Natalie pursed her lips and gazed up at the ceiling, lost in thought. It seemed she hadn’t expected me to agree, let alone considered what game we should play. Still, the way she earnestly pondered her options was rather endearing. I waited patiently, watching her golden eyes as they flickered in contemplation. Since I had already agreed to play, I was willing to go along with most games she suggested—even if it was something as tedious as playing house. After a few moments of deep thought, Natalie’s face suddenly brightened, and she beamed. “Let’s play Princess and Prince!” My worst-case scenario had become reality. I hadn’t expected her to actually suggest playing house. For a brief moment, I wondered if she was a little too old for a game like that. Someone older than ten playing Princess and Prince? I quickly changed my mind, though. Considering she had spent many years in this place, it made sense. Who knew when the last time she had played with someone had been? “You mean like a roleplay? How does it work?” “The princess is trapped in a castle, and the prince comes to rescue her!” “Right... Isn't that exactly what’s happening right now?” The game’s premise mirrored our current situation a little too closely. “Oh!” Natalie blinked in surprise, her mouth falling open. She clearly hadn’t thought of that. Her face darkened almost immediately. “You’re right.” After hesitating for a moment, she glanced up at me. “We could go outside and come back in. Wait, no, no, no. We don’t have that much time.” Maybe I shouldn’t have pointed it out. My habit of questioning things unnecessarily had kicked in again. Although watching her murmur to herself as she weighed her own suggestions, I found myself smiling. “What about a different kind of roleplay?” “But the only fairy tale I know is about a princess and a prince. I have never had any friends to tell me about other stories. You’re the first person I’ve ever met.” “What about your mother?” “Mom just says weird things and disappears. So I don’t think that counts!” So she had never even properly met her own mother. I hesitated, unable to respond right away. Natalie was more unfortunate than I had initially assumed. How has she survived all alone in this tiny room? What does she even eat? As if sensing my contemplation, she stared at me intently. Pushing those thoughts aside, I asked, “In that case, how about I share a fun story instead?” “I don’t like stories! That’s all I ever did alone—just daydream...” The way her voice trailed off at the end had seemed rather sad. “Wait a second. Why don’t you think a bit more about what we should play? In the meantime, would you like something to eat?” Natalie clapped her hands together, her excitement bubbling over. “Okay! I’ve never eaten anything before! I’ve seen food, but—” “Wait. What do you mean you've never eaten before?” “Yup! I don’t need to eat to survive!” She nodded enthusiastically, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. It was hard to believe, but I decided to accept it as just another oddity of the Tower of Ordeal. I had encountered too many bizarre occurrences since entering this place. Tapping on Mung-chi, I had it pull out an emergency ration—a steak—and set out a knife and fork for her. “Wow! That’s so cool!” “Use the knife to cut it and the fork to eat.” While Natalie marveled at the food, Doppy tugged at my sleeve. “Su-Yeok! That’s mine!” Just moments ago, he had been completely smitten with her. Now, at the sight of the steak, jealousy took over. Isn’t this a bit much? It wasn’t like I had taken the steak from Doppy’s mouth. I guess kids all act the same when they have a crush. I gave Doppy a look, signaling for him to let it go. “I’ll buy you another one when we get back to the waiting room.” While Natalie happily took another bite, I gave her a smile and glanced at Ryun. “Ryun, do you know of any games kids like?” “Hmm... games. I... do not... know much... about what.... children enjoy...” “What about you, Doppy?” “I don’t know any games either!” Well, I hadn’t expected much help from them in the first place. Ryun had been an outcast even among his own kind, while Doppy had been born within the tower. Even if they were familiar with some games, they probably weren’t ones a young girl would enjoy—it would have been stranger had they known any. So what would be a good choice? I searched my memory, recalling my childhood. Back then, the playground in front of my house had always been full of kids. I always managed to have fun, even with children I had just met for the first time. Those games should work. Since Ryun couldn’t really move, we had three players. Okay, what games wouldn’t work? Cops and Robbers or Freeze Tag, definitely, since they need more people. I vaguely remembered the rules of Hopscotch, but I wasn’t confident in explaining them, and Hide and Seek would be impractical in such a tiny room. Out of all the games I remembered, Red Light, Green Light[1] seemed like the best option. I turned back to Natalie. Since the steak hadn’t been particularly large, she was almost done eating. “Natalie, have you heard of Red Light, Green Light?” “Well, first, we pick someone to be ‘It.’ Everyone else lines up—” After a brief explanation of the rules, Natalie’s face lit up with enthusiasm. Her golden eyes sparkled with excitement, and even Doppy seemed interested. Since the game was simple, they only asked a few questions before seeming ready to play. Both Natalie and Doppy nodded eagerly. “Since it sounds fun, should we give it a try?” Natalie clapped her hands and hopped up from her seat. “Yes! This sounds exciting!” “Since it’s the first round, I’ll be ‘It.’ That way, I can show you how it works.” Even though I planned to play properly, I had no intention of taking the role too seriously. I would move slowly at first so they could get a feel for it, then flip around quickly to make it more thrilling. “This area by the desk will be the starting line.” After establishing the start and end, I stepped toward the wall. When I placed my hand against the frozen surface, a faint chill seeped through my gauntlet. Something about this brought back old memories of the fun games I had played with childhood friends. I wondered what had become of them. They were probably living normal lives. I brushed the thought away and turned back to face Doppy and Natalie. “Alright, let’s begin! When I turn around, you can start moving forward.” Before I could even finish, Natalie was already nodding eagerly. Her entire demeanor screamed for me to pick up the pace. The anticipation in her expression was impossible to miss. I smirked slightly and pressed my forehead against my hand. “Red... Light... Green Light!” Though I had spoken the first few words slowly, I suddenly snapped the last part out quickly, spinning around without warning. For me, this was a familiar strategy, but for first-timers? They couldn’t react in time. When I had first learned the game in the playground, I hadn’t been able to stop in time, either. As expected, Doppy and Natalie failed to halt in time, and their muscles twitched as they caught themselves from falling. “Haha. Got both of you.” Natalie and Doppy both looked at me, disgruntled. “Huh?! How can you suddenly speed up like that?” “Exactly! Shouldn’t you be saying it at the same speed every time?” Ignoring their grumbling, I shook my head with a laugh. Getting caught and learning the hard way was part of the game. “That’s how the game works. Since it's your first time, I’m letting you learn the hard way. Now, let's try again.” “Ehh? Again? Then we aren’t holding hands?” “Nope. Both of you moved, so the game is over.” “Ugh.” Natalie shot Doppy a glare before stomping off behind the table. I pressed my forehead against my hand once more. “Red Light... Green Light!” This time, I quickened the tempo even more. Fortunately, Doppy had been bracing for it and managed to stop in time. Natalie wasn’t so lucky, however. She had just been about to take a step forward when I turned around, and she lost her balance, unable to stabilize herself on one foot. “Out! Natalie, come here.” “Okay!” Smiling brightly, Natalie bounded toward me and extended her pinky. As I hooked mine around hers, a strange sense of unease washed over me. What? She got caught, but she seems happy. Sure, she knew who I was, but it wasn’t like she was particularly fond of me or anything. Is she just lonely? Maybe she is wary of Doppy because he looks different? “Well then, let’s go again.” Turning away from the grinning Natalie, I closed my eyes again. This time, I didn’t plan to leave a pause. “Red Light! Green Light” Doppy hadn’t anticipated this tactic and failed to stop in time. “Ah! So close!” Doppy sighed, clearly frustrated. I unhooked my pinky from Natalie’s. “Alright, you get the gist of it now, right? Let’s start a fresh game. This time, whoever gets caught will be ‘it.’” Unlike Doppy, who nodded in understanding, Natalie spun on her heel and loudly stomped back toward the table. Then, I heard a small, barely audible grumble. “Stupid goblin.” Now I felt certain about my hypothesis. With how obvious she was making it, I would’ve had to be an idiot not to notice. For some reason, Natalie liked me. Of course, not in a romantic way. It was a simple, human-to-human fondness. Thinking back to what her mother had said about me, there was definitely something I wasn’t aware of. Well, I would find out eventually as the trial progressed. I turned away from the pair again. [Rescue the princess imprisoned at the top of the Ice Castle. Time remaining: 17 hours 27 minutes.] “Phew! That was fun!” Natalie stretched her arms high above her head, letting out a satisfied yawn. It had been an excruciatingly long thirty minutes of playtime. Entertaining kids was far more exhausting than I had expected, and I let out a quiet sigh of relief. At that moment, Natalie turned to me while hugging Neun. I quickly composed myself, forcing a gentle, benevolent smile. “You played really well! I thought I was going to get caught!” “Haha...” I laughed dryly. I felt confident that she knew I had started going easier on them by the end, but I hadn’t expected her to say it outright. She was surprisingly bold. So, is this what princesses are like? Being a royal servant had to be a rough time. “Good. As long as you had fun, that’s what matters. How about you, Doppy?” “It was fun! I wanna play again in the waiting room!” Playing Red Light, Green Light with two people would be absurd. My expression likely gave away my reluctance, as his shoulders slumped in disappointment. Even so, I had no intention of playing the game again in the waiting room. Seeing that Natalie seemed satisfied as well, I grabbed my axe. “Well then, shall we head out?” “By the way, do you know what is outside the castle? This is my first time here, so I don’t know much about this world.” “Unfortunately, I don’t know either! I’ve never actually left this room before!” My attempt to gather more information failed again. I had already gotten the impression that this trial was particularly unhelpful, but this just confirmed it. It was strange. From what I could tell, she had lived here for quite some time yet hadn’t tried to escape. It didn’t make sense. “You’ve never even tried to leave?” “I have! But every time I step out, I get punished by something! I don’t like feeling sick or uncomfortable, so I stopped trying.” That seemed to match my impression of this curious princess; there was no way she could have stayed inside of her own free will. “Can you explain the punishment a bit more?” “Uhhhh. I’m not really good at explaining, but you can just see for yourself! Get closer to the door!” I nodded, then strode toward the door. As I approached the frost-covered ice door, a message appeared before me. [A restriction, either pain or paralysis, will be applied each time a door in the Ice Castle is opened.] [The restriction can be applied to either Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok or Natalie Marlene.] [Please select the recipient of the restriction.] Pain or paralysis. Neither was an easy penalty to brush off, especially when we were likely to encounter enemies along the way. One line in particular caught my attention, however. Only one of us has to bear the restriction. Two options lay before me, just like when Natalie asked to play. Now, how should I deal with this? 1. In the game, one player (the tagger) faces away from the others and says the phrase while the rest move forward. When the tagger finishes the phrase and turns around, players have to freeze. If they are caught moving, they are out. The game gained international recognition after appearing in Squid Game on Netflix, where it was portrayed with deadly consequences. ☜