In the bustling port city of Busan, seven-year-old Park Jeong-min is drowning in the silence of his father's death. Half a world away, in the emerald forests of the DRC, Kimya watches the horizon for the smoke of a civil war she is too young to understand. Linked by a simple pen-pal exchangeㅡ a pair of white sneakers for a wax cloth braceletㅡthe two children share a desperate, whispered wish: to be anyone else. ​Then, they wake up in each other's skin. ​The magical escape becomes a lifelong haunting. At seven, ten, and fourteen, the swap yanks them across continents into each other's trauma. Jeong-min learns survival in a war zone; Kimya navigates South Korea's academic pressures. ​When a violent spiritual intervention at age fifteen severs their connection. The swaps end. Jeong-min is left in Seoul, haunted by Kimya trapped in a conflict he can no longer see. ​Driven by a debt he cannot name, Jeong-min builds a life of cold, medical precision, hoping to find her through the very systems that keep them apart. From the high-stakes world of a Korean medical residency to the front lines of a global refugee crisis, he is looking for his phantom limb. ​Jeong Min doesn't know Kimya is searching for him, too. #onc 2026 main prompt: 29 prompt mix: 73 #blackhistory #history #koreanhistory #worldheritage

A fallen star, a crime lord, and the hunt for a heart. When Keira, a star, falls to earth with her sisters, it is with only one goal: find a human heart to save her sisters. It is pure coincidence that she falls straight into the infinity pool of formidable crime lord Captain Demir Erdogan. They strike a deal, and so their fate is sealed. But there is a reason stars are forbidden to fall. Soon it will become clear that stars are not the untouchable beings as the myths say. And a heart does not make a human. And so the greatest question of all will be: What makes a heart worth more than another?

[𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟏 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤] In the old city once called Kaharba, an archaeologist uncovers a worn scripture. Its ink thinning, its meaning barely holding on. He reads it aloud without reverence, without belief. Just habit. Just sound. That night, something changes. His phone begins to behave strangely. Uncanny things happen. Voices echo where there should be silence. A name keeps trying to surface. Some things don't need faith to return. They only need to be remembered once. And whatever has awakened is running out of time. (𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: 𝟎𝟔 "𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬.") ONC 2026 entry. Copyright © ipsita 2026

🏆 ONC 2026 ENTRY Main Prompt: 52 🥇 Winner (Paranormal Romance): The Love Letter Legacy 🏅 Best Blurb: The Fantasy Vortex 🥉 Inked and Unwritten ⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆ After Dark is supposed to be just another dating app. For Amelia, a museum curator exhausted by one bad date after another, it feels like a final attempt before she gives up on romance entirely. For Alexei, it's never been about dating at all; he's been sent to get close to her because of an artefact tied to something old and dangerous. But as their meetings turn strange and violent, Amelia realises the city she thought she knew is hiding secrets far darker than a failed love life. And somewhere in between, Alexei finds himself losing control of the one thing he was meant to keep in check: His distance from her. ⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆⋆♱✮♱⋆ Tropes: Paranormal Adventure, Slow-Burn Romance, Forced Proximity, Are they or Are They Not Together?, Morally Grey MMC 💋, 1/3 Body Horror, 1/3 Gore and 1/3 Sexually Explicit Inspirations: DMC, JJK, BB, Dante's Inferno Fun things (16/3: Ranked #1 on demonology) COVER DONE BY CANVA PRO, ARTWORK BY PINTEREST © 2026 by eleeyjs (EJ Chow). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods-without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical reviews or scholarly work.

In a world where individuals with otherworldly abilities walk among their less gifted counterparts, an organisation called the Watchers exists to ensure that the two worlds keep their peace. Hiding behind their mask of providing security services is a widespread web of assassins and spies. They have always made sure to eliminate anyone who was too dangerous for the ordinary police to handle. Faolan Devoe has become one of their best with his sheer hard work and skill, just an ordinary man among a sea of extraordinary powers. When he's called in for a top-secret mission, he expects to assassinate a public figure or something along those lines. What he doesn't expect is to be sent undercover to babysit a killer's child. The catch? The kid is no normal human, and if his father gets his hands on him, it might lead to the end of the world. TW: violence, death, gore, strong language

When a mage is found dead, and, at a rough measurement, at least a head shorter, the only clue to his fate lies in the key gripped in his hand. A very magical key that sets the leaders in the Guild of Mages, Prestidigitators, Illusionists and General Wielders of Magic (not including Witches) in a bit of a quandary, because none of them want to touch it. Thus, the investigation is left in the thoroughly incapable hands of the three mages in the highly dangerous, very almost deadly on a daily basis, Thaumatological Gubbins Department of the Guild. Accompanied by a young(ish, these are mages after all) member of the Guild tasked with recording the progress of the investigation, the three mages set out on a perilous journey that will involve several belligerent doors, a three cart race, and, probably, a number of people wondering what the Hel is going on and why one of the mages continues to shout 'Power!' at every opportunity. An ONC novella like no other.

Harit is rizzless. He is also a vampire. As far as he knows (from the tons of vampire lore he has consumed), he is nothing like his peers, or so he believes, for he hasn't come across his kind ever; he hasn't lost hope, though. Rudra the shifter (who loves frolicking around as a parrot) and Harit's immortal companion, after taking care of a fumbling, bumbling mess of a vampire for a hundred years, has made up his mind to go his separate way. However, he is sure that his friend can't fend for himself in this big, unforgiving, cruel world. He, thus, decides to take matters into his own hands or wings, depending on his form at the moment. Rudra's plan is simple: enroll his auraless friend in a course that can make him what turning into a vampire should have made him: alluring, confident, and irresistible so that he can feed himself once he is gone. Ayank Tripursundara is the best personality, speech, and drama coach in the state. He takes coal and turns it into diamond, or so his mother has heard everyone say everywhere she goes. He is rich, cultured, and handsome but slightly depressed because of his recent falling out with a friend. But as fate would have it, Ayank might just be the one Harit needs to be the best version of himself. Manik is a thousand-year-old vampire. He is also Harit's sire. Now, after a hundred years of waiting, he has found a reason to find the one that got away: Harit. Tying their lives together is the stolen melody of a heart, a century-old curse, and a hundred-year-old spell. Will Harit get his rizz? Or will he fall prey to his sire before the forgotten melody finds him? [Written for Open Novella Contest Prompt No. 81: Unalluring and bumbling, your character is the world's worst vampire. Prompt No. 37: Your hateful stare fixes on the smug bird. It has beaten you once again.] Start Date: 27th, February, 2026 By: GandalfOfSpaceAnli

ONC 2026 In a world woven with secrets, silence can be deafening. Eighteen-year-old Luca Kant has never known the sound of her own voice; born deaf and raised under the suffocating grip of her controlling father, she is haunted by the shadow of her mother's mysterious disappearance. Did she flee from the clutches of a man who could be a monster, or did something more sinister happen? Nineteen-year-old Boy Harrison lives at the wrecking yard. He can speak, but hasn't spoken since he was four. He is haunted by nightmares that echo a woman's voice warning him that to remain safe, he must remain silent. Fate draws Luca and Boy together. Long-buried memories and cryptic connections between their lives begin to unravel. As they delve deeper into their entwined pasts, eerie parallels unfold-did Luca's father play a role in the dark mystery surrounding her mother's fate? Does he hold the key to both their truths? How is Boy connected, and who is the woman he dreams of? In a gripping tale of identity, resilience, and the haunting weight of silence, Luca and Boy must confront their monsters and uncover the chilling revelations that bind them on a riveting journey where silence speaks volumes and whispers could change the course of their lives. PROMPT 80 - Monsters don't live under our beds. They live in the recesses of our minds. (Variation of Edgar Allen Poe's famous quote.) My interpretation - Monsters didn't live under your bed. They sat at your table.

Aunt Mabel is dead, found lying amongst her daisies in her garden. Two eyes anxiously watch over her. The police arrive, but questions soon crop up. Is it actually Aunt Mabel? And who or what did it? A wild animal? A person? A baby dragon? Something strange is afoot in the Auntie's garden and it's up to Officer Holt Martinez, Estelle, and her cousin Julia, to figure it all out before it's too late. Little does she know that an unplanned trip to the Dragon's Lair Bookshop will upend everything she thought she knew about life, this world, and those beyond. * Respectfully submitted to Wattpad's Open Novella Contest 2026, under prompt #3, with subtle influences from prompt #41.

🎏 Author Comment: This tale has been designed and written for younger readers but it can be enjoyed by all. ─ᛰ─ In the elder days before mortal kings etched their borders into stone, before time was measured by crowns and conquests, when Elven Folk shared the world with mortals under treaties older than memory, there came upon our people an age of quiet sundering. It was a time when Giants still walked the high places, when Dragons passed like storms along the horizons, and when Elven Folk shared the world with mortals under treaties older than memory. Yet even then, doubt found root. In those days there arose among mortals a whispering hunger, seeded by those who wore borrowed faces. The Changeling Wizards, who fed fear as if it were wisdom. Convincing mortal kings, the magic of the elves no longer served them. What had once been shared truth became superstition. What had once been kinship became a war of wills. From that hour, the old goodwill ended. Thus the space between our peoples widened, until the old paths closed and we were pressed back into the frost-bitten heights of our ancestral lands. And what would happen next would leave the old world in the silent throes of an uneasy realization that all was not as it seemed... A time when love and acceptance became fear and those fears bred greed. Greed bred forgetting. And forgetting became blame. But in that age arose two souls. One born of mortal blood, one of mortal grace. Who chose to stand where others turned away. Alvaro, and Daniela of the western shores, whose names the stone itself remembers. ─ᛰ─ ONC Prompt 78 You begin to realize that things are not as they seem. 🎏 Author Comment: This tale has been designed and written for younger readers but it can be enjoyed by all.