Sensing her submersion, Eric quickly undid her seatbelt and reached to release Raymond's, only to find him gone.
She splashed in the water, immediately realizing this was no mere slide; the depth was unnatural, more akin to a vast, fathomless abyss. Holding her breath, she began searching for Raymond. The underwater expanse stretched limitlessly; her lungful of air dwindled, and she swam upward.
After an interminable ascent, Eric's oxygen ran out without nearing the surface. Her lungs burned like fire, her throat tasted metallic, and the suffocating grip of asphyxia tightened. She endured a few seconds before reluctantly purchasing an ordinary healing kit.
Revived, Eric plunged downward, determined to search the depths.
She swam swiftly, yet her oxygen once again expired without reaching the bottom.
Surveying her surroundings, the endless water offered no distinguishing features, no clues to guide her.
Subsequently, Eric used ten more healing kits—all to no avail.
Anxiety crept in: eleven kits already expended on this challenge, equating to the cost of a supernatural healing kit.
With 104 points remaining, she could purchase at most fifty-two ordinary kits.
Yet, given her predicament, Eric suspected even exhausting all points would not free her from this aquatic prison.
This watery expanse seemed designed to leave her no escape, to force her demise—was this Raymond's intent? Would her death satisfy him?
Eric resolved firmly. She had already gambled her life in this dungeon; one more wager mattered little. Had she not prepared for such trials before entering this supernatural realm?
To wager, then, once more.
As her oxygen depleted, Eric truly felt the horrifying sensation of drowning—her chest suffocated with lack of air, her mind buzzed in protest, and despite herself, her mouth opened, water assaulting her windpipe…
Agony, struggle, despair.
Then, unconsciousness.
*Cough! Cough! Cough!*
The transport cart entered the final buffer zone; Raymond wiped his face, beaming toward Eric who coughed violently beside him.
"Teacher White, was it fun?" he asked, tilting his head.
Fresh from near-drowning and disillusionment, Eric could not speak. Her coughing turned her face ghostly pale; turning toward Raymond, she discerned smug delight in his expression.
Stepping off the cart, Eric's legs felt unsteady.
No wonder the points for supernatural dungeons far exceeded ordinary ones—44 points were not easily earned!
With two attractions remaining, her body and spirit were utterly exhausted.
Alexander declared, "I want to go to the haunted house!"
Helpless, Eric rubbed her face and mustered resolve. "Let's go."
From the entrance, the haunted house emanated a chilling aura.
Alexander laughed. "They really cranked up the AC in here."
Eric rubbed her arms, the wound from the phantom's bite in the Mirror Maze throbbing anew; her body felt icy, her lips trembled.
The students, thrilled yet frightened, navigated the narrow corridors hand-in-hand, with Alexander leading the charge. Eric hastened to keep pace.
Dim lights flickered, interspersed with ghastly blue flames; ethereal wails drifted on the air, prickling spines with dread.
Suddenly, a rattling sounded overhead; before Eric could react, a skeletal skull descended abruptly, staring into her eyes.
Her breath seized.
"Hahaha! Scared to death!" Alexander roared with laughter. Eric inhaled, sidestepped the skull, and pressed onward.
Various macabre artifacts appeared in succession; already burdened, Eric's heart leapt with each startling encounter. In life, she had shied from horror films—yet in death, she endured an actual haunted house. Resurrection was no simple feat.
Gradually, she became separated from the students, yet remained close behind Alexander. Abruptly, he dashed into a room; Eric followed hastily, only for a panel to slam down, a ghastly figure with an elongated tongue screaming, "Ah!"
Eric started violently.
The staff member emerged from the wall, pursuing her; Eric swiftly knocked the figure unconscious and continued after Alexander. Pushing through the door, a sudden force thrust her forward. The momentum was fierce; Eric stumbled several steps, and the door slammed shut behind her.
Inside, darkness reigned; with her body's mutations vanished, Eric could no longer see clearly in the absence of light. The room's blackness was impenetrable; she retrieved a flashlight from her inventory and switched it on.
The beam illuminated a cascade of crimson cloths hanging from the ceiling. Though motionless, the fabric swayed faintly, no breeze to stir it. Behind several layers, Eric glimpsed the shadow of a coffin.
The coffin, shrouded in black, exuded beneath the flashlight's beam a permeated texture that imparted to Eric an indescribable aura of menace.
With a sudden *clatter*, the coffin lid trembled.
A hoarse sigh escaped from within, chilling Eric to her core. Her blood seemed to congeal; her heart pounded wildly—never before had she known such profound terror, a fear that seemed to shudder her very soul.
Instantly, she grasped that this coffin concealed the most dreadful entity she had encountered since entering the endless escape dungeon.
Her immediate suspicion was that within lay a genuine zombie.
She involuntarily stepped back; the coffin lid shook even more violently as Eric turned to strike the door.
But the door had vanished. Only bare brick walls confronted her. She pounded relentlessly, the solid red bricks unwavering.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
The coffin quivered fiercely, and Eric glimpsed a hand with elongated black nails creeping out from the widening lid's crack.
Cold sweat surged; gritting her teeth, she rushed forward, scattering a basin of glutinous white rice—retrieved earlier from the supermarket—hoping to halt the zombie's emergence.
The coffin stilled.
Breathing heavily, Eric recalled childhood horrors—films wherein zombies recoiled from rice. That was the only horror movie she had ever dared watch, and even then, only halfway; since then, she knew she could not bear such terrors. Fear gripped her still.
The white rice darkened visibly atop the coffin.
A zombie truly lurked within! Hastily, Eric fetched another basin to sprinkle more rice, yearning to bar its escape.
Yet fate decreed otherwise; just as she prepared a third scattering, the coffin exploded without warning!
Splinters and shards flew wildly; one splinter hurtled directly toward her. She dodged swiftly amid the roaring wind, only to confront a face twisted in ghastly fury.
What manner of visage was this?
In this moment, Eric could find no words—only overwhelming dread and horror.
The zombie bared its teeth; two elongated fangs gleamed razor-sharp. She was certain that a neck bite would desiccate her into a mummy.
Evading swiftly, the zombie pursued with uncanny speed, outpacing her every sprint!
In this confined chamber, where else could she flee? Escape seemed impossible.
With a screech, the zombie's talon slashed across her back, agony and a chilling numbness enveloping her vision in darkness. Fearful to falter, Eric ran madly, flinging a basin of rice behind her.
A sizzling sound erupted; the zombie growled hoarsely in rage: "Hoo!"
Enraged, it surged forward, landing before Eric. Braking abruptly and pivoting, she tried to flee once more—only to find it blocking her path again. This time, she faltered; the zombie clamped onto her throat.
Breath eluded her.
Eric strained to wrench the iron-like arm loose, but to no avail. The zombie's face loomed nearer; its gleaming fangs poised to strike. She kicked out; her toes struck hard as if against concrete, pain flaring fiercely.
No matter how she struggled, escape was impossible—only decapitation could free her.
Yet surrender was not an option. From the supermarket stockpile, she pressed handfuls of glutinous rice into the zombie's gaping maw.
A black smoke hissed from its mouth; quick as lightning, Eric stuffed rice into its eyes with both hands.
"Hoo!"
The zombie recoiled, clutching its burned eyes, granting Eric a fleeting chance to escape.
Fingernail punctures riddled her neck; pain so searing she winced with every breath. She fled, pressing rice into each wound.
"Hsss!"
An indescribable, piercing ache seized her; she groaned lowly.
Sweat coursed in rivulets, her complexion draining to pallid hues, lips tinged with violet. Her footing faltered; dizziness engulfed her. Grasping blindly for support but finding none, she collapsed onto the floor.
Her blurred vision, dampened by sweat, caught sight of the zombie dancing frenziedly nearby, its guttural cries echoing its anguish.
Her neck wounds inflicted such torment she could scarcely lift her head.
Lowering it, she spotted a plank from the shattered coffin.
The coffin's remains littered the ground, the baseboard intact. Forgetting her pain, Eric reached out and cradled the light, fragile form lying there.
It was Alexander, transformed into a desiccated corpse.
At that moment, the vanished door reappeared. Initially undetected, the zombie, having vented rage, heard her scent and leapt once more toward her.
Hurriedly, Eric placed Alexander's body back into the supermarket before taking flight. Crimson drapes dangling from the ceiling became her makeshift weapon; aware of the zombie's speed, she tugged at the fabric to entangle it.
But having employed this tactic earlier, she now faced scarcity—torn cloth fluttered like fall leaves, carpeting the floor.
Infuriated by pain to its mouth and eyes, the enraged zombie struck with greater ferocity. Eric dashed with all her might, at last reaching a door.
Relieved, she made no pause to question its sudden appearance, seizing the handle and twisting it open effortlessly.
She bolted outside.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
Bursting into sunlight, Eric squinted against the glare, tears streaming involuntarily. Shielding her eyes, she steadied herself and then looked up, realizing she had emerged just outside the haunted house.
Surviving against all odds, she collapsed, utterly spent.
Julie and the others had just exited, chattering busily.
"Teacher White, you're so fast—you're the first out!"
"Where's Alexander? Why is he so slow?"
Recomposed, Eric rose. "I'll go find him."
Reentering the haunted house, she sought a secluded chamber to liberate Alexander's undead form from the supermarket.
Beneath her gaze, Alexander gradually regained vitality, returning to his spirited self. Rising from the ground, he dusted off debris and smiled warmly.
"Thank you, Teacher White."