???? ???? ? ???????

??. ? ? ???????? ; prologue !

The others, scattered around the room, seemed equally disinterested at first. It was just another stupid game—what harm could it do?

Seorin rolled her eyes, tapping Jay lightly on the arm. "If it's one of those lame horror games, you'll probably end up scared of it. I can already hear you screaming."

Heeseung chuckled. "Not even. It's probably one of those 'choose your own adventure' types. You guys are such babies."

As he hovered the mouse over the icon, it seemed to glitch for just a second—an odd flicker in the screen, like the pixels themselves were... alive. No one noticed.

He clicked.

The screen flashed to black. Everyone leaned in closer, some of them laughing, expecting to see a cheesy horror intro. But what appeared instead was stark, jarring—almost too serious for a typical game.

WELCOME, PLAYERS.
READY TO BEGIN?

There was a collective chuckle from the group.

"Is this supposed to be funny?" Jungwon scoffed, his eyes still on his phone.

"I don't know, man, but it looks like it's trying too hard," Jake snorted, wiping his mouth.

They didn't know it yet, but their laughter would soon turn into something else—something far darker.

Heeseung was still grinning, a casual shrug lifting his shoulders. "Alright, let's see what this thing's about. I'm in."

He clicked again, completely unaware that he was about to unlock something far worse than any of them could have imagined.

The screen flickered again, and before anyone could speak, a countdown timer appeared in glaring, red digits—60 seconds.

FIND THE KEY OR LOSE A LIFE.

A wave of laughter washed over the group.

"Lose a life? Please, who writes this stuff?" Jake half-laughed, half-choked on his ramen.

Seorin rolled her eyes, chuckling softly as she nudged Jay with her elbow. "You're such a dork. I guess we'll all be dying soon."

Ni-ki yawned next to them, muttering a half-sleepy, "Game's stupid."

But then—

The timer kept counting down, steadily ticking away with no mercy. 55... 54... 53...

The mood in the room began to shift. Just a little at first.

"That's... kind of creepy, right?" Jay said, his voice suddenly sounding quieter, unsure. He couldn't explain why, but a cold feeling crept up his spine.

"You guys are overthinking it." Heeseung's voice wavered, but he tried to laugh it off, his eyes glued to the screen. "It's just a dumb prank."

A loud bang from upstairs startled everyone.

Seorin's head snapped toward the direction of the noise. "What was that?"

A few nervous glances exchanged between them, the eerie atmosphere of the game now suffocating.

"Sunoo?" Jungwon called out, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the stairwell.

But there was no response.

"Probably just Sunoo being dramatic," Jake shrugged, trying to ease the tension with another half-hearted laugh. But it didn't land.

45 seconds.

The countdown continued.

"Okay, I'm actually starting to feel weird about this," Seorin muttered, her stomach churning as the lights flickered above them. She could feel a tightening in her chest, like the air itself had become thick and heavy.

But Heeseung, still grinning nervously, was already standing up. "Alright, let's check on him. We'll be fine."

They headed up the stairs together, the house suddenly too quiet for comfort. The faint hum of the game still echoed in their minds, lingering.

Jay reached Sunoo's door first. He knocked, his voice uncertain. "Sunoo? You okay in there?"

There was no answer.

Seorin's heart skipped a beat as Jay pushed the door open. It creaked loudly, like a warning.

The room was dim, but the pale blue glow of Sunoo's computer screen lit the space. The mint-choco ice cream tub sat on his desk, the spoon resting beside it like it had been abandoned.

"Sunoo?" Seorin's voice was barely a whisper.

She stepped closer—her gaze shifting from the desk to the bed.

And then—she froze.

Sunoo was slumped against the side of the bed, his body unnaturally still. His eyes were wide, frozen open.

Her breath caught in her throat. "No..."

The air in the room suddenly seemed impossibly still.

Without warning, Jay stumbled back, his hand covering his mouth as panic surged in his chest. "He—he's not...?"

The room was quiet except for the faint, ominous ticking of the timer from downstairs.

Beep.

TIME'S UP. PLAYER ELIMINATED.

The screen downstairs flashed again, and the countdown immediately reset. Next round: 24 hours.

Everything that was once lighthearted, a simple game, was now something far darker. Something they couldn't escape.

And just like that, the game had begun.