Seoul Penitentiary was no joke for Annadare.

She had been charged with the deaths of Jeong Kyuhyun and ten other men. The case had attracted widespread attention, turning her into a notorious figure across South Korea.

During the trial, Annadare's defence argued that she had been ambushed by Kyuhyun and his men. However, her original intention to assassinate Kyuhyun complicated her case.

In the end, the court sentenced her to life imprisonment.

Now, Annadare sat inside her prison cell, dressed in an orange uniform.

She stared at the concrete wall.

“Life imprisonment, huh?”

She leaned back against the wall and sighed.

“So much for my perfect plan.”

Her precognitive dream had warned her about the eleven enemies. She had prepared herself for the fight, but she had never expected to end up behind bars.

Annadare lay down on her narrow bed and stared at the ceiling.

No weapons.

No disguises.

No escape route.

For the first time in years, she had no mission to prepare for and no target to hunt.

She closed her eyes.

“Whatever. I'll deal with tomorrow when it comes.”

Outside her cell, the prison continued its usual routine.

The doors remained locked.

The guards continued their rounds.

And Annadare had no idea what awaited her beyond the walls of Seoul Penitentiary.

At the student quarters, Nafi placed the injured rabbit inside a cardboard box lined with a clean towel.

The rabbit had brown fur dotted with white spots. One of its hind legs had been caught in a mouse trap, leaving a wound near its paw.

“Poor thing,” Nafi murmured.

He examined the leg without moving it too much.

“Thank God it doesn't look broken. But there's a lot of swelling.”

He noticed a pocket of pus near the wound.

“An abscess, huh?”

Nafi washed his hands and prepared a small set of wound-cleaning supplies. He put on a mask and gloves, then paused before touching the wound.

He was a medical student, not a veterinarian. He knew that rabbit abscesses could be complicated, and attempting to drain one without proper training might make things worse.

He took out his phone and searched for a nearby veterinary clinic.

“Alright, little buddy. Let's get you proper treatment first.”

The rabbit twitched its nose.

Nafi glanced at the wound again, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Still, I'd like to know how a wound like this develops into an abscess.”

He looked at the rabbit, then at the medical supplies he had prepared.

“At this point, I might consider becoming a vet.”

The rabbit stared back at him.

Nafi sighed.

“Don't look at me like that. I'm trying to help.”

At Seoul Penitentiary, Annadare was transferred to a cell shared with other female inmates. Each woman had her own story, and each had been imprisoned for a different crime.

A guard led Annadare down the corridor before stopping in front of a cell.

“D-13. This is your new cell.”

Annadare looked at the sign beside the door.

D-13.

She stepped inside.

The cell was modest, with two narrow beds, a small table, and a barred window. A woman was sitting on the lower bunk, folding her clothes.

The woman looked up.

“New roommate?”

Annadare said nothing as she placed her belongings beside the empty bed.

“I'm Soka,” the woman introduced herself.

“Annadare.”

Soka studied her for a moment.

“Wait. You're the woman from the news, aren't you? The one who killed eleven men?”

Annadare glanced at her.

“News travels fast.”

“Hard not to hear about it when the guards keep talking.”

Soka returned to folding her clothes.

“I'm here because I killed a man who tried to kidnap my daughter.”

Annadare paused.

“You killed him?”

“I did.”

Soka's expression hardened.

“He thought he could take my child and get away with it. I made sure he couldn't.”

For a moment, neither woman spoke.

Annadare leaned against the wall, studying her new cellmate.

One woman had entered a deadly confrontation while pursuing a target.

The other had killed to protect her child.

Their crimes were different, and so were the circumstances that had brought them here.

Yet both had ended up behind the same prison bars.

Soka broke the silence.

“So, Annadare. What brought you here, really?”

Annadare looked toward the barred window.

“Bad planning.”

Soka raised an eyebrow.

“That's all?”

“That's all you're getting for now.”

For the first time since entering the prison, Annadare almost smiled.

Perhaps D-13 wouldn't be as unbearable as she had expected.

As the day passed, Nafi headed to a nearby grocery store.

His shopping basket was filled with vegetables: carrots, leafy greens, and several bundles of fresh herbs. He also picked up his usual groceries for the week.

At the checkout counter, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Nafi?”

He turned around.

It was Heechul, one of his classmates.

Heechul looked at the basket, then back at Nafi.

“Are you becoming a vegetarian?” he joked.

Nafi glanced at his groceries.

“No?”

“Then why are you buying enough vegetables to feed an entire family?”

“I'm taking care of a rabbit.”

Heechul blinked.

“A rabbit?”

“An injured one. I found it near my apartment.”

Heechul leaned closer to inspect the vegetables.

“So, you've become a rabbit dad?”

Nafi stared at him.

“Please don't call it that.”

“Too late. What are you going to name it?”

“I haven't decided.”

Heechul grinned.

“Call it Carrot.”

“That's terrible.”

“Bro, you're literally buying carrots for it!”

Nafi paid for his groceries and picked up the bags.

“I'm leaving.”

“Say hello to Carrot for me!”

“I'm not naming it Carrot!”

Heechul's laughter followed him out of the store.

Nafi sighed as he walked home.

He had a strange vision, a murder mystery to think about, and an injured rabbit to care for.

Now, apparently, he also had a classmate who wouldn't leave him alone about becoming a rabbit dad.

Nightfall came.

At 2200, the prison guards ordered the inmates to return to their beds and sleep.

Annadare lay on her narrow mattress, staring at the ceiling.

The room was unfamiliar. The mattress was uncomfortable, and the sounds of other inmates shifting in their beds kept distracting her.

She turned to one side.

Then the other.

“Seriously? How am I supposed to sleep here?”

Soka, already lying on the opposite bed, grumbled.

“Keep your voice down. Some of us are trying to sleep.”

Annadare sighed and closed her eyes.

Fine. If she couldn't sleep naturally, she would have to improvise.

One sheep.

Two sheep.

Three sheep.

She continued counting in her head.

By the time she reached one hundred, her thoughts finally faded.

Annadare fell asleep.

Then, she opened her eyes.

Something felt wrong.

She was standing beside her own bed.

On the mattress lay a woman wearing an orange prison uniform, her short hair resting against the pillow.

Annadare stared at the sleeping figure.

She recognised the face.

It was hers.

She looked around the cell. Soka was still asleep on the opposite bed, completely unaware of what had happened.

Annadare slowly looked down at her hands.

She could see them.

She could move them.

She could feel the cold air against her skin.

“What the hell?”

She pinched her arm.

Nothing.

She pinched harder.

Still nothing.

Annadare looked back at her body lying on the bed.

“Am I dead?”

She approached the mattress and waved a hand in front of her sleeping face.

There was no reaction.

Her breathing appeared steady.

Her chest rose and fell beneath the thin blanket.

Annadare frowned.

“If I'm dead, why am I still here?”

She glanced at the cell door.

Beyond the bars, the prison corridor stretched into darkness.

Then something caught her attention.

A faint glow flickered at the end of the corridor.

Annadare turned toward it.

For the first time since her imprisonment, she felt something stronger than frustration.

Curiosity.

“Alright,” she muttered. “Let's see what this is.”

She took a step toward the light.

And the world around her began to change.