Chapter 36: Guarding the Elevator
In just half a day, of course they couldn’t truly learn much—let alone transform a rookie into a gun‑wielding expert.
They had only two magazines, and those were needed for the mission, so there was no real chance to practice.
Under the patient—even somewhat repetitive—instruction of the black‑hooded girl, Han Su learned only the most basic actions: disengaging the safety, reloading a magazine, holding the gun, aiming, and so forth.³
Soon it was already five o’clock.
A staff member reminded them, and all of them followed into a room, where they found someone already sitting in a chair, waiting.
It was a chubby man wearing small spectacles. He looked about Han Su’s age, with a youthful face.
Now, however, he was trying hard to appear professional and authoritative—but to no avail. No matter how tense he looked, he exuded an air of amateurism.
In front of him stood the camouflage‑clad man from the military and several other trainees assigned to the same mission as Han Su.
Especially when the camouflage man stood there, his posture straight and steel‑like, he only highlighted how unlucky the little fat man was—a random extra—and how the camouflage man was the true professional operative.
“Have you all brought your weapons and equipment?”
Seeing them arrive, the little fat man’s uneasy expression softened slightly. He stiffly said, “In half an hour, we depart.”
“In this test, I am your referee, one of your examiners, and also your bodyguard—ready at any moment for unexpected situations. Additionally, I am your team leader, responsible for issuing orders!”
“Understood?”
Han Su nodded instinctively; the camouflage man had already shouted, “Understood!”
The little fat man tugged at his ear, shot a resentful look at the camouflage man, and then focused on Han Su’s face.
He said, “Before the mission starts, if any of you have questions, I’ll select those I deem appropriate to answer. But once the mission begins, no one is allowed to speak!”
“You’ll each have a walkie‑talkie, but only I have the authority to use it to communicate externally—understand?”
“……”
This time, everyone replied loudly, “Understood!”
“Good!”
The little fat man waved his hand grandly and said, “Very spirited—now, move out!”
The trainees immediately followed him out of the Disaster Management Bureau.
Looking up at the night sky outside, they felt the past few days’ experiences were somewhat surreal.
Two black armored vehicles were already waiting at the entrance.
They bore no markings or names—just entirely black paint, with a twisted snake stenciled on each right door.
They climbed in, and without a sound, the vehicles started, weaving them through the streets under the dark sky.
The neon glow and bustling crowds outside contrasted sharply with the oppressive silence inside the vehicles.
Although the little fat man said they could ask questions, they now knew so little about the mission that they didn’t even know what to ask.
Around 9:30 PM, the group arrived at the mission site and disembarked in turn.
Looking up, they saw a fifty‑story tower seemingly piercing the night. All its windows were pitch‑black, with only the lobby on the ground floor dimly lit.
At this hour—prime time—it should have been bustling, yet the building was utterly empty, pitch‑dark with no signs of life.
“Let’s go.”
The little fat man had the driver park, and together with Han Su, the camouflage man, and the other trainees, they each donned their handgun and walkie‑talkie, and entered the building.
Inside, all the elevators were out of service—except for one still lit.
The little fat man led them onto it, rode directly to the thirty‑ninth floor, then used the walkie‑talkie to order the one remaining elevator to be shut down, and proceeded to Area B.
It was pitch‑dark there—four elevators, all completely out of service, and not a single person in sight.
Only a few chairs had been placed there.
The little fat man yanked one chair out and positioned it directly in front of the elevator on the left side of Area B. Then, picking up the walkie‑talkie, he reported that the temporary team members and Team Leader Zhao Da’er were in position and waiting for the mission to commence.
He then transmitted a signal check and confirmed that nothing unusual was detected nearby. He glanced at his electronic watch and patiently waited.
And then—nothing happened.
Whether it was in the mission envelope or in the little fat man’s instructions, this was their mission: one person, one chair, divided left and right, staring fixedly at a powerless elevator.
It was a ridiculously pointless assignment: in an emptied building, they were to sit silently and stare at a seemingly powerless elevator.
The guns couldn’t leave their hands, and no one was to take their eyes off the elevator simultaneously.
From 10 PM until 3 AM.
If anything living appeared inside the elevator—no matter who—it was to be shot immediately.⁴
Looking at the time on the digital watch, it wasn’t even 10 PM yet. Han Su finally couldn’t hold back and quietly asked, “Why are we waiting in front of the elevator?”
Among the trainees, someone had already become visibly tense.
The camouflage man, who was sitting upright, immediately turned his head upon hearing the noise and said stiffly, “Our responsibility is to carry out the mission, not to ask questions.”
This line not only rebuked Han Su but even left the Chubby Man a little stunned.
After a moment, he quietly said, “I don’t think I forgot to tell you—before the mission starts, you’re allowed to ask questions, right?”
“Right.”
Han Su said, “The mission starts at ten o’clock, and there are still thirty minutes left.”
“Exactly.”
The Chubby Man let out a sigh and said, “This is tonight’s mission. In fact, this will also be the bulk of what you’ll be facing once you officially start working as members of the Disaster Management Bureau Execution Division.”
“It’s not just you who find it hard to get used to.”
When he said this, he even looked a bit regretful, his voice helpless: “One walkie‑talkie, one pack of cigarettes, sitting for an entire day. When my family found out I joined this department, they thought I’d made it big. Who would’ve thought I’d be doing this kind of crappy work every day?”
Han Su frowned slightly and said, “Then what exactly is strange about this elevator? Why are we watching it?”
Upon hearing the question, even the camouflage man next to them visibly pricked up his ears.
The Chubby Man hesitated, as if weighing whether he could answer. Then he said in a low voice, “Do you know how many people have gone missing in this building this month?”
Han Su immediately followed up: “How many?”
The Chubby Man said, “Five!”
‘Only five?’
Han Su didn’t know whether he should feign surprise to go along with it.
“Besides…”
The Chubby Man’s tone grew more serious and mysterious: “It was only after our department received the report and notified the Investigators to collect evidence that it was confirmed five people had gone missing. But before the report, how many unrecorded people disappeared here—who knows?”
“Of course, missing persons are just a statistic. To this city, it’s like a drop in the ocean, barely any impact.”
“Do you know who we’re guarding against by standing here with guns?”
“……”
Finally, a trainee couldn’t resist and followed up: “Who?”
The Chubby Man lowered his voice and stared dead at the pitch‑black gap in the elevator: “It’s the people who come out of the elevator.”
“Come out?”
Han Su looked toward the elevator.
From its appearance, it was no different from the elevators found in regular office buildings.
It even looked slightly old, embedded naturally into the wall, lined up with several other elevators.
Most importantly, this elevator had clearly lost power—the display panel was completely dark.
This building had already been placed under the Security Department’s special supervision.
At six o’clock every evening, all the building’s staff would be cleared out completely.
No people. No power.
So, if they were guarding here with guns—who were they guarding against? Who were they supposed to shoot?
“Come out…”
A trainee, clearly creeped out, stammered the question: “The ones who come out—what kind of people are they?”
“Grotesque.”
The Chubby Man enjoyed the frightened expressions of the rookies. He chuckled and said, “A type of entity that constantly seeks to penetrate our reality. Most of our future work will be dealing with these.”
“If monsters were to emerge from this elevator, do you think we’d go through all this trouble to assign people to guard here?”
Hearing this, everyone felt a chill in their hearts, but a question rose in Han Su’s mind: “Why not just seal this elevator with cement?”
“Blow up the building—bury it directly!”
“Or send in an armed unit with guns and rocket launchers pointed at the elevator…”
“……”
“It won’t work.”
The Chubby Man said, “If a powerless elevator can still run at certain times, if people can emerge from it into an empty building and then blend into the outside world, then sealing it with cement won’t work either.”
“This thing has the ability to distort reality—it doesn’t follow logic.”
“What we can do is follow the recommendations given by the Investigators: at this specific time, stay here, and shoot any living thing that comes out of this elevator that shouldn’t be operating.”
“Among all the possible ways to deal with the grotesque, human beings are the most efficient and cost‑effective expendables.”