Lin Jia, a young office worker with dreams, works tirelessly in a bustling city. She shares a rented high-rise apartment in the city center with her roommate, Zhou Li. This apartment is perfectly located, with convenient transportation and plenty of amenities nearby, yet the rent is surprisingly low, a rare opportunity that made both of them feel extremely lucky, as if fate had blessed them with an ideal place to live.
Since moving in, Lin Jia and Zhou Li have shared many peaceful and simple days together. Every morning, sunlight filters through the windows, gently waking them; in the evenings, after a long day, they would sit in the living room sharing stories of their work, joys, or frustrations. Their seemingly ordinary lives flowed on smoothly, everything appearing peaceful and trouble-free.
But fate has a way of stirring the waters just when you least expect it. One day, when Lin Jia returned home from work, Zhou Li was nowhere to be found. At first, Lin assumed Zhou Li had just stepped out briefly and didn't think much of it. But as time passed, with night falling, Zhou Li still hadn't returned. A feeling of unease began to creep into Lin Jia's heart.
Desperate, Lin Jia started asking around, contacting all of Zhou Li's friends to see if they knew her whereabouts. Friends joined in, some helping to post missing-person notices on nearby streets, others spreading the word on social media in hopes of finding her quickly. Despite their best efforts, there wasn't a single trace of Zhou Li, as if she had vanished without a trace.
With no other options, Lin Jia filed a police report. The police began a thorough investigation, conducting a careful search of the apartment and surrounding areas, and reviewing hours of surveillance footage. But the findings shocked everyone: there was no footage of Zhou Li leaving the apartment, and even the street cameras outside showed no sign of her. This baffling situation made the case increasingly mysterious. Where had Zhou Li gone? Why had she disappeared so completely?
Lin Jia repeatedly recalled her interactions with Zhou Li, trying to find any hint or clue. She remembered the last time she had seen Zhou Li was that very night when she hurriedly left for her night shift. Zhou Li had looked perfectly normal, even smiling as she said goodbye. Who would have thought that would be their final farewell?
Days later, exhausted after work, Lin Jia headed home. Stepping into the familiar apartment building, an inexplicable sense of oppression crept into her heart. She entered the elevator, pressed the button for her floor, and waited quietly as the elevator rose. Then, she noticed something on the elevator display that left her frozen in shock — the screen showed a mysterious "17th floor," a floor she had never seen before in what should be a 16-floor building.
Initially, she thought it was a glitch or a momentary system error. This building had always had just 16 floors. How could an extra floor just appear? But what happened next made her believe this phenomenon was not random.
From that day onward, each time she returned home after work, the mysterious "17th floor" would occasionally appear on the elevator display. Sometimes it flashed briefly, too quickly to catch; other times, it lingered just long enough to seem like it was trying to catch her attention. And whenever Lin Jia attempted to investigate, the "17th floor" would vanish, leaving only the regular floor numbers behind.
Over time, as this eerie phenomenon appeared more and more frequently, her unease grew. One day, unable to endure the fear of the unknown any longer, she pressed the button for the "17th floor" with a trembling finger. However, to her disappointment, the elevator continued past without stopping, taking her to her usual floor.
Back in her apartment, Lin Jia couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. A sudden thought struck her: on the night she disappeared, Zhou Li had mentioned something about the "17th floor." At the time, Lin Jia dismissed it as a joke, but now, recalling Zhou Li's voice, she sensed terror and helplessness. Could Zhou Li's disappearance have something to do with this mysterious "17th floor"?
Shivering, Lin Jia's mind flooded with all kinds of strange possibilities. Maybe this seemingly ordinary building hid an unknown basement; perhaps a passage to another world existed; or could there have been a terrifying crime here, with the "17th floor" as the scene?
Growing increasingly alarmed, Lin Jia decided to stop avoiding the mystery in front of her. After much thought, she contacted a close friend and invited them to explore the mystery of the apartment with her.
The two friends met and began investigating, starting by obtaining detailed blueprints of the building. When their eyes scanned over the lines and labels, they were stunned — the blueprint clearly showed that there was no 17th floor.
Night fell, shrouding everything in eerie silence. Summoning all her courage, Lin Jia stepped into the elevator alone, pressing the haunting "17" button. As the elevator ascended, her heart pounded, faster and louder with each passing floor.
Finally, the elevator stopped with a ding, and the doors slowly opened. A wave of musty, decaying air wafted in. She cautiously opened her eyes and was stunned by what she saw: the floor looked like a mirror image of her own but with disturbing differences. All the rooms and fixtures had the same layout, yet the lighting cast an eerie red glow over everything. Mold covered the walls, and the air reeked of decay, as if death lingered here.
She took careful steps forward, as though afraid to disturb this mysterious place, each step slow and deliberate. As she ventured further in, a familiar figure stood at a doorway, unmoving like a statue. Lin Jia's heart skipped a beat — it was Zhou Li.
She called Zhou Li's name softly, her voice echoing in the stillness. Zhou Li's body trembled slightly before slowly turning around. Her face was ashen and lifeless, her once-bright eyes now hollow and devoid of any sign of life. She whispered, in a hoarse, gravelly voice, "Lin Jia... leave…"
At that moment, Lin Jia knew this was not the real Zhou Li but her spirit, a lingering shadow trapped on the cursed "17th floor."
Fleeing the room and barely able to press the elevator button, she managed to return to her floor. In the days that followed, she uncovered the building's dark past: a tragic accident during construction, which led the developers to seal off the 17th floor and turn it into a maintenance room. Yet, rumors persisted of restless spirits that haunted the elevator system.
Determined to release Zhou Li's spirit, Lin Jia gathered her friend's help and a few items belonging to Zhou Li. In the dead of night, they placed the items at the elevator entrance on the 17th floor. Zhou Li's image appeared one final time, her face softened with a faint, almost peaceful smile, before slowly fading away, leaving behind an eerie silence that seemed to mark the end of the mystery.
Lin Jia left the building with a heavy heart, feeling she had finally brought peace to her friend and escaped the clutches of the sinister "17th floor."