Squid game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk knows how bad stress can be.

On Sunday, November 10, Dong-hyuk, 53, revealed in an interview with the BBC that he lost several teeth while filming the first season of the hit Netflix show – which follows people in debt as they play deadly games to win a cash prize – all because of the thrill of shooting .

When asked about reports that he lost half a dozen teeth during filming, Dong-hyuk corrected the outlet, saying, “It was eight or nine.”

Despite the blow to his health, he added that he decided to come back to film a second season because of “money”, noting that he “didn’t make much” from the first season despite it being “a huge worldwide success”.

Dong-hyuk told the outlet that he received his payment in advance before the series’ release, which prevented him from fully cashing in on the approximately $800 million it generated for Netflix.

“Doing the second series will also help me offset the success of the first,” he told the BBC, adding: “And I haven’t quite finished the story.”

Still, Dong-hyuk said the pressure is on to get the story right — especially because of the state of the world now compared to how it was three years ago.

“The stress I feel now is much greater,” he told the BBC. “New lines are being drawn. We are in an era of us versus them. Who is right and who is wrong?”

Never miss a story: Sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The show’s creator teased how that would play out in season 2 as well, with characters like Lee Jung-jae returning “more desperate and determined” than ever to take down the masked people behind the games, he told the BBC.

Dong-hyuk first announced that the second series would come in 2022, saying in a statement, “It took twelve years to release the first season of the series.” Squid game to life last year. But it took twelve days Squid game to become the most popular Netflix series ever. As a writer, director and producer of Squid gamea huge shout-out to fans all over the world. Thank you for watching and enjoying our show.”

Squid game is Netflix’s most watched series in 94 countries, with more than 142 million households and 1.65 billion viewing hours in the first four weeks. Dong-hyuk teased the season 2 plot in June 2022.

“There are some other stories in the series that weren’t covered. For example, the story of the police officer and the story of his brother, The Front Man,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in October 2021.

“So if I end up doing season 2, I would like to explore that storyline – what’s going on between those two brothers? And then I could also go into the story of that recruiter in the suit who plays the game ddakji with Gi-hun and gives him the card in the first episode.”

The director added, “And of course we get to follow along with Gi-hun’s story as he turns, and find out more about how he’s going to navigate his reckoning with the people who design the games.”

Squid game season 2 will be released on Netflix on December 26, 2024.