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My name is Min-Ji, and I don't know if I'm still alive.
It started as a dare from my friend Hana—film myself doing the Elevator Game and post it on our horror TikTok channel. We'd done fake rituals before, nothing ever happened. But this one… this one was different.
The rules were simple:
Get in an elevator alone.
Visit floors in a specific sequence.
If a woman enters on the 5th floor, do not speak to her. She's not human.
If you reach the 10th floor, and it looks wrong—you've entered another world.
It was past midnight. I picked an old, barely-functioning apartment block in Gangnam. Tall enough. Abandoned enough.
I brought my phone, a portable light, and a backup battery.
I followed the steps exactly.
4th floor… 2nd… 6th… nothing.
Then—5th.
The doors opened.
She stepped in.
Long black hair, white hospital gown, bare feet. Her head was tilted like her neck was broken. She didn't say a word. Just turned… and stared at me.
I looked down. I remembered the rules. Don't talk. Don't look.
I hit the next floor—10th.
The elevator moved.
Ding.
The doors opened.
Dark hallway. Flickering lights. No windows. The air smelled like rust and burning paper. My phone screen glitched for a moment, then turned off. My breath fogged the air, but the elevator felt hot.
I stepped out.
The moment I did, the doors closed.
I was alone.
Somewhere.
There were no sounds. No exit signs. Just endless halls, identical doors, and shadows that seemed to move when I wasn't looking. I ran. I screamed. No one came.
Then I heard it.
Ding.
The elevator opened behind me. But it wasn't empty.
She was there.
Smiling.
I jumped inside, slammed the button for 1st floor, over and over. My hands were shaking.
The lights flickered.
The doors closed.
Silence.
Then, I woke up.
In my bed.
Home.
Except…
The sky outside my window is red.
My phone won't connect to anything.
And every time I open the elevator in this building—
—it's always the 5th floor.
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