The result was something she hadn't expected.

Hikari was actually on the very top floor of the hotel.

After climbing so many floors, her delicate jade legs were about to break.

And what made her despair was, the building seemed to have ninety-nine floors, and she had only climbed a little over thirty.

That is to say, if she wanted to take revenge on Hikari, she still had to climb over sixty more floors.

'Such a tall building will tire someone to death… No, will tire a ghost to death!'

Miss Mary collapsed to the ground, her legs trembling nonstop, the expression on her face even a little aggrieved.

'Maybe… maybe I should just forget about taking revenge on that guy named Hikari, climbing stairs is just too exhausting…', Miss Mary even had thoughts of giving up.

"No! I can't just go back like this!", Miss Mary suddenly shook her head.

If she went back like this, she would definitely be mocked by other urban legends, maybe even become the laughingstock among them, and she would disappoint her friend Hanako too.

"Besides, that damned human actually dared scheme against me, hiding on such a tall floor. I must find that guy, hang him up and give him a proper beating!"

Thinking of the mocking laughter of the youth on the other end of the phone, Miss Mary bit her silver teeth tightly.

She had to come up with a way to get to the very top floor of this hotel.

"Really don't know how that guy, just a mere human, managed to get up that high."

"Wait…"

"If a human can get up, I can definitely get up too…"

"I got it, that guy must have taken the elevator up!"

'Baka!'

Miss Mary raised her small hand and suddenly smacked her forehead, her face full of anger. She was truly furious.

She had actually forgotten about the elevator.

Humans had things like elevators, after all.

Otherwise, in such a tall building, even with her strong urban legend physique, she was this exhausted from climbing. How could a human possibly get up there?

She really had climbed to the point of dizziness. She hadn't thought of this at all just now.

Miss Mary was feeling extremely speechless at the moment.

But thinking that she finally had a way to approach that arrogant human, who seemed not the least bit afraid of her as an urban legend, she felt a little happy too.

Using her little red umbrella to prop against the ground, Miss Mary tremblingly got up from the floor.

Gently dusting off her lolita dress, Miss Mary walked to the stairwell exit and tried to push the door open to go take the elevator.

But to her dismay, the door was actually locked.

"This crappy hotel!"

After grumbling a few complaints, Miss Mary had no choice but to tremble her legs and climb a few more floors.

Finally, she found an escape exit door that was open.

She pushed the door and went in.

The bright lights of the hallway, after the long climb in darkness, made her a bit uncomfortable.

But she quickly adapted and came to the elevator, pressing the ↑ arrow button.

Very soon, the elevator arrived. Miss Mary stepped in gracefully with small dainty steps.

As the elevator doors closed, the elevator began rising rapidly.

After all, the building was this tall, the elevator speed was naturally fast.

"Phew… taking the elevator is really comfortable…", Miss Mary rubbed her sore legs and stretched her waist.

The feeling inside the elevator was just too pleasant. Not only did she not have to move at all, but it was bright and air-conditioned.

"I'll be at the top floor very soon."

"When I reach the top, I'll hang that arrogant guy up, give him a good beating, and then…", Sitting in the rapidly rising elevator, Miss Mary had already begun fantasizing about how to harshly punish the man who had made her look so pathetic.

But just as she was immersed in her happy thoughts, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, suddenly, an accident occurred.

BANG!

A loud noise echoed inside the elevator.

———

["Hello, I am Miss Mary, I've reached the seventy-first floor of the hotel!"]

["Hello, I am Miss Mary, I've reached the eighty-third floor of the hotel!!"]

["Hello, I am Miss Mary, I've reached the ninety-fifth floor of the hotel!"]

["Hello, I am Miss Mary…"]

Sitting inside the rapidly rising elevator, Miss Mary looked at the floor numbers rising on the electronic display, unable to suppress a hint of a smile.

'Human inventions are really great. Taking the elevator is so comfortable, much better than walking up.'

At this rate, in less than half a minute she would reach the top floor. Then, she would ruthlessly torment that cowardly human hiding at the top.

"Just you wait, that guy called Hikari!", Miss Mary clenched her fists, her little face gritting her teeth.

———

BANG!

With a strange loud sound, the elevator that had been rapidly ascending suddenly stopped. The force of inertia made the entire elevator shake violently a few times.

This sudden violent shake caused Miss Mary's petite body to sway left and right, her steps unstable. She nearly fell to the ground.

Not that Miss Mary was really as weak as her appearance suggested.

It was just that moments ago, she had been deeply immersed in imagining how she would torture the scheming human once the elevator reached the top. She had fully committed to that daydream, so this sudden change really startled her.

Frightened pale, Miss Mary quickly used her little red umbrella to prop against the floor and steady herself.

But before Miss Mary could even figure out what was going on, another anomaly occurred in the elevator.

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

With a few strange sounds, the previously well-lit elevator suddenly went dark. The lights shut off completely, and the once-bright interior was plunged into pitch blackness.

The elevator was stuck mid-air, and the inside was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

As if the power had gone out, even the air conditioning shut off, and a wave of stuffy heat surged in.

"Thi-this this this…"

This sudden series of events left the once-so-pleased Miss Mary dumbfounded. Her little head was full of question marks, utterly confused.

"What the heck is going on!", Inside the elevator, Miss Mary let out a loud shriek, her voice even carrying a trace of fear.

She didn't know why the elevator had suddenly malfunctioned, nor did she want to figure it out.

Because this pitch-black, enclosed elevator filled her with intense fear.

It felt like she had returned to long ago, back when she really was just a doll. Back to the days when she was stuffed inside a dark cabinet by that little girl.

Her petite body began trembling nonstop, her breathing rapid, heart rate accelerating.

Mary feared these dark and enclosed spaces, perhaps a psychological shadow from the past.

Just like humans with claustrophobia.

Miss Mary leaned against the iron wall of the elevator, her tiny frame shivering.

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?"

"What should I do?"

Staring at the pitch-black space inside the elevator, Miss Mary felt like she'd become that tiny doll again, stuffed into a cabinet by a little girl, helpless and panicked.

———

[Richter Hotel, 99th floor, Luxury Presidential Suite]

Hikari leaned against the headboard, answering the ringing phone beside him.

["Dear esteemed guest, hello. We've followed your instructions and shut down both elevators leading to the top floor,"] The slightly husky voice of the hotel's female manager came through.

"Good."

["May I ask if you have any other instructions?"], the hotel manager asked respectfully.

"Hmm… leaving them shut like that isn't ideal. Might affect other guests, hurt your hotel's business. How about this, restore the elevators to normal operation in a bit."

"But before you do, inspect them carefully. I suspect your elevators might have some issues."

Hikari spoke calmly.

["Ah! Okay!"]

The hotel manager was actually quite puzzled by Hikari's words.

Just now, Hikari had suddenly called to ask her to shut down two elevators in the hotel.

That request was honestly a bit strange and rude.

But given he was a VIP guest whom Miss Louisa had repeatedly instructed them to treat with utmost care, and because the elevators didn't seem to be in use at the time, the hotel manager gave the order anyway.

Now, Hikari had given a rather reasonable explanation.

———

"Elevator malfunction? That can't be. Our hotel uses only the top-grade elevators and they're inspected weekly," the hotel manager murmured in confusion.

"Also, this handsome gentleman is clearly in his room, how would he even know the elevators have issues? And he only took one to come up…"

The manager couldn't figure it out. She didn't understand what Hikari was really after.

If he had just asked her to keep him company for the night or send a dozen pretty young waitresses to attend him, she would've done it right away.

But all of Hikari's requests since entering the hotel had been bizarre.

Like insisting no one be on the top floor, shutting down the elevators. All extremely odd.

Still, if she disobeyed and Hikari complained to Louisa, and that lady got angry, it wouldn't be impossible for her to get fired.

So unwilling to take that risk, the hotel manager followed his instructions and contacted the elevator inspection team.

"Go check the two elevators we just shut down. A guest mentioned possible malfunctions."

"There shouldn't be any issue, we just inspected all of them this morning," The elevator technician replied.

"Just check as I say! The guest complained, and this is a serious matter of guest safety!", Unlike her polite tone with Hikari and Louisa, the manager now put on her serious face.

The maintenance staff didn't argue and began the inspection.

"Huh… one elevator really seems to have had a problem. There was no one in it, but it suddenly rose from the first floor to over the ninetieth…", The technician checked the systems and surveillance, sounding shocked.

"What? Then hurry and fix it! This is a huge safety issue! If anything happens to a guest, it'll be a disaster," The hotel manager was momentarily stunned, then quickly urged with panic.

This was no small matter. The elevator staff also dared not slack off and immediately took action.

"Yamamoto, quickly bring that stuck-in-midair elevator down to the ground floor. We need to inspect it!"

"Got it!"

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