Die, Replay, Repeat

Chapter 17: The Specter's Labyrinth

Wang Ziteng picked up the condom he had tossed aside, his face gloomy. Taking a closer look, it was his often-used studded type, which made him feel worse.

"Everybody, quiet!" he yelled, "My cousin once said that normal people can't get out of the Specter's Labyrinth. To escape, we need to use our spiritual senses. Check and see if any of you can activate these senses!"

As he spoke, Wang Ziteng began praying fervently, hoping to awaken his spiritual senses. He didn't know if his previous encounter with the Specter counted as a near-death experience, but all he could do now was hope.

Fang Xiu, though, wasn't watching the others' reactions. He started to feel the wall on his right, not waiting for them to activate their spiritual senses and become psychics.

Among the group, he had the best shot at becoming a psychic. He was the only one who had really faced life and death and had come face to face with the Specter. If he couldn't turn psychic, then it was even less likely for the others. So instead of praying, he figured it was better to look for clues.

He began to recall the hospital's layout. He remembered the exit should be on the right. He had gone up and down the stairs before, and the exit was consistently on the right. Even though he couldn't tell which hospital building he was in at that moment, the layout should be the same.

If the Specter's Labyrinth was an illusion, then he could close his eyes and feel his way down the stairs on the right. There was a good chance he'd find a door.

Fang Xiu closed his eyes and started going down the stairs, running his hand along the right wall. His actions caught everyone's eye. After all, while everyone else stood still, Fang Xiu was the only one moving on his own.

Wang Ziteng observed Fang Xiu, deep in thought. By now, he noticed that Fang Xiu was differenttoo calm. He hadn't shown any signs of fear from the start, even when he saw the Specter. He couldn't help but think back to when the "doctor" showed up. His first instinct was to run, but Fang Xiu

Fang Xiu hadn't run. Instead, he had stood against the wall to avoid being trampled. Even though he was up front, he didn't try to get away first, and in the end, only Fang Xiu, Zhao Hao, and Li Feifei were left.

Now Li Feifei was gone, clearly dead. But Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao had been in that hallway for at least a minute. What were they doing there?

Wang Ziteng wondered,_ 'Why didn't the Specter kill them? Why didn't they run away? They spent a whole minute with the Specter... Okay, it was a female Specter, with long legsbut they couldn't have been...messing with her, could they?'_

Wang Ziteng shook off the silly thought. Even though he wasn't sure what the two had done in that minute, he was sure about one thing: the Specter only killed one person at a timethree minutes after a guy, two after a girl. During this time, it was totally safe, even if you were right next to the Specter. The fact that Fang Xiu and Zhao Hao were still alive proved it.

Fang Xiu had already started down the stairs, moving away from the others. Seeing him head down, Wang Ziteng seemed to catch on. He also shut his eyes and began feeling his way down the wall, following Fang Xiu's lead. This drew the others' attention.

As Fang Xiu continued to feel his way forward, his fingers consistently brushed against the solid, rough wall. But when he reached the fifteenth step, he felt something had changed. The wall now felt smooth and colder, like he was touching metal.

Fang Xiu's eyes popped open, and without a second thought, he immediately put both hands on the empty wall in front of him, trying to find a door handle. Wang Ziteng, who had been copying Fang Xiu, also arrived at the same spot soon and quickly picked up on the change in texture, which excited him.

"It's a door!"

With a click, Fang Xiu turned the door handle he had just found, and it swung open.

An iron door had somehow appeared in the wall. Now the door was open, revealing a dim hallway.

Wang Ziteng rushed out first like a wild man, and Fang Xiu silently followed suit. Seeing a way out, the rest of the group also surged forward in a frenzy. They ran down the hallway, with Fang Xiu, the second one in, now in the second-to-last spot.

It wasn't that he was slow, but he didn't need to be fast. When dealing with the "doctor," he didn't need to outrun her; he just had to be faster than the last person in the group. Also, this made it easier to feel around in the darkness while the doctor was "eating," hopefully to activate his spiritual senses sooner.

Thus, being in the front of the team wasn't necessarily good.

Fang Xiu was well aware that there was more than one Specter in this mental hospital. While most were confined in their rooms, some doors were left open.

As they ran, Wang Ziteng, leading the way, suddenly stopped, and everyone else did the same. Before them, two paths stretched outone to the left and the other to the right. Both paths were shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to see what lay ahead beyond a yard.

No one dared to go, fearing they might pick the wrong path and fall into the "doctor's" trap.

At this point, all eyes automatically turned toward the end of the line, toward Fang Xiu, who had just caught up. Since he had found a way out of the Specter's Labyrinth before, they naturally thought he might find the way out now.

Regrettably, Fang Xiu also didn't know which way to pick. He hadn't explored the mental hospital thoroughly before; he had moved through the hospital walls like a Specter, only knowing the general layout and some of the paths he had taken. Unfortunately, neither of the two paths looked familiar to him.

"Fang Xiu, which way should we go?" Wang Ziteng asked urgently.

Fang Xiu looked at the hopeful faces of the group and couldn't help but find it funny. When they were running, they wanted to shove him aside. But when they ran into trouble, they turned to him. He was their backup plan.

But Fang Xiu didn't mind. He saw the group as his backup too. Right now, he couldn't beat the doctor, and someone had to be sacrificed to buy some time.

Fang Xiu didn't answer but picked the path to the right. Even if he didn't know which path was right, he knew they couldn't waste time since every second cost lives.

Seeing Fang Xiu heading right, everyone else followed without hesitation.

And then it happened. The sound of joints cracking echoed down the hallway. They looked back and saw the "doctor," hanging from the ceiling like a spider. Her white pupil-less eyes fixated on the group, and her white coat stood out in the dim hallway.

"Ahhh!!"

"Run!"

"Move!"

The crowd went into a frenzy, running for their lives. But they couldn't outrun the "doctor," and two legs were no match for four. They saw the doctor's Specterly shape appear instantly on the ceiling above them, her long black hair dropping down and attacking the last person in the group."