[Location: Unknown - The Temporary Tomb]
"By the time Sebas returns, I won't be flying blind in this world anymore."
Ainz sat on his makeshift throne, tapping a skeletal finger against his chin. He watched the projection floating in the air—two thermal signatures moving deeper into his territory.
"Now... time to deal with these two annoying flies."
He had already dispatched Sebas to infiltrate New York. But he had almost forgotten the intruders.
Killing them was risky; dead bodies attracted police, and police attracted heroes. But terrifying them? That was just good business. The previous group of students had provided a bountiful harvest of Emotion Points just by seeing a few ghosts.
Ainz's eye sockets flared with a crimson light.
"Let's see if you scream louder than the last ones."
[The Forest - Deep Woods]
Liam and Ethan sat on a massive, rotting stump, catching their breath. The forest around them was suffocatingly dark.
"Liam, seriously. We should go back."
Ethan's voice was thin and shaky. He gripped his flashlight like a lifeline.
They had been walking for over an hour, and while they hadn't seen any monsters, the atmosphere was wrong. It was too quiet.
"Think about it, Liam," Ethan whispered, his eyes darting around. "We're in a wild forest near New York. There should be crickets. Owls. Raccoons. Something."
The silence was heavy, oppressive. It felt like the forest itself was holding its breath.
Even the "Dangerous Wildlife" signs they had ignored at the entrance seemed like a distant memory. Night was when the predators hunted. But here? Not even a wolf howled.
"We've been here two hours," Ethan pleaded. "We have the footage. We proved we aren't scared. Let's just go."
Liam hesitated. He looked at the path ahead, swallowed by darkness.
"But... the challenge is to stay overnight," Liam argued, though his voice lacked its usual confidence. "Let's just reach the center. Once we hit the middle, we can turn back. Otherwise, the guys at school will call us fakes."
Ethan wanted to scream 'Who cares?!' but Liam was already standing up, marching forward.
"Fine," Ethan muttered, hefting his backpack. "But if I see one weird thing, I am gone."
They walked for another ten minutes, the silence growing louder with every step.
Suddenly, Liam stumbled.
"Whoa!"
His foot caught on something hard buried in the leaves. He pitched forward, face-planting into the dirt.
"Liam!" Ethan rushed forward, reaching out to help him up.
As Ethan's hand brushed the ground near Liam's leg, his fingers closed around something cold and smooth.
It wasn't a root. It wasn't a rock.
Ethan shone his flashlight down.
He was holding a hand. A skeletal hand.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
Ethan screamed, flinging the bones away as if they were burning.
Liam, dazed from the fall, shook his head. "What? What is it?"
He pushed himself up, his nose inches from the ground. His phone light illuminated the obstacle that had tripped him.
A skull.
It was half-buried in the dirt, staring directly into Liam's eyes with hollow, black sockets. It was grinning.
Liam scrambled back, kicking dirt in his panic. "Jesus!"
He scrambled to his feet, heart hammering against his ribs. He shone the light on the skull again.
It didn't move. Just a dirty, old bone.
Liam let out a shaky laugh, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Okay... okay," Liam breathed, trying to regain his composure. "It's just a skeleton, Ethan. Probably some old hiker or... I don't know. It's dead. It can't hurt us."
He walked over to Ethan, who was paralyzed with fear, staring past Liam's shoulder.
"Hey, buddy. Relax. It's not a ghost."
Ethan didn't blink. His face was a mask of pure terror. He raised a trembling finger, pointing behind Liam.
"Y-Y-You..."
"B-Behind you!!"
Ethan didn't wait. He turned and bolted, sprinting back the way they came, abandoning his friend to the dark.
"Ethan? What the hell?"
Liam frowned. A cold breeze brushed against the back of his neck. It smelled of grave dirt and rot.
Slowly, stiffly, Liam turned around.
The skull was no longer on the ground.
A full skeleton stood there, towering over him. Green, baleful fire burned in its eye sockets.
Click. Clack.
Its jaw opened and closed, the sound of bone grinding on bone echoing in the silence.
"SCREEEEE!"
Liam screamed—a sound that tore his throat apart—and ran.
He ran blindly, branches whipping his face, roots tearing at his ankles. But the forest had changed.
The shadows began to move.
Pale, translucent ghosts floated through the trees, wailing softly.
Rotting zombies clawed their way out of the earth, groaning with hunger.
Hulking golems made of stone and moss blocked the paths.
The forest wasn't empty anymore. It was alive.
Liam and Ethan ran until their lungs burned and their legs gave out. But in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, there is no escape.
Eventually, the screaming stopped.
The forest returned to silence. The two guests had found a very peaceful place to sleep... for a very long time.
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