Chapter 16 — The Hidden Floor
The corporate building had always seemed imposing in the daytime, with its mirrored windows and chrome pillars. But under the dead silence of night, its hallways felt cavernous, breathing with a life of their own. Kaito stepped out of the elevator, heart racing. The panel had never shown this floor before.
"Basement 3?" he murmured, checking the flickering panel again. He had pressed B2, yet here he was.
The lights were dimmer. Fluorescent tubes buzzed overhead, casting long, twitching shadows along the corridor. The stench was stronger here—acrid, almost chemical, and laced with a putrid sweetness that made his stomach churn.
He clutched his toolkit like a weapon. Every nerve in his body was strung tight. The events of the previous nights had changed him. No longer was he the same man who bowed and took orders like an obedient machine. He had killed something—something that should not have existed. He had felt its blood.
And now, he felt something watching.
He advanced slowly, listening to the sound of his own breath. A low skitter echoed faintly in the distance. Kaito stopped, crouched, and reached into his bag, pulling out a flashlight. It flicked on with a weak beam.
He swept the hallway.
The walls here were different—older, raw concrete with cracks spidering through them. Mold crept from the corners. This floor wasn't just hidden. It had been erased.
The flashlight beam stopped. Ahead, a large metal door loomed, sealed with a keypad.
Kaito hesitated. No one had told him about this. His manager had said B2. And yet, the elevator had brought him here, as if by command.
Is this the nest?
He stepped forward. The keypad blinked. A cold female voice echoed:
"Welcome, Exterminator Kaito. Clearance granted."
He jumped back, flashlight trembling.
"W-what? How does it know my name?"
The door hissed open. Beyond it, darkness.
Kaito entered, compelled as though sleepwalking. The air inside was thick. He could hear the distant hum of machinery, or perhaps... chittering.
The corridor widened into a chamber—a grotesque mockery of an office floor. Desks and chairs were torn apart, papers scattered and stained. The walls were lined with strange egg sacs, pulsating softly. They emitted heat.
A cold breath passed his ear.
He spun around.
Nothing.
Then he saw it. At the far end, a cocoon. Human-sized. Strapped to the wall.
He edged closer. The wrappings were silky and hard, almost plastic-like. He brushed it with his gloved hand, and the cocoon twitched. A face inside screamed silently.
"Holy..."
Suddenly, a shriek echoed through the chamber, high-pitched and furious. From the ceiling, a mass of legs uncoiled.
The creature dropped.
It was nothing like the previous one.
This one was armored in obsidian-like plates, with glowing red veins coursing across its body. Its head was bulbous, but split open with a horrific mandible, rows of serrated teeth twitching. It stood taller than him, four arms twitching. Its lower body bristled with stingers.
Kaito froze.
The creature hissed and charged.
Instinct kicked in. He ducked and rolled, grabbing a modified sprayer from his bag. It blasted a pressurized cloud of concentrated agent directly at the monster's face.
The bug shrieked, clawing at its eyes, but its body kept moving.
Kaito stumbled backward, swinging a crowbar. The impact clanged off its chitin, sending shock up his arms.
"Damn it, that did nothing!"
He pulled a flare from his pouch and struck it. Light burst in red, casting eerie shadows. The bug recoiled.
They hate light. Noted.
It lunged again. Kaito dodged, slipping on some ooze. The bug's claw scraped his leg, tearing fabric and skin. He gasped.
Blood.
He gritted his teeth, crawling toward his toolkit. His hand landed on a canister—not pesticide, but a prototype: a thermal gel compound, experimental. He yanked it free.
"Please work..."
He pressed the nozzle. A white blast erupted, coating the creature.
Steam hissed.
The bug screamed, twisting in agony as the gel ignited on contact with its body heat. Flames burst across its torso.
It flailed, striking walls and desks.
Kaito didn't wait.
He ran.
Behind him, the creature collapsed with a final, ear-splitting screech. The cocooned figure fell limp.
Kaito paused only a second. He reached the elevator, slammed the button, breathing heavily.
As the doors opened, the last thing he saw was the cocoon splitting open behind him, another shape slithering out.
He would never forget those words the elevator whispered:
"Welcome to Level 0."
End of Chapter 16