The floor was a small convenience store. A few aisle made of shelves that reached at most to their shoulders where in the middle, and big windows on two of the foor walls where simply showing darkness. But, also, and perhaps more importantly, there was someone.
Behind the counter where the cash register stood, a cashier was there. They were dressed in a typical corner store cashier uniform, and had their hair flower in a small afro.
"Welcome ! Can I get you anything ?" they said to the arriving customers.
Jhin and Melissa were struck by how... normal this was. Everything was exactly how it should be. There weren't strange creatures or talking objects, the nature of the floor wasn't illogical and supernatural, everything was just... normal.
"Uhh." said Jhin.
"Yes ?"
"Where... are we ?" he finally asked.
"This, is the convenience store. An oasis of normalcy among this sea of chaos- or rather of order. Currently you stand between the 3rd and 4th basements of the mall."
The team digested that for a bit. So they were still in the mall ? And what did they mean by 'between' ? And why was this all so familiar ?
"Why 'between' floors ?" asked Melissa.
"Well, every floor here was constructed by the boss, or under their orders. But not this floor. I had to fight hard to not only get this floor to exist but also to make it not a battlefield."
"Boss ? who's that ?"
"The boss is the one who ordered to build this mall. They control it with an iron fist to keep it as orderly as possible. But don't worry. The boss can't reach here."
Jhin advanced through the shelves, sometimes picking up an item and examining it. "Our target then." they finally declared.
"I think so. To save your town you would be best to go beat the boss up." encouraged the cashier.
"Do you know anything else about this place ? Like about the mall. It all doesn't make sense." Melissa said.
"I know a thing or two, yeah. What do you wanna know ?"
"Well uh.. are all the floors going to be this maze-like ?"
"Most probably. And that was only the beginning. The next floors will be a lot more complex."
"Why did they have to make it so complicated ? A straight corridor would've been fine too." ranted Jhin.
"Not really. The goal of this place was to capture people. It was made to drain your city; this exodus didn't happen by accident.
"If it all was so simple, people could've left easily. But if i ask you to leave, you wouldn't know how to right ?
"If you searched a bit you could find it (not anymore but eh), but now think about that : what if the floor you were on was filled with something you loved ? Would you have the courage to search for the exit ?
"That is the true nature of this place : a fly trap. A jar full of vinegar or a bottle full of syrup from the inside of which you can't find the exit."