Chapter 97 : Bungee Jump – 2
Chapter 97: Bungee Jump – 2
“Huuaaagh!”
A shout burst out of me 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 same thing when crossing the swamp in the First-Come Quest.]
‘Is it time? 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 time was passing.
Being dragged somewhere 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 me to use myself as the standard, but……’
Unless someone had nerves of steel, there was no way they could use me 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 me.
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.
<Mason Gear’s Record>
– 00,001,090 meters
<Current Team Ranking>
– 1st place
1,090 meters, huh.
‘Hey, Diary Book. How far from the ground was I when I got pulled back here?’
[Hmm. Roughly around five meters, maybe?]
‘So the total distance to the long-range destination would be 1,095 meters.’
I shared that information.
Then I turned to Armelia.
“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 means the falling speed is approximately 83 meters 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? Come on, tell me.”
“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 recommend you all choose the long-range destination. Of course, that’s not an order.”
“Yes, yes.”
“They said the flying speed is the same for all participants, so as long as you shout ‘Stop’ within 13 seconds, you’ll be fine.”
“……”
“As you saw just now, I came 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 became awfully quiet around me.
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.”
Some of the participants’ eyes even reddened with emotion.
Embarrassed, I scratched my head awkwardly.
Then Armelia 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 me.”
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 time mid-air. You’ll be too overwhelmed to even think.]
[Hmm.]
[I’ll count the time myself and speak to you mentally. 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 me.
[As compensation, though……]
[Got it.]
[Aina?]
[You mean 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 something 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 me, her face was perfectly fine.
She untied the rope, walked over, and checked the mini bulletin board.
<Aina Noel’s Record>
– 000,000,970 meters
<Current Team Ranking>
– 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 me didn’t match what I felt.”
“……”
“Trying to count seconds accurately while falling somewhere is insanely hard. Without realizing it, you start counting faster.”
So that’s how it was.
That meant 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 meters.
Next was Benjamin, then Berseum.
And finally, Armelia jumped.
After safely returning, Armelia 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 mean it.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“By the way, Mason. When I stood on the diving platform earlier, I noticed something.”
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 mean by familiar?”
“I mean, places we’ve seen before. Remember 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 remember that…….”
But she could. If it was Armelia, she could.
For some 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.”
Armelia 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 become 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 me—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 me the administrator page.’
[Understood. Just a moment.]
Rustle—
The Diary Book’s pages flipped.
I carefully checked through each person.
[But why the administrator page all of a sudden?]
‘Remember 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 countermeasures of my own.
Since I couldn’t find any information through normal searching, I had to try another method.
‘If one of the people I saved ended up on the same team as that mysterious second-place person……’
[Ah. Then it would appear in the Insight tab. But if they weren’t teamed 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 same team, or because the supposed second-place person didn’t exist at all.
‘If any new Insights get registered on the administrator page, let me 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 came 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 time.
The next night,
I confirmed that the moon and stars had risen again and decided it was time.
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 same?”
“……”
“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 confirmed—the distances and speeds had been reset.
That meant 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 Armelia,
“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 mean?”
“That place—I remember it. It’s the pit I set as my destination during the Second Quest’s First-Come event. Its odd shape stuck with me.”
Benjamin had taken the Second Quest before we met him.
So while Armelia 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.”