If you accidently enter the 7th floor of our school, you will notice that the gradually you’re stepping on the iron stairs with the cracking, chilling sounds climbing up your shoulders. Windows are broken, cold winds, carrying with pale sunlight rushing into the narrow staircase with the roaring sound of trains hurrying through a tunnel, even though it is still a cozy summer night. If you find yourself intoxicated into the pale sunlight, then accept it as your new home. It is time to announce that, you are trapped into the place forever. –Written by an anonymous writer on a small piece of paper, randomly show up at every study hall on campus.
Our school building had only 6 floors. I was not the first one who discovered the 7th floor far beyond the school balcony, but I was sure that I was the first one who was brave enough, to rush inside the abnormal staircase. With the help of the piece of paper, I reopened the door lying on the side of the 6th floor.
Running into the mysterious place accidently on a cozy summer night, I felt like I was entering a wonderland full of mysteries and magic, and as the stairs spiraled up, the scenery gradually changed. The surface of modern concrete walls was peeled down, revealing the brown bricks spreading over with cracks and debris, and windows disappeared, with only railing, letting wind blowing in. As I continued to climb, the stairwell was getting worse and worse, the balcony was covered with dust, and the stairs beneath my feet were decaying wooden planks. As I looked down, the unfathomable void in the middle of the stairwell told me I had risen at least 20 stories.
I looked into my watch. It was 8 P.M., but pale sunlight entering from the small windows, signaling the arrival of the morning. It seems like there is not going to be an end, and as I looked up, above the stairwell is a staircase as far as the eye can see. I decided to went back into the 6th floor, to stop my absurd journey into the endless stairs.
I turned to go downstairs. The wood under my feet creaked, and the sun outside the window rose higher and higher, and it had spread to my body. My legs grew sore, but the surrounding didn’t change significantly. “Is anyone there?” I shouted, but all I heard back were empty towers and echoes crashing against the walls. I pulled out the note that had led me up, dragged my tired body, which had climbed dozens of flights of stairs, and read on:
If you find yourself intoxicated into the pale sunlight, then accept it as your new home. It is time to announce that, you are trapped into the place forever.
But even so, I kept running down. I felt my legs go numb until I saw someone standing downstairs.
I hurried down, only to notice that it was a woman with long, brown hair, wearing medieval armor and holding an unknown bottle in her hand. I tapped her on the shoulder: “hello, do you know how to get out of the place?”
She was startled and turned stiffly. “Who are you?”
“Do you know there is a school at the bottom of this staircase? Do you know how I should get back to that place?”
“What stairs? Isn’t this a tower? How did you get in here? Where did you come from?” The woman was obviously confused. “You came from the bottom half of the tower?” She asked.
“Yes. So how do I get back?”
“I’ll try. I’m not sure. By the way, don’t you realize that most people who come here can’t go back?”
She motioned me up. I followed her meaning, dragging the tired body up. The stairs were still creaking, and after a thousand years, I finally saw a wooden door upstairs.
“Can I go home through that wooden door?” I turned to the woman expectantly. She disappeared, leaving the cold brick walls and tiny windows behind me. “Hello? Where are you?” Just as I was wondering, a faint aroma crowed into my nose. Then a big hand pressed down on my nose. As the aroma hit, my eyelids began to fray and I fell asleep.
“Don’t pretend to be a good person. There’s no way for good people to get into this place.” I heard the woman’s voice in the distance, as if through a thick fog, with the sound of glass breaking into pieces.
I could not remember what happened after I was knocked down. I felt like a stranded fish, swept up in the air by a whirlwind, with no way to control my body. All around is milky white, and I fall in this space, falling and falling, and……
And finally, I woke up, discovering myself sitting on a wooden chair. I looked around. No one was here. The room was in silence, with only candles burning in the corner, dispersing darkness with orange, deem light. I tried to get up from the chair, but looking down, I found that my arm had been tied to the armrest of the chair and could not move.
The candle went out suddenly and the room was again darkened. Gothic decor and ghostly candlesticks accompanied by a powerful voice filled up the entire room. The sound was as husky as the sound of sandpaper grinding wood, and it reminded me of the woodworking class I had at school before I came here.
“Oh, oh, oh, you’re finally awake.” The sound shuffled as if he had met a good friend. “I’m sure by now you’re wondering what happened to you. Right?”
“Where is the place?” Although I did not know who was standing behind me, worrying about myself, I still sent a question. However, silence filled the room again. “Where is this place, please? How do I get back to my world?”
“Well, well, well. It seems that you seemed to realize that you’ve entered a new world. So let me tell you: this is the Land of the Forgotten, a gathering place for felons. Why don’t you think about what you did to get here? Robbery? Murder? War criminal killing thousands of people?”
“Wait. You mean, I, actually committed a crime? I’m not a criminal! You have no right to send me to this place. I have to go……”
“Well, well, well. Stop quibbling for yourself. Every can quibble for themselves. Everyone tries to quibble. I’m not a lawyer, nor an executioner sending you to this place. I’m your guide. It is actually the world picked you to be here. Then again, empirically speaking, the world is never wrong. Ha-ha!”
When the voice laughed, I felt as if 100 jugs were opening around my ears. Shuddering, I asked: “So ho-how could I get out of here?”
“Ah-Ha! That is easy. What’s your name?”
“Thomas. T-h-o-m-a-s. What do you need my name for?”
“Here it is.” The voice murmured, as a small, black, pamphlet fell into my lap. “This is your ID card. You can’t live without this thing after your life in this world.” ‘Said the voice lazily. A gust of wind blew and lit the silver candlestick, while opening the pamphlet.
Looked down, brown paper with a pen with a twist to write a line of words. “This is the mission page. You can choose to complete your tasks or you can choose to ignore them. But you’ll get money for doing it.” The pamphlet turned to another page under the help of wind, and I saw a delicate “1000” printed in red ink in the center of the page. “Here’s your money. Everyone starts out with $1,000. Do not let the number turn to negative. If you’re poor, hum……. You don’t want to know how you will end up.”
The voice paused and finally whispered to me (though still, the sound is big enough that I’m sure that if someone is outside, he could listen clearly), “Ah, as for going back…… When you have completed enough tasks, you’ll finally leave. Don’t worry about it. All right, it’s time for……the journey starts!”
The restraint in my upper arms suddenly disappeared, and my legs could get out of the chair. I got up from my chair with difficulty, feeling the stiffness of my muscles and the pain in my joints. I thought I had been here for some time. Even so, I looked back curiously: there was no one in the room, only a door behind me, only an empty room and a candlestick in the corner.
“You won’t find me. “It was as if the voice had read my thoughts. “I suggest you get out quickly. Or your partner will be mad at you. I don’t think you want to get into a fight on your first day here. “
I grabbed the pamphlet into my pocket, and kicked on the door. The door opened, and a woman stood outside, idly playing with a knife on her waist. She was so frightened that she jumped up, and her sword fell to the ground with a clanging sound.
“Hello, I’m Thomas. You must be my partner. “. This time, I looked at the woman carefully. She wore a cape, and a suit of armor, clearly of medieval style, that covered from her neck down to her thighs. The helmet hung around her waist, swinging slightly as she breathed.
“So, can you explain why you just tried to sweep me off my feet? Obviously taking out of the helmet doesn’t mean I don’t recognize you. “
The woman was clearly a little embarrassed.” I’m sure you’ve heard that people come into this world are felons. I just…… to protect myself. Now, we’re all on the same side of this. Never mind. Just forget about the unpleasantness. One day when you meet someone in the tower, I’m sure you’ll understand.” The woman took out her pamphlet. By the way, you can call me Lisa. What’s our first job? “
I finally got a chance to look around. It was the middle of the night, and we were standing on a dark path, with Gothic castles on both sides. What’s more, all the Windows were completely dark and there was no light at all, not even a hint of light coming out of the gap between the curtains, as if no one lived here. It was uncomfortable, making me hard to breath. ” Let’s talk somewhere else. It’s too dark in here. “Before she finished, I pulled her out of here quickly. I tried to escape, but suddenly I was stumbled by something and fell over. I knocked on something hard and woke up. It was actually my bedside cupboard.