Chapter 96 : Bungee Jump - 1
Chapter 96: Bungee Jump - 1
‘……Why do we have to jump at night?’
According to Rule Number Two, we were to jump one after another from night until just before dawn.
But if she had already turned the surroundings pitch-black with her omnipotence, there was no reason to wait until night to jump.
I tilted my head repeatedly.
Clap.
At that moment, Magireta clapped her hands lightly and spoke.
“Something on your mind again?”
“……”
“If not, look over here.”
Tap.
A mini bulletin board floated up.
It was divided clearly into two sections.
<Record of Mason Gear>
00,000,000 meters
<Current Team Ranking>
Joint 30th place
Ten, hundred, thousand……
That’s in the hundred-millions range.
The maximum possible value it could display was 99,999,999 meters.
That meant around 100,000 kilometers.
‘……’
The scale on this board was completely beyond imagination.
Wasn’t this excessive?
There was no way that the total of just six jumps could exceed a hundred thousand kilometers.
I discreetly checked Rule Number Twelve again.
12. Even if the combined distance is within the lower 50 percent, one will pass if the value exceeds the displayable limit on the board.
‘Just as I thought.’
So, it was all to give us a bit of hope before throwing us into despair.
How very witch-like of her.
As I was thinking that, Benjamin spoke up.
“In the end, this game is a test of courage.”
“A test of courage?”
“You shout ‘Stop’ right before you hit the ground. If you call it even one meter later than the others, you’ll rank within the top fifty percent.”
“……”
“The problem is, since we have to jump with our eyes closed, our fear will double—and it’ll be hard to catch the timing. None of our abilities will help with this.”
He was right.
Benjamin had pointed out the core of it well.
Aina picked up on his words.
“Then it’d be advantageous to jump as late as possible. We can watch how far those who go before us fall in a few seconds and use that as reference.”
“Indeed. But others will think the same.”
“So no one will want to jump first.”
“Still, we can’t wait forever. The time limit says we must all jump before dawn.”
Listening to their conversation, another thought crossed my mind.
‘Benjamin’s words are reasonable, but…….’
So, in the end, this was a battle of nerve and timing.
Just that?
Was the me in the Future Diary simply someone who failed to get the timing right, losing first place because of it?
Then originally, how had Edgar managed to secure first place?
And could there have been someone else who actually came second?
Too many thoughts were starting to swirl.
At the same time—
Edgar and Louis were listening together to the explanation of the bungee jump game.
Originally, the two should have been separated randomly, but Louis had made a deal with Magireta so they could stay together.
The price for that deal was her height.
Magireta took ten meters of her height.
The loss wasn’t something that could be restored, but Louis didn’t care.
‘Thanks to that, I get to stay with Arcane.’
Then Edgar opened his mouth.
“Ah, so that’s what this game is. I see now—I definitely would’ve taken first place. If not for that contract with Mason.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I got a great idea just from looking at those rules. Seems like the me from the future didn’t come up with it. Or maybe he did but couldn’t put it into action. The latter sounds more likely.”
“What kind of idea?”
“Well… hm. Never mind. It’s a useless idea anyway, since I can’t take first place this time.”
Louis was inwardly curious, but she decided not to pry.
Instead, she asked something else.
“Do you regret it? Missing your chance to kill Mason?”
“No. Thanks to that, I got to be guaranteed safety during the shoes quest.”
Even as he said that, Edgar scratched his chin.
Still… something felt off.
If it were Mason, he’d have another trick up his sleeve.
After a moment of thought, Edgar suddenly smiled faintly.
Louis, for some reason, felt her mood lift with his and asked,
“What’s with the smile all of a sudden?”
“Haha. I just realized—Mason might not win first place this time.”
“What do you mean? You’re the one who can’t take first.”
“Not me. There’s another strong candidate.”
He recalled the past.
When was that again…
Ah, yes. It was during the Second Quest, ‘First-Come’.
“There was a participant who reached the destination faster than I did.”
“What? That’s possible?”
“It surprised me too. It was an unexpected method.”
“……”
“But at the time, I wanted to take first place myself, so I dealt with them accordingly.”
He said “dealt with,” but truthfully, he’d tried to kill them.
And he thought they’d died.
But somehow, that participant had miraculously revived and reached the destination—barely within the top fifty percent.
“They glared at me quite fiercely back then. I’d planned to buy them a meal if we met again, but I guess that chance never came.”
“……”
“Anyway, if that person uses the same method they did back then, they’ll surely take first this time. Mason might face quite the crisis.”
“Hm.”
“I’m sorry. Boring story, right?”
“No. Not that exactly.”
Louis asked casually,
“Was it a woman?”
According to the rules, bungee jumping could only be done at night.
However, since Magireta had turned everything into darkness except for the ‘destination,’ there was no way to tell whether it was day or night—
Unless you looked at the sky.
“Shall we start jumping soon?”
Armelia lifted her head up at a right angle as she spoke.
When I looked up too, I saw the moon and stars shining brilliantly.
The weather was clear tonight.
“Indeed. A perfect night, no matter how you look at it.”
“So. Who’ll go first?”
“……”
“Mason. Don’t make that face.”
Armelia’s words confused me.
So I touched my own face—and realized how stiff my expression was.
“Why am I making this face…”
“Probably because this time, it’s impossible to save everyone.”
“What? I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Hehe. Sure. Let’s pretend you weren’t.”
I scratched my head.
Indeed, this quest was one where the bottom fifty percent would inevitably be eliminated.
The rules had been similar during the Pop Quiz, but back then we had used the loophole that everyone received a perfect score and got through.
However, I doubted we could hope for something like that this time.
Armelia continued speaking.
“This time, I want you to focus all your mind on taking first place. I will do the same.”
“Your Highness.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
For a moment I felt heat rise to my face.
Then Aina’s voice was heard.
“Spring indeed, spring. Either way is spring.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind. Since we can’t save everyone anyway, let’s make sure we jump as late as possible. That’s how we’ll get a feel for it.”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
Everyone looked at me in puzzlement.
But without any further explanation I raised my voice.
“Everyone, please pay attention here.”
“Huh? You are—”
“My name is Mason Gear. I want to say a few words before the game.”
The participants hesitated but approached our group.
I explained calmly.
“I know why you’re all just watching around despite it being night.”
“……”
“You don’t want to go first, right? You have no sense of how far someone will travel in a few seconds, so you want to use others as reference.”
“Kr, ahem.”
“But if we stall until dawn, everyone will be eliminated. Let’s stop wasting time.”
Then a man stepped forward.
“Don’t say it so easily. Isn’t this a matter of life and death?”
“……”
“If you mistime it and hit the ground, you’ll be screwed. And if you shout ‘Stop’ too early, it’ll be disadvantageous in the game.”
“It’s something that has to be done sooner or later.”
“So don’t say it so lightly. Or are you going to jump first yourself?”
“Yes.”
A short answer.
But the echo that returned was tremendous.
Especially my companions showed signs of raising both hands to stop me.
“What are you thinking? You should be the very last to jump.”
“You’ll go after everyone else and take your feel then.”
“Don’t you forget you need to be first?”
“Honestly, we should just do rock-paper-scissors….”
“Or I could force them to jump first. Somewhat coercively.”
I calmed my companions.
Actually, I had to be the first to jump.
‘Because I had a third eye.’
[What nonsense is this now.]
‘You — I’m talking to you. You.’
[Yes?]
‘I would be eliminated if I opened my eyes while flying. So you watch for me. How much remained to the destination.’
And the diary would say ‘Stop’ and I would say ‘Stop’ at the same time.
Using this method, I could return to the diving platform right before hitting the ground.
In other words, I could extend the rope to its limit.
I told my companions.
“Don’t worry. Trust me.”
“Mason.”
I somehow calmed them and then looked back at the ordinary participants.
Their faces had changed considerably.
The man who had been a bit sulky before looked quite surprised.
“Uh, um. Earlier I was a bit rude.”
“What are you talking about. It’s fine.”
“You are an amazing person. I didn’t expect someone to take the lead and shoulder the greatest risk even in a game like this.”
“Thank you for saying that. Anyway, I’ll add one more thing.”
I raised a finger.
“I will shout ‘Stop’ right before I hit the ground. In other words, you can assume the time I am in the air is the maximum.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I have a secret technique. So please memorize how many seconds I’m in the air.”
“……”
“Magireta said she would equalize the flying speed of all participants. If you shout ‘Stop’ roughly one to two seconds earlier than me, you should avoid hitting the ground.”
That was all I could offer.
I couldn’t save them all this time.
They nodded with moved faces.
After finishing the explanation I walked to the diving platform.
My companions tried to dissuade me until the last moment, but they gave up and only wished for my safe return.
Magireta was standing at the edge of the diving platform.
“You truly have a strong sense of sacrifice, little brother.”
“Thank you.”
“Or are you absolutely certain you’ll survive?”
“……”
“I thought you wouldn’t answer. Fine, choose. Which place will you set as the destination?”
I pointed with my finger to the distant destination.
“There, please.”
“Good. Here’s the rope.”
Magireta handed me the rope.
At first glance it looked no different from the ordinary kind we used.
But it was a strange item that automatically lengthened according to how far I moved.
I tied it tight around my leg and took a deep breath.
Suddenly Magireta shouted.
“Are you ready!”
“……? Why the sudden honorific?”
“Who is the person who comes to mind most right now?”
“Is my sister’s head okay?”
“This one can’t read the mood.”
She muttered, then slid her leg up.
And….
Thud.
“Jump.”
She kicked me mercilessly in the back.