LOGINThe moment the suite door unlocked, Ava rushed into the hallway coughing dramatically. “I am officially retiring from mystery solving. Rich people can die without me from now on.”Despite everything, Winona laughed. The sound surprised even her. Maybe because laughing felt strange after seeing a dead body hidden inside a wardrobe.Liam walked beside them quietly while still deep in thought. “Daniel definitely knew something before he died. That note wasn’t random.”“Nothing in this hotel is random,” Adrian said.When they returned downstairs, the others immediately noticed something was wrong.Moira stood first. “You found him.”It was not a question. Winona nodded slowly. “Daniel’s dead.”The room fell silent after that. Even Julian stopped making jokes.The television screen above the bar flickered alive one final time.[ROUND TWO COMPLETED.]Nobody reacted.[Contestants may now rest until tomorrow morning.]Then the screen shut off. Just like that. No creepy countdowns, no punishme
The flames spread across the suite unnaturally fast. Smoke curled across the ceiling while burning papers drifted through the air, and the heat inside the room kept rising every second.Ava stared at the television in disbelief. “Survive what exactly?! The fire or the challenge?”Liam looked toward the locked door sharply. “What if the hotel got angry because we were close to finding Daniel?”Nobody answered immediately, but the idea made sense.Liam continued quickly, “Think about it. We searched classified files, and suddenly we get trapped inside the room. What if Daniel’s body is nearby? What if we already found the truth without realizing it?”Adrian frowned while staring at the flames climbing the curtains. “I definitely don’t remember this part happening before.”“So the loop changed,” Winona said instantly.The timer on the screen continued counting down.04:28Winona forced herself to focus. “Okay. We panic later! Right now we need to put this fire out.”Ava looked horrified.
Ava stared at the television screen showing Adrian entering Room 217 before slowly turning toward him with narrowed eyes.“Okay,” she said carefully, “please tell me you’re not secretly the creepy hotel owner.”“I’m not.”“But you hid your file.”“I didn’t.”Liam looked unconvinced. “Then why was your profile the only one missing?”The tension inside the room rose immediately after that. Even Winona could feel it now. For the first time since arriving at the hotel, suspicion had entered their group properly.Adrian exhaled slowly while running a hand through his hair. “Look, I know how this looks.”“It looks extremely serial killer-ish,” Ava glared at him.“But I didn’t hide anything,” Adrian continued firmly. “Last night, after I heard the scream, I came here because I wanted to check if the game was repeating the same way as before.”Liam frowned. “What do you mean?”“In the last loop, we searched this room too.” Adrian continued. “I thought maybe if I reached Daniel faster this tim
For a few seconds, nobody inside Room 217 spoke. Liam continued staring at the bloody keycard in his hand while Ava looked genuinely offended by the message scratched across the back.“Don’t trust Iris?” she repeated. “Why not? Iris is literally the nicest person here.”Winona nodded slowly. “She almost cried after seeing the mirror woman. I don’t think she’s secretly murdering people between podcast episodes.”Adrian leaned lightly against the desk while thinking. “I don’t remember this part either.”“That’s becoming your line at this point,” Ava muttered.“But if Daniel wrote this,” Adrian continued, “then maybe he discovered something about her before he died.”“Or someone wants us suspicious of each other,” Liam pointed out calmly. “That’s also possible.”Winona folded her arms while thinking. “Either way, we should probably warn the others.”Adrian looked around the suite again before shaking his head slightly. “Not yet.”“Why?”“Because whoever hid this keycard wanted somebody t
Winona stared at Adrian for several seconds, "The night resets to what day?"“The party?” she repeated slowly. “You mean our first night here?”Adrian nodded once while keeping his eyes on the television screen. “That’s the last thing I remember clearly. We were given the challenge to find Daniel Cross before midnight, and then…” He frowned slightly like the memory physically hurt. “Something terrible happened.”“What terrible thing?”“I don’t know.” His frustration showed for the first time. “That’s the problem. I only remember pieces.”The lobby had gone completely silent around them now. Nobody looked relaxed anymore.Ava crossed her arms tightly. “Hold on. You’re seriously saying time reset after this challenge?”“I think so,” Adrian answered. “The next thing I remembered was arriving at the hotel again. Same lobby. Same welcome party. Except none of you recognized me.”Julian blinked twice. “That is deeply disturbed information.”Moira looked more thoughtful than scared now. “If
The path that appeared all of a sudden spooked both Winona and Adrian. And of course, the random woman watching them.Even from far away, something about her felt wrong. The white dress hanging from her body shifted slightly in the cold wind, but the rest of her remained completely still beneath the trees.Winona glanced sideways at him. “You look like you’ve seen her before.”Adrian stayed silent for half a second too long. The figure suddenly tilted her head toward them. Then every lantern along the forest path shut off at once.Darkness swallowed the woods instantly. Winona blinked and the woman was gone.“What the hell…” she muttered quietly.Adrian stepped closer toward her instinctively, like he expected something to appear out of the darkness again. “We should head back inside.”“But the woman-”"She's gone and that's what matters.""You sound nervous." Winona teased him.“I am nervous.”That surprised her more than the creepy forest woman.Before she could tease him about it,
"I died in the last loop? What if I die in every loop?” she asked more softly now.Adrian’s expression shifted slightly, and for the first time since meeting him, he looked completely honest instead of guarded.“I don't know. What I do know is that I will save you this time.”The answer hit harder
For several long seconds after the woman vanished from the mirror, nobody inside the bathroom spoke.The cracked glass reflected only their terrified faces now while the emergency lights continued flashing dim red across the walls. Water still dripped steadily from the sink, but somehow the silence
The silence inside Daniel Cross’s suite felt unnatural.Winona stepped farther into the room slowly while the others followed behind her. Everything looked spotless, untouched, and painfully normal. The king-sized bed was perfectly made, the curtains were drawn neatly across the windows, and not a
The image of the blood-covered hands vanished. Then the screen went black.For two full seconds, nobody spoke. Then chaos exploded across the lobby.“What the hell does that even mean?”“Are they threatening her?”“Is this still supposed to be entertainment?!”Keisha looked furious instead of scare







