The darkness passed in an instant, like falling through a tear in reality itself. Krum's vision cleared suddenly as he found himself plummeting through open air.
But the fall wasn't over.
Krum looked down, and his pupils contracted in pure terror! Below them, a pack of massive sharks circled hungrily in churning dark blue waters! The predators opened their blood-stained maws wide, razor-sharp teeth gleaming as they prepared to feast on the falling humans!
Those savage, bloodthirsty eyes and rows of serrated fangs looked like nature's perfect killing machine! This was a death trap with no escape!
Krum let out a string of curses that would make his grandmother faint. In a desperate burst of adrenaline, he roared and managed to stomp down hard on one shark's snout, using it as a springboard to leap toward what looked like solid ground.
The moment he landed, Krum hissed through gritted teeth as sharp pain shot through his ankle.
His teammates weren't nearly as quick or athletic.
"AHHHHHHH!"
They crashed down among the circling sharks, screaming in absolute terror as they thrashed wildly, trying to escape the predators that surrounded them.
But wait. Krum squinted, something nagging at his mind. Why did these sharks look... strangely flat?
Upon closer inspection, he realized with growing amazement that the "turbulent seawater" and "ferocious shark pack" were nothing more than an incredibly detailed oil painting. Lifelike beyond belief, radiating faint magical energy that had fooled their panicked minds into seeing mortal danger where none existed.
"Shut up and stop flailing around like idiots," Krum barked. "The sharks are fake."
"What... huh?"
His teammates finally stopped their frantic struggling, looking around in confusion. They slowly realized they had been writhing around on top of a flat painted surface this entire time.
Their faces flushed red with embarrassment as they sheepishly picked themselves up, though they still cast nervous glances at the painted sharks.
The artwork was breathtakingly realistic. Every scale, every sharp tooth, and every malevolent eye were rendered with such precise detail that, without examining the actual brushstrokes, they appeared to be living creatures. Even someone with no artistic training could recognize the extraordinary skill involved.
"The organizers really outdid themselves with the setup this time," one teammate muttered. "Though it's disturbingly twisted."
"How did we get transported from the doorway straight into the building?" Krum wondered aloud, his jaw clenched with frustration. "Was the ground in front of the door handle some kind of Portkey?"
If so, the organizers had crossed every line of decency and fair play.
Despite his growing unease, Krum couldn't shake the feeling that worse was yet to come. But regardless of these setbacks, he had still been the first to reach the mansion. The glory of first place remained within his grasp!
With renewed determination, Krum straightened his shoulders.
"Let's find that Portkey," he commanded.
"Right!"
The four-man team split into pairs, systematically searching each room starting from the ground floor.
Ben and Leon took the mansion's study as their starting point. Ancient tomes lined the walls, their covers stained with ominous dark red blotches that made Ben's skin crawl.
"'Strange Rituals: Blood Chalice and Raised Appetite,'" Ben read aloud from one spine, his voice slightly shaky.
Although the actual content had been sanitized to prevent contestants from being exposed to genuine dark magic, the oppressive atmosphere was enough to set anyone's nerves on edge.
Ben retrieved a white crystal pendant from inside his shirt. This magical detection device would glow increasingly red as it approached objects with high magical concentration, making it perfect for identifying the Portkey. Quick and efficient.
Victory was practically guaranteed!
Ben grinned confidently as he began scanning the bookshelves with his detector. Suddenly, the white crystal pulsed with red light. As he moved closer to one particular shelf, it blazed with brilliant illumination!
"Found it!" Ben called excitedly, waving Leon over from across the room.
He reached up and carefully removed the book the crystal had indicated. Both young men huddled together, examining the black leather-bound volume with growing excitement. When Ben opened it, the yellowed pages were completely blank.
"A blank book... something this unusual has to be the Portkey!" Ben declared with absolute certainty.
That's when it happened.
Squish.
Right there on the open page, a wet, round eyeball suddenly appeared. It rolled around wildly in all directions before finally focusing directly on their faces. The horrible thing seemed to curve upward, as if smiling at them.
Ben and Leon's triumphant grins froze instantly, like ice water had been dumped over their heads. This wasn't some painted illusion. This was a genuine eyeball, looking freshly extracted from a living creature. It grew from the page itself, and the paper around it began taking on the texture of human skin.
The pitch-black pupil radiated pure malevolence and cruel amusement as it regarded them with obvious mockery.
You have disturbed something that should have remained buried.
Needle-sharp pain and maddening itchiness erupted across their exposed skin.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Ben snapped back to awareness as Leon's agonized screaming filled the room. He spun around to see his teammate's face erupting in grotesque red sores. Bean-sized pustules sprouted like diseased mushrooms, bursting and reforming in an endless cycle of horror.
But what truly stopped Ben's heart was the look of absolute terror in Leon's eyes... terror directed at him, as if Ben had become some kind of monster.
Ben looked down at his own arms and watched in sick fascination as angry red rashes began crawling across his skin like living serpents.
"AHHHHHHH!"
The blood-curdling screams brought Krum and the remaining teammate running at full speed. They burst into the study to find both Ben and Leon collapsed on the floor, writhing in unbearable agony while clawing desperately at their faces and arms.
Horrifying red welts covered their skin, constantly bursting from their frantic scratching and weeping yellow fluid.
What in hell's name happened here?!
Krum's eyes went wide with shock, his heart hammering against his ribs. He spotted the open blank book lying abandoned near the two victims.
"Stop scratching!" Krum lunged forward and grabbed Ben's hands before he could do more damage. He gestured frantically for his other teammate to restrain Leon.
"The eyes... the eyes!" both afflicted boys sobbed and babbled, their bodies convulsing uncontrollably.
Krum attempted some basic healing charms, but his Episkey spells proved utterly useless. He specialized in combat magic and had barely any experience with medical treatment.
What had these two encountered? They kept raving about "eyes." Had they witnessed something forbidden?
The organizers were supposed to have cleared this place of genuine dangers! How could such a vicious curse still be active?!
Krum glanced at the innocent-looking blank book but found no answers there.
"They can't continue competing in this condition," he decided grimly. "Get them out of the mansion and find the nearest Aurors for emergency treatment."
After a pause, he added, "Use the window. Don't trust the doors."
"Y-yes sir!" his remaining teammate stammered.
With Krum's help, they managed to drag both victims to a window and struggle through it to the outside.
Krum pressed his palms against his temples and took several deep breaths, trying to calm his frayed nerves. This mansion was becoming a nightmare. They had spent ages searching the first floor without finding even a trace of the Portkey. Instead, they had encountered a gallery of disturbing artwork that seemed designed to unnerve them.
It was like walking through a parade of demons and monsters, each painting more unsettling than the last. Their already exhausted minds jumped at every shadow.
Had the legendary dark wizard Herpo been such an art enthusiast? It certainly fit his reputation as the ancestor of all dark magic practitioners.
Whether it was paranoia or genuine intuition, Krum couldn't shake the feeling that this mansion was actively hunting them. Four strong competitors had been reduced to just two in a matter of minutes. His ankle throbbed with pain despite healing attempts, making movement difficult.
What should have been an easy victory now seemed impossibly distant. Had he somehow offended the spirit of this cursed place? That seemed unlikely. Herpo had been dead for centuries, his bones long since turned to dust.
Unable to puzzle out the mystery, Krum forced himself to focus on the immediate situation. When his teammate returned from evacuating the injured, Krum said, "Let's take a brief rest to conserve our energy..."
Before he could finish the sentence...
BANG!
A thunderous crash echoed from the mansion's front entrance! It sounded like something massive had just smashed through the doors and entered!
Both Krum and his remaining companion, Noah, whipped their heads toward the sound, their briefly relaxed nerves snapping back to high alert.
Noah's face crumpled with exhaustion and despair. Not more trouble. Please, not now.
They really were being hunted like animals in this cursed place.
(TL NOTE: Unfortunately, my LOTR: Playing Minecraft in Middle-earth book was mistakenly flagged as spam on Webnovel and removed. I'll re-upload it under a different title by today at the latest. Thank you for your patience!)