Just started watching and I'm just gonna guess that the ML is the imposter and the "Rat" is actually the real Moon Jae because it feels like he's suffering from some kind of mental disorder (due to trauma caused by the death of his parents) and perhaps some things were hallucinated by him (i.e he thought himself as the real Moon Jae). I'm gonna see if this theory holds.
In episode 6, there was a scene where the centipedes were crawling towards Siwon while she was wiping her hands. Was it because she had just finished cursing her own mother using her own blood and the curse now wanted her life? Then, does that mean Siwon's mother protected her own daughter from the aftereffects of the curse even though she was the target of said curse?
Time is different from real world. They were probably rich to pull this off by bribing. Maybe the simulation was…
One of my theories is that the students were perhaps on a bus in the real world and were told it was for a "school trip") but the bus was actually headed for the place where they were going to be kept. Then, maybe towards the end of the journey, sleeping gas was somehow deployed in the bus to get them to fall asleep (similar to that of the movie "Battle Royale") so that it'd be easier to carry them to the facility. That means the bus driver would have to be bribed as you said.
As for the time difference, assuming each simulation only takes one second, then I suppose it is possible for the students to be kept there for under a day.
Dyson wet vacuum cleaner, Rimowa luggage, and Balmuda microwave oven all in 1 scene LOL
As for the time difference, assuming each simulation only takes one second, then I suppose it is possible for the students to be kept there for under a day.