Izzy squeezed through the crowd into her apartnt building.
There were too many people waiting for the lift pods. Izzy glanced at the dense crowd ahead and decided to take the stairs with a portion of the others.
After the crowd dispersed across various floors, by the ti Izzy reached the 17th floor where she lived, no one else was around.
Just as she stepped onto the 17th floor, she saw the lift pod door open, and two people squeezed out.
She recognized them at a glance—it was the couple from next door.
"Good evening," Izzy forced a smile and greeted them.
The couple rely nodded slightly, their faces full of exhaustion.
Izzy had known them before—they used to live in the sa neighboring town. They were warm and friendly back then. But not long after entering the city, they were confined by this steel cage, and their smiles gradually vanished.
Izzy returned to her rented apartnt. As soon as she closed the door, the smile on her face crumbled.
"Phew, I'm exhausted." She pressed a familiar spot on the wall, and the room lit up imdiately.
What had seed like mysterious magical technology a year ago no longer moved her.
She shrugged, looked down, kicked off her shoes, and walked toward her bedroom.
This small suite was shared between her and another girl. They’d t through a rental agency, and each bedroom had its own lock.
But after living together for a year, Izzy hardly ever locked her door anymore.
The light in the center of the room cast her shadow on the wall.
The shadow looked odd, much thinner than Izzy.
Like a skeleton dressed in clothes, stripped of flesh.
She didn’t notice the strange shadow on the wall and instead dove straight onto her bed, burying her face into the pillow until she felt suffocated, then flipped over.
"I really miss the farm days!" she sighed. "Life in the city is exhausting and dull. There’s no hope of promotion at all. How do people in books co up with such clever ideas?"
Life in Caugust City was undoubtedly convenient, but her job consud almost all of her ti, leaving her with less and less for anything else.
And her job was extrely monotonous—just making a component of a component for a certain magical tool.
She had no idea what the final product even was or what kind of wondrous device it beca.
All core information was kept strictly confidential from ordinary workers like her.
"Honestly, I’ve made quite a bit of money already." Izzy pulled out her savings slips from under the pillow. "One, two, three…"
"I never would’ve dared dream of this kind of money before. Maybe I should just go ho with it?"
She calculated the total of the slips and the amount she’d lose by withdrawing early.
Ten minutes later, she lay back down on the bed, cradling the slips to her chest. "Maybe… maybe just three more years?"
At that mont, she heard a door open next door.
Just now, while calculating her earnings, Izzy had secretly locked her bedroom door in case her roommate returned and saw her.
So when she heard the door open, she tilted her head to confirm.
It was indeed the door to the other bedroom opening.
Strange. Her roommate usually ca back later than her.
When Izzy got ho earlier, the living room light was off, and the bedroom door next door was shut tight. She’d assud her roommate wasn’t ho today either.
She stuffed the slips back under the pillow, planning to slip on her shoes and go greet her roommate.
But just as she bent down to put on her shoes, she suddenly heard her bedroom door handle jiggle twice.
Izzy froze and looked up at the door.
She clearly saw the brass door handle slowly turning halfway.
Click, click…
The handle got stuck halfway and couldn’t turn further—she had locked it earlier.
The brass handle turned back, then slowly twisted again.
Izzy should’ve called out cheerfully, “Coming, coming,” and gone to open the door.
But for so reason today, as she watched the slowly twisting handle, a sense of fear welled up inside her. Her mouth opened, but no words ca out.
Suddenly, she had the eerie thought—what if the person at the door wasn’t her roommate?
But if it wasn’t her roommate, then who had co out of the other room?
Could it be a thief?
The handle twisted again, still stuck halfway.
Then, the person outside gave up.
Izzy heard the footsteps slowly fade away, heading toward the main entrance.
Listening carefully, the footsteps sounded strange too—like the person had a shoe full of sand.
Izzy grew nervous, wondering if it really could be a thief.
But the high-rises built by the wizard lords required a pass to enter each floor. The door outside the apartnt also needed a pass to open. Only the bedroom doors still had old-fashioned locks.
Izzy, now with her shoes on, tiptoed to her bedroom door.
By then, the footsteps in the living room had already faded. She cautiously unlocked her door and opened a crack to peek outside.
Her room faced the apartnt door at an angle, just in ti to see soone walking out.
It was her roommate.
The girl walked out with her head down, her face looking sowhat blurry in the boundary between light and shadow.
"Ah, it really was her." Izzy breathed a sigh of relief, her shoulders relaxing. "Jeez, not saying anything at all—you scared half to death."
Izzy was just about to call out to her when she saw her roommate didn’t even notice her and simply shut the door behind her.
The main door closed with a heavy bang, making Izzy jump.
She fully opened her bedroom door, puzzled as she looked toward the entrance.
"What’s up with her? Was her resignation rejected?"
Her roommate had moved to the city a few years earlier and had recently been complaining nonstop about how exhausting and stifling the life here was. She’d already decided to return to her original village.
Apparently, she’d even written her resignation letter.
So she’d been in high spirits lately.
But today, she looked really off.
Izzy grew a little concerned, wondering if she should chase after her roommate to check in. Maybe she’d co to turn the doorknob just to talk?
But just as she stepped out, she noticed the floor was covered in black footprints.
"Good grief, what did she step in? Her shoes were filthy!"
Turning back, Izzy saw a dark handprint sared on her bedroom door handle.
"Her hand too…?"
Mid-sentence, a wave of fear struck her.
She quickly retreated back into her room and locked the door. She didn’t even dare linger by it, throwing off her shoes and scrambling into bed, wrapping herself tightly in the blanket.
At that mont, several urban ghost stories began replaying in her mind one by one, and the girl’s whole body started trembling uncontrollably.
anwhile, in the hallway, the girl who had just left the apartnt walked slowly with her head down.
But it took her over ten seconds to cross just three or four ters.
Then, she stopped in front of a tightly shut door. She twisted the doorknob—it wouldn’t open without a pass.
She paused, seemingly hesitating, thinking.
Then she raised her hand.
Knock knock knock…
There were a few soft raps.
A voice responded from inside the room.
"Who is it?"
The girl’s expression remained vacant. She said nothing. But after hearing the response, she pounded the door a few tis with greater force.
"Coming, coming!" A clear voice and hurried footsteps sounded from behind the door.
A slight smile tugged at the vacant girl's lips.
But at that very mont, a black tendril suddenly shot out from the stairwell and instantly snatched the girl away.
Monts later, the door she had knocked on opened. A man stepped out.
He looked around the empty hallway, confused, thinking he’d misheard.
"Who was it?" his wife called from inside.
"No one. Maybe Little Bao was banging on the wall again?"
"Smack him."
The man shook his head with a chuckle. Just as he was about to go back in, he noticed a few dark spots on the door.
He reached out and touched them. Tiny black flakes started falling off.
(End of Chapter)
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