First published 2025
You hold the journal of someone trapped in the games. Each page reveals the brutal reality behind the colorful playground where desperate people compete for billions of won. The masked guards watch as contestants face childhood games turned lethal. Red light, green light becomes a massacre. Tug of war sends entire teams plummeting to their deaths. The honeycomb challenge breaks spirits along with the candy shapes. Between rounds, alliances form and shatter in the dormitory. Trust becomes a luxury nobody can afford. Some players scheme for advantage while others simply try to survive another day. The Front Man orchestrates each twisted competition from his control room. VIPs place bets on human suffering from their golden masks. This journal captures the psychological toll of a system that turns poverty into entertainment. It records the moments when ordinary people discover what they will do to escape debt and desperation. Every entry brings you deeper into a world where childhood innocence becomes the backdrop for adult horror.
Genres: dystopia, horror, action, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, unreliable-narrator
240 pages · Hardcover · Random House Worlds
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, murder