Chapter 97: Bungee Jump – 2
“Huuaaagh!”
A shout burst out of before I even realized it.
That rule about ‘closing your eyes’ was completely unnecessary!
Who in the world could possibly keep their eyes open at this kind of overwhelming speed?
‘Ugh. Ugh.’
[Please maintain your dignity. You did the sa thing when crossing the swamp in the First-Co Quest.]
‘Is it ti? Is it now?’
[No. We’re not even halfway yet.]
‘I see.’
[…….]
‘Now? Is it now?’
[Sigh.]
There was no way to tell how much ti was passing.
Being dragged sowhere at this terrifying speed was a kind of fear I had never experienced before.
My head spun, and my composure shattered to pieces.
‘You told to use myself as the standard, but……’
Unless soone had nerves of steel, there was no way they could use as a proper reference.
It was then.
[Now!]
“Stop!”
I shouted with all my might.
In the next instant, I was back on the diving platform.
I collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.
Then I crawled off the diving platform and moved toward the circular base.
“Mason!”
My companions rushed over to .
Aina grinned and asked,
“Was it that scary?”
“I thought I was gonna die— no, not at all.”
“……”
“It was easier than I expected. Actually, kind of fun.”
“You literally yelled ‘Huuaaagh’ as you fell.”
I ignored her and looked at the mini bulletin board.
– 00,001,090 ters
– 1st place
1,090 ters, huh.
‘Hey, Diary Book. How far from the ground was I when I got pulled back here?’
[Hmm. Roughly around five ters, maybe?]
‘So the total distance to the long-range destination would be 1,095 ters.’
I shared that information.
Then I turned to Arlia.
“Your Highness, how many seconds was I in the air?”
“About 13 seconds? Maybe a little over 13.”
“Alright, let’s call it 13 seconds then……”
Wait. Hold on.
What does that make it?
Then Berseum spoke.
“That ans the falling speed is approximately 83 ters per second.”
“Huh? Sir Berseum, how did you calculate that so fast?”
“Well, I was once a scholar.”
Aina whispered to Benjamin,
“How did he even get that number?”
“You really are… never mind.”
“What? Co on, tell .”
“Just… grow up strong and healthy, will you.”
“Ugh.”
Anyway, I’d just take 13 seconds as the baseline.
I looked at the ordinary participants and said,
“I recomnd you all choose the long-range destination. Of course, that’s not an order.”
“Yes, yes.”
“They said the flying speed is the sa for all participants, so as long as you shout ‘Stop’ within 13 seconds, you’ll be fine.”
“……”
“As you saw just now, I ca back right before hitting the ground. In other words, if you go beyond 13 seconds, you’ll die and be eliminated. Please keep that in mind.”
After I said that, it beca awfully quiet around .
I tilted my head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Mason, you’re truly remarkable.”
“Sorry?”
“We’re all competitors, and yet you openly shared that kind of information.”
“Ah, well… it’s nothing.”
“Thank you. Really, thank you so much.”
So of the participants’ eyes even reddened with emotion.
Embarrassed, I scratched my head awkwardly.
Then Arlia spoke firmly.
“Still, none of you are allowed to take first place. Absolutely not.”
“……”
“12 seconds… no, for safety, make it 10 seconds. You’ll all shout ‘Stop’ after 10 seconds.”
“……”
“Answer .”
Her Highness was a little scary.
Honestly, I didn’t deserve the participants’ gratitude.
After all, I had drawn a clear line between my party and them.
Through secret conversation, I spoke to my companions.
[To be honest, it’s nearly impossible to count ti mid-air. You’ll be too overwheld to even think.]
[Hmm.]
[I’ll count the ti myself and speak to you ntally. If you shout ‘Stop’ in sync with my voice, you’ll return safely.]
[Aren’t you going to tell the ordinary participants?]
[I can’t. The secret conversation feature only works with people I’ve already saved once.]
My companions nodded.
I did feel a little guilty, but they were far more important to .
[As compensation, though……]
[Got it.]
[Aina?]
[You an it’s better if we go first so the others can get a feel for it, right?]
[Are you sure about that?]
[You’ll be counting for us anyway, so of course it’s fine. But tell us to stop around 12 seconds, not 13. We can’t take first place either.]
Saying that, she walked boldly toward the diving platform.
We watched her small back nervously.
Magireta said sothing to Aina and handed her a rope.
As soon as Aina tied the rope to her legs, Magireta gave her a sharp kick.
1 second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds.
5 seconds. 7 seconds. 9 seconds.
11……
[Stop!]
As soon as I shouted that, Aina returned to the platform.
Unlike , her face was perfectly fine.
She untied the rope, walked over, and checked the mini bulletin board.
– 000,000,970 ters
– 2nd place
Aina said calmly,
“Oh, thank goodness. I didn’t take first place.”
“Why do you look completely fine?”
“It wasn’t that bad, really. Maybe you’re just the one with a fear of heights?”
[That’s right.]
Don’t butt in, Diary Book.
She stretched her body with a crack and continued,
“Anyway, now that I’ve done it, I’m sure of one thing. The ordinary participants will never get the timing right.”
“Huh?”
“To be honest, I was counting the seconds in my head too, but the timing you told didn’t match what I felt.”
“……”
“Trying to count seconds accurately while falling sowhere is insanely hard. Without realizing it, you start counting faster.”
So that’s how it was.
That ant there was no need to worry about any of the ordinary participants taking first place.
After Aina, Sienne stepped forward.
“I suppose I don’t need to close my eyes then.”
“Please don’t make jokes like that. They’re not funny.”
“Hehe. I’ll be in your care, Mason.”
She also jumped, and safely returned.
Her record: 983 ters.
Next was Benjamin, then Berseum.
And finally, Arlia jumped.
After safely returning, Arlia straightened her back as if nothing had happened and said,
“It was nothing. I think I understand now why you said it was fun.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I an it.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“By the way, Mason. When I stood on the diving platform earlier, I noticed sothing.”
She lowered her voice slightly.
“The near and mid-range destinations… you can roughly see the surrounding scenery, can’t you?”
“Yes. The long-range one’s too blurry to make out, though.”
“Don’t they look… familiar to you?”
We all tilted our heads.
Berseum asked,
“What do you an by familiar?”
“I an, places we’ve seen before. Rember the plains from the First Quest?”
“Of course. That vast plain where nearly infinite participants gathered.”
“The reeds growing at the near-range destination looked far too similar to the ones I saw back then.”
“Ha ha. You must be joking. How could you possibly rember that…….”
But she could. If it was Arlia, she could.
For so reason, a chill ran down my spine.
Without anyone saying a word, we each rubbed our shoulders.
Sienne said,
“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t really matter, does it? Maybe they just reused the scenery.”
“Hmm. Yes, it’s not really important.”
Arlia brushed it off easily.
But I found myself thinking more deeply.
……
Ugh, I still couldn’t be sure.
I decided to just keep watching for now.
Anyway, after that, the ordinary participants jumped one by one.
And before long, everyone had finished their bungee jumps.
Thankfully, I was in overwhelming first place.
And just as thankfully, no one smashed into the ground.
However, those in the lower 50 percent—judging by their rope records—had dark expressions.
The atmosphere might beco quite grim from the next round onward.
‘Those people averaged about eight seconds.’
They couldn’t handle the fear of possibly crashing into the ground.
That fear threw off their timing.
Then Magireta’s voice rang out.
“Good work today, everyone. I’ve prepared dinner here, and if you need to relieve yourselves, go into the partition over there.”
“……”
“If anyone’s cold, tell —I’ll get you a blanket. Alright then, good night, everyone!”
And that was how we safely ended the first day of bungee jumping.
That night,
we gathered in a circle and prepared our sleeping spots.
After exchanging goodnight wishes, everyone lay down.
But I didn’t fall asleep.
‘Diary Book.’
[Yes.]
‘Show the administrator page.’
[Understood. Just a mont.]
Rustle—
The Diary Book’s pages flipped.
I carefully checked through each person.
[But why the administrator page all of a sudden?]
‘Rember what you said before.’
That there was no guarantee I had been in second place in the future diary.
That had been an exceptionally sharp piece of advice.
After hearing it, I’d been planning counterasures of my own.
Since I couldn’t find any information through normal searching, I had to try another thod.
‘If one of the people I saved ended up on the sa team as that mysterious second-place person……’
[Ah. Then it would appear in the Insight tab. But if they weren’t tead up, it wouldn’t show up.]
‘Still, this is the only insurance I can take right now. I need to do what I can while I can.’
[True enough.]
For now, there was no new information in the Insight list.
I couldn’t tell if it was because they weren’t on the sa team, or because the supposed second-place person didn’t exist at all.
‘If any new Insights get registered on the administrator page, let know right away.’
[Understood.]
That should do for now.
Next, I thought about ways to extend the rope length.
But no matter how much I wracked my brain, nothing clear ca to mind.
How had Edgar managed to take first place in the future diary?
‘……’
The fact that he’d done it and I hadn’t was seriously irritating.
I would take first place this ti.
The next night,
I confird that the moon and stars had risen again and decided it was ti.
Magireta once more created three types of destinations—short, mid, and long-range.
“The distances are all different from last night. Your flying speed will change too. Wouldn’t it be dull if everything stayed the sa?”
“……”
“My heart’s desire is for you to always grow and move forward, you see.”
Of course, no one answered her.
I had guessed as much, but it was now confird—the distances and speeds had been reset.
That ant I had to jump first again.
I looked toward the glow marking the short-range destination.
‘Hm?’
The scenery looked a little different from yesterday.
I asked Arlia,
“Your Highness, do you recognize that landscape?”
“Hmm… no, I don’t. Seems to be a place I’ve never seen. Yesterday must’ve been my imagination.”
That was when Benjamin suddenly spoke up.
“It might not have been a mistake.”
“What do you an?”
“That place—I rember it. It’s the pit I set as my destination during the Second Quest’s First-Co event. Its odd shape stuck with .”
Benjamin had taken the Second Quest before we t him.
So while Arlia didn’t recognize the spot, Benjamin did.
At this point, it was certain.
“The location for the Seventh Quest is made up of the places where we’ve cleared past quests, Sister.”
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