Rule Horror: Community Security Guards, Please Don't Look Down

[Rule Horror. Original.]

Chen Mo, 28, is a former short-video screenwriter. After his project falls through and he racks up 200,000 yuan in online loans, he has nowhere else to turn and applies for a security guard job at Xingfuli Residential Complex. The pay is 2,800 yuan a month, with accommodation but no meals.

On his first day, Manager Zhou hands him a laminated set of rules: "Don't look down. If you see writing on the ground, pretend you didn't. Each time you look down, 50 yuan will be deducted."

Chen Mo looks down and sees a line written in yellow chalk in the crack between the floor tiles: "Don't trust the rules. You can only survive by looking down."

Two sets of rules, both in force. If he looks down, his shadow fades until it vanishes, and then he turns to stone. If he doesn't, he might step into a forbidden area and face the consequences. The previous guard, Uncle Zhao, disappeared four months ago. Now he sits crouched in the boxwood hedge, a stone statue with his head bowed.

Chen Mo squats in front of the statue. "Uncle Zhao, you wrote half a rule and ran off. What am I supposed to do with that?"

The statue doesn't move. A line of writing appears at its feet: "Beware Manager Zhou."

Chen Mo laughs. "Like I needed you to tell me that."

That night, Building 7 grows out of an empty lot. Uncle Zhao's chalk writing stops halfway through, as if someone had grabbed him by the throat. Chen Mo picks up the stub of chalk and adds his own name after the unfinished character.

Something beneath the floor turns over in its sleep.