CH 78

In this twisted mansion filled with ruin, the rules were working properly, at least, as if that was the final resolution of the building. The clover on the door inside the fireplace was red. The space we arrived at was more spacious than the hall on the top floor.

There was an elevator on one of the walls.

“The doorless room,” I ended up muttering when I saw the place. Then, I turned around to look back at the hallway that we came from. Obviously, but there was no door between this wide space and the hallway we came from. The only door was the one we used to enter the hallway.

“The doorless room was the biggest in the building and contained an elevator. This elevator would only take you down.”

I realized what a “doorless room” signified.

“I see… the living room.” On top of that, I realized why the central hall of the uppermost floor had an elevator. Just like how the elevator that only went up took you to the living space on the top floor, the elevator going down was also hidden in the living space of the mansion. And the entrance was hidden in a fireplace. “Good thing we entered this place.”

The room was appropriate as a living room as it was round and wide. Aside from the elevator door, there was nothing else on the walls that was reminiscent of a door. There weren’t even trap doors on the floor.

In the middle of the room, there was a table and chairs with an antique charm that looked like those which noblemen of olden days would use to enjoy teatime. A carpet that looked old but high quality lay on the floor, and along the wall were sculptures, vases, paintings, and candle sconces. The ceiling had sparkling chandeliers which added to the extravagance of the room. There were several bookshelves along the wall, although no books lined the shelves.

Each piece of furniture was elegant, imposing, and luxurious, but they were all neglected and had a white layer of dust on their surfaces. The beautiful chandelier was broken in places and half the shelves were collapsed, making it difficult for them to perform their original function. The buffalo hide couch was motheaten, and there were a few tables with no legs rolling around. Cracked vases, torn portraits, bent candles, and a filthy carpet littered the room.

The forgotten living room had aged since it was last occupied.

“If this is the doorless room, then the map of the mansion must be here,” Woorim said after looking around. I grinned bitterly and peered into the vase with a chipped lip. “That is if everything is running according to the rules.”

“True,” Woorim agreed in a tone unlike when he had threatened Seogeung Ahn with the presumption that people who broke the rules died. Woorim walked up to the elevator and pressed the button on the wall. The button lit up, and a mechanical whirring came from somewhere in the building. Thankfully, the elevator seemed to be operating just fine.

The elevator looked like the one we took when we first arrived. If anything, this one was a bit more battered, but they both looked disused. The elevator doors opened and revealed the interior. Nothing was different about the inside.

Despite the door opening, I was hesitant about getting in. Because of the events that happened in the mansion so far, I couldn’t trust that this elevator would be safe. To add to that, I couldn’t imagine what the bottommost floor would look like.

“Here.” Because I was visibly hesitant, Woorim handed over the flashlight to me. I took it without thinking, and he walked over to the elevator in long strides. “I’ll go down first.”

“Why?”

“Because if the stairway is padlocked like the one we saw upstairs, then we’d both be locked in.”

That made sense. Going down together was good and all, but we needed to use the stairs to return. If we were met with a locked door in the middle, then we’d be trapped downstairs, powerless.

“If I get stuck downstairs, please come to get me.” Woorim grinned brightly.

I frowned. “Then at least the flashlight…” I tried to return the light to him, but he shook his head.

“You need to find the keys and the map. As long as I don’t enter any rooms, I can feel my way to the stairs in the dark.” After he said that, Woorim pressed the button to close the elevator doors. I grabbed onto the doors that were about to close and hurriedly said, “Don’t die, okay?”

He seemed to be taken aback by my words as his eyes became round. However, I was dead serious. “I don’t want to see another person die. So please don’t die. Ever.”

“…You’re telling me to stay safe very grimly.” Woorim smiled slightly and kissed my forehead. He whispered to me softly, “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

Only then, I was reassured and let go of the elevator door. I stepped back slowly, and the door closed with a clunk. The elevator carried Woorim down.