When the employer finished explaining the mission, he straightened up and said in a firm tone:
"Then, let those assigned to the night shift go to their posts."
A faint silence fell, as if even the air had paused. Then, short, hesitant, but unified words slipped from our mouths:
"Alright..."
Everyone began to move, each heading to their assigned location, their steps steady despite the visible fatigue in their eyes. Those assigned to the day shift quietly retreated toward the sleeping quarters, dragging their tired feet after the long day. Slowly, the surrounding sounds faded... footsteps disappeared, nearby breaths drifted away, until no one was left... but me.
I stood there for a moment, frozen in place, as if the ground had glued itself to my feet. I couldn't think—or maybe I had lost the ability to. Sweat trickled down my forehead, not from exhaustion, but from what awaited me.
I had to go... to the second floor. Alone.
I swallowed hard, then took a deep breath, trying to steady my trembling breath. I whispered to myself, barely audible:
"What's wrong with you? It's not that scary... There's nothing there... No ghosts, no strange creatures. Ghosts aren't real, right?"
I let out a nervous chuckle, but it didn't last long.
"Come on... move... just move."
My feet began to move slowly, as if the ground pulled me back with every step. I climbed the stairs one by one, the sound of the wood beneath me crying out in the stillness, announcing my arrival despite my wish to stay hidden.
The moment I reached the second floor, I felt something different... The place was quiet, but not just any quiet. It was a heavy silence, as if the walls were watching me, as if the ceiling was whispering things I couldn't understand.
I turned my head slowly, left and right. Shadows danced on the walls due to the faint lantern hanging at the end of the corridor. No one was there. Nothing moved. But my heart beat like war drums, and my eyes scanned every dark corner as if they were hiding a secret waiting to strike.
Everything was still... only the darkness. The darkness... and the silent voice within me.
...
Several minutes passed... And I was still standing there in the calm darkness. Nothing happened. No sound, no movement, not even a breeze to stir the dust in the faint light. Only that heavy silence that began to wrap around me like a black curtain of anxiety. I kept watching the long corridor ahead, my eyes fixed on it, as if expecting something to emerge... anything.
But nothing came.
I sat on the edge of the stone staircase leading to the floor, leaning my back against the cold wall behind me, pleading... yes, pleading from the depths of my heart for nothing to happen.
I wished the hours would pass without surprises. That this night would be just a regular guard duty, without eerie sounds, without hidden footsteps, without doors creaking open by themselves. I just wanted to watch the emptiness... then return to my bed. But... the night was merciless.
An hour passed, then another... and maybe a third, or so it felt. Time didn't move the same way here, as if it was punishing me for staying awake. Fatigue slowly crept into my body, like a silent crawling beast wrapping itself around me. My head grew heavy, and my eyelids fought against gravity. Sleepiness... It was stronger than anything I had felt that day.
I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to shake off the growing desire to sleep. I ran my hand over my face, then through my hair. I felt the heat gathered on my forehead from standing so long, and a light shiver settled in my limbs.
Then, as if the exhaustion loosened my tongue, I sighed aloud and whispered to myself, my voice barely escaping:
"Why did the employer assign me to the night shift? And not for an hour or two... but twelve hours?!"
I looked at the long corridor again as if expecting an answer, but the walls were silent.
"Is something wrong with his thinking? How am I supposed to guard the second floor alone?"
I turned my gaze toward the room—the wing of Lord Valis. The most important floor... where the most mysterious man in this place sleeps. Guarding him? Alone? I shivered at the thought, not from the cold.
"At least... he could've assigned someone to watch with me... just one person. Even if they didn't speak to me."
But no one was here. No shadows, no sound, no companion.
These thoughts rushed through my head like fiery fists pounding at the door of my mind. With each one, my sense of loneliness and exhaustion grew. All I wanted now... all I wished for... was sleep.
But sleep was forbidden, on this long night, for the lone guardian of the second floor.
...
As time passed, sleep crept toward me like a drop of water seeping through a crack in an old wall. I closed my eyes for a moment... just a moment, like someone stealing a second of rest. But that moment, that fleeting second, was shattered suddenly by a strange sound...
A sound coming from the direction of the storeroom.
I froze in place.
A sound... a click? A rustle? I couldn't clearly tell, but it certainly wasn't my imagination.
My eyes widened instantly, and I felt my body stiffen as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice on me. My heart pounded hard, then harder, as if my chest had become a war drum beaten in the night.
I didn't know what would strike me first... a stroke or a heart attack.
My thoughts stumbled, and I told myself in a tense whisper, "R...relax... No need to panic... It must be the wind... Yes, just some mischievous wind."
But... the sound came again. Clearer this time. The same faint clicking, but closer.
My mind stopped for a moment, and sweat poured from my forehead, as if my body was trying to extinguish the fire that had suddenly ignited within me.
I realized it was my duty to investigate. The storeroom might contain something... or someone. Maybe an assassin, a thief, an unknown creature... or just a giant rat playing on the wooden crates.
I looked at the corridor leading to the storeroom door, and it seemed longer than it did during the day, as if the shadows had stretched, or were watching me, waiting for me to come closer.
I muttered to myself, "Maybe I'm the biggest coward in the world... No, I definitely am. But..." Then I stared ahead with forced resolve and continued, "When I have a duty... I do it. That's who I am. That's my nature."
I took a deep breath, then another, trying to gather the remains of my courage. I stepped heavily toward the storeroom, each sound from the floor beneath my feet like a slap to my ears. When I reached the door, I stood still.
In a whisper, I said, "On three, I go in... One... two... three."
Quietly, I extended my hand and opened the door. A light creak, as if the door itself protested my action.
I looked inside... pitch black. No lamp, no moonlight. Just thick darkness revealing nothing. But I had come this far, and there was no turning back.
I stepped into the storeroom slowly, like someone walking into a bad dream. I placed my hand on the wall and moved forward slightly. I looked around, hoping to see something, anything... but there was no one. No sound, no shadow, no strange breath. Just the smell of old wood, dust, and silence.
I sighed in light relief and told myself with a shaky smile:
"As I thought... it was just the wind."
But that relief didn't last.
Suddenly, with a sharp and unexpected noise...
"Thud!"
A faint thud, then silence...
My body trembled, and my eyes instantly darted toward the sound.
I looked at the closed door, and the air felt heavier than before.
I stood frozen, not moving, not even breathing.
And in that moment, I clearly remembered those classic moments from horror games in my previous world... those scenes where doors close suddenly, the character turns around... and something terrifying appears behind them.
I gasped inwardly, hesitating.
I realized then... if I looked behind me now, it might be the end.