Chapter 102 : Competition – 3
Chapter 102: Competition – 3
Before the sixth bungee jump began.
All around us was still pitch-black darkness.
But since the moon and stars had yet to rise, it must not have been time to jump.
Only a few hours remained.
Time for me to think of a way to make my final comeback.
At that moment, Aina suddenly opened her mouth.
“Where exactly are we right now?”
“Hm?”
“The jump point changed every time. To places where we did past quests.”
“Right. Just last time, during the fifth jump, it was that very villa.”
For reference, figuring out where in the continent that villa was located had taken quite a bit of effort.
Back then, I had no interest in where this place was because I had to focus on the Diet Quest.
But Armelia remembered a high-ranking noble bragging about the villa, and based on that, we were able to estimate its position.
“If we came this far in the same pattern… then this sixth bungee jump would be…”
“The place where we did the sixth quest.”
“So, you’re saying… Hell?”
We reflexively flinched.
The dreadful memories from the Frozen Season Quest surfaced in our minds.
But right now, I didn’t feel any trace of that cold.
Just then, Magireta inserted herself into the conversation.
“Don’t worry. This is somewhere on the continent you all live on.”
“Is that so? Why did you suddenly change the pattern?”
“I just felt like it. You know I’m the type who acts on whims.”
“…….”
“Instead of worrying about such useless things, think about what fun you’ll have with your sister in Hell.”
Armelia snapped back, clearly displeased.
“Mason will never be your plaything.”
“Are you grasping the situation properly? You’re not escaping reality, are you?”
“Get lost.”
“Fufu. So hysterical. I understand your feelings, though.”
Magireta slowly backed off.
We kept silent for a moment.
A bit later, Benjamin cautiously spoke.
“This might actually be for the better. Hell would be a world from another dimension. A bungee jump back to our continent would be impossible.”
“…….”
“If this were Hell, at best, we’d only be able to choose between close range, mid-range, or long range—whatever we could see. I consider it fortunate that we remained on the same continent.”
He had a point, so I nodded.
Then Berseum pulled out a map.
“Then let us choose the final destination.”
“Brother.”
“Since we don’t know where we are, that means we have hope. If our current location is somewhere around here…”
He pointed to a spot on the map.
It was a region at the edge of the continent.
Then he drew his finger in a straight line to another place.
“Flying toward the Akrad Jungle would give us the longest travel line. In this case, it exceeds six thousand kilometers.”
“…….”
“What was the difference between you and Karin again?”
“About 6,444 kilometers.”
“Ah, I see. Slightly short, then. Hmm. Then if we were here instead…”
“Brother. That’s enough.”
I stopped his calculations.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward me.
“As long as we don’t know where we are, any destination we set is nothing more than an assumption. It’s just a desperate attempt to cling to a thread of hope.”
“Mason. But—!”
“Please give me a bit of time to think.”
They hesitated but soon nodded.
Then I stepped away from them to think alone.
This was the final bungee jump.
I needed a rope length of at least 6,444 kilometers.
A pretty harsh requirement.
I stared at the lights glowing in the darkness beyond the diving platform.
‘Close range, mid-range, long range.’
I tried to figure out the surrounding terrain and guess where we were.
But no matter how hard I stared, there was no way to identify anything.
What kind of hint could I get from faint lights illuminating only a dozen or so meters?
I scratched my head roughly.
‘Ah. This is driving me crazy.’
Should I really set Akrad Jungle as the destination, just as Brother suggested?
But that would be leaving everything to luck.
No… maybe trusting luck was the best option in this situation.
A flood of complicated thoughts swept through my mind.
Time passed all too easily while I was thinking.
At some point, Magireta’s voice reached me.
“It’s getting late. Time to jump, isn’t it?”
“…….”
“Well, you still have until dawn, so you can take your time worrying.”
My companions slowly approached me as I stood alone.
“Mason. How is it? Did you come up with anything good?”
“Unfortunately…”
“Sigh…”
Armelia let out a deep sigh.
Then she spoke with eyes full of unwavering resolve.
“If you do not get first place this time, then—”
“Wait. Please don’t say the rest.”
“Hm?”
“You were going to say everyone would band together and attack Magireta, right?”
I had seen that future in the Diary Book.
Back then, I had also missed first place and was dragged to Hell.
The companions in the diary had thrown themselves at Magireta with all their might…
“With a flick of her hand, all of you collapsed. Because of that, I wasn’t even able to say goodbye to you.”
“Even so, I cannot just stand by and helplessly watch you be dragged away!”
“‘All of you being unable to stand against Magireta is already a fixed future. Even if it weren’t the future I saw, you know you can’t do anything against that omnipotent being.’
‘Mason…….’
‘Rather.’
I paused.
Should I really say this?
But my companions urged me with their eyes to continue.
‘Right. It’s better to give them hope, even like this.’
With a sigh, I continued.
‘Rather, I hope all of you survive until the end and win the final victory.’
‘Hm?’
‘And then, with the winner’s wish, you ask for me to be returned.’
‘……!’
‘Just like how Sienne is planning to ask for her lover to be saved. Then I’ll be able to reunite with you safely.’
My companions’ expressions shifted.
Everyone spoke with eyes full of tears.
‘We will do that. Without fail.’
‘And it’s not even certain yet that you won’t get first place.’
‘It was six thousand four hundred forty-four kilometers, wasn’t it? That’s shorter than the continent’s length, so there’s still hope.’
‘That’s right. You can complain after finishing the last bungee jump.’
‘Let us steel our hearts.’
I nodded to each of them one by one.
Having regained our resolve, we turned around.
The ordinary participants were watching us carefully.
“Um… Mason. I have a proposal.”
“Yes?”
“This time, how about you jump last.”
“……?”
“We will fly first toward various destinations across the continent.”
I didn’t understand what he meant right away.
Then Parkana stepped forward and continued.
He was once someone ranked 30th, and the one who had stirred up the lower ranks to lead a strike.
“I wish to make up for my disgraceful behavior last time.”
“Parkana.”
“Back then, I was endlessly selfish. Even so, you opened up a path for us to live.”
“……”
“To repay that kindness even a little, we put our heads together to think.”
Only then did I understand what they meant.
We had no way of knowing where we were on the continent.
If everyone jumped toward the same destination, we would gain only a single piece of information.
That was why the ordinary participants wanted to fly out first toward various points across the continent.
“You’re saying all of you will fly toward different destinations and share that information with me?”
“Yes. And you can set your destination to whichever place took the longest for someone to fly toward. It should help you.”
“……”
“Of course, we’ll fly with our eyes closed, so we won’t know how close we were to the destination when we returned. But at least the duration might serve as a clue.”
I looked over the ordinary participants.
They nodded firmly at Parkana’s words.
Sorry, but that method is useless.
There was no guarantee they would return before dawn.
Since everyone needed to jump before dawn arrived, by the time they came back, I would already be flying somewhere.
And since I couldn’t have a secret conversation with them, there would be no way to receive the information.
“……”
But I decided not to explain that.
Because I felt a sudden tightness in my chest.
It felt like tears were welling up.
My heart grew hot from realizing that everyone here genuinely wished for my survival.
But I didn’t want to show my tears.
So I lifted my head toward the sky.
And while I was desperately trying to hold back my tears—
‘Hm?’
I could see something.
……
Huh? Wait.
Wait. Wait!
My mind flashed all at once.
I muttered unconsciously.
“Why do we always have to jump at night?”
“Huh? What are you suddenly talking about?”
“This was something I wondered even on the first day of the game. As you know, the world has been plunged into darkness by Magireta’s omnipotence.”
“……? And?”
“Whether we jump at night or during the day, the world is dark either way. And the rule already requires us to fly with our eyes closed, so why must it specifically be at night?”
And how did we know that this was nighttime?
When the surroundings were pitch-black 24/7, how exactly did we know it was night?
I rubbed my eyes.
After wiping away the thin layer of tears, I could see it more clearly.
I pointed my finger at it.
“The moon.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Think about Rule Number Five again.”
5. Before jumping, each person chooses their desired ‘destination.’ The destination can only be set within an area emitting light.
It only needed to emit light.
If something emitted light, anywhere, it could be chosen as a destination.
“That moon is emitting light, isn’t it? The moon can be set as a destination.”
“……!”
“That’s why the bungee jump rule always required us to jump between night and dawn. They made us jump while the moon was out. Magireta was subtly telling us, ‘the moon can also be a destination.’”
“……”
“And… I see. Edgar beat Karin using this method!”
My voice rose without me meaning to.
“Edgar flew freely through the sky and defeated Karin, who recorded over ten thousand kilometers. He shouldn’t have any flying abilities.”
“……”
“He set the moon as his destination and flew toward it.”
I didn’t know whether the future version of me had realized this method.
But I suspected he had. Because I had realized it now.
“I believe future me discovered this much. He might even have tried it. But he wouldn’t have actually gotten close to the moon.”
“Why not?”
“It’s just my intuition, not knowledge… but if you go too high, you’ll die in midair.”
“……”
“The higher the mountain, the thinner the air becomes. There may be no air for us to breathe in the ‘space’ between here and the moon.”
So I imagined he flew to a certain altitude, then said ‘stop.’
The future me never obtained the Diary Book.
He also wouldn’t have known whether Edgar had taken first place.
So he would have given up once breathing became difficult.
“But Edgar doesn’t need to worry about breathing.”
“Because he’s immortal.”
“Yes. So he must have ‘died and revived repeatedly’ as he flew toward the moon. That must be how he secured first place.”
Everyone’s mouths fell open.