A city built in secret. One hundred tickets scattered without explanation. A game where the only rule is survival — until the game ends.Rio follows a mysterious ticket into the unknown and wakes in a futuristic city he wasn't supposed to find. The rules: collect cores, survive, reach one billion. But the city has nine Grounds, each with its own dangers, and the players aren't the only ones watching.As Rio adapts and forms uneasy alliances, he discovers the game has layers — a fifty thousand core threshold, a fashion round that reveals the creator's true nature, a gamble that changes everything. A rival who reached the milestone weeks ago waits to see if Rio can catch up.Then the truth emerges. The creator isn't a force — he's family. The city wasn't built for games — it was built for something else. And the game was never the point. It was a machine designed to produce the right person at the right time.Now the game has ended. Players are free to leave. But Rio has learned too much to walk away. He reshapes the city and becomes its new creator — a seat he was never meant to hold. His allies scatter. His father returns. And at the border, the true heir finally arrives.Welcome to Dead Man's Crown. Where blood and choice collide. Where the game was never the point. And the crown costs everything.

In the House of Shadows, the eighth room is always locked. The rules are simple: write your truth at midnight, never read another’s, and never ask what’s behind the door.Seven strangers live in uneasy harmony, each bound to a singular flaw: Pride, Greed, Wrath, Gluttony, Lust, Envy, Sloth. Their quiet rhythm shatters when flickering lights, moving objects, and cryptic notes suggest they are not alone. Something—or someone—is reading their secrets, helping and haunting in equal measure.When the entity known only as Shadow invites them to a game, the house becomes a maze of mirrors. Parcels arrive with personal warnings. A lockbox demands a code only they can solve. To win, they must confront the reflections of their own deepest natures. To lose means being trapped in the echoes of their flaws forever.But the greatest secret isn’t what’s behind the locked door—it’s who. And he’s been waiting decades for them to finally look.A psychological mystery where the greatest hauntings are the ones we bring inside, and the only way out is through the mirror of yourself.