Ivy woke with a sharp gasp.
She was in the same room—yet not the same.
The details were identical, the furniture unchanged, but everything had aged into something darker. Dust swirled heavily in the air.
The soft blue sunlight from before had vanished, replaced by a deep, blood-red moonlight pouring through the window. The forest outside looked pitch-black, like ink swallowing the trees.
The door stood open.
Heart pounding, Ivy hurried out.
She glanced up at the number plate.
319.
The same room.
Ivy: "Then… I'm still in the same place. But why has everything changed…?"
Moans and soft, twisted laughter drifted from distant halls.
Fear crawled up her spine. She took a careful step, then another.
A voice echoed from Room 313—again.
She approached slowly, every inch of her body trembling.
Inside, she found a child with orange hair, though the darkness masked most of his face. He was tied to the bed with layer upon layer of rope.
Child: "You're new here… well then, welcome to the Crown Prince's palace—
…or rather, welcome to the nightmare."
Ivy: "Nightmare?"
Child: chuckles weakly "Yeah. This place is full of former candidates… and current ones. For the Crown Prince, or the one before him. When everything comes to an end, only the prince and the chosen candidate wake up."
Ivy: "And the rest…?"
Child: "They stay asleep. They never leave the nightmare."
Sudoom…
A heavy dragging sound echoed.
Sdiim…
The child stiffened.
Child: "Little girl… run. Now."
Ivy: "Wha—?"
Swooooooosh… shhhhhh—
Two old women slipped in through the cracks of the adjacent wall, their movements unnatural, bodies twisted. Their dresses were once white but now decayed, torn and stained. Deep wounds covered their arms like crawling shadows.
Ivy froze.
Ivy: "W-who are they…?" Her voice shook.
Child: "Romi and Domi. Annoying… cursed old hags."
Romi: "Such manners, child."
Domi: "What a rude little brat."
Both turned their hungry eyes toward Ivy.
Domi: "Fresh… fresh!"
Romi: "Ohhh… delightful…"
Domi: "Those eyes would be lovely to pluck out…"
Romi: "Mmm… and that liver… I think I'll tear it out myself."
Terror ripped through Ivy.
She didn't think—she ran. She sprinted out of the room without a single moment of hesitation.