11:45 sharp.

I stared at the second hand on my watch, my heart pounding as if it would explode. The agreed-upon one-hour service time had finally arrived! Finally arrived! I almost burst into tears, this feeling of surviving a disaster made my entire body tremble.


I took a deep breath, trying to make myself appear calm, then turned to Nora behind me with what I thought was a pleasing smile: "Miss Nora, time's up, the service... is over, right?"

There was a kind of careful expectation in my voice, like a primary school student being lectured by a teacher, afraid of saying something wrong. From the corner of my eye, I secretly observed her expression, praying that she would give me an affirmative answer.

Nora stopped what she was doing.


She slowly straightened up, and I could hear the subtle sound of her clothes rustling. Then she walked in front of me, her face still maintaining that perfect, flawless smile. That smile was like one painted on porcelain, so perfect it seemed somewhat unnatural.

"Sir, you've worked hard," she said softly, her voice still maintaining that calm without any emotional fluctuation.


A tremendous hope welled up inside me. She said I'd worked hard, did this mean the service was really going to end? I could barely contain the celebration in my heart.

But what happened next extinguished the hope that had just ignited within me.

Nora smiled and slowly took out the price list from behind her back. I remember clearly that on the previous list, there was a blood-red "Extension" option, with a price marked by a pulsating symbol I couldn't understand.

With her slender finger, she gently pointed to that blood-red option, then said in a monotone voice: "Sir, would you like the unlimited extension service?"

Unlimited extension.

These words struck me like lightning, instantly shattering all my hopes.

I understood now, I finally understood! This was nothing but a trap! The so-called rule-following, the so-called waiting for time to expire, these were all illusions! They never intended to let me leave from the beginning!

"No... I don't need it," my voice trembled violently, "I just want... want to end the service and go home..."

"Then let me introduce you to this special service item." Nora maintained that terrifying smile, "The unlimited extension service allows you to forever enjoy our most attentive care. All it requires is this small price."

She pointed at the strange moving symbol in the price column. I could see it more clearly now - it wasn't any writing or number I recognized, but some kind of living thing that kept writhing and changing shape, like a miniature life form.

"I don't need it!" I almost shouted, "I just want to go home! Please let me leave!"

"Sir, are you refusing our service?" Nora's tone remained calm, but I sensed a dangerous atmosphere beginning to permeate the air.

I remembered that line written in blood: "Do not make Nora unhappy."

I was caught in a dead loop. If I agreed to extend the service, I would never be able to leave. If I refused, I would be breaking the rules, and the consequences might be even more terrifying.

"I... I..." I stammered, my brain completely scrambled.

With trembling fingers, I typed on the forum: "She wants me to choose unlimited service extension! The price is a living symbol! It's a trap! It's been a trap from the beginning!"

Replies poured in instantly:

"313: What?! Unlimited extension?!"
"314: OP don't choose! Don't choose at all costs!"
"315: This is clearly a trap!"
"316: Find a way to escape quickly!"
"317: OP stay calm! There must be a way!"

But now there is no way out. I'm trapped in this room, facing a non-human entity, and all the rules are designed to keep me trapped here.

I stared at Nora's unnervingly perfect smile, at the price list with blood-red options in her hand, at the hollow waiting look in her eyes.

My last psychological defense completely collapsed.

"Enough!" I let out a beast-like roar, "These bullshit rules! What bullshit service! It's all fake! It's all a scam!"

I don't care anymore, I don't care about anything!

Following the rules offers no escape; this itself is a carefully designed trap! From the first second I entered this room, I was already trapped! Those so-called rules are just to make me obediently wait for my final fate!

"I want to leave! I want to leave right now!" I shouted like a madman.

My gaze frantically searched around the room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. Just then, I spotted a glass on the small table nearby, with half a cup of tea in it.

Without any hesitation, I grabbed the glass and smashed it hard against the only mirror on the wall.

"Crash!"

The sound of shattering glass seemed particularly jarring in this enclosed room. The mirror broke on impact, fragments clattering all over the floor.

At the very moment the mirror shattered, everything changed.

Nora's perfect smile showed cracks for the first time.

Those cracks were like broken porcelain, starting from the corner of her mouth and slowly spreading across her entire face. Her skin began to peel off, revealing something inhuman, pitch-black, and full of fissures underneath.

That was not a human face.

That was some kind of horrifying entity that I could not understand, could not describe, and could not even look at directly.

"Ahhh!" I let out a terrified scream.

But the more horrifying part was yet to come.

The physical laws of the entire room instantly collapsed.

The walls began to flow like water, the once solid concrete turning into a viscous liquid, slowly streaming downward under the force of gravity. The ceiling was also melting, with the white paint dripping down like lava. The floor began to undulate, rippling like ocean waves.

Space itself began to warp.

The once rectangular room transformed into an impossible geometric shape, where the boundaries between walls and floor disappeared, and up, down, left, and right lost all meaning. I felt as if I had fallen into a liquid three-dimensional maze.

Nora, or rather, the thing that had been disguising itself as Nora, began to "float" toward me.

I say "float" because her movement completely defies gravity and the laws of physics. She approaches me at an angle I cannot comprehend, in this distorted space. Her body sometimes vertical, sometimes inverted, sometimes moving on the "walls" or "ceiling" in impossible postures.

Her face is no longer in a human shape at all. Behind that shattered face is a deep darkness, like the void of the universe, and strange red lights flicker within those cracks.

"Sir..." she continues speaking in that calm tone, but her voice has become hollow and resonant, like an echo transmitted from far away, "the service isn't over yet."

I desperately try to escape, but in this distorted space, I can't even determine which direction is the exit. Whenever I think I'm moving toward the door, I find myself back in my original position.

Another object in the room began to transform. The computer screen grew enormously large, still displaying the forum page, but the text began to twist and writhe like snakes slithering across the screen.

I realized that I must warn others in these final moments!

With all my strength, I lunged toward the computer keyboard through the chaos. My fingers trembled violently, but I still managed to type on the keyboard.

That horrifying entity disguised as Nora was getting closer and closer, emitting a stench that nearly suffocated me. The smell was like a mixture of rotting fish and mold, with a metallic, bloody undertone.

I must hurry, must send out the warning before she catches me!

My fingers frantically pounded on the keyboard: "The mirror! Don't look in the mirror! Don't look at her..."

Just as I was about to continue typing, that terrifying entity extended its "hand." I say "hand" because it no longer resembled anything human. It was some sort of black thing covered with tentacle-like appendages, each ending with sharp claws.

Its "hand" grabbed my shoulder.

An unprecedented coldness spread throughout my entire body from the point of contact. It wasn't merely physical coldness, but rather a chill fundamental to existence itself, as if my life force was being directly drained away.

I felt my consciousness beginning to blur, my vision growing dim.

With my last bit of strength, I glanced at the computer screen. My post had successfully been sent. The forum was instantly flooded with countless replies:

"OP?!!"
"What happened!"
"Call the police, quick!"
"OP, answer us!"
"What's going on?!"
"Does anyone know the address of Twilight Haven? Call the police quickly!"
"OP!!!!"

But I no longer had the strength to reply.

That cold sensation became more and more intense. I felt my body beginning to lose feeling, as if it were being frozen. My vision grew increasingly blurry, and the entire world was sinking into darkness.

In the final moment before losing consciousness, I vaguely heard the terrifying entity's last words:

"Now, the true service..." Her voice no longer sounded human at all, more like an echo from the depths of hell, "has only just begun."

Then, everything fell into eternal darkness.