Chapter 168: Chapter 167 – Final Round Start

Yuki sat in his seat quietly, listening to the hum of the engines and the chatter of the people around him. He fingered the bracelet wrapped around his wrist as his eyes flickered about. The man in the suit was talking to a team in what seemed to be an interview. 

‘This bracelet. It should be recording everything we do. Recording video and sound. Vitals as well. I’m going to have to be careful.’

His eyes wandered to Yuna who was sitting neatly beside him. She noticed his gaze and raised an eyebrow. Yuki shook his head and went back to looking around at his competition. 

‘My watch should be fine,’ he thought, glancing at the black box that held it along with the watches of the other competitors. ‘If they’re able to see anything suspicious, they would have done something quite some time ago.’

He felt the pressure of someone’s eyes on him and looked up to see Caitlyn staring at him. He tilted his head as their eyes locked and she stoutly continued to stare.

‘Hmm. Stubborn? Or confident? Maybe both.’

He turned away, breaking off his gaze, and settled into his seat. Controlling his breathing, he stared at nothing in particular as his mind relaxed and emptied. There was still some time before the expected time of the drop. 

“Hello. Yuki, correct?” 

Yuki blinked and slowly turned his head. The announcer was standing in front of him to his right, a pleasant smile on his face. 

“Yes?” Yuki asked in reply.

“I want to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind,” the man explained.

‘Oh. An interview.’

“Okay.”

“Wonderful,” the man said, his smile widening. “So, you are indisputably the leader of the tournament so far. In the first round, you collected the most coins though that might have been because the other teams didn’t know that they could gather more. What led you to such a conclusion?”

“Well, I just didn’t remember you saying that you can only get one,” Yuki replied. “Just that you needed one. So I thought that the goal of that round was to just gather coins.”

“I see, I see! And you were absolutely correct in your assumption. But you didn’t completely shine until the second round. That was when you really seemed to step on the pedal. What brought about that change?”

“Nothing,” Yuki shrugged. “It was just the right course for me where I could use my abilities to their greatest effect.”

“Mmm,” the man nodded. “Now that the final round is almost upon us in, let’s see, ten minutes, is there anything that we should expect for that round? Any tricks you might be hiding in the back of your hand?”

“We’ll see. It all depends on what’s thrown at us.”

“I see. Then we’ll await to see what surprises you’ll give us,” the announcer smiled. “Do you have anything you want to say before the final round starts?”

“I do, actually,” Yuki said. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he saw Yuna staring at him confused. “I couldn’t have gone this far without my teammate and partner, Yuna. It’s been this smooth only because of her. And I think that deserves praise.”

“I do as well,” the man laughed. “During the first round she was the one that took the initiative. And the two of you during that second round were like a well oiled machine. Teamwork like that is something you rarely see.”

“We worked on it.”

“How about you Yuna? Want to say anything?” the man said, turning to her. Her face was red and she began to stammer. “Now, now. Calm down my girl. Ready? Alright. Any last words before the round starts?”

“Ah, um, I want to thank my partner as well,” she said with an embarrassed smile. “And, um, yeah. I hope the next round goes well.”

“As do I,” the man smiled in return. “I’ll leave you two to your own devices.”

He gave Yuki a wink and sauntered off. He began to speak to the air, spreading his arms apart. It seemed that he was giving last remarks to an invisible camera before footage switched from him. Yuki glanced up at the clock and saw that seven minutes remained. 

“It’s almost time,” he said. “Are you ready, Yuna?”

“I think,” she replied. “As ready as I could be.”

“Do you remember what I warned you about?”

“Yes. I’ll be careful.”

“Perfect. When we drop, stick close to me. We’ll be going a bit away from the other groups.”

“Understood.”

They went quiet and sat there as the minutes ticked by. The announcer emerged from the cockpit when the timer reached two minutes. 

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“Alright my friends,” he said, clapping his hands. “The time is almost upon us. I see all of you have your backpacks on already so that’s perfect. I trust that you all know how to deploy a parachute. I would put on those glasses that were in those bags as well.”

He walked to the back of the hovercraft as the competitors began shuffling through their packs and turned to look at everyone sitting. 

“You can all stand.” There was a small commotion as people unbuckled their seat belts and stood. “I want to wish you all good luck. Any one of you can win it all today and change your future forever. And for the rest, you’ve already changed it by going so far.”

His fist smashed a button. The bottom of the hovercraft slowly began to open, air whistling in. Yuki grab a handle bar as the door opened further. Soon, he felt himself get pulled forward toward as the pressure inside the cabin attempted to stabilize. 

“I bid you all farewell,” the man said, his voice crystal clear despite the roaring wind. “May the gods be with you.” 

He stepped aside and a red light lit up above the wide open mouth of the cabin. Yuki looked back and saw that ten seconds were left on the timer. Beeps rang out as the seconds slowly ticked down. He let go of the handle. Then he began to walk forward. 

The beeps grew louder and louder the further he inched forward. Yuna followed behind him. He looked back again. Three seconds. The wind clawed at his back. Two seconds. His feet reached the end of the platform. One. He sucked in a deep breath. Zero. And the light blinked green.

He fell backwards and went freefalling towards the ground. The air whistled past his ears as he fell faster and faster as the earth pulled him toward it. He twisted his body until he regained his bearings and angled it. 

Inching his head a little to the side, he saw Yuna beside him, the top of her goggles catching the light of the sun. A little past her, there were people slicing through the air away from them. Predicting where they would land, he changed his course.

A few more seconds, then he deployed his parachute, pushing a button attached to the strap of his bag. It shot out and he was yanked up as it caught the air. Grabbing the handles of the chute, he slowly guided it to a clearing. Right before landing, he hit the button again, detaching the parachute from himself and rolled to break his fall. As he stood up, Yuna landed near him. 

“Let’s wrap up the chute. We might need it for something,” Yuki said to her, taking off his goggles. “Material is material.”

“Got it. It could be useful for shelter or something,” she nodded. 

They grabbed the parachutes and folded them up until they could fit inside the backpacks. 

“There’s water near here,” Yuna commented as she slipped the bundle of fabric into her bag. “We can find a camp there. It’s a river.”

“Perfect. If you find some wood or something that can serve as fuel for a fire, grab it. We’ll be needing it.”

“Aren’t fires dangerous?”

“Because they might reveal our location? Yes, but it’s a risk we’ll have to take. This forest isn’t a kind one. We’re way above sea level so it can get quite chilly.”

“True. Especially if we’re going to be camping by water,” Yuna said.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Since Yuki felt that there was no point in running as there was no one near them, they walked their way to the river. When they reached the river which was more of a stream, they found a small cave near it that they designated as their base for the time being.

“We should find some food,” Yuki said, looking around the cave. “We’re not ready to actually fight anyone right now.”

“I see. We’ll need weapons or supplies first, right?”

“Mhm. I don’t think we can do all that today. Besides, we don’t have a time limit so we can take as long as we need to. Just be careful because other people might not be as reserved in the beginning.”

“Understood. Want me to do the hunting?”

“I don’t mind,” he shrugged. “I can gather supplies while you’re doing that.”

“Alright. I’ll be back,” she said with a small smile before running off into the forest.

“It’s still early,” Yuki mumbled to himself staring up at the sky. “Monsters shouldn’t be a problem right now. Let’s scout out the area.”

He noted the location of the cave and walked a ways away from it. He looked around for a bit to make sure that there was nothing immediately near him.

‘Alright,’ he nodded. 

“Conceal,” he whispered.

Mana flowed out from him, wrapping him in a warm embrace until he vanished from view. Then the tree leaves shook as he zoomed past them, only his traces to be found.

 

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