Floor 2 - Mansion (1)

**

“…”

I suddenly came to my senses. I was in an unfamiliar place, with no idea when I’d gotten there.

“Where… am I?”

I looked around uneasily. I was standing in the foyer of an old-fashioned, stately mansion.
My first reaction was confusion. I’d definitely been in the elevator just moments ago…

‘Why am I here?’

I tried to recall what had happened immediately before.
I’d gotten into the elevator with Kang Se-rim and Han Gyeong-ah.
What happened after that?

[Arrived at Floor 2 - Mansion.]

‘Right. I heard the announcement.’

We’d arrived on Floor 2.
Then my memory cut off. The next thing I knew, I was here.
Trying to figure out what had happened, I called for Han Gyeong-ah.

“Gyeong-ah.”

No answer.

“Gyeong-ah…?”

I turned around, but no one was there. Kang Se-rim and Han Gyeong-ah were nowhere to be seen.

“…Where did everyone go?”

An ominous feeling swept over me. I frantically looked around.

“Kang Se-rim! Gyeong-ah!!”
“…”
“How could you leave me here by myself?”
“…”
“Quit messing around and come out!”

I desperately searched for them, but only silence answered me. No matter how loudly I shouted, all I got back was an echo.
The two people who’d been right beside me moments ago had vanished without a trace.

‘Or was I the one who disappeared…?’

I’d been transported somewhere without realizing it. The elevator announcement was the last thing I remembered.

“Which means…”

At that exact moment, a long message appeared before my eyes.

Flash-!

“Huh…”

The situation was so absurd that I didn’t even know what to say.
We’d reached Floor 2, but I’d never expected it to work like this.
The whole thing was so impossibly surreal that my brain simply stopped.

“A mansion…”

According to the system, Floor 2 of the Tower was a mansion, a Western-style residence built in a classical style.
At this point, I wasn’t even surprised.
B1 had been a prison and Floor 1 was basically a five-star hotel. What else was I supposed to expect…?
Either way, one mystery had been solved.
Now I knew why the people who went to Floor 2 hadn’t come back down.

‘How were they supposed to come back down when this happened the moment they arrived?’

We were trapped in the Mansion.
Worse, escaping Floor 2 required us to fulfill some kind of condition.

【From this point on, you must fulfill certain conditions on this floor in order to clear it.】

It hadn’t told me what those conditions were. I supposed we had to figure that out ourselves.
The others were probably searching for a way out of the Mansion.

‘I wonder if everyone’s okay.’

I wasn’t too worried about them.
After all, ‘that person’ was among those who had come to Floor 2 first.

The protagonist of 「Tower Death Game」.
There were plenty of other capable people among them too. They’d probably already grouped up and started cooperating.
If anything, we were in more danger. We’d been scattered without warning and abruptly separated.

‘I hope nothing happened to them…’

I was already starting to worry about the two of them. Han Gyeong-ah concerned me more than Kang Se-rim.
Kang Se-rim was bold enough to manage on her own…
but Gyeong-ah was such a coward that she’d probably be too scared to do anything.
Maybe she was already crying while searching for me.

-E-Everyone, where did you go?! Don’t leave me behind…! Waaaaah!!

Something like that.
I could practically see her trembling in fear. She probably still hadn’t gotten over what happened last time either.
The thought made me seriously uneasy. For now, I decided that finding Han Gyeong-ah would be my first priority.
They both had to be somewhere in here, so we’d probably meet soon. With that, I set out to investigate the Mansion.
My current location was the entrance.

“It’s cleaner in here than I expected…”

Dim, gloomy lighting cast an ominous pall over the place.
The entire Mansion felt eerie and unsettling.
When I tried to move forward, my legs stiffened as though every instinct in me were telling me not to.
It suddenly became hard to breathe, and sweat began beading across my body.

“…”

I stood there silently and considered my situation.
Fine. A man had to admit the truth when it was staring him in the face.

…This was fucking terrifying.

My heart clenched as though someone had hung a weight from it. Every sense sharpened until my whole body was rigid with tension.
On B1, there’d been an even bigger super-coward than me, so I’d somehow managed to feel less scared…

“Gyeong-ah… Where did you go, leaving me alone in a place like this?”

I called her name with an aching longing I’d never felt quite so strongly before.
I sounded almost as desperate as when I’d been starving to death underground.
My own big mouth had brought me to the verge of passing out.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve suggested we just stay at the hotel.
How many moves ahead had Lee Sa-hyuk been thinking when he decided not to come because it was too much trouble?

“Phew.”

Calm down.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to settle down. This was exactly when I couldn’t afford to lose my composure.
There was no use crying over spilled milk.
I still had some pride as a man…
If I started whining about being scared before I’d even begun, I’d never live it down.
I looked around the entrance.
Naturally, there was a door leading outside.

It was the only passage leading outside the Mansion and my most obvious means of escape.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Wouldn’t leaving through here clear Floor 2?’

It was only a guess. There was no guarantee that escaping the Mansion was actually the clear condition.
Still, it felt likely.

‘What else would you even do in a mansion like this besides escape?’

It was the most straightforward possibility. It would almost be stranger if that wasn’t the answer.
I turned the doorknob.

Click-

Of course.
Not that I’d expected anything else.
If getting out were that easy, the others would’ve escaped long ago.
I’d need a front door key to get outside. Maybe finding that was the real clear condition.

“Come to think of it…”

The system had given me instructions related to that.

【Investigate the Mansion and gather as much information as possible. It will definitely help you.】

“Fine. I’ll just do it.”

I clenched my fist, psyching myself up. Just then, I noticed a scrap of paper fluttering on the floor.

What’s this?
I picked it up without much thought, and a message appeared.

An item?
The moment I read the note, I regretted picking it up.

“Ah.”

An item that dumped cold water over every ounce of courage I’d managed to scrape together.
It was basically a warning from the Mansion about all the suffering waiting for me.

“What the hell is this supposed to be…?”

I wanted to tear it to shreds, but I stuffed it into my pocket instead.
I was already scared out of my mind, and now the ominous feeling had only gotten worse.
Like hell I was giving up.
I stubbornly made my way down the corridor.
Whenever the fear started getting to me, I pictured Gyeong-ah all alone somewhere.

-Waaaaah!!

A tiny little Gyeong-ah huddled in a corner, bawling her eyes out.
Just imagining it was so cute that my fear vanished.

Much better.
A chuckle escaped me. I’d better find her before something actually happened.
I headed toward the nearest room I could see from the entrance.

A room for receiving guests…?
I cautiously tried the handle. It turned slightly.

‘It’s open.’

Keeping my guard up, I slowly stepped into the Drawing Room.

Creak-

The room was fairly spacious.
A large round table stood in the center, surrounded by chairs.
The room had a solemn atmosphere.
It looked like the kind of place where meetings or important discussions were held.

‘No one’s here.’

The Drawing Room was empty.
Instead, I noticed something unusual on the round table.

“A tea set?”

The refreshments and tea set sat there all by themselves, arranged with elegant precision.
And that wasn’t all.
Steam still curled from the teapot as though it had only just been brewed.
The fragrant scent of black tea filled the air.
Instead of soothing me, it made my blood run cold.

‘…Someone was in the Drawing Room until just a moment ago?’

Had someone been sitting here leisurely enjoying tea?
Neither Han Gyeong-ah nor Kang Se-rim had enough composure to sit around drinking tea in a place like this.
It was unlikely to be one of the others either. Who had time for black tea when everyone should’ve been busy searching for a key?
Then who was it?

“A third party…?”

I remembered the Butler’s Note I’d just read. It had mentioned a series of disappearances in the Mansion…
A chill ran down my spine. Whatever it was, meeting it probably wouldn’t end well for me.
It felt like I’d chosen the worst possible room to enter first. I immediately moved to leave.
But then,

Click, clack-
Footsteps sounded in the corridor.

‘No way…’

Click, clack-
Closer.

Click, clack-
Closer still.

…Someone was coming.

At first the sound was faint, but it grew steadily clearer. The crisp sound of shoes was approaching this way.

One step at a time.
Without a doubt, they were heading for the Drawing Room.
The moment I realized that, I froze with my hand still gripping the doorknob.
My heart felt like it was about to stop.
Extreme fear sent my brain into overdrive.

‘I need to get out of here right now.’

I forced myself to think as fast as possible, but the situation couldn’t have been worse.

‘If I go into the corridor, they’ll see me. But if I stay here, whoever that is will come inside…’

A choice with no right answer.
Either option led to the same end. If I wanted to live, I needed to create a third choice.
I desperately searched every inch of the room, scanning for anything I might have missed.

The round table, the fireplace, ornate decorations, a wall clock…
Then I spotted a ventilation shaft installed in one corner of the wall.

This could work!
My eyes lit up the moment I saw it. I didn’t have much time to think.
I immediately opened the vent.
The cover was loose with age. A little force made it creak and come free.

Clack-

It was just large enough for one person to fit through. It was filthy and disgusting, but I had no reason to hesitate.
I quickly squeezed myself inside and replaced the cover behind me to hide any trace of what I’d done.
Immediately afterward,

Bang-

The door flew open. Whoever had been making those footsteps had entered the room.
The timing couldn’t have been closer.
I’d almost been caught. Another second or two and they would’ve seen me.
Nervously, I curled up and held my breath.

‘Please don’t come this way…’

I cautiously raised my head, but all I could see were the wall and ceiling.
The vent had been installed at an awkward angle that blocked my view.
Maybe that was for the best.
Curiosity killed the cat. Right now, getting as far away as possible was the smarter choice.
Afraid I’d be discovered, I suppressed every sound and started inching away.
As quietly as possible, as stealthily as possible, as carefully as possible…
I crawled through the dark, cramped shaft. Only after putting plenty of distance between us did I finally relax.

“Phew. I almost died…”

It felt like I’d just weathered a violent storm. All the strength drained from my body, leaving me completely exhausted.

Who the hell was that…?
What were they?
Were they even human?
I had nothing but questions, and I didn’t even want to imagine the answers.
I’d learned one thing from the experience. I should never go back to that Drawing Room.

‘That aside…’

Catching my breath, I looked around the passage. I’d been so focused on staying alive that I hadn’t thought about what came next.

“Where am I supposed to go now…?”

Ventilation shafts weren’t assassin infiltration routes. They existed to circulate air through a building.
There had to be an exit leading into another room somewhere.
I just needed to find one and get out.
I had no idea which room it would connect to, but getting out of the vent came first.
Just then, I spotted a faint light filtering in nearby.

‘Let’s try that way.’

I crawled toward the faint light. I reached the exit, only to run into a problem.

Rattle-

The vent wouldn’t open.

‘Huh?’

Looking closer, I saw that the cover was firmly secured.
Unlike the last one, it wouldn’t budge no matter how hard I pulled.
I’d hit an unexpected obstacle. I grabbed it with both hands and pushed as hard as I could, but it didn’t move an inch.

‘Looks like I’ll have to break it.’

Seeing no other option, I resorted to force. I raised my legs and braced one foot against the wall.
Using it for leverage, I drove my other foot into the cover as hard as I could.

Bang, bang-!

At first it didn’t move, but after repeated kicks, the metal gradually began to warp.

‘It’s working.’

I kept at it.
Then I threw all my remaining strength into one final kick.

Crunch-!

The fastener shattered and the vent burst open. But at the same moment, my body pitched too far forward.

“Whoa!”

Unable to control the sudden shift in force, my foot slipped.
I lost my balance and started to topple forward.

“Uh, uh-oh?!”

My body slowly tipped downward.
As I began to fall, I reached out to grab onto anything I could, but…

Clink-

Right. I was still handcuffed.

I’d overlooked one very important detail. Flailing helplessly, I fell out of the ventilation shaft.

“Kyaa!”
“Oww…”

I landed sprawled on the floor and groaned.
Strangely enough, though, I didn’t hurt at all.
Something like a strangely firm-yet-soft mattress had cushioned my fall.
A cushion?
It was too firm for that.
It was warm too, and some parts were surprisingly soft.
Confused, I felt around beneath me and looked down.
My eyes widened.
Only then did I realize exactly what I’d landed on.

“Ugh, that fucking hurts…”

A somewhat rough way of speaking.
A small girl in a school uniform was groaning beneath me.

“…Kang Se-rim?”

It was a completely unexpected, truly dramatic reunion.