I froze. Goosebumps erupted across my skin.
I glanced down, trying to see what it was.
But the pool water wasn't the clear blue of a normal swimming pool—it was black.
Looked filthy, like it was full of something that blocked your vision entirely.
I stared for a while but saw nothing.
Maybe I'd imagined it. Maybe I was so tense my mind was playing tricks.
The swimmers before me hadn't noticed anything.
And Yang—a former professional—would've spotted anything wrong with the water instantly.
A novice like me wouldn't be the first to notice something.
I scanned the other lanes nervously.
Some people swam fast; some drifted like me.
But nobody said a word about something in the water.
By process of elimination, I decided it must have been my imagination.
Then I completed my lap.
Harrison and Seth hauled me onto the deck.
The moment my feet touched solid ground, relief flooded through my entire body.
I sat on the edge and passed the speeder to Seth.
He was the last one from Class 8.
Once he finished, it'd be Round Two.
Harrison reminded him, "Don't go too fast."
Seth nodded. "Got it. Here I go."
He grabbed the speeder and jumped in.
Compared to me, Seth looked much more comfortable on the water.
From his posture alone, I could tell he wasn't completely unable to swim.
At least he could kick his legs alternately. I couldn't even float.
While Seth completed his lap, the rest of us sat around chatting.
Yang mostly held court, sharing water-related trivia.
But Harrison was already thinking ahead to Round Two.
Given the organizers' track record, the dive challenge wouldn't be as simple as it sounded.
There had to be hidden rules.
For instance—the pool was filled with black water.
Obviously designed to block our vision.
What else was lurking beneath the surface? Nobody knew.
Yang brushed off Harrison's concerns. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
Tragically, this was water—not a bridge.
After Seth returned, it was Rosa's turn again.
Then the second woman.
The moment the third woman entered the water, disaster struck.
Round One had thirty seconds left.
None of us were worried—we figured she just needed to reach the shore in time.
So when the third woman from our class disappeared, the other six of us were still chatting on the shore.
The broadcast chimed. "Time's up. Round One is complete."
That was when we realized she hadn't surfaced.
We stood and scanned the lane. No sign of her.
Yang frowned. "That's strange. No ripples. No movement at all."
He was right. The surface was completely still.
If she'd drowned, there should have been thrashing. Bubbles. Something.
But the water lay mirror-flat.
Eerily still—as if she'd never existed.
Harrison asked the adjacent class, "Did your last swimmer make it back?"
They shook their heads, dazed. "No... that's weird. We didn't hear anything either."
Harrison's face darkened.
I saw the implication too. If the last swimmer from every class had vanished—
That meant they'd all disappeared at the same time.
An eerie silence settled over the pool.
People whispered theories. Was something actually in the water?
I stared at the black surface with growing dread.
Seth, apparently fearless, walked to the edge, knelt down, and plunged his entire upper body into the water.
"Holy—are you insane?"
Harrison and I lunged forward and yanked him back up.
Seth resurfaced with a splash, water streaming off him.
Harrison had been about to scold him, but the look of pure terror on Seth's face stopped him cold.
I shook Seth. "What did you see?"
Seth swallowed hard, body rigid, eyes fixed on me.
"Ghosts."
My mouth opened and closed. "What?"
Seth grabbed my arm, his voice cracking. "Ghosts! There are ghosts in the water!"
That sent the two women behind us into near-hysterics.
Harrison and I didn't believe in ghosts.
Yang, wise with age and experience, certainly didn't either.
I asked Seth, "What did these ghosts look like?"
Seth described them, trembling. "At least two meters tall. Long necks, long arms... their eyes glow. Red. The bottom of the pool is covered with them. Packed tight, swarming. Jesus Christ, it was terrifying."
I hadn't been scared before, but Seth's description triggered my trypophobia.
Harrison's face went pale too.
He swallowed hard, then forced himself to say, "They might be underwater decorations. Don't panic."
I caught the subtext of Harrison's words. He wasn't reassuring Seth—he was reassuring Yang.
The plan had been for Yang to dive for the pearl while the rest of us waited on shore.
But after what Seth described, Yang might change his mind.
I stole a glance at Yang.
The confidence had drained from his face, replaced by visible unease.
If something really was down there, why would he risk his life for us?
It wasn't that I doubted his integrity.
But when faced with life or death, few people willingly sacrifice themselves for others.
Just as fear and suspicion began to infect everyone, the broadcast cut in.
It ordered us to begin Round Two immediately.
Red countdowns appeared on every lane.
Not just Class 8's lane—every lane in the building now displayed digits.
A row of massive red numbers ticked downward, stark and alarming.
I instinctively looked at Yang.
He avoided my eyes.
Harrison stepped forward. "Sir, please. We need you."
Yang's brow furrowed. He paced with his hands behind his back. "Wait. Let me think."
The countdown bled away.
Even the normally composed Harrison grew desperate.
He shadowed Yang, pleading. "Sir—think about it. None of us can swim. Sending us in would be suicide. If we all die, you're the last one left, and you still have to complete the dive in thirty minutes. If you don't dive, we all die anyway. Sir—please, you have to help us!"
Yang snapped, "I know! I know! Just let me think!"
Rosa stepped up too. "There's no time to think! You're the only one who can dive. Even if you can't get the pearl—just see what's down there and tell us, so we can figure something out together. We're not asking you to die for us!"
Yang's anxiety peaked.
He stared at the red numbers on the water, watching them drop from double to single digits.
"10, 9, 8..."
When it reached "5," Yang uttered a heavy sigh.
Without another word, he strode forward, took several deep breaths, and vaulted into the water.
Water splashed as Yang's figure descended into the depths.
It hit me—if Seth could see those shadows, maybe the pool wasn't as deep as we feared.
I asked Seth, "How deep do you think this pool is?"
Seth had just come back to his senses.
He frowned, thinking. "About four meters, I'd say."
"Four meters..."
For a former swimming coach, four meters should be manageable, right?
The six of us sat on the edge, anxious and waiting.
Five minutes passed.
Yang hadn't surfaced for air once.
Rosa murmured, "That's... beyond the limit for breath-holding."
I couldn't sit still. I scrambled to the edge and leaned over.
I was about to dunk my face in like Seth had.
"Hey, wait—" Harrison started.
But my face was already in the water.
The instant I opened my eyes—
A horrified face, inches from my own, stared back.
I jolted backward so hard I nearly fell over.