Anyway, we finally decided to take the elevator.
On the first floor, there wasn’t much besides the banquet hall and the administrative office lounge, so we had to look around elsewhere.
We opened the manual doors and entered the elevator.
“Uh...?”
Fanny, who was about to press the floor button, let out a flustered voice. Curious, I looked in the direction she was staring.
The floor buttons...
There were an overwhelming number of them. The last floor number was 103.
As we stared at the row of buttons, filling up one side of the elevator, we heard a clunk. Squeak—
The elevator started moving, even though we hadn’t pressed any buttons.
It ant that soone on another floor must have pressed the button.
None of us could bring ourselves to speak, staring at each other with pale faces.
Three hours earlier.
Eastern had been quietly reading a book in the after-school dormitory room when he suddenly closed the book.
‘Co to think of it, isn’t the F-class courage test happening today?’
Up until last year, the F-class courage test had never been a problem.
But this year was different. Considering the sudden surge in ghost stories and evil spirits, things didn’t look good.
‘I wonder if that senior will be okay on his own?’
Eastern turned his head and gazed out the window. Beyond the window, Johannes Castle stood in the distance.
As a shaman, Eastern’s instincts were telling him sothing was off.
He was anxious because he felt Raven needed to know about this.
He bit his nails and shook his legs, then abruptly stood up.
“Where the hell did that bastard Raven go?!”
In the end, he left the dorm room to search for Raven.
Johannes Castle is a 4-floor structure. If you find yourself on a different floor while searching for the gateway, don’t panic. If you follow the behavior guidelines written in the manual, they won’t pay attention to you.
Clunk—
We were too shocked to say anything, simply watching as the elevator descended.
That's right. Johannes Castle didn’t have a basent, but we were heading down to a lower floor.
“What is this?”
I heard Leonard muttering.
According to Dante, Leonard had been lucky last year. The team he was part of hadn’t experienced any paranormal phenona and completed the test without incident.
That was because, before they could experience any ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) abnormalities, one of the fourth-year students found the gateway.
The vision of those on the first basent floor is poor. However, their hearing is extrely developed, so you must not make any sound. If you accidentally make a sound, run. Don’t stop, don’t slow down.
Ding—
The elevator ca to an abrupt stop. Through the bars of the elevator doors, I could see the dimly lit basent hallway.
A sign on the wall read "Basent Floor 1."
“What were the guidelines for basent floor 1 again?” Dante mumbled.
“Shh.”
I pressed my finger to my lips and pulled out the "Safety Guidelines for Johannes Castle Students" from my pocket, handing it to him.
I saw Leonard quietly reading it with Dante.
“I’ll tell you before we exit the elevator.”
I lowered my voice and began to speak, with Leonard, Dante, and Fanny looking at .
“If anything unexpected happens, leave behind and run. I’ll be fine.”
I thought it would actually help perform the ritual to banish the spirits if no one was around.
However, Leonard, with a puzzled expression, responded.
“Why would you say sothing like that? What do you think we are?”
“Didn’t you read the safety guidelines? Sothing dangerous might really happen.”
At my question, Leonard shrugged and replied.
“Aren’t those just things written to scare us?”
Anyone who wasn’t used to this would probably think like Leonard.
Even Dante, who had been to the 10th floor, didn’t believe in ghosts.
‘Is it alright to be with these guys...?’
Of course, just because they were students didn’t an they would respond positively to my warnings either.
I looked at Leonard, Dante, and Fanny with a serious face and said.
“Or, if it feels like we’re about to die, use as bait. I’ll be the bait.”
As soon as I finished my sentence,
“Are you crazy?”
“A true gentleman would never use a lady as bait. That’s barbaric.”
Dante and Leonard responded at the sa ti.
Fanny, who had been silently watching, also added her words.
“We’re a team. We need to stick together.”
I was grateful for her words and nodded without arguing.
They still didn’t fully understand the seriousness of the ghost stories. That’s why they could say things like that.
Evil spirits were more dangerous than they thought.
The problem was that neither the school staff nor the students realized the severity of the situation.
‘How can I solve the ghost stories while keeping my teammates safe?’
It was a hassle, but there must be a way.
“By the way, the manual doesn’t list a destination, just says to run. Where are we supposed to run? Where are we supposed to go after running? Where’s the exit?”
At Fanny’s question, everyone fell silent. I pondered the content of the manual and tilted my head.
“Maybe we’ll figure it out as we run? If there’s a dangerous path, it should’ve been ntioned. The part about not stopping or slowing down must be important.”
Clunk—
As soon as I finished speaking, the elevator made another clunk.
When it looked like the elevator was about to move again, Leonard grabbed the lever.
“I agree with what Hastings said. Let’s follow the guidelines for now. And we should leave here as soon as possible.”
Everyone nodded with tense faces, and he pulled the lever to descend.
Screech—
Slowly, the elevator doors opened.
We all stared down the dark, narrow corridor with apprehensive expressions.
“Damn it. Was the courage test always like this? Wasn’t that manual just there to scare us? You guys have done this weird stuff every year? Are you guys out of your minds?”
Leonard, the second-year class representative, said this despite being the one running this year’s event.
“Things were strange last year too, but nothing like this.”
Dante answered Leonard’s mumbling.
Fanny was nearly on the verge of tears. She clung tightly to my sleeve, deciding that my side felt safer than the two n beside her.
Clunk—
As soon as we stepped out, the elevator started moving again, going back up on its own.
“Oh, no...!”
Fanny, panicking, reached her hand toward the elevator, but it had already left.
I turned my gaze toward the dark, endless corridor.
It reminded of the basent of the dormitory.
That’s when I t Ana Bellui. I rember she wasn’t an evil spirit who hard people.
However, the manual clearly stated that we had to run, so it was useless to hope for the best.
Grrrrr—
A deep, hollow beast-like growl echoed from sowhere. It sounded like the wind.
An ominous presence filled the air.
“What kind of place is this?”
“Shh. We’re not supposed to make any noise here.”
Dante replied, as if telling Leonard to keep quiet.
Leonard, with a displeased look, closed his mouth. As everyone fell silent, a chilling stillness lingered in the air.
I checked the rope tied around my left hand again.
At least with this, I felt connected to everyone, which gave so comfort.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap—
From the far end of the dark corridor, we heard the sound of sothing approaching at regular intervals.
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