It was coated in a thin layer of transparent, viscous slime, pulsing with a faint, intermittent red glow.
I stared at the lever, ignoring the scratching sounds of the crawling hands as they began closing in again, the distraction from Noor and Sam already fading.
"Is… is this the elevator's reset?" Leo asked quietly, his eyes fixed on the red lever.
His expression still held that mix of cautious hope and deep suspicion.
There was no time to hesitate or analyze.
"I don't know for sure, sir," I replied, cautiously reaching toward the lever, ignoring the slime covering it.
"But considering we're stuck in a corridor made of flesh and bone… and there's a swarm of severed hands eager for a warm human touch rushing toward us…"
I made my judgment.
"I think anything that looks like a control mechanism is worth trying… even if it means we blow this cursed floor up ourselves."
"Click… click… click…"
The crawling hands, their glowing red eyes fixed on us, had already passed through Sam's shadow field.
They were closing in fast, the scratching of their bony fingers against the fleshy ground enough to make my scalp prickle.
"What are you waiting for, Adam?!" Noor urged, her voice trembling.
"Pull it! Push it! Do something before our fingers become part of them!"
I glanced at Leo. He nodded decisively.
We didn't have many options.
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to ignore the worsening stench, and grabbed the large red lever.
It was cold—and stubbornly fixed in place.
I tried pulling it with all my strength.
"Ghh—!"
It didn't budge.
I tried pushing it forward.
Nothing.
It was stuck like part of the wall.
Damn it… damn these twisted puzzles! Of course it wouldn't be that simple.
I was about to search for markings when I noticed something.
Four small circular holes on the side of the lever, arranged in a perfect square.
Beside each hole, a faint engraved letter:
"N" at the top.
"S" at the bottom.
"E" on the right.
"W" on the left.
Compass directions?
"Leo," I whispered quickly as the hands drew closer,
"Do these letters mean anything to you?"
He stepped closer, examining them.
"Compass directions… but how do we use them? The lever doesn't move that way… are they just decorative?"
A compass.
Then it hit me.
The symbols on the elevator doors in the lobby—the twisted faces, the shifting floral patterns.
One symbol repeated.
A distorted compass. A main arrow… with smaller arrows branching in a sequence.
Could it be… a directional sequence?
I couldn't remember clearly.
But Leo might.
"Leo," I said urgently,
"those carvings on the elevator doors—did you notice any directional pattern?"
He paused, eyes narrowing.
"Yes… I think so. A main face looking upward… north. Then a flower tilting right… east."
He paused again.
"Then something like a snake flowing downward… south. And a carved hand pointing left… west."
North… East… South… West.
N… E… S… W.
No time to doubt.
"Get away from us!" Leo shouted, kicking away the first hand that tried to climb his leg.
"I'm trying something!" I yelled, grabbing the lever again.
This time, instead of forcing it, I pressed the holes in sequence—nudging the lever slightly in each direction.
North.
"Click…"
East.
South.
West.
"Clack… CHUNK!!!"
A sharp metallic sound.
The lever suddenly moved smoothly as I pulled it fully toward me—like it had been waiting for that exact input.
"It… it worked!" Noor gasped, smashing a crawling hand with her flashlight.
But for a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
"GROOOOOOOOWL!!!"
A terrifying roar echoed from deep within the corridor behind us.
The Pale Entity.
Damn it—did we call it back? Or was it waiting all along?
"It's back! Move!" Leo shouted, shoving me forward.
"Noor! Sam! To the elevator—now!"
The crawling hands froze—
Then retreated rapidly into the fleshy walls, as if fleeing something far worse.
That was all the confirmation we needed.
Even they're afraid of it.
We ran.
Our footsteps echoed wetly as something fast and heavy slid behind us.
"The elevator—I see it!" Noor shouted, pointing ahead.
Too far.
Way too far.
"Don't stop!" Leo barked, pushing us forward.
My lungs burned. My heart pounded violently.
Sam reached the elevator first and hit the open button.
The doors began to open—slowly.
Too slowly.
Then—
"Ah—!"
Noor tripped.
She crashed to her knees just steps from the elevator.
"GROOOOWL!!"
The Pale Entity was already there.
Its long shadow stretched over her.
Its clawed arm rose.
She's dead.
I couldn't reach her.
No one could—
Except—
Leo moved.
Faster than I thought possible.
He didn't pull her away.
He stood between her and the creature.
"Leo! Don't!" I shouted—but my voice was drowned out.
He didn't try to block.
He knew it was useless.
Instead—
He reinforced his body with mana—
And threw a full-force punch straight into the creature's chest.
"GRAAAAAH!!!"
"CRAAAAACK!!!"
Two things happened at once.
His punch didn't stop it—but it slowed it for a split second.
That was enough.
But—
Its claws tore into his extended arm.
"SHRRRK!!!"
Flesh tore.
Bone cracked.
Leo was thrown into the air.
Blood sprayed violently across the corridor.
"AAARGH!!"
A real scream.
Raw.
He suppressed it through sheer will.
A deep, horrific gash ran from his hand to his forearm, exposing white bone.
He had saved Noor—
At a terrible cost.
"BOOM!!"
He slammed into the elevator entrance.
Noor crawled inside, sobbing.
"Leo! Leo!!"
Sam grabbed him, pulling him in.
The creature hesitated—just for a second.
Then roared again.
"GRAAAAGH!!!"
It's coming!
I slammed the close button.
"Move! MOVE, DAMN IT!" I shouted.
The doors began to close.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
Two meters.
One meter—
"DOOOOOOM!!!"
At the last second—
The creature's arm shot through the gap.
"Nooooo!" Noor screamed.
But the doors—
Stronger than they looked—
"CRAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"
A horrifying sound.
Bone crushed.
Metal groaned.
Then—
The arm was severed.
"THUD!"
It dropped inside the elevator, twitching violently.
"BAM!!!"
The doors shut.
Sealing us inside.
The creature slammed against them outside, roaring in fury.
"Huff… huff…!"
We collapsed.
Leo groaned, clutching his mangled arm, blood pooling beneath him.
Noor cried silently, trying to stop the bleeding.
Sam stared at the severed arm, frozen in shock.
I just looked.
At the arm.
At the doors.
Relief.
Guilt.
Horror.
We survived.
Barely.
Because of Leo.
We almost died.
"This punishment floor… was far worse than I imagined.*
"Leo… your arm—we need to stop the bleeding!" Noor said urgently.
"I'll… be fine," he said through clenched teeth.
"What matters… is we made it out…"
He leaned back, breathing heavily.
"Now… we need to get this elevator working… or all of this was for nothing."
I looked at the dead control panel.
The frozen indicator.
What did the lever do?
"BOOM!!"
The elevator suddenly shook.
Not falling—
But violently shifting sideways.
Metal screeched.
The gears had started moving again.
The lights flickered—
Then stabilized into a dim yellow glow.
And the old indicator—
Moved.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
Past "G."
Past a "B" we had never seen.
Then downward.
Toward unknown symbols.
"Ki-kaak!"
It stopped—
Not on a number—
But on a strange symbol.
Like a closed human eye surrounded by thorns.
Or a sealed gate.
Then—
With a long metallic hiss—
"Fwoooosh…"
The doors opened.
But not to the fleshy corridor.
Not to the hotel lobby.
Something else.
Something impossible.
My eyes widened.
Not just in fear—
But in sheer, incomprehensible astonishment.