They thrashed their tails violently, gaining on me fast.
The gap between me and the merfolk was closing with every second.
My heart hammered against my ribs. My lungs were being crushed—I couldn't hold my breath any longer.
I instinctively tried to inhale and choked on a lungful of water.
Just as I was about to break the surface, a hand clamped around my ankle.
The speeder dragged me upward while the merfolk yanked me down.
Two opposing forces tore at me from both ends.
Trapped in the middle, with water in my lungs—I wanted to die.
Then the speeder lurched with new force.
I looked up. Harrison was on his knees at the edge, both hands clamped around the front of the speeder, pulling with everything he had.
Behind him was Seth.
Behind Seth, Rosa and the other woman.
They'd formed a human chain—each one pulling the next—all to drag me out of the water.
Seeing them fight so desperately for my life, I couldn't give up either.
Pure survival instinct kicked in. I kicked my legs with everything I had, thrashing wildly.
My ankle slipped free of the merman's grip—though his claws shredded a layer of skin from me.
The pain was blinding, but Harrison and the others hauled me onto the deck.
The moment I hit solid ground, I passed out.
Harrison immediately started CPR, forcing air into my lungs.
After a relentless cycle of chest compressions and rescue breaths—
I coughed up what felt like a gallon of water.
Air flooded back into my lungs. Slowly, I felt myself returning to the living.
The moment I could focus, I pressed the pearl into Harrison's hand.
I gestured with my chin—go, turn it in.
I was too exhausted to speak.
But after several rounds of near-death together, Harrison understood without words.
He took the pearl, eyes red, and nodded.
Then he was off to complete the task.
Seth clung to me, sobbing. "Bro! You did it! God, it's a miracle! We're all gonna live!"
I wanted to laugh. I really did.
Yeah—we survived.
"Get off him, you're crushing the guy," Rosa scolded, pulling Seth away.
Seth blinked, then scrambled off me, fanning my face with his hands.
He kept gushing. "You're incredible, bro. Being on your team must be karma from a past life."
I found it funny. But I was too wrecked to laugh. I just lay there with my eyes closed.
Harrison could handle the rest.
He'd be fine.
I drifted into darkness, and the rest was blank.
When I woke, I was back in the dorm.
Quinn wasn't there.
I'd barely escaped death and was still in a daze.
The organizers obviously weren't going to provide a doctor, and dumping me here alone felt especially inhumane.
I staggered to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. When I came out, Quinn slipped through the door, cradling something under his jacket and acting incredibly suspicious.
I wiped my face and stared at him. "What are you doing?"
Quinn carefully shut the door behind him.
Then he produced a plastic container of steaming food from inside his jacket.
"Eat up. I risked my life to get you this."
The aroma made my stomach growl. Only then did I realize how hungry I was.
I didn't stand on ceremony—I grabbed the food and shoveled it down.
Between bites, I asked Quinn, "What time is it?"
Quinn said, "It was just past seven when I left the cafeteria. Figured you'd miss dinner, so I... acquired this."
I was so touched I could've cried. "If there were an award for best roommate, you'd win it hands down."
Quinn smirked. "You think I'm that nice? The only reason I'm feeding you is that you're Night Scout tonight. You need your strength for our secret mission."
My appetite vanished. "I'm Night Scout tonight? How do you know?"
Quinn said, "When your teammates brought you back, I asked them. You're the only one who hasn't had a turn yet, so it has to be you."
Someone had carried me back?
I nodded, understanding. "That'd be Seth, right?"
Quinn shook his head. "No—it was this chubby guy named Seth. As for your class monitor Harrison..."
"What about him?"
Quinn hesitated, then pressed his lips together. "Harrison's dead."
I shot to my feet. "What are you talking about? I completed the task—how could he die?"
Quinn sighed, leaning back on his arms. "Why would I lie? You completed the task, yes. But another class didn't—remember the Scapegoat Card from this morning?"
My pulse spiked. "Someone used Harrison as a scapegoat?"
Quinn nodded. "The class next to yours—Class 10, I think. They failed the pearl mission. Total wipeout. During their punishment, a girl named Sophie used your class monitor as her scapegoat."
He paused, then added, "And it wasn't just Harrison. Another girl from your class was scapegoated too."
"Which girl?" I asked urgently. "Was it Rosa?"
Quinn shook his head. "Don't think so."
I frowned.
Regardless of who died, our class had just lost two more people.
Before the swim challenge, we'd had seven.
Now Class 8—originally twenty strong—was down to just three.
Me, Seth, and Rosa.
This Sophie person had clearly targeted us because we had the most survivors.
My jaw tightened.
Harrison was dead. Who was the new monitor?
No—with only three left, did a monitor even matter?
The swim challenge had to be the last team event.
With that thought, I headed for the door.
Quinn called after me, "Where are you going?"
I answered over my shoulder. "To check how many players are left."
I walked out. Quinn followed.
He closed the door, and we made our way down the long corridor toward the dormitory entrance.
The Rabbit Hall Warden stood motionless there, as always, available for queries.
The moment Quinn and I approached, it activated automatically.
Its AI voice asked, "Hello, student. How can the Rabbit Hall Warden assist you?"
I didn't bother talking. I tapped the screen.
"Current participant count."
A pop-up appeared in red text.
"Participants remaining: 102."
From a thousand-person free-for-all to a hundred.
I stared at the number. I couldn't articulate what I felt.
Especially after learning about Harrison.
Harrison had held a lifesaving card. He'd given that chance to me.
He'd said that if we both made it to the end, I could repay him by giving him my spot.
Now it was impossible. Harrison was dead. No second chances.
And I didn't know if I'd make it to the end either.
Quinn saw my mood darkening and patted my shoulder. "Cheer up. Night patrol is coming up."
I nodded dully. "Let's go back. Give me the address."
I turned and walked back without looking at him.
I finished the now-cold food quickly, then studied the map Quinn had drawn for me.
To leave no evidence, I memorized every detail and destroyed the note.
I grilled Quinn on every possible detail and formulated a plan.
Compared to the other players, I had two objectives tonight.
First: complete the patrol mission quickly.
Second: investigate the staff break room Quinn had mentioned.
Eight PM arrived. My phone buzzed with a message from the game organizers.
Just as Quinn had predicted, I was tonight's Night Scout.
Because there weren't enough players, tonight's patrol wouldn't be class versus class.
Instead, all remaining players who hadn't done patrol yet were randomly assigned.
My mission tonight:
Avoid the patrollers. From Teacher's Office desk #8, retrieve a name roster.