Why is Namjoon going backwards?

Why Koreans care

The game’s Korean call is 무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다 (mugunghwa kkochi pieotseumnida, “the rose of Sharon has bloomed”). Here, the caller trails off before the final 니다 (nida); a player protests that the ending was never said, but is eliminated anyway—the captions jokingly declare the missing syllables “silent.”

In the Korean comments

One comment identifies the logic behind Namjoon’s retreat: “Namjoon has so much faith in Hobi,” while another says they used the same tactic as a child whenever someone else was already far ahead.

What the words mean

나만 아니면 돼 (naman animyeon dwae) literally means “it’s fine as long as it isn’t me.” Here it is a playful, blunt expression of every-player-for-themselves survival: Namjoon only needs someone else to be caught first.