✨𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭✨ ✨ 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟏 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟐 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤✨ MYTHOLOGICAL MYSTERY-ROMANCE 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: "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

#ONC2026 ROUND 2 AMBASSADOR PICKS PROMPT 120. You survive a werewolf bite because your blood carries a rare, deadly condition that poisons them, and now you hunt werewolves by letting them bite you. Edwina Dawley, a rational wildlife biologist, enters the forest to study wolves and emerges with her reality shattered after surviving an attack by a massive wolf that transforms into a man. This encounter fractures her belief in the ordinary world, leading her to the ancient Order Sapientae Antiquae, which tracks her blood anomaly-an obscure condition lethal to werewolves. She becomes a hunter, using her body as a weapon, but as her reputation grows, so does her isolation. Her closest friend, Graham, begins to see the Order's hidden violence, while Darnell Key, the Order's mentor, recognizes Edwina's potential as a stabilizing force. Everything changes when Randolf, an ancient werewolf, chooses her and bites her, binding their fates together. Their intense connection ignites a love that challenges everything Edwina thought she understood. Caught between the safety of her old life, the allure of order, and a forbidden love, Edwina must choose her identity: scientist or myth, weapon or woman. As the Order tightens its grip and the world approaches exposure, she navigates a new role-neither prey nor predator-rewriting the rules with blood, choice, and consequence.

[ONC 2026 Longlister & Round 3 Ambassador's Pick] Rue Domínguez, a twenty-seven-year-old unemployed woman struggling to cure her boredom and at the same time earn some good amount of cash, learns about an app 'ZombieRush' which on winning, promises to reward with $10.5 million. That seemed too good to be true, but with a competitive streak to beat this almost impossible game, Rue decides to test her fate. After conquering the game, she realises it's only the 1st half of the game, and 2nd half is still waiting out there. Rue won $10,000 on completing the 1st half, winning the rest of $10.5 million after completing the 2nd half---now that seemed not too far. But willing to participate in this game that appeared too easy before would have such a horrific result, that Rue never expected. Being forced into a zombie apocalypse while attending a high school reunion and learning that the apocalypse might just be the next half of ZombieRush, Rue realises she very much is 'cooked.' And now she is officially a player, with no way out. * * * Total Word Count: 21,045

When Jane decides to follow a black cat into the woods, she does not expect it to lead to her meeting a Grim Reaper named Stormy who needs her help to stop a catastrophic event that may end the world. Unable to bring herself to turn down such an important mission, Jane soon finds that things may be harder than she anticipated. This is an ONC 2026 story! It is based on the following prompts: 98: You never imagined the end of the world would begin with a one-eared black cat showing up at your door. 65: On the way to collect a soul, the Grim Reaper is distracted by a stray puppy. Instead of completing the task, they decide to find the puppy's owner, much to the frustration of their assistant. 72: A real necromancer sits in on a fake seance. The cover art is by Anne Stokes. AWARDS: ONC Round 3 Qualifier The Pride Awards: Shortlist

Cassandra Shaw, the heir to the renowned Shaw estate, has finally become eligible for marriage, allowing her to take over her father's clan. The monster-hunting clan is in distress due to his recent demise, and they need a brave and determined leader who'll take over. Unfortunately, she keeps refusing the advances of every single suitor, waiting for her true love. As time goes by, she starts believing she'll never find him, and eventually, she starts giving up, ready for any prospects that will enable her to preserve the future of her clan. Then, she remembers a prophecy in her dreams - a prophecy that might just help her solve everything - and two men, different as night and day, come to her like they were ordered. Hyacinth and Edmund Lawrence. Two brothers with a growing distance between them. A brooding rebel and a natural socialite. Both speak to a side of her she's connected to deeply. Both fascinate her from the day she meets them. Both seem destined to be the love of her life. Yet one will save her, and one will ruin her. The question remains: Which is which? *** 45. "Kings have honor, soldiers are brave, poets have heart, and all I have is rage!" (Sound by Naethan Apollo) 46. "We love broken, beautiful people. And it doesn't get more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than you." (A slightly modified quote from "Daisy Jones & The Six" by Taylor Jenkins Reid) 115. A prophecy claims you will love two people. One destined to save your life and the other destined to destroy it. The trouble is, you have no idea which is which.