The Elevator That Shouldn't Exist
The fifth floor was too damn high. Just another ordinary day. As always, I rushed through only the essential teacher duties and headed straight for the club room out of habit. By now, my routine trek to the Paranormal Investigation Club room felt more natural than stopping by the staff room. Hell, the club room might as well be my home. But that didn't mean everything about it was perfect. I had exactly one gripe with the club room: its location. The Paranormal Investigation Club had been assigned a room on the highest floor of the 1st Main Building—the fifth floor, no less—and tucked away in the farthest corner.
Sure, we needed that specific room to use its rewind ability... but climbing those stairs every single time was brutal. I'd gotten used to inconveniences like this since reincarnating into this world, but familiarity didn't make them any less annoying. Even today, just thinking about dragging myself up to the fifth floor had me sighing before I even reached the stairs.
"Haa, if only there were at least an elevator..."
Once we sealed away the Outer God and everything was finally over, I'd empty my pockets to install one in this academy if I had to. Technology like that could be solved by throwing enough money at it, right? Griping to myself like that, I braced for yet another tedious stair climb—when something caught my eye that absolutely shouldn't have been there.
"...Am I seeing things?"
My first thought was that I might be hallucinating. But no matter how much I rubbed my eyes, it wasn't an illusion. Right next to the central staircase of Everlight Academy, in the space between it and the staff room—where there should have been nothing—an elevator stood. A blatantly modern one, completely out of sync with this era's technology and culture. As if it had always been there.
I froze, breath catching in my throat. It felt like all the blood in my body was surging backward. My hands trembled faintly, my heart pounding wildly. An elevator. A convenience so familiar and mundane in my previous life. Yet here, in this world, a pinnacle of modern civilization that simply couldn't exist—now manifesting right in front of me.
My mind went blank, my usual composure shattered. It was like the first time I'd encountered a ghost story after transferring to the academy as a teacher. The first modern artifact I'd faced since reincarnating.
"Damn it..."
But the confusion didn't last. I spat a curse and pulled myself together. An elevator appearing overnight wasn't normal by any stretch. The reason was obvious.
A ghost story. That goddamn ghost story.
I glanced around. Students passed by without a second glance at the elevator, treating the massive machine that hadn't been there yesterday like it was perfectly ordinary. Yeah. If it weren't a ghost story, none of this would be possible.
Regaining some calm, I started pondering the nature of this ghost story manifestation. But no matter how I racked my brain, I couldn't pin it down. What kind of ghost story was this, exactly?
Sure, there were elevator-related ghost stories in my previous life—but those were from Earth. Here, elevators were so alien that not even the concept existed, let alone tales about them. Without any cultural familiarity, how could a ghost story form around one? Or maybe the elevator was just a symptom. Perhaps the real ghost story preyed on people's deepest wishes, materializing them.
I'd just unconsciously wished for an elevator moments ago... maybe it latched onto that.
But I didn't have time for deep analysis. Once you encountered a ghost story, you resolved it before it spiraled. No one seemed to notice now, but with it right out in the open, sooner or later some student or teacher might step inside. And I doubted whoever did would step out unscathed on another academy floor.
I turned on my heel and headed straight for the club room. To tackle a ghost story, I needed my club members first.
......
It didn't take long before we regrouped in front of the elevator. Joining me for this resolution were Elaine Astraea, Rone Yustria, and Rozalia Soline. Aurora Victoria was holding down the fort at the club room. Her gift shone against people, but a lifeless machine like this elevator wasn't going to be swayed by her Fascination.
Gathered before the anachronistic contraption, the girls reacted differently to the elevator.
"What is this...? It's a completely unfamiliar architectural style."
"There wasn't any 'door' like this yesterday..."
"In my opinion, this appears to be made of iron! Yet I've never seen iron processed so smoothly.... Surely some master craftsman of exceptional skill forged it."
Of course, none of them had a clue what an elevator was. Watching them, I felt a pang of bitterness.
"A weird classroom that wasn't there yesterday. Definitely a ghost story."
"No. This isn't a classroom or a room. It's a facility."
"...A facility?"
"Right. This one's called an elevator. It lets you move between floors without walking the stairs."
Elaine eyed it skeptically, then looked back at me.
"...How does it move between floors without stairs?"
"Precisely, it's connected to other elevators on different floors. An internal car shifts, carrying people inside out through doors on other levels."
"But there aren't any elevators on the other floors."
That was something I'd confirmed myself before fetching the others. This elevator existed only here, right by the first-floor central podium.
"That's what makes this ghost story even scarier. No clue where it connects to."
"...Well, ghost stories don't exactly follow common sense."
Elaine nodded in understanding. Judging by her reaction, even she couldn't predict what type this was.
"Looks like none of us can guess the ghost story's nature."
"Yes. Embarrassingly, I have no idea what this is about. And this 'elevator room' is new to me too."
"So to resolve it—or at least gather intel—we have to go inside?"
Rone's face flickered with hesitation at my words.
"I-Inside... there?"
Rozalia took a small step back, fear evident, while Elaine—though she'd half-expected it—betrayed a subtle unease. Instinctual dread of the unknown.
But when had fear ever stopped us? They exchanged glances, then fixed resolute eyes on me, a mix of resignation and determination.
With preparations mentally complete:
"Alright, let's go in."
I pressed the call button. The doors slid open with a smooth whoosh—just like in my memories, heavy metal parting effortlessly.
"Did you see that?! The door opened by itself!"
"It's a ghost story—of course that's basic."
"Ah.... R-Right?"
Rone yelped in surprise; Rozalia reassured her. I gave Rone's sheepish smile a small grin of my own and stepped inside.
The moment my foot crossed the threshold, a thought struck me. If this ghost story had materialized in response to my wish, as I'd suspected...
Where the hell does it connect to?
The interior was even more cramped than it looked from outside. Smooth metal panels lined every wall; one side had postings and notices pinned like a bulletin board. A sleek, modern control panel displayed floor numbers well into the double digits. Bright lights from the ceiling illuminated everything.
A completely ordinary elevator interior.
Yeah. Ordinary. Just like the one in the apartment where I'd lived.
Staring at a sight I'd never dreamed of seeing again, complex emotions welled up—indescribable nostalgia, unease. I scanned the space.
"Smaller than it looked from outside. The clue to resolving the ghost story's in a cramped spot like this?"
"No windows, but how's it so bright?"
"Obvious. Ghost story phenomenon makes it bright."
"Aha!"
Lost in those emotions, I'd failed to warn them.
Elaine's eyes gleamed as she sharply inspected for clues. Rozalia marveled at the lights; Rone smugly explained.
"Ah! Everyone! Look at this! I found something!"
"You found something?"
"This decorative piece with numbers on it! When I touched it with my finger, the number's color changed amazingly!"
"...But who just spoke?"
...Huh?
Rozalia's words snapped me from my reverie. I rushed between them.
"Wait! Don't just press buttons inside the elevator like that...!"
I frantically tried to cancel the button she'd pressed, but before I could, a heavy whirr echoed, and the elevator lurched into motion.
"Damn... too late!"
My uncharacteristic lapse into sentiment...
"Kyaaah!"
"Wh-What is it? An earthquake...!?"
"D-Did I touch something I shouldn't have and trigger the ghost story curse!?"
A rising sensation and faint vibration hit as we ascended; the girls screamed. But the panic was brief—maybe thirty seconds at most—before the shaking stopped.
"...D-Done?"
"Sc-Scares me..."
"Eek! Sorry! I won't touch anything randomly again!"
Relieved, they assumed the phenomenon was over. But of course, it wasn't.
"Kyaaah!!"
"Who just said that!?"
"It's a ghost!!"
Whoosh—the doors slid open smoothly.
Leaving the chaos behind, I stared wide-eyed at the scene beyond the elevator.