“I’m sure you know what to do next,” Lin muttered in a low voice, addressing the two men standing on his feet. They both nodded, quickly piecing together Lin’s plan. As if seeking extra confirmation, the blue-haired man spoke up.
“We jump onto the big guy next, right?”
Lin nodded, their eyes meeting briefly as though a similar thought had suddenly surfaced in their minds – one unrelated to the bald man up ahead. The man in glasses, seemingly coming to the same thought, interrupted, tackling the issue head-on.
“And after that?” he asked.
Lin’s expression remained calm. They were currently around the 35% mark of the cave (roughly 70m), while the bald man was at the 70% mark (roughly 140m), creating a series of ‘stepping stones’ that reached all the way to the goal. First, they would reach Lin, rest for a few seconds by having him carry them to negate the burning, then jump off and sprint toward the bald man. But after that...
“Step on the girl’s stomach,” Lin said coldly. The two glanced down at him with disapproving expressions. The blue-haired man seemed the most bothered, but after a moment of silence, he suddenly muttered under his breath.
“You have bad taste.”
At that moment, the bell rang, and both of them stepped down and sprinted toward the bald man. Meanwhile, from the first group, two more individuals were already racing toward Lin at an unnatural speed, likely fuelled by sheer adrenaline.
image [https://i.imgur.com/O17D87K.jpeg]
Reflecting on the blue-haired man’s words, Lin let out a dry smile, shaking his head as his mind wandered.
Crazy women aren’t my type.
He thought to himself as the new pair reached him some seconds later—surprisingly faster than the first two volunteers since the burning hadn’t yet started. However, since the bell had rung thrice for this round, they had more time to reach him, unlike the previous two who had to run at the sound of a single bell.
They both stepped onto his feet just as he arrived on his new safe block, mimicking the previous pair, relief evident on their faces at avoiding the burning.
Since each ring lasted roughly one second, each pair had a minimum of six seconds—five seconds to move into a new safe block plus one second for the chime of the bell. However, the more times it rang, the more seconds they received: two bells would give them seven seconds (5+2), three would give them eight (5+3), and so on.
Lin turned his head, noting the two ahead just barely reaching the bald man. They scrambled up onto his back, holding onto his large arms. Despite the added weight, the bald man also remained steady, completely unfazed.
We should add more…
Lin thought, turning to check the mini timer on the screen, waiting for the right opportunity.
This should do.
As it hit three seconds, the two still standing on his feet readied themselves to jump off. What happened next, however, defied all comprehension. In a dazzling show of speed, Lin swerved his body sideways. The sudden movement caused the man on his left foot to stumble back, struggling to regain his balance as he quickly held on to Lin’s arm. At the same moment, Lin blitzed away from him, driving his elbow into the second man’s stomach. The man's face twisted in pain as he fell back, clutching his abdomen.
Shhh!
He immediately started to burn, and instantly, Lin turned back to the first man, who was still trying to steady himself. His face shifted to horror as Lin’s right knee shot into his stomach.
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“Kuh!” he gasped in pain, releasing his grip on Lin as he staggered backward. Without hesitation, Lin grabbed him by the collar and threw him onto the next block. The sound of burning flesh filled the air, the pain on the man’s face intensifying as it spread from his stomach to his entire body, forcing a scream from his throat.
Then, just as suddenly, the burning sensation ceased. Both men looked down in confusion as thin, white steam began to rise from their skin. The familiar sound of the bell snapped them out of their daze.
Ding…
“W-why?” one of them stammered, staring at Lin, who offered no explanation. Instead, he turned away from them, shouting toward the group.
“Send two more!”
His voice cut through the ringing bells. At the same time, two more people sprinted forward—now a total of four running toward them, their eyes filled with worry as they rapidly approached Lin.
“Move to the fourth block and prepare to meet them,” Lin commanded in a low voice.
The two men, now fully processing what had just happened, stood up from their blocks just as the final bell echoed, quickly dashing toward the incoming volunteers. They claimed their new safe blocks, coming to an abrupt stop at exactly four blocks away from their previous ones.
As always, Lin stepped sideways, neither advancing toward the goal nor retreating. The first two people reached them, seemingly aiming for the blocks the other two had just occupied, but Lin quickly intervened.
“You two are with me, hurry!” he shouted.
Their faces darkened slightly, but they curved their paths, reluctantly complying as they rushed toward him. This time, it was a man and a woman, each quickly climbing onto one of Lin’s feet but still showing a little bit of delicacy as if trying not to hurt him.
Just a few steps behind them, the next two—who had moved a second later—arrived at the newly claimed safe blocks. Each was being carried by one of the men Lin had instructed to secure the new positions. Since these blocks were closer to the main group, they managed to arrive before the burning could start.
“This is how it’ll work,” Lin immediately spoke up at their arrival, wasting no time in explaining the plan. “The two I’m carrying and the two I carried before that will all move to the big guy. The rest of you will claim new blocks and move in the next round.”
image [https://i.imgur.com/ikdajQU.jpeg]
Lin explained simply, and all of them nodded. The question of whether or not the bald man could carry all four of them didn’t seem to even cross their minds—a reflection of just how strong everyone viewed him to be.
This should be faster, Lin thought, turning his head to assess the situation just ahead. As expected, when the blue-haired man and the spectacled man reached the dark-haired woman, they had positioned themselves carefully, trying to sit on her legs and other areas that wouldn’t cause her additional pain.
Afterward, instead of rushing toward the goal, they decided to move a few blocks to the side, aiming to act as the bridge for the incoming individuals rather than simply using the woman’s body as some kind of stepping stone, as Lin had suggested.
image [https://i.imgur.com/CoBgL1X.jpeg]
The strategy was going as planned thus far, with the only adjustment being the addition of the two new safe blocks next to him. Since he couldn’t carry as many people as the bald man at once, he used the two individuals he attacked to create more safe blocks so that more people could advance in each round.
Having experienced it once and still being able to move afterward, it was clear that everyone could endure the burning for a couple of seconds, which made it easier to exploit the mini-timer rule.
Make sure you’re in your block when this mini-timer runs out:
## seconds.
Waiting until there were around three seconds left, he threw each of the two into adjacent blocks, meaning they only had to endure about two seconds of pain before the bells eventually rang, solidifying those blocks as their new blocks. This approach allowed them to move four people at once and burn through the crowd quickly.
“Four more!” Lin shouted to the group again, where the numbers were trimming down with each round. As the bell rang, four individuals immediately darted forward from the group, while the two Lin had been carrying jumped down and sprinted toward the bald man.
Just ahead of Lin, the two he had attacked earlier each released the individuals they were carrying before darting toward him, zipping past as they headed for the bald man too. As instructed, the pair left behind immediately moved to their new safe blocks, advancing two blocks each and bracing themselves to receive the next arrivals. The seconds quickly ticked down.
Good, Lin thought, just as the sound of burning flesh echoed just ahead of him, prompting him to glance up.
Two of the four new volunteers were already starting to burn, while the other two had already reached the safe blocks. Among the two burning, one of them was lagging far behind, her speed slowing down with each step as her face contorted in pain.
She won’t make it.