (about $31 million dollars) he won to finding and ending the games once and for all.