That day, A and I went to test our courage at an abandoned love hotel in our hometown.

Even though it was an abandoned love hotel, it had only closed down recently, so while clutter was scattered everywhere, the floors and wallpaper were still in decent shape.

I didn't know why it closed, but rumors of paranormal activity had surrounded the hotel even back when it was open, and people said that reputation was what drove it out of business.

You could definitely feel an unsettling presence and a heavy vibe in the air, but we didn't actually see or hear anything.

After about twenty minutes, A and I got bored, sitting down on a bed in one of the rooms and lighting up cigarettes.

"Our upperclassman said the top floor is supposed to be insane."

A said, as if suddenly remembering.

Hearing that, I stubbed out my cigarette in an ashtray still left in the room and decided we should head for the top floor via the service staircase.

Without stopping to check the floors along the way, we hurried up the stairs.

Passing the third and fourth floors, the staircase leading up to the top floor—the fifth floor—came into view.

The moment our flashlight illuminated those stairs, we stopped dead in our tracks.

Starting from the very first step, only the path leading up to the fifth floor was visibly in ruins.

Having only closed recently, almost nothing inside or outside the hotel was supposed to be run-down.

The floor was blackened as if scorched, and pipes and wires hung exposed from the walls.

That section alone looked severely decayed, as though decades had passed.

Overwhelmed by the bizarre sight, both of us instinctively took a step back.

"What he said... was real..."

A whispered from behind me.

We'd explored all kinds of ruins and haunted spots, but honestly, this time my instincts were screaming that we shouldn't go any further.

"The upperclassmen went up there too, right? Then there's nothing to worry about."

Driven by curiosity, A slapped my back, brushed past me, and started climbing first.

I really didn't want to go, but I hated the idea of him thinking I was chickening out, so I reluctantly followed behind him.

As we passed the landing and I aimed my flashlight up toward the stairs leading to the door, I saw A standing still in front of the door to the hallway.

He wasn't just standing still—he was completely frozen.

"Hey, A? What's wrong?"

I reached the top of the stairs and stepped beside A, who

aimed my flashlight toward where he was staring.

In the middle of the hallway—which was just as rotted and decayed as the stairs—something was there.

The moment I recognized what it was, my spine turned to ice.

There was a woman.

Standing perfectly still, her body was bent forward so far her head almost touched the floor, her arms hanging limply.

Her dangling, matted hair spilled onto the ground, and what little could be seen of her neck clearly didn't belong to a living human.

"A corpse? No... a mannequin...?"

A muttered in a trembling voice.

But that thought was shattered immediately.

The woman's body, which hadn't twitched until now, began swaying slowly from side to side.

Swaying with the steady rhythm of a metronome, her creepy posture and motion left us unable to scream or run.

We could only stare as she kept swaying back and forth.

The bizarre sight and sheer terror made my brain go numb.

A started shaking too, his breathing heavy and ragged.

In the next moment, as her swaying gradually sped up, the woman started coming toward us.

Dragging her limply dangling arms, she steadily closed the distance.

When she got within about fifteen feet, A screamed, slammed the door shut, and sprinted down the stairs to escape.

My legs gave out and I couldn't stand, so I started crawling down the stairs.

Partway down, I managed to scramble to my feet, and as I tumbled down the steps, I heard frantic, violent banging on the door from the floor above.

Imagining that woman bursting through the door, I wept from pure terror as I ran toward A's car.

A had already started the engine, and the second I jumped in, he slammed his foot to the floor and sped away.

Spotting the bright lights of a convenience store, we finally felt safe enough to pull over, buy some drinks, and talk about what had just happened.

A: "We just saw something seriously messed up..."

Me: "Messed up doesn't even cut it. What the hell was that? Did the upperclassmen see that too?"

I said, half-furious.

A: "I'm calling him..."

A pulled out his phone and dialed the upperclassman.

He put it on speaker, and after about three rings, the upperclassman picked up.

Upperclassman: "Hey, A. How was it? Haha."

A: "It's not funny at all, man, seriously..."

A answered, annoyed at the upperclassman's laughing tone.

Upperclassman: "Ah, my bad, my bad. So, about that place..."

A: "Seriously, what is wrong with that place? It only closed down recently, right? Why is it so destroyed?"

A kept going, cutting off the upperclassman before he could speak.

A: "If a legit ghost of a woman was lurking up there, you should've warned us! That thing chased us!"

By that point, A was practically yelling.

A: "And another thing—"

Just as A was about to continue, the upperclassman interrupted him.

Upperclassman: "Whoa, whoa, hold on."

He sounded genuinely confused.

Upperclassman: "Destroyed? A ghost of a woman? What the hell are you guys talking about...?"

Upperclassman: "Aren't you talking about the room at the end of the top floor...?"

He wasn't playing dumb; his voice was dead serious.

Upperclassman: "You saw the graffiti we left in that room, right? That's what you mean... isn't it?"

A: "Huh...?"

At that unexpected response, both A and I froze.

Upperclassman: "And what do you mean destroyed...? I mean, we smashed a mirror in the room, but the floor itself was totally fine. Cut the crap..."

It made no sense.

We had definitely seen it with our own eyes.

The decayed walls and floor, and that creepy woman at the end of the hallway.

As we sat in stunned silence, the upperclassman spoke again.

Upperclassman: "Hey... what floor did you guys go to?"

A: "...The fifth floor."

After a long silence, the upperclassman spoke in a trembling voice.

Upperclassman: "...A."

Upperclassman: "That place only has four floors..."