BXBX NOVEL Chapter 157: Final Race
Melissa also went through the Magic Buff door before the trio continued forward.
However, when they crossed 5,000 steps, three more doors appeared.
Door 1: Fight and kill 50 Monsters. — 1 to 3 levels up, depending on your level.
Door 2: Fight and kill two Boss monsters. — 3 to 9 level-ups, depending on your level.
Door 3: Fight one Chaos Boss monster. — 9 to 18 level-ups, depending on your level.
"Don't bother with the last one," Melissa said as she glanced at Rin and Erix.
"Why?" Erix asked. He was very much tempted and eager to choose Door 3.
But then he immediately added, "Will it take more time?"
Melissa nodded.
"Yep. You two are powerful but not powerful enough to quickly kill a Chaos Boss Monster and catch up."
"So, if others chose easy doors to clear, they would finish it quickly and continue climbing," Rin muttered. "Alright, let's choose the Door 1. We don't want to risk it."
Erix nodded. There were only fifty spots, so it was better to hurry.
The trio entered Door 1, killed fifty monsters as fast as possible, and continued climbing.
Rin and Erix leveled three times, reaching level 105.
After an hour of continuous climbing and choosing doors that wouldn't hinder their speed, the trio finally reached the top of the mountain and passed through a gate with a pathway that led toward the sky.
[Congratulation. You are in the top 50]
[Continue towards the gate and fly through the sky passage for the 4th checkpoint race. Only 25 will pass.]
There were no rules or anything for the 4th race except for the simple instruction of going forward towards the sky.
"Let's go. No time to rest," Melissa said as she flew up.
Rin and Erix also flew up. All of the restrictions were lifted so they could fly at their full speed, and Erix could also teleport.
After crossing a thousand kilometers without trouble, the scenery around them changed as everything turned dark.
"Rin?" Erix shouted but couldn't see her. He paused and saw nothing but darkness around him.
It was the same with Rin and Melissa.
"What the fuck?" Erix mumbled in confusion since his Spirit Sense also couldn't detect anything.
'No other choice but to continue forward,' Erix thought as he continued flying. He couldn't feel the sense of distance in this darkness or how long he flew so far, but he continued.
Rin was also in the same boat, but there was no time to get thwarted here as she continued.
As for Melissa, she didn't pause even for a second.
After an unknown amount of time passed, Rin suddenly saw darkness clearing as she arrived in outer space.
Sparkling stars in the distance and a few planets close to her, Rin felt she was alone in this universe.
She could feel weird energies hitting her as her Spirit Senses sensed them.
"Erix?!" Rin shouted, but her voice was null in this place.
'What is going on?' Rin thought, her heartbeat increasing slightly.
'The path, yes… where is it?' Rin thought as she looked around.
'Can't see it…'
The path that guided her from the gate atop the mountain peak disappeared!
She exerted her Spirit Sense to the max because it was the only thing that might show her the way.
After creating a mana barrier around her, Rin closed her eyes and entered meditation with her Spirit Sense focused around her. Instantly, she sensed an anomaly, but it quickly vanished.
But Rin felt and decided to make it her focus.
…
Erix's situation was the same as he found himself in outer space with no one around him.
After several minutes of trying a few things, Erix calmed down and closed his eyes. He expanded his spirit sense after entering meditation.
'Hmm? What was that?' Erix clearly sensed a blue flicker somewhere around him, but it quickly vanished.
He pressed further and peered his Spirit Senses deeper into the space. With his space mapping in toe, Erix understood the assignment after a few minutes and smiled.
He stretched his hand before him, which vanished into space from his wrist for two seconds before he pulled his hand back, which had something in it.
A blue key with blue energy sparkling wings.
A moment later, a blue door manifested before Erix with a keyhole.
Putting the key into it, Erix pushed the door open and arrived on a floating island with 13 people on it.
Melissa was already there.
'How much time actually passed?' Erix questioned as he frowned. The sense of time was lost in that darkness as he didn't know how long he flew in it.
"So, you passed. Congrat," Melissa smiled. "Let's hope your wife also passes."
"She will," Erix curtly replied with a plain smile.
Ten minutes passed, and one more arrived.
[14/25]
Two more people arrived in the next five minutes, making the passed participant reach 16.
'Rin, hurry up,' Erix looked at the count.
Twenty minutes passed.
[19/25]
"Hmm, she might not pass," Melissa said.
Erix ignored her.
"I guess you need a more powerful life partner, someone who can keep up with you," Melissa chuckled.
"Shut the fuck up," Erix said as he gave a side glance at her. "You're nothing compared to her. "
Melissa's eyes flashed a cold light before she smiled. "I am better than her. How about you team up with me for good?"
"It looks like you've been lonely for too long," Erix said, a mocking smile on his face. "Go bother those old men there. They'll keep you company at night."
"You…" Melissa's lips twitched before she snorted. "I thought you were someone who could think properly, but well, I was wrong."
"Too bad, if you and I worked together, our powers could synergize well, and we could get progress faster," Melissa said before leaving Erix's side and going to a corner.
And right after that, Erix suddenly turned to his left he sensed a familiar presence. Upon seeing Rin coming out of a magical door just like others, he sighed a huge relief and smiled.
"Come on, babe. You took your sweet time for this," Erix said with a wry smile.
"I couldn't help it," Rin chuckled. "I think I gained something good in this race, but it will take time to solidify it."
"What?" Erix was curious.
"Secret. I'll only tell you if I succeed. If not, then it's useless."
"Alright, let's enter Limitless Plane. I'm sure we still have time before the final race," Erix smiled.
Rin saw Melissa sitting a hundred meters away under a tree but didn't bother to call her.
It was the final race, so everyone was their enemy.
The duo sat down like most of the others at one of the corner spots under a tree and started meditation.
The next person arrived fifteen minutes later.
Another arrived ten minutes after that.
Soon, a total of thirty minutes passed as Rin and Erix also exited Limitless Plane, their consciousness returning to their body as their aura surged briefly.
They made more progress in Spiritual Formation, which increased their Spirit stat.
Erix's Spirit stat reached 39, while Rin's Spirit stat reached 37. An increment of 19 and 17, respectively.
They looked around and didn't see any of those wolf beastfolks.
"Let's spend the chaos points now. It's time to go all out in the final race," Rin said.
…
Twenty minutes more passed before finally the 25th winner arrived and ended the 4th race.
10 minutes of rest time countdown appeared.
But suddenly, someone approached them.
It was Gentle Death. Nobody knew his true powers. The only thing known about him was that he had the Light affinity at the 2nd realm and a 2nd realm Pierce concept.
"You two," Gentle Death unhurriedly said, his eyes on Rin and Erix.
Both of them felt formless pressure. They knew that this man was far more experienced than them and more powerful in every way…at the moment.
"What?" Erix asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Give up in the next round," Gentle Death said before he turned around and left.
"Give up?" Rin was speechless. "I've never had any scuffle with him."
She turned to Erix and asked, "Did something happen between you and him?
"I met him in the second checkpoint race, but only for a few seconds," Erix said, his eyes confused as he looked at Gentle Death.
"Humph, whatever then," Rin snorted. "He is also our enemy."
Ten minutes soon passed before the final race's details appeared, and it was extremely simple.
[Final race: Ancient Battlefield Race]
—> Everyone will spawn randomly on a huge battlefield littered with overflowing monsters.
—> There are ten zones, and everyone will start in the 1st zone.
—> Every participant can only stay in one zone for one minute. During this minute, they can hunt monsters to acquire killing points and also hurt others using Chaos Gadgets.
—> If you cross the one-minute mark, your killing points will be reduced by half every second.
—> After crossing ten zones, the participants will be ranked based on their killing points.
A countdown of 20 seconds also appeared.
[20]
[19]
[18]
"Simple and straightforward. We might have a chance, Erix," Rin said, her eyes glinting with excitement.
"Yeah," Erix nodded, thrilled. "So, we kill monsters as fast as possible in each zone for one minute."
'We'll have to watch out too,' Rin said as she looked at Melissa and a few others who were casting glances at them.
'That bitch will surely interfere,' Erix said before he quickly told Rin what happened before she was here.