The glowing door stood silently at the end of the hallway.

ROOM 999

Nobody moved.

Nobody even blinked.

Oscar Flynn looked at Leo Carter.

“I have an idea.”

Leo nodded.

“Good.”

Oscar smiled.

“We leave.”

Leo’s smile disappeared.

“That’s your idea?”

“Yes.”

“It’s actually a very good idea.”

Maya crossed her arms.

“But we’re not leaving.”

Oscar sighed dramatically.

“Why does nobody ever listen to my best ideas?”

Bella the Ghost Manager floated beside them.

Her usually cheerful face had become pale.

“I’ve worked in this hotel for thirty years…”

She whispered.

“…and I’ve never seen Room 999 before.”

Leo frowned.

“So the room just appeared?”

Bella slowly nodded.

“The hotel only creates Room 999…”

She swallowed.

“…when it believes the end is near.”

A cold silence spread through the hallway.

Even the playful ghost bellboy stopped smiling.

Then…

The karate chicken suddenly flapped its wings and jumped onto Oscar’s shoulder.

Oscar looked at it.

“Don’t worry.”

The chicken clucked confidently.

Oscar sighed.

“I wish I had your confidence.”

---

Leo slowly walked toward the glowing door.

The number 999 suddenly changed.

It became 000.

Then 999 again.

Then 000.

Maya looked closely.

“The room can’t decide its number.”

Professor Edgar Moon, who had quietly joined them after following the strange energy beneath the hotel, adjusted his old glasses.

“It isn’t changing.”

Everyone looked at him.

“What do you mean?” Leo asked.

The old professor smiled.

“It is showing both.”

Oscar blinked.

“That explanation somehow confused me even more.”

Professor Moon chuckled.

“Nine is the end.”

He pointed at the door.

“Zero is the beginning.”

“This room is both.”

“The ending…”

“…and the beginning.”

Oscar whispered,

“I miss normal hotels.”

---

Leo reached for the handle.

The moment he touched it…

The hallway disappeared.

The walls melted into darkness.

Everyone felt as if they were falling.

Oscar screamed.

“I DIDN’T EVEN OPEN THE DOOR!”

A calm voice answered,

“You didn’t need to.”

The darkness slowly faded.

They found themselves standing inside an enormous ballroom.

Crystal chandeliers floated in the air.

Hundreds of tables were covered with untouched food.

Music played from nowhere.

And every chair was occupied.

By ghosts.

Hundreds of ghosts.

Some wore suits.

Some wore wedding dresses.

Some wore old military uniforms.

Some looked like children.

They all stopped eating at exactly the same moment.

Every ghost turned toward Leo.

Silence.

Then…

Every ghost stood up together.

“Welcome back.”

Oscar looked behind him.

“They’re talking to someone else…”

Nobody answered.

Leo frowned.

“They’re looking at me.”

---

A tall man wearing a white tuxedo walked forward.

His silver hair reached his shoulders.

His eyes glowed faintly blue.

Unlike the other ghosts…

He looked almost alive.

He smiled politely.

“My name is Adrian Vale.”

Leo narrowed his eyes.

“Are you another ghost?”

Adrian shook his head.

“No.”

“A monster?”

“No.”

“A vampire?”

“No.”

Oscar whispered,

“Please say alien.”

Adrian laughed softly.

“No.”

Maya stepped forward.

“Then what are you?”

Adrian looked around the ballroom.

“I am…”

“…the hotel’s first guest.”

Everyone froze.

Bella gasped.

“Impossible.”

Adrian smiled sadly.

“I checked into this hotel…”

“…before it was ever built.”

Professor Moon’s eyes widened.

“That can’t happen.”

Adrian nodded.

“Exactly.”

---

Before anyone could ask another question…

The ballroom lights suddenly turned blood red.

The music stopped.

The temperature dropped.

A deep voice echoed through the room.

“So…”

“…you finally found him.”

The shadows stretched across the floor.

The mysterious hotel owner appeared again.

This time he wasn’t smiling.

His eyes burned like fire.

“You should have stayed in Room 666.”

Leo folded his arms.

“You really need a better welcome speech.”

The villain stared.

“You always joke.”

Leo shrugged.

“It helps.”

“It won’t save you.”

“Maybe.”

“But it annoys you.”

Oscar whispered,

“He’s got a point.”

---

The hotel owner raised his hand.

Dark chains burst from the floor.

They wrapped around Adrian.

Bella screamed,

“No!”

The ghost bellboy charged forward.

The chains threw him across the room.

Chef Bob grabbed a frying pan.

“I’ve always wanted to hit evil with cookware!”

He swung the pan.

CLANG!

The frying pan bent.

Chef Bob stared at it.

“…That was my favorite pan.”

Even Leo couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

The villain looked offended.

“Why are you laughing during battle?”

Leo pointed at Chef Bob.

“He attacked an immortal monster…”

“…with kitchen equipment.”

Chef Bob proudly replied,

“A professional uses the nearest tool.”

---

The ballroom suddenly transformed.

Tables disappeared.

Walls shifted.

The floor split into dozens of floating platforms.

Moonlight, the living heart of the hotel, spoke through every wall.

“Careful!”

“The hotel is changing again!”

Oscar looked down.

There was no floor beneath him anymore.

Only darkness.

“I officially resign from this adventure!”

The karate chicken jumped onto another platform with perfect balance.

Oscar looked at it.

“Show-off.”

The chicken proudly clucked.

---

Professor Moon suddenly opened an old leather notebook.

“I found something!”

Everyone turned.

“This hotel wasn’t built to trap ghosts.”

“It was built…”

“…to imprison one being.”

Leo looked at Adrian.

“You?”

Adrian slowly nodded.

“Yes.”

Maya frowned.

“But why?”

Adrian closed his eyes.

“Because I carry something inside me.”

“What?”

“The Endless Door.”

Silence filled the room.

Professor Moon’s face turned white.

“No…”

Oscar looked confused.

“What is the Endless Door?”

The professor whispered,

“It is an ancient supernatural gateway.”

“If it opens…”

“…every haunted place in the world becomes connected.”

Bella looked horrified.

“Millions of ghosts…”

Professor Moon nodded.

“…would escape.”

---

The hotel owner laughed.

“Exactly.”

He walked toward Adrian.

“For centuries…”

“I’ve waited for this night.”

Leo stepped in front of Adrian.

“You’ll have to get through us first.”

The villain smiled.

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

Suddenly…

Hundreds of ghostly copies of the hotel owner appeared.

Every hallway filled with identical figures.

Oscar looked around in horror.

“There are hundreds of him!”

Leo sighed.

“Why can’t villains ever fight one at a time?”

Chef Bob raised another frying pan.

“I bought a spare.”

---

Sir Giggles floated beside Leo.

“I have an idea.”

Leo smiled.

“Please tell me it doesn’t involve almost dying.”

Sir Giggles looked thoughtful.

“…It involves slightly dying.”

Oscar buried his face in his hands.

“I knew it.”

---

Without warning…

Every clock inside the hotel struck midnight.

DONG!

DONG!

DONG!

The sound echoed through every room.

The walls cracked.

Room numbers began changing on every door.

101 became 505.

505 became 888.

888 became 999.

The hotel itself was rewriting its own map.

Moonlight cried out,

“I can’t control the building anymore!”

The villain stretched out both hands.

“The Endless Door…”

“…is opening.”

A gigantic golden door slowly rose from beneath the ballroom floor.

Ancient symbols glowed across its surface.

It began opening by itself.

Only a few inches…

But from the gap came whispers.

Thousands of whispers.

Ghosts.

Monsters.

Unknown voices calling from somewhere beyond reality.

A freezing wind filled the room.

Leo stared at the opening.

“What…”

“…is on the other side?”

No one answered.

Even Sir Giggles looked terrified.

Adrian whispered only three words.

“They found us.”

From inside the Endless Door…

A huge shadow placed one massive hand against the opening.

The entire hotel shook.

The mysterious figure laughed once.

A laugh so deep that every ghost in the ballroom fell silent.

“Knock… knock…”

The golden door cracked wider.