Stumbling steps like shooting stars dashed across the iron-railed passage. The force of an adult man's feet caused the railings to grind against each other, emitting a trembling clang.
Alain glanced at his clenched fists swinging at his sides, silently calculating the time in his mind.
From the moment he set off, about a minute had already passed. Time left: a little over three minutes.
Lost in thought, he spotted Cool Mita, who was still chatting with Tiny Mita.
Finally, he reached their temporary camp.
"Hey, Alain!"
The ponytail girl saw Alain sprinting over and was about to raise her hand in greeting.
But in an instant, a small gust of wind brushed past her hair.
She smoothed her hair, but Alain dashed right past her, leaving only one sentence:
"No time to explain, stay here obediently and wait for me!"
"What's wrong with him?" Cool Mita looked puzzled at his departing back, then toward the direction he headed.
Earlier, Alain had said he was going to talk to Cute Mita alone, but... why had only he returned now?
Cool Mita was always the type to act immediately on her words. At that moment, she scooped up Tiny Mita and quickly followed Alain's footsteps toward the mist version.
Hah, hah, hah.
Alain could hear his own footsteps passing like a stopwatch ticking rapidly.
He considered his physical abilities decent; to save on hospital bills, he had a habit of exercising daily.
Running was the cheapest form of exercise—maybe just the cost of a bottle of water per session.
And with the game controller's infinite stamina boost, he could exert full power.
...
Sprint.
"Hah, hah..."
In his lungs' memory, he panted a few breaths, gazing at the gradually approaching entrance to the Forgotten Place.
Generally, a 100-meter dash under 13 seconds for an adult male was considered excellent.
Assuming his abilities were "excellent," running the full distance to the version exit would take about two minutes plus.
He had started at four minutes thirty seconds.
Subtracting the required time from the limit left him about two minutes of buffer.
Time, sufficient!
"?!"
The next second, his pupils contracted sharply, his steps tilting slightly as he rapidly slowed down.
"Uh, uh, uh."
His footsteps gradually slowed until they stopped completely. He stared at the scene before him:
"...Forgot about this."
Not far ahead was a large crack in the ground.
The iron railings that formed the ground had vanished, replaced by gaps gnawed by organisms, forming a vast cliff.
Alain glanced at the lingering darkness on the railings, his expression growing darker.
This was the place others had warned him and the Mitas not to venture too deep into.
It was also the necessary path to the entrance of the Forgotten Place.
Now, it had become a massive pit. Inside the pit was bottomless thick fog.
Alain recalled the Devouring Entity he had tricked into falling into the fog...
He never expected this scenario to now confront him directly.
The gap spanned about 30 meters across, with a certain incline.
His platform was lower, the other side higher...
Even a sprinting leap wouldn't make it. Swinging across would just lead to a head-down plunge.
What to do? Had that girl anticipated this?
Alain thought of Cute Mita's temperament. If this was within her calculations...
She was too clever.
Currently, no walkable path was visible. The best solution was to improvise.
He looked around at the winding iron railing passages. Even commanding the Man-Headed Spider-Wasps would require some hesitation.
"Dear, do you have a good solution?" He tapped his headset twice, speaking rapidly.
The girl on the other end pondered for two seconds.
"Since there's no road... can we build one?"
"!"
Alain was slightly stunned as her idea sparked his thoughts, linking to the Man-Headed Spider-Wasps.
"Build a bridge!"
He tapped the headset twice quickly.
"Misha, tell Ugly Mita for me..."
"Okay!"
Soon, a response came from the headset.
Shortly after, over twenty Man-Headed Spider-Wasps gathered on the other side of the cliff and beside Alain.
"Alain, the Man-Headed Spider-Wasps are assembled."
"Mm..."
He exhaled lightly. These were the Spider-Wasps from the previous version that Ugly Mita had reclaimed permissions for.
They had come with Alain to the current Forgotten Place.
Since the cliff couldn't be crossed normally, Alain's choice was to use these Man-Headed Spider-Wasps to "build a bridge."
"Will it work?" He asked the headset about feasibility.
"It should. They're bugs; just have parts of their bodies connect..." Misha relayed Ugly Mita's words.
Under his gaze, the spiders on both sides melted parts of their bodies into black water.
They fused, forming elongated strips on each side of the cliff.
Then, like rejoining a broken spear, the two strips rushed toward the midpoint—
Click.
Successfully fused mid-air, forming a slender bridge across the cliff.
Alain eyed the spider bridge; it swayed a bit when walking, but as long as it got him across.
He crossed at his fastest speed and continued sprinting toward the version entrance.
"Time..."
Mid-run, Alain frowned, carefully calculating the remaining time.
The extra two minutes minus gathering the Spider-Wasps, building the bridge, and crossing...
Left him about 20 to 30 seconds of reaction time.
Meaning, the stamina and time advantages from the game controller were almost entirely lost in that massive crack.
"Now... it's a real race against time."
His gaze hardened, fixed ahead as the version exit drew closer—
As time passed, he could even vaguely see the ordinary door handle and ajar door.
As Cute Mita said, for this game, she had left the originally closed door open.
In the final stretch, no obstacles appeared; it was smooth sailing.
Could it be... that Cute Mita was truly following the game rules completely?
Or was she not pulling any tricks?
Thinking carefully, that large iron door had also been left without malice.
In his thoughts, the distance to the door passed in an instant. By Alain's estimate, over ten seconds left.
Boom!
He kicked open the door and immediately spotted the unconscious Cute Mita by the door.
___
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