Chapter 504

The lobby of the mansion was bathed in the light of the setting sun.

The red light pouring through the massive western windows cast long shadows across the marble floor.

It was as if the window had been intentionally designed for this very moment.

It was positioned in the most ideal spot, at the perfect size, to view the sunset in its fullest glory.

Perhaps it was because of the rules written on the paper.

There were many rules related to the sun, like the first rule, which seemed particularly focused on it.

I stood by the window in my shark onesie, slowly watching the sun make its way toward the horizon.

I opened the rulebook in my hand again.

“So, the rule related to the sun in this lobby is… Rule 6.”

<6. When the sun sets, all the employees leave. Anyone left after sunset is absolutely not an employee.>

So, does that mean the employees turn into monsters when the sun sets?

Or does something else happen?

I glanced at the employees in the lobby.

As the sunset deepened, their movements began to change subtly.

At first, the changes were minor—slightly stiffer steps or an unnatural angle when they turned their heads.

But as time passed, the discomfort became more pronounced.

And with each tick of the grandfather clock, its sound echoed through the lobby.

Normally, it would have just been background noise, but now, it sounded like an ominous signal, foretelling something.

The sound grew louder, sharper, with each passing second as the sun descended.

The sun was now nearly touching the horizon.

Its red light deepened, casting a strange, blood-like atmosphere over the entire lobby.

The crystals of the chandelier caught the light, glittering like drops of blood.

Staying in the lobby to witness the changes after sunset seemed intriguing.

It would be interesting to watch how the employees transformed, and how this quiet space would twist in response.

But for now, I decided to make a different choice.

To fully enjoy the terror the mansion had prepared, it seemed more fun to play the role of a “regular guest” who followed the rules.

I slowly turned and began walking toward Room 401.

Thud thud.

The sound of my footsteps in the shark onesie echoed throughout the quiet space.

Behind me, the ticking of the grandfather clock in the lobby grew louder, almost as if urging me to hurry back to my room.

I turned the old brass key, and with a heavy creak, the door to Room 401 opened.

The interior, frozen in time, felt like a scene from an old movie.

Inside the neatly square space, a single bed was pressed against the wall, and opposite it, there was a mirror.

What was strange was that facing the mirror, there was another mirror.

The two mirrors reflected each other endlessly, creating an eerie optical illusion.

It seemed as though the room stretched on forever, or that a portal to another dimension had opened.

A heavy crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, and on one side, there was a door leading to the bathroom.

But what caught my attention the most was the large window on the western wall.

Outside the window, the sky was painted red.

The sun was just about to sink below the horizon, casting its final rays.

It was while I was admiring this red landscape that the sudden sound of bells filled the room.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

It was the sound of the grandfather clock, echoing from somewhere.

Though it was just an ordinary clock sound, it felt strangely like a forewarning.

It was as if something was about to happen once the sun set, as if the clock was warning me to hurry and prepare.

Hehe.

A smile spread across my face without me realizing.

It was finally the moment when the true terror of this mansion theme park was about to begin.

Curiosity led me to open the paper in my palm again.

<2. There are no windows in the hallway. If you open a door and find a window in the hallway, immediately close the door and do not leave.>

<….>

<14. If you see the moon outside the window, close the curtains. Never look outside. The moon does not rise in this hotel.>

<9. All passages leading to the outside of the hotel, except for the black door, are not to be used. If for any reason you go outside, you must return as quickly as possible.>

<….>

<6. When the sun sets, all the employees leave. Anyone left after sunset is absolutely not an employee.>

<3. When using the bathroom, make sure the light is on. If the light goes out during use, close your eyes immediately and leave the room.>

<….>

<If you lose this rulebook, it will never be reissued.>

‘?’

But something was off.

Unlike when I received the paper in the lobby, the rules were all jumbled up.

In fact, some rules seemed to have changed, or completely disappeared.

I couldn’t remember all the rules except the first one that was gone, but…

Well, it didn’t matter.

I slowly opened the door to Room 401, intending to experience Rule 2.

I poked my head out into the hallway and looked around.

I peered curiously.

‘No windows in the hallway.’

That meant it was safe.

With a playful smile, I stepped into the hallway.

Thud thud.

Every step I took echoed down the long hallway, filling the space.

I walked slowly, glancing at each door along the wall.

417, 432, 411…

The room numbers were all mixed up, without any particular order.

Just moments ago, the numbers had been in sequence when I headed toward 401, but now, it was as if someone had deliberately scrambled them.

Every time the fluorescent lights above flickered irregularly, eerie shadows rippled across the walls.

With every step I took, the old wooden floor creaked ominously.

For an ordinary person, just witnessing such a scene would have sent chills down their spine.

Even I, walking down this corridor out of simple curiosity, couldn’t shake the feeling that perhaps there was a window I had missed.

With each step, the lights behind me flickered off one by one.

It was as though someone was following my footsteps, extinguishing the lights.

The darkness seemed to be chasing me, and the faint footsteps I could hear seemed to create the illusion that someone was right behind me.

I turned around, feeling an odd sensation, but the corridor was empty.

In fact, the fluorescent lights in the spots I had just passed were still burning brightly.

It was just like a scene out of a horror movie.

I passed through the eerie hallway and finally reached a corner where I turned right.

This hotel’s corridors were strangely winding, creating many maze-like sections.

As I rounded the corner, I came face to face with an unexpected sight.

‘!’

Beyond the corner, a large window spanned across the wall.

Ssshh, ssshh.

I heard an ominous sound behind me.

It was the sound of something sliding, like sticky blood dripping.

I slowly turned around, and in that instant, the entire space seemed to shift.

The corridor I had just walked was no longer the same—this was a different hallway entirely.

It was a spatial shift.

In this new place, the hallway was nearly identical to the one I had just passed, except instead of doors, there were large windows hanging along the wall.

The moment I recognized the windows, they all turned a blood-red hue.

Then, blood began to drip from the cracks in the windows, and the amount increased rapidly.

The red liquid poured like a waterfall into the hallway.

Under the flickering fluorescent lights, the red water filled the corridor, and a monstrous figure with a human shape began to slowly emerge from it.

‘Here it comes!’

It looked just like a scene from a horror film.

I stood there, watching it all unfold, and quietly smiled as the creature locked its eyes on me.

The woman, pale and trembling, sat on the small bed, gasping for breath.

“What should I do…?”

She suddenly realized that she had forgotten something important.

She had left the rulebook behind.

Even if she knew all the rules, it was a hopeless situation without it.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

The ticking of the grandfather clock seemed to signal that there wasn’t much time left.

The woman swallowed hard, her expression set with resolve, and she stood up.

“I have to go get the paper…”

Slowly, she opened the door.

Creeeak.

The door opened with an ominous sound.

She turned to look at the window, confirming that the sun had not yet set, and stepped outside.

“It’s okay. I can do this.”

Muttering to herself, she carefully surveyed the hallway.

<2. There are no windows in the hallway. If you open a door and find a window in the hallway, immediately close the door and do not leave.>

She couldn’t remember all the rules, but fortunately, Rule 2 still lingered in her mind.

Confirming that there were no windows, she let out a sigh of relief and cautiously took a step.

Thud. Thud.

With each step she took, the sound of footsteps seemed to follow her.

It was as if the darkness was chasing her.

The mixed-up room numbers.

The flickering lights.

The creaking wooden floors.

The woman felt as if she might faint at any moment, but she covered her mouth with her hands, breathing heavily, and slowly moved forward.

Finally, as she rounded another corner, she…

Saw the window.

“Yikes!”

She gasped but couldn’t even scream, swallowing her fear, and began running back to her room.

“This can’t be. This can’t be. This trick is a scam.”

As she ran, blood began pouring from the window.

The dimly flickering lights.

And within that blood, a familiar silhouette of a girl appeared, and the woman froze in her tracks.

Blood-soaked.

Countless dismembered corpses scattered around.

It looked as if humans had been violently torn apart, with their body parts strewn across the floor.

And standing above them, calmly watching with golden eyes, was the girl in the shark onesie.

The shark girl grinned at her, as if she had seen something amusing.

Her sharp teeth were dripping with blood.

Kraaang!

With a horrifying scream, the girl lunged forward, and the woman lost consciousness.