Free Web NovelChapter 88: Chapter 6: Staircase
"In the corridor between Area B and Area C—it’s just a simple hallway connecting the two departments. Around 8:56 this morning, a dark blue staircase suddenly appeared, leading to some unknown height. A colleague from the marketing department was the first to see it while passing by.
"We checked the security footage. The staircase appeared out of thin air, just like a skipped frame in the video. One second, it was an empty floor; the next, a staircase had materialized.
"Judging by its height, the staircase seems to extend toward the twelfth floor. However, when the security guard on the eleventh floor went to the corresponding location on the twelfth, he found that the ceiling directly above, as seen by people on the twelfth floor, was still just a normal, flat floor. No staircase was extending up.
"At this point, we can be certain this staircase is a supernatural phenomenon. It violates the most basic laws of physics. The top of the staircase leads to a separate dimension, no longer within the physical space of Jin Hai Mansion.
"For now, the staff on the eleventh floor have cordoned off the area around the staircase. Based on current observations, as long as no one actively approaches it, no further anomalies occur."
After hearing the security guard’s explanation, Gao Tian roughly understood why the supernatural event on the eleventh floor hadn’t yet disrupted the normal order and work on the other floors.
This supernatural phenomenon was still in a controllable state. The building was open every day, with so many employees and customers coming and going. A rash lockdown would mean losses in the tens of millions. Since the incident’s impact was currently minimal, the other floors were still operating as usual.
Many supernatural incidents occurred daily in Shanghai. If a building were shut down over such a minor event, no company would be able to stay in business.
"There’s more..."
The security guard had a strange look on his face, hesitating to speak.
Gao Tian asked,
"What happened?"
The security guard thought for a moment but couldn’t immediately find the right words.
"It’s better if I just take you to the eleventh floor to see for yourself."
The two took the elevator and soon arrived at the troubled eleventh floor.
As they passed through several department areas, most of the staff were still working normally. After all, the supernatural staircase’s area of effect was very small, making it a completely harmless presence. You just had to ignore it.
’I really don’t get why Wang Wenbo would panic so much over something this minor.’
Reaching the area cordoned off with yellow tape, they saw a pot-bellied, middle-aged man pacing nearby, constantly on his phone. He looked like a leader or supervisor of some kind.
He seemed angry, wanting the person on the other end of the line to hurry over and handle the situation.
Although the supernatural staircase currently had no effect, it was still a supernatural event, no matter how harmless it seemed. Who knew if it would escalate?
If something were to happen, no one on the entire floor would be able to escape.
"Supervisor Yao, this is the person President Zhu asked for. He’s arrived on the eleventh floor at the appointed time."
The security guard brought the man before the middle-aged man and prepared to leave.
Supervisor Yao temporarily lowered his phone, giving Gao Tian a slightly surprised look.
"When did President Zhu ask for someone to be brought over?
"Are you sure you haven’t brought the wrong person?"
Gao Tian introduced himself.
"Oh, I’m from the... Spirit Disaster Bureau. I specialize in all sorts of supernatural incidents. We received a call for help from your building and came straight over.
"I heard you have a haunting? I came to take a look. Is there a problem?"
As he spoke, he once again activated the Memory Ghost’s effect.
Upon hearing the name "Spirit Disaster Bureau," Supervisor Yao’s expression visibly relaxed. It seemed he had also looked up some information online and was roughly aware of the Bureau’s existence.
"Oh, oh, hello, hello! So you’re from the Spirit Disaster Bureau. My apologies, my apologies. My attitude was poor just now.
"Please, take a look. Use your professional expertise to judge—is this suddenly-appeared staircase one of those supernatural phenomena trending online recently? Is it going to lead to some kind of tragedy?"
He casually tore open the yellow caution tape and led the way.
As Gao Tian followed, he saw many nearby white-collar workers and programmers looking in his direction with curious gazes.
A single supernatural event had left half the floor anxious and uneasy. Now that someone from the "Spirit Disaster Bureau" had arrived, everyone was secretly watching to see how he would use his professional knowledge to handle the incident.
Gao Tian casually brought up,
"Is there someone named Wang Wenbo on this floor?
"He might be connected to a supernatural case. After I deal with this staircase, I plan to take him back to the Bureau for a bit. Would that be convenient?"
Supervisor Yao’s mind was currently consumed by the strange staircase. As long as the man from the "Spirit Disaster Bureau" could get rid of it, anything was fine. He immediately puffed out his chest and guaranteed,
"A small matter.
"Wang Wenbo, right? I’ll talk to his manager. You can take him in a little while."
Gao Tian:
"He won’t get his pay docked, will he?"
Supervisor Yao:
"No. Paid leave.
"How about this: we’ll just give him a week of paid leave. You can take him back and have him cooperate fully with your investigation.
"Cooperating with the investigation of you folks from the Spirit Disaster Bureau is every citizen’s duty, after all."
It was clear that as long as Gao Tian could get rid of this damned staircase, he could do whatever he wanted.
As they talked, the two arrived in front of the staircase.
The staircase as a whole was a gloomy blue, looking like something from the last century. On every single step, the words "Passage to Happiness" were written in a white, printed font.
Looking up, the same words repeated on every step as the staircase extended infinitely upward, far past the height of the eleventh-floor ceiling, reaching toward the twelfth floor and disappearing into an endless darkness invisible to the naked eye.
The staircase’s appearance, like a relic from a bygone era, truly had a sanity-draining quality to it.
"Upstairs... sounds like there’s a noise?"
Gao Tian’s brow furrowed. He tentatively crouched down on the floor before the staircase, listening carefully.
Sure enough, intermittent sounds were coming from high up the staircase.
It sounded like... the roar of some kind of beast?
The roar was terrifying, but from where Gao Tian stood on his floor, it wasn’t very clear. The source of the sound seemed to be very far away.
Just how high did this staircase go? The beast’s roar seemed to be coming from a height of several thousand meters.
One thing was certain. While the staircase that had appeared from nowhere hadn’t caused any real problems yet, it gave off a deeply unsettling feeling, as if something terrible was about to happen.
What’s more, there was some unknown animal at the top of the stairs, and from its cry alone, one could tell it was not to be trifled with.
Although the animal was currently very far from the bottom of the staircase, who could guarantee it wouldn’t suddenly get the urge to come downstairs?
’This staircase really needs to be dealt with, and quickly. If it can’t be removed, the entire eleventh floor should be evacuated.’
Gao Tian turned back and asked Supervisor Yao,
"Did anyone go upstairs before I arrived?"
Supervisor Yao hemmed and hawed, his expression awkward.
"When the staircase first appeared, we didn’t realize it was a supernatural event. We had a security guard, surname Liu, go up to take a look.
"Unexpectedly, after he went up, he never came back down. No matter if his colleagues on this floor called for him or tried his cell phone, nothing worked.
"This is our first time dealing with something like this, so we don’t really know what we’re doing. If we’d known it was this dangerous, we definitely wouldn’t have sent someone up."
Gao Tian:
"How long has that security guard been up there?"
Supervisor Yao glanced at his phone.
"About three hours."
’The guard has probably already been killed up there.’
Gao Tian couldn’t help but ask Director Yao,
"Why would an ordinary person with no knowledge of the supernatural voluntarily go up those stairs?
"For a salary of a few thousand a month, what life-and-death risk are you asking him to take for you?
"If something happened to him on that staircase, aren’t you the one who sent him to his death?"
Just then, a few supervisors walked over with a programmer in a plaid shirt.
"Old Yao, this is the guy you wanted, Wang Wenbo.
"His paid leave has been approved. The colleague from the Spirit Disaster Bureau can take him away at any time."
The man in the plaid shirt was the very same one Gao Tian had seen in the Future Altar—the man who was retching nonstop amidst a sea of fiery ruins, retching until he convulsed.
’It’s him. I haven’t got the wrong person. This is the Wang Wenbo I was looking for.’
Wang Wenbo looked at Gao Tian with astonishment. He didn’t know Gao Tian at all. He had clearly asked Jiang Yang to come help, so why had some guy from the Spirit Disaster Bureau suddenly appeared?
Gao Tian couldn’t be bothered to explain. He had someone take Wang Wenbo to wait in the first-floor lobby.
’Why did the Jin Hai Mansion of the future end up looking like that? Was it because of an attack by supernatural forces? From the looks of it now, it’s inextricably linked to this staircase that appeared out of nowhere.’
’Even though the glimpses from the Future Altar have proven 100% accurate so far, I still want to try and see if I can prevent this future, to minimize the casualties and losses as much as possible.’
"I understand. Given the current situation, it’s difficult to know what’s really happening up there without going up the staircase at least once to check things out."
An idea formed in Gao Tian’s mind. He assessed the staircase from top to bottom and said unhurriedly.
Supervisor Yao’s expression was one of surprise, as if he had just found his savior.
"Are you saying you’re going to go up there yourself to resolve this supernatural incident?
"Ah, thank you so, so much. But... won’t it be dangerous? Is there a time limit? Like, if you’re up there for a certain amount of time and don’t come down, should we assume there’s been an accident and call the police?"
Gao Tian wasn’t an idiot. No one knew where the top of that staircase led. How could he possibly go up himself and take such a huge risk?
"Who said I was going up myself?
"The one going upstairs is this. However, it going up is no different from me going up."
As the thought crossed Gao Tian’s mind, several currents of air materialized on the empty floor. A humanoid puppet, identical in appearance to Gao Tian but composed of flowing wind, appeared out of thin air before everyone.
