During dinner, they headed to the cafeteria and ran into a lone, despondent Anthony.
After exchanging a few words, they learned that Thomas had also died.
"After we left the classroom, he kept saying someone was following him. We ran, then he said it was getting closer, so we kept running. We got separated. When I went back to find him, I saw it with my own eyes—he jumped into the lake. It was so damn unlucky! There was a pole stuck in the lakebed—it pierced straight through his chest. I couldn't retrieve the body. I didn't dare go near the water."
"Seems like the spirit you summoned was a heart-gouging ghost, while ours was a hanging one," Stephanie said with bitter sarcasm. "Looking at it that way, at least the deaths were swift."
Anthony sighed helplessly. "You have a strong mentality. I, for one, don't want to die like that. Tonight's going to be worse—it's nighttime. I don't think I'll survive. Maybe I could come to your dorm tonight? At least we'd look out for each other."
He no longer dared return to his own dorm. Last night, there had still been four of them. Now he was the only one left.
The three of them sat in the cafeteria, barely touching their food, faces clouded with worry.
"Do you think... if we play the pencil game again to send the ghost away, would that work?" Anthony asked.
Though Eric and Stephanie had already turned him down, he hadn't given up.
To summon the pencil ghost again, he'd need others' cooperation. He couldn't do it alone.
Eric had thought about it, but the risks were far too great.
"What if we fail to send away the previous one and end up summoning another? Would we survive a two-pronged attack?"
Stephanie shook her head. "It's too dangerous. I wouldn't dare play it again. And besides, the last time we failed because Melissa asked a question the spirit couldn't answer. Didn't you say your side only asked normal questions, and yet it still wouldn't leave? Why would you dare try again?"
Anthony was pale, rejected by both Eric and Stephanie. "I... I have no other choice."
The pressure was overwhelming. At least the girls still had each other—he was all alone. If he didn't take a chance, how could he survive?
Silence settled between them. Eric slowly sipped his soup, when suddenly a thought struck him.
"Maybe playing the game again won't work. But I have another idea. What if we try offering tributes? Buy things from the shop, offer them to the pencil ghost—see if it'll spare us."
"Bribing a ghost? Would that even work?" Stephanie, experienced in horror dungeons, had never heard of such mercy. The ghosts she knew killed without hesitation.
"Each instance is different. This ghost was summoned by us and never sent away—the connection still exists. If we offer something, it might actually receive it."
Unlike in past dungeons, Eric had a lingering link with this spirit. The more he spoke, the more sense it made. His eyes lit up. "Right—Stephanie, remember what the gatekeeper said this morning? No one's allowed out yet—it's not the weekend. But tomorrow's Friday. The gate opens on Fridays! We might actually be able to leave!"
Stephanie wavered. "It might really work. We just have to last until tomorrow afternoon!"
A plan was better than waiting for death. And Eric's reasoning was solid. Anthony perked up too. "Let's go buy things now! I still have money on my campus card."
None of them could eat anymore. They rushed off to the campus store.
Of course, the school shop didn't carry incense or candles. The four white candles they'd used for the ritual had already been in their dorm—a setup likely crafted by the game for summoning the pencil ghost.
After buying a pile of food, Eric and Stephanie returned to their dorm.
That night, Anthony still sneaked into the girls' dorm.
Eric was blunt. "If you sleep here, I'm afraid you'll bring your ghost with you. What if we end up with two spirits in one room? How would we survive?"
So Anthony found an empty room on the same floor and hurriedly arranged his offerings. He brought the four unused white candles from his own dorm as well.
He laid out four lotus paste buns—three forming a ring, one stacked on top. The rest of the food was arranged in an altar-like display. Gritting his teeth, he lit the first candle.
Kneeling solemnly before the offerings, Anthony prostrated himself. "Dear Pencil Ghost, merciful and mighty—please spare me. This is a humble token of respect…"
As he murmured, he kept his ears trained on the room's atmosphere.
At 10:30, the lights cut off. One candle had already burned down. Panicking, Anthony lit another, silently praying they would burn slowly.
He kept chanting. Suddenly, the candle flickered.
A chill ran down his spine. He raised his voice, bowed harder. A looming black shadow appeared behind him, and his sense of danger surged.
Terror. Despair. Tears streamed down his face.
"Great Spirit! Please accept these gifts! Just spare me this one night!"
The shadow inched closer—almost merging with him. Ice-cold dread gripped him. He lay flat on the floor, trembling, teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Hopelessness surged. If this didn't work, he had no other way out. He was doomed.
Midnight fell.
In the room next door, four girls watched a suspended pen trace a circle on a sheet of paper.
A few doors down, Eric and Stephanie had arranged their offerings and lit their candles.
Drip… drip…
In the silence, Eric once again heard the sound of running water, slow dragging footsteps echoing from the bathroom.
Stephanie heard it too. She trembled uncontrollably.
"Pencil Ghost, these are gifts for you—please spare us tonight!"
Eric bowed deeply, then looked up.
In the wavering candlelight, she saw a shadow emerge from the bathroom, cross the balcony, and step into the room.
Closer… closer… Eric finally saw its face—a male ghost with a noose around his neck, bald-headed, dressed in an old-fashioned long robe, face twisted in rage, eyes crimson.
Repeated brushes with death had hardened Eric's nerves. She was still terrified, but could endure it. She instinctively averted her gaze, avoiding eye contact, and continued sincerely presenting her offering.
Back when Deborah was still alive, they had discussed point systems. Neither she nor Stephanie knew about item usage. Learning it thrilled them, and they had thanked Eric profusely. From that, Eric had learned that neither had accumulated enough points—none above 444.
So, the shop's items were inaccessible for now.
She hoped this offering would work. If not, they were truly out of options. Perhaps her ghostly sight might delay her death compared to Stephanie's—but it would only be a matter of time.
Stephanie, blind to everything, felt her heart nearly leap out of her throat. Eventually, fear gripped her so tightly she couldn't even speak. All she could do was kneel on the icy floor, waiting for fate to decide.
Watching the ghost approach, Eric's face drained of color.
"This is from the depths of our hearts… please spare us tonight," she said, forcing herself to go on.
The ghost paused, then bent down.
Eric didn't close her eyes. She stared at its knees.
A gnarled, skeletal hand appeared in her line of sight, reaching for the offerings.
As it moved, a translucent image separated from the pile of food.
The ghost hand took the spectral offering and slowly shuffled away—back through the balcony, vanishing into the bathroom.
Eric collapsed to the floor, drained of all strength.
*Fwoosh—*
The second candle burned out. The room plunged into darkness.
Minutes passed before two deep, relieved exhalations echoed in the black.
The next morning, Eric woke with a start from a nightmare.
Sunlight streamed through the balcony. Stephanie lay curled beside her on the floor.
Eric rubbed her stiff neck and looked at the offerings. They appeared unchanged—but she remembered the ghostly illusion. She reached out.
The moment her fingers touched the lotus bun, the entire pile disintegrated into ash.
Breathing deeply, Eric picked up a pinch of ash—soft and fragrant, like incense remains.
After stretching her limbs, she gently woke Stephanie.
"We survived," Stephanie murmured in disbelief, then broke into both laughter and tears.
"Yes, we did." Eric extended a hand. Stephanie grasped it and was pulled upright.
They tidied up and went to knock on Anthony's door.
"Hope he made it through too…"
Anthony opened the door, face swollen with exhaustion and joy. "Good morning."
Their successful offering had given them hope for survival.
Wasting no time, the trio returned to the shop for more supplies and had classmates help request sick leave—they planned to stay in the dorm all day.
Throughout the day, the pencil ghost Eric and Stephanie summoned appeared three times, each visit more aggressive than the last. They had to offer more and more each time.
Fortunately, they had enough money on their campus cards.
What had seemed a certain death trap now had a path to survival. The dungeon's difficulty sharply decreased.
Thanks to the offerings, they actually made it through the day alive.
When the school bell rang, the campus gates opened. Boarders poured out—and at the gate, Eric and the others finally saw the exit portal.
Staring at it, Eric couldn't help but smile. Anthony jumped in excitement, then instantly regretted it. "If only we'd thought to prepare offerings the night we summoned it…"
"No one could've guessed it would work," Stephanie said, hugging Eric excitedly. "How did you come up with this?"
"Actually, if we'd noticed the campus card balances earlier, we might've figured it out sooner," Eric replied. The roles assigned in the dungeon always held meaning. Why else give them cards loaded with funds?
"Come on. Let's go home."
Stephanie stepped into the portal first. Eric followed.
In the next instant, they were back at the transit station.
**\[Player Eric has cleared the paranormal dungeon: *The Pencil Ghost*, and earned 44 points.]**