GHOST STORY #007

"The Hall That Watches Back"

People said the arcade felt different during the day.

Not quieter.
Not darker.

Just… aware.

The machines powered on by themselves sometimes.
High score screens changed without input.
A game would start, then immediately quit.

Staff blamed old wiring.

Until a child stopped in the middle of the hall and asked a question no one was ready for.

"Why does the building know my name?"

They laughed it off.

But later that day, the high score table on a machine that hadn't been used in years updated.

A new entry appeared.

PLAYER: LEO
TIME: 02:17

No one could explain how.

After that, people noticed something else.

When the left WC stall was locked, the arcade was calm.
Normal.

But when the lock turned on its own late at night, the machines reacted.

Lights dimmed.
Screens flickered.
Sounds overlapped—attract modes playing out of sync.

As if the building was listening.

Security footage from that night showed something impossible.

Every arcade screen briefly reflected the same image:

The restroom mirror.

And in it, a figure standing still.

Watching the hall.

The next morning, everything was normal again.

Except for one thing.

On the front door, written faintly in dust, were words no one remembered writing:

"The hall is occupied."