Chapter 7: The Spider's Hesitation
432 Words
Wearing his military coat, Merlin felt the chill behind him dissipate.
Looking down at his feet, he saw nothing.
"Has the ghost left?" Merlin wondered.
He reached behind him but felt nothing.
It seemed that the pale shadow had indeed disappeared.
It made sense; once he woke up in the real world, he would vanish from this one. The ghost couldn’t possibly wait around forever. Where it went was anyone’s guess.
Merlin had previously explored the second floor. Aside from one room with a locked door, he had checked everything else and found no danger.
Approaching the stairwell, he cracked open the safety door and peered outside.
The black mist that had been blocking the third floor was gone. The hanging female ghost was nowhere to be seen.
Looking down, Merlin frowned.
The cobwebs on the first floor were still there and were spreading up to the second floor. As Merlin watched, a shadow shot up from the first floor with incredible speed.
He immediately slammed the safety door shut.
Moments later, there was a loud crash as the doorframe was dented by the impact.
Without hesitation, Merlin bolted away.
He had seen clearly what had climbed up from the first floor—a gigantic spider.
Though he had only caught a glimpse, he saw enough to know that the spider was larger than an adult. Its body was covered in various human faces, twisted and crowded together, all contorted in pain and emitting horrifying screams.
Even a normal person would be terrified just from seeing it.
Merlin, however, managed to stay calm, his nerves steady, and ran quickly.
The safety door was not locked, but even if it were, Merlin doubted it could have stopped the giant spider. If it got inside, the situation would be dire.
To Merlin's surprise, the face-covered spider did not enter the second floor.
It merely pushed the safety door open a crack and peeked inside.
In the darkness, several eyes of different sizes stared through the gap, creating a massive sense of pressure.
After a moment, the spider retreated to the stairwell and, judging by the sounds, went back down to the first floor.
Merlin, hiding in the shadows, observed closely.
“Why didn’t it follow me in?”
Naturally, he was curious.
This was clearly unusual.
Something must have spooked the spider, perhaps something on the second floor that it feared. It could be related to territorial behavior.
Examining the second-floor hallway again, Merlin noted its eerie ambiance.
At that moment, the door to the room at the end of the hallway creaked open.
- Writer
