I couldn't even scream. I pointed at the pool, my whole body trembling.
Harrison rushed to the edge and reached into the water.
His hand closed around something. His face changed.
He hauled it up with one arm, bracing himself against the tiles.
When we saw what he was holding, the two women screamed.
Seth let out a strangled cry.
I couldn't make a sound—after what I'd already seen, I'd gone past the capacity for shock.
Harrison was holding Yang by his hair.
Silver-and-black strands attached to a face contorted with terror.
Yang was dead. Horribly dead.
All four of his limbs had been ripped off—torn away, like something had pulled them from his body by brute force.
Only his head and upper torso remained. The sight was beyond gruesome.
Perhaps out of guilt, Harrison shifted his grip from Yang's hair to cradling the body.
He carried what was left of Yang to the back of the pool area and set him down gently.
The rest of us stared in silence.
The organizers hadn't rushed us for Round Two—probably because the thirty-minute timer was their weapon. Any team that didn't find the pearl by the deadline would be punished.
Seth's voice was hollow. "Is there even a pearl down there... or do they just want to watch us die?"
I shook my head. I didn't know.
If a former swimming coach like Yang could be ripped apart down there—
What chance did the three of us non-swimmers have? Not to mention the two women.
My mind circled back to what Quinn had said.
Would the final winner really receive a hundred million?
Or had this entire game been a scam from the start?
A million to buy each of our lives?
Watching us scramble like ants, drowning one by one in games designed to kill us—all for some sick child's amusement?
Were we... just ants?
I stared at what remained of Yang, that lonely corpse by the wall.
My heart was leaden.
Harrison rejoined us.
He said nothing. Just walked to the edge of the pool.
I stood up and grabbed his arm. "I'll go."
He looked back at me, startled.
I nodded. "Let me try."
Harrison frowned, clearly opposed.
Rosa added, her voice worried, "You can't swim..."
She trailed off, realizing the implication.
Yang was dead. Of our remaining members, only she and the other woman could swim.
And clearly, neither of them wanted to dive.
I pretended not to notice their hesitation.
"Here's my plan," I said. "Give me the speeder. If there really is a pearl down there, the pool's only four meters deep. I set the speeder to max and power through. In and out, fast."
Harrison considered it. It was worth trying.
But Seth was anxious. "The water's pitch black. Visibility at the bottom will be even worse. How are you supposed to dodge those red-eyed things and grab the pearl?"
"I've got this."
I pulled the snow goggles from my bag.
It hit me just now—I'd brought them for exactly this kind of situation.
Harrison was surprised. "You brought that from the dorm?"
I nodded. "Didn't think I'd actually need it."
Harrison reached for the goggles.
But his hand passed straight through them, unable to touch.
I gave a bitter smile. "Looks like I'm the only one who can use this thing. None of you can hold it."
Only Quinn and I could interact with these goggles.
Speaking of Quinn—I scanned the crowd and spotted him surfacing in another lane.
He hauled himself onto the deck, clutching a pearl that glowed with pale white luminescence.
I watched him hold it up.
Quinn must have felt my gaze. He waved at me from across the pool.
I gave him a nod.
Then I took a breath and put the goggles on.
Rosa handed me the speeder. "I've already set it to max speed. But..."
She hesitated.
"What is it?"
Rosa looked worried. "When I checked the settings, I saw it runs on battery. You guys used a lot of charge dragging out the time earlier. There's only 1% left. I don't know if it'll hold."
I thought for a moment. "It'll have to. No other choice. I'll just have to finish fast—if I don't, all six of us die."
Without waiting for their reactions, I grabbed the speeder and headed for the edge.
I didn't want to die.
And certainly not the way Yang had—ripped to pieces.
I held onto the side, clutched the speeder, and slipped into the water.
First, I ducked my head under and looked down.
Something miraculous happened.
The goggles worked their magic again.
The black water became crystal clear through the lenses.
Each class's lane was separated by long transparent glass panels underwater.
At the bottom of every lane sat a concrete cube—like a stone pedestal.
In the center of each pedestal, a recess held a round, gleaming pearl.
Through the goggles, I could see it faintly glowing.
For anyone without goggles, it must have been like the North Star in total darkness—a beacon for the lost.
I'd found the pearl. But what made my stomach turn was what surrounded it.
Five grotesque figures ringed the pedestal.
Not humans—they were creatures from mythology.
Merfolk.
Human torsos, fish tails, roughly two meters long.
Their eyes glowed red.
They were shirtless, posed in different positions around the pearl, motionless.
Like five guardian statues.
From their flat chests, these merfolk appeared to be male.
Male—which meant powerful muscles and brute strength.
No wonder they'd been able to tear Yang's limbs off.
Thinking of Yang and our missing teammate, I surfaced for air, then ducked back under for a closer look.
Near one merman's tail, I spotted Yang's severed limbs.
Flesh and blood drifted lazily in the water.
And the merman in the back—the one hunched over, arms wrapped around himself—
He wasn't embracing himself.
Clutched in his arms was a small, petite woman.
It was our missing teammate.
Her face was frozen in the rictus of drowning—lifelike and horrible.
I surfaced, gasping, heart pounding.
Harrison called out from the edge, "Alex, no time left—ten minutes!"
I nodded. "Got it."
Ten minutes was more than I needed.
Either I'd grab the pearl fast, or I'd die down there like the others.
I couldn't hold my breath for four minutes like Yang.
Twenty seconds. That was my maximum.
If I didn't surface in twenty seconds, I'd join that woman at the bottom of the pool.
I told Harrison what I'd seen.
Then I added, "If I'm not up in thirty seconds, send someone else."
Harrison frowned. "Are you sure... maybe I should—"
I shook my head and refused.
Then I strapped the speeder's band tight around my wrist.
I took a deep breath and dropped beneath the surface.
Twenty seconds. Starting now.
I pressed the speeder's button. The device launched me forward like a torpedo, diving toward the bottom.
Bubbles streamed past, blocking most of my vision.
Thank God for the goggles—I could see through them to the bottom.
As I neared the pedestal, I eased off the button. The speeder slowed.
I stared at the pearl, reached out, and grabbed it.
Got it!
My heart surged. I wrenched my wrist, changed the speeder's direction, and aimed upward.
The moment I hit the button to accelerate—
The five stone-still merfolk lunged at me, baring their teeth.
At the last possible instant, the speeder dragged me upward—barely dodging their attack.
But they were fast.
Faster than the speeder!