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Synopsis[]
Liu competes in the 100th Running Man Championship, in representation of his tribe. He reaches the Tree City Gate, only to be met with a confusing command.
Plot[]
Tree City
The episode begins with Liu and his robot companion, Mr. Suitcase, as they jump up a series of steps on the side of a floating rock before doing one final leap for the Tree City gate. A voice greets him and immediately welcomes him to the first challenge of the 100th Running Man Championship. The competition is not open to the public and only the representatives from the selected tribes may enter. Liu is then asked to enter his participant card. He snaps his finger and Mr. Suitcase ejects the card into the air which he enthusiastically catches. He inserts his card into the slot and turns it. The gate opens to reveal Tree City.
As Liu is late and the last contestant to arrive, the voice hurries him to step into the R Board so his identity can be verified. Once complete, the board begins to move to the starting point. He looks back and realizes his suitcase is left behind.
Kuga meditating while Liu watches.
As the board flies closer to the docking station, the other players can be seen under their respective gates. First is the penguin Popo who acts cute when he sees Liu, followed by Miyo the Cat who doesn't even bother to turn around. Next is Lonky, a giraffe casually leaning on the wall while giving a cheeky salute. The next players are Gai the Ninja Monkey, Pala the Impala and Kuga the Tiger (which we don't see until the view is turned to show Liu from the left at the docking station). They are all doing different things as they wait; Gai is exercising, Pala is sleeping while Kuga is meditating.
The players choose an item.
The voice states that the opening game will commence shortly and explains the rules. Each player will wear a randomly chosen item and select their own path. The player who plants their tribe flag on the R Board first is the winner. They are not allowed to discard the random item until they pass their path of choice but they are allowed to trade with other contestants. This opening game is called "Don't Walk, Run".
The games begin.
All of them simultaneously choose a box (except Pala who has yet to wake up) and they head off as the voice gives the signal "It's running time!". Soon, different shoes materialize around each contestants feet. Liu is given heavy, metal boots. Kuga is given squeaky shoes, Lonky is given high heels, Popo is given pogo sticks, Miyo is given flippers and Gai is given a gold coin. A floating bus arrives and asks for his gold coin as payment but Gai chooses not to waste it and continues running.
The players determined to win the game.
During the race, Lonky manages to trick Kuga into exchanging their items by claiming that the heels were training equipment by 'Master Makkhan'. On the other hand, Popo struggles to keep up and resorts to whining, almost ready to give up but a little helper robot appears and orders him to move on per the game's rules. After a while, some players arrive at a panel in front of large doors. Here, a random path is selected and they must continue forward, still wearing their items. The players - Miyo, Gai, and Lonky press the button to choose a path, to which Miyo's door assigns her the Path of Ice. Miyo, already exhausted from running with flippers, sighs and trudges on. The faces of the players show on the screen and the episode ends.
Cast[]
- Kim Seo-young/Rachel Slotky - Liu (Debut)
- Kwon Chang-wook/Daniel J. Edwards - Kuga (Debut)
- Eom Sang-hyeon/Daniel J. Edwards - Lonky (Debut)
- Kim Yeon-woo-I/Carrie Savage - Miyo (Debut)
- Nam Doh-Hyeong/Matthew Ip Shaw - Gai (Debut)
- Kang Si-hyeon/Syndi Szabo - Popo (Debut)
- Jeon Tae-yeol/Mark Szabo - Pala (Debut)
Trivia[]
- The entrance leading to Tree City is revealed to not be open to the public and is only accessible through a special pass.