Future Diary Survival Game-Chapter 98 : Bungee Jump - 3

Chapter 98: Bungee Jump - 3
Magireta answered as if it were nothing special.
“Yeah. You caught on faster than I thought.”
“Why bother…….”
“It’s not that deep. Like that bandaged woman said, it was a bit hard to get a location sponsor.”
“…….”
I thought about it for a moment, but I couldn’t find any deeper meaning in it.
Let’s just move on.
Right now, lengthening the rope was what mattered most.
“We’ll go with the same plan as yesterday.”
Everyone nodded at my words.
After that, it was a repeat of the first day’s pattern.
I still held the first-place position, and my companions followed close behind.
However, the rope lengths of the ordinary participants were starting to show a clear divide.
The top fifty percent and the bottom fifty percent were splitting apart.
Only a few seconds of difference.
But the speed, so fast it could peel the skin off, widened that gap dramatically.
We hadn’t even reached half of the total schedule yet, but it already felt like a reversal would be near impossible.
The atmosphere among those in the lower half was growing more and more grim.
Then, when another day passed and the third night arrived—
One participant, sitting right on the edge of elimination at 30th place, suddenly spoke up with a trembling voice.
“U-Uh. No. I can’t.”
“……? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t do it. I can’t jump.”
I slowly closed my eyes.
Somehow, I had a feeling someone like this would appear around today.
Another participant nearby asked,
“What do you mean you can’t jump?”
“I’m 30th place! Just look at my rope length!”
<Parkanatel’s Record>
-00,001,650 meters
<Current Team Ranking>
-30th place
For reference, my current rope length was over 2,500 meters.
That was nearly a 1,000-meter difference.
Parkanatel’s record was significantly lower than not only our group’s but even other ordinary participants’.
“Hey, no matter how bad your record is, what do you mean you won’t jump?”
“T-To be exact, I will jump. If the conditions are right.”
“Conditions?”
“Yes. Those of you in the top fifty percent—please set your destination to ‘close range.’ We, the bottom fifty percent, will set ours to long range.”
It was an absurd request.
Naturally, those in the top half, including my party, scoffed.
Aina shot back sharply,
“What nonsense is that? Why should we do that?”
“Y-You people already have so much distance accumulated!”
“So what?”
“After only two jumps, I’m already nearly 1,000 meters behind the first place! If that same gap happens once or twice more, I’ll never make it through, not even if I die and come back!”
That much was obvious from the start.
Benjamin narrowed his eyes.
“So what are you suggesting?”
“I told you—take the short-range jump. That way, the gap can close a bit.”
“I told you earlier—why should we do that?”
“Because if you don’t, everyone gets disqualified!”
Thunk.
Parkanatel pointed at the bulletin board.
Rule number three.
3. The jumping time is from night until before dawn of the next day, and if even one person fails to jump within the time limit, everyone will be disqualified.
“If I don’t jump before dawn, all of you get disqualified.”
“…….”
“You don’t want that, right? So just do what I say. Just this once…… no, just this time and the next. After that, I won’t push my luck anymore.”
“You’re already pushing it plenty. You’re just trying to shift the blame because you gave up too soon out of fear. And now you’re throwing that responsibility on us?”
“Shameless as it sounds, you’re right. I am throwing it on you.”
Whoosh.
He turned his body toward the others—mostly those in the lower fifty percent.
“If this gap keeps widening, we’re out anyway! Are we just going to sit here and wait for death?”
“Ugh, but still……”
“Right or wrong can come later! We have to survive first!”
“…….”
[Please explain in detail.]
[Ah, yes. If it’s a request from you, Mason, then of course.]
He slowly began to explain.
As I listened to the story, my mouth hung open.
That method could… exist, I suppose, but how did he actually pull it off?
‘He must have some kind of special ability.’
……
What should I do?
What on earth am I supposed to do?
Karin’s ability was something I could neither catch up to nor imitate.
‘Is it over?’
Could it really be over here?
At that moment—
A flash of lightning struck through my mind.
I muttered without thinking.
“It’s not over yet.”
There was still hope left.
Karin Oblang appeared to be a woman around twenty years old.
A rare beauty with long, snow-white hair—something seldom seen on the continent.
Her appearance was graceful, but her rough tone and mannerisms created a curious imbalance.
And that very night—the third night—she came to a realization.
Karin immediately verified her thought.
“Hey. Magireta. Let me ask you something.”
“Try asking with a little more manners, will you? I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to say that.”
“The rules say participants are guided to their destination, right?”
“That’s right.”
“What if they aren’t guided? Can’t I just fly straight to my destination myself?”
Magireta tilted her head.
“That’s not possib—ah, wait. It would be possible for you, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why didn’t you do that from the start?”
“I just thought of it now.”
“You’re an idiot.”
Karin flipped her the middle finger.
Then, turning back toward the destination, she said,
“Come to think of it, it says the rope extends based on the distance moved.”
Rule number eight.
8. A rope is tied to the participant’s leg. The rope automatically extends according to the participant’s movement distance.
“And?”
“So it doesn’t necessarily mean the distance from the diving platform to the destination—it’s just the distance the participant moves, right?”
“Hm. So you’re planning to fly around in the air again, like you did during the First-Come Quest?”
Exactly.
Karin Oblang could fly.
It might sound like a simple statement, but it was nothing short of a miracle.
People on the continent often described unbelievable things as “magical,” but even magic couldn’t grant true flight.
At most, one could momentarily lift themselves into the air or descend slowly.
‘To soar through the sky like a bird—such a thing is considered impossible in this age.’
Magireta thought so and smiled faintly.
But Karin did it.
“Yeah. I was supposed to take first place during the First-Come Quest with this too.”
“But you barely made it into the majority then, didn’t you?”
“Some bastard threw a knife at me while I was flying just fine. Got a pretty bad injury from that.”
“Must’ve hurt.”
“My body hurt less than my pride. Because I couldn’t beat the bastard with my own hands.”
Magireta didn’t bother to tell her that the bastard was Edgar Tyler.
Instead, she answered the question.
“Well, you’re right. If you want, you don’t have to be guided to the destination.”
“Thanks.”
“But will you be okay? Don’t forget—you have to close your eyes the moment you leave the diving platform. Can you still fly properly to the destination with your eyes shut?”
Before she could even finish the sentence—
Karin was already floating in midair with her eyes closed.
She lingered for a moment at the same height as Magireta and replied,
“Don’t pretend to care. It’s annoying.”
Then she soared into the sky.
Just like a bird in the open heavens.
Of course, that sight lasted only for a short while.
As soon as she moved a little away from the platform, she vanished from sight at tremendous speed.
Still, there was one thing that could be confirmed.
‘The rope’s stretching infinitely.’
In sync with her movement distance.
Just how far was she flying?
And how fast?
About thirty minutes passed.
Whether tired or simply bored, Karin soon appeared in the sky again.
Though her eyes were closed, she flew swiftly and precisely toward her pre-set destination.
She didn’t even bother to shout “stop.”
As she neared the target, her speed gradually slowed until she landed lightly on the ground.
Magireta quietly checked her score.
<Karin Oblang’s Record>
-00,781,650 meters
<Current Team Ranking>
-1st place
When Magireta snapped her fingers, Karin immediately returned to the diving platform.
“Good work.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s an incredible record. At this rate, even the first-place reward might not be out of reach.”
Karin looked up at Magireta and asked,
“First-place reward? There’s something like that?”
“……You really are a bit of an idiot.”
“You’re dead.”
“You must’ve seen Edgar receive one during the First-Come Quest. I only mentioned it because I knew you saw it.”
“Who’s Edgar—ah, that bastard who threw the knife at me. So his name was Edgar, huh? I did see him receiving something from you.”
She brushed her messy hair back into place.
Magireta let out a small chuckle.
“If you weren’t after the reward, then why fly like that? What were you aiming for?”
“I just got competitive after seeing the numbers appear on the board. Once I saw it recording, I wanted to push that number as high as I possibly could.”
“…….”
“Well then…….”
Karin continued in a relaxed tone.
“This isn’t so bad. Next time, I’ll fly around even longer.”
&Do&Gum&