Chapter 31

With a loud noise, the stone doors of the boss room opened .

Huh . . .

Beyond the stone doors was a view similar to that of a painting .

Two mountain peaks standing above the clouds .

It would of been very emotional experience, if it wasn't for the fact that I was standing on top of one of the peaks which was less than 4m in width and length .

The stone doors disappeared into thin air after leaving me behind on this peak .

What am I suppose to do on this tiny patch of ground .

One misstep and I'll fall to the floor which I can't even see from here .

The edges of the peak seemed to have been cut artificially .

There are no branches or gaps on the stone, so it's just one way down if I fall .

Looking down from the edge of the peak with my hands on the ground, I was beginning to get light headed .

Damn it, what's going to happen if I fall?

If I use the blink ability and remove all momentum on my body before hitting the ground, I will survive .

In theory .

I didn't want to prove it with an experiment either .

Not to mention I can't see what's underneath because of the clouds .

This is probably the greatest place in the universe for monks and saints who practice martial arts to meditate,

but for everything else, it's very uncomfortable .

Extreme winds pushed my body about .

I managed to hold on by lowering my body onto the floor .

Just standing on this place seems life threatening .

Plus, maybe because of the height, it was hard to breath .

As I was sighing at the rediculous environment, the kind boss room message appeared as usual .

[Reach for the objective]

Sorry?

Objective?

From here?

The only 'objective' I can see with my eyes is the other peak few kilometres away from here .

The, a tile appeared in the air .

Square tile, identical in length and width .

Each dimentions were about 2m .

The tile which was green at the start, turned yellow, into red, and then fell .

Green, yellow, red, fall .

I've memorised the pattern .

After that .

A green bridge formed connecting this peak to the other peak waaay over there .

A bridge in thin air, extending for kilometres high in the clouds .

It was purely made of green tiles, with no pillars to support it .

Wait, can you even call this a bridge?

It's just tiles arranged in the air .

Even at this moment, the winds blew with the ferocity to drop me down the peak .

[Reach for the objective]

A message with an arrow pointing to the peak far into the distance showed .

You're kidding right?

Come on, this is too much .

Just think of the difficulty in the 3rd room's traps .

There's too much of a jump in difficulty .

I prayed, and prayed again in my mind, but the 'green' tile bridge proved what I feared the most in the worst possible way .

The very first tile in front of me turned from green to yellow .

Oh . My . God .

I think I figured out the theme of this boss room .

It's very similar to a running game type, often seen in a mobile game .

I must run forward, never stopping, and dodge the traps while I'm at it .

If I were to slow down, I'd be eaten by a monster from behind .

Well for this case, instead of a monster chasing from behind, I'd fall endlessly onto the ground .

Not to mention I have to run thousands of metres above the ground .

Plus, if I fall, I don't get a retry .

Oi!

Is this how it is!

Shit, shit! I really want to swear now .

I don't know who it is, but there must be someone who designed, and made this place .

I don't know if it's god or an alien .

I really want to say fuck you at his face .

Uaaah!

Leaving my anger and irritation behind, I stood on top of the tile .

The yellow tile turned instantly red the moment I stood on it .

It then began to fall .

As I had no wish to enjoy the view below the clouds, I quickly moved onto the next tile .

Standing on the next tile, I could see the clouds underneath my feet .

Just looking at it made me want to collapse in fear .

My heart was pounding with each step .

I can feel my life shortening every time .

One tile after another, they turned yellow similar to the speed I was walking .

And soon, fell after turning red .

Damn, just standing on this bridge is taking all I have .

Even as I continued through the bridge with shaking legs, the tiles began to fall faster .

What do you want me to do now!

Are you telling me to run facing against the howling winds!

Yep, that's what it meant .

As if all this was a warmup, the colour change and fall of the tiles became faster considerably .

I had no choice but to run .

[Battle focus]

I ran with the thought that my death was really, really close .

Unlike what I had originally thought, once I started to run, I could hold my balance well against the winds .

This body has gone beyond that of a normal human .

My sense of balance and reflex has reached the realm of extraordinary .

Let's run!

Uhah,

Uahahahah .

I'm going nuts here .

Is this how an addicted gambler feels when he all ins his entire fortune, or

maybe it's like pulling the trigger while playing the russian roulette .

The extreme tension and fear became destructive pleasure .

Is it because of the hormones?

Ping!

I blocked an arrow which appeared from nowhere .

Dear, god .

These shameless bastards .

They dare fire arrows in this situation .

If I didn't have a shield, I have to dodge, and if I dodge, I lose my balance .

Then I'd just end up falling .

Turning around, I could see 5 tiles between where I was and the one falling .

Alright, let's maintain this speed .

I can block arrows for days .

As I relieved myself with that thought, the bridge suddenly shook .

It began to move up and down .

There were no outside forces causing it .

The bridge itself, as if sentient with the thought of dropping me, moved .

These complete assholes .

When I see Kirikiri next time, I'll ask how I can send my swears to the god of this Tutorial .

[The God of Adventures pleads innocence]

Because of the shaking, my body flew into air for a moment .

It may have been few centimetres from the tile, but it felt like thousands of metres .

To be honest I'm already thousands of metres in the air!

As my life flashed before my eyes, my feet were back of the tile .

Thankfully, I managed to land without shaking up my balance .

Looking behind after landing, the tile before me was falling down after turning red .

Soon, the tile I was standing on was turning yellow .

Damn, I had about 5 tiles as safety net before that shaking!

I quickly raised my speed .

Whether I fall because I lose my balance, or fall because I'm too slow, it's death either way .

Pulling my speed up, I managed to get the Wind Spirit's Blessing's 2nd effect .

As I was accelerating from the buff, my body began to fly briefly after each step .

I had to be aware of how I land, trying to match the force of the wind with each landing .

Anyway I managed to hold on .

I can still somehow maintain my balance even at this speed .

It's thanks to all the growth this body had .

And I haven't used any of my blinks either .

Even if I lose my balance and fall, I can blink upwards, and get back onto the tile .

I could blink forward if I was starting to fall behind aswell .

Atleast I'm wearing a life jacket .

As long as I use my blinks wisely, I can get past this bridge and reach that peak!

I can do it!

As I keep assuring myself, I ran .

Trying not to look below as much as possible .

***

At some point, I was getting used to this maddening acrobatics .

As if I was getting numb to the constant fear and tension .

My hesitation for each step became fainter .

Keeping my Wind Spirit's Blessing, I continued .

It's been a while since I've maintained this speed .

Just from looking at it, it seems I'm close to the goal .

Looking back, there was some distance between me and the red tile .

It seems I won't have to worry about falling even if I drop my speed alittle here .

At that moment, I could feel small vibrations on the tile .

I've felt this vibration many tims now .

After this, the bridge shows 1 pattern .

It will shake, in order to drop me off .

From the direction of the vibration, it will shake sideways this time .

Confident in my prediction, I jump high into the air .

With the speed from the blessing and my supernatural body like that of a superhero,

jumping in the air allowed me to be airborne for many seconds .

The tiles moved left and right as expected .

If I were to stay on the tile, it's likely I would of fell unable to hold on .

Even if I did manage to stay, the tiles would have caught upto me rapidly .

Jumping in the air was what I believed to be the best solution .

That shaking doesn't last more than few seconds .

Afterwards, the tiles will arrange in a straight line like before .

And,

the landing!

Landing high in the air is greatly affected by the wind, due to it's strength .

But, I keep in mind of the direction of the wind before jumping .

I remember the experience of golfing with my father in a windy day .

But this time, I'm the golf ball .

Because of the speed, I land with a loud thud .

Since I know that the tiles don't shake or fall from large impact, I have no need to think about the force of the landing .

Soon after, I kick the tile and begin to run again .

With a whoosh, an arrow passed by .

These arrows don't simply appear out of nowhere .

All the arrows come from the objective, in a parabola .

And, with the speed I'm maintaining,

none of the arrows can reach me .

The clear, plastic sound the tiles make was turning refreshing .

I'm rather used to it now .

I'm sure that even if any more stages are on cliffs like this, I'll be fine .

I've adapted completely .

As if annoyed from that last thought I had, the Tutorial made another diabolical trial .

Some of the tiles in the bridge are missing .

Quite alot of them .

From rough look, about 30 to 40 tiles are missing in the middle .

Is this really designed to cross .

Maybe it was made to just drop all the challengers off to death .

I could feel incredible malice from it, something I couldn't feel in the rediculous traps I've faced in the Tutorial .

You're still not falling? Even after this?

That's how it feels in this boss room, as it tries its best to make me fall .

This boss room trap is rather strange .

But, despite that fact, I am confident I can pass this boss room .

The bridge is made of tiles 2m long and wide, with 4m^2 in area .

If it wasn't for a fact that it's miles above the ground, you can move through it comfortably .

Even the constant wind had a single direction, so I got used to it fast .

And the moment I got used to it, the dangers of this boss room's trap fell considerably .

Maintaining my speed, I jump as high as I can just before the gap .

Thanks to the growth I've had, I do have rediculous jumping strength,

but it's not enough to jump the giant gap here .

Once I reach a suitable height,

I blink forwards,

I used blink 3 times to be exact, and landed on the tile beyond the gap .

But, I didn't prepare for the loss of momentum from the last blink I used .

My body began to be swept away by the wind .

Once more, I use the blink forward .

Losing momentum seem like a disadvantage, but it can also be an advantage .

The moment I land, I lower myself and gain balance .

It was easy enough, since the momentum I had from the wind disappeared .

After landing, I raise my head, and look forward .

The objective, the other peak was close now .