Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 208 - 140: Opening the Mystery Box

Chapter 208: Chapter 140: Opening the Mystery Box

It wasn’t clear whether the Beast Trap scared off the Black Bear, or if Lin Sha’s team simply ran fast enough, but they ultimately reached the summit without any mishaps. About 500 meters from the summit, there was a 400-meter-high peak where the observation post they needed to reach was located. From this direction, there was only one path from the summit to the bottom of the peak—a 400-plus-meter-long rocky path. Alternatively, they could pass by a military restricted area near the bear encounter and take a narrow path along the mountainside.

The shape of this path was similar to the notorious Horseback Mountain—the path was less than 20 cm wide, with cliffs and precipices on either side. As a result of the rain, this stretch of rocky path seemed especially slick. To put it in an image, it was like a cone, and the players had to walk across the top of the cone; one misstep and they would slide down into oblivion.

Lin Wu looked left and right but didn’t see anywhere to hang a rope. He peeked over the cliff edge and with a hint of trepidation asked, "Are you scared? If you’re scared, we can go through the minefield instead."

No sooner had he finished speaking did he see Shana do a 360-degree forward roll, landing steadily on the stone path. Shana stood up straight, puffed out her chest, raised her right hand, then took three steps forward and did a 360-degree turn and landed; upon landing, her body slightly leaned to the left, but she stabilized herself. Turning around with her chest out and a smile on her face, she waved her hand high around her.

Damn! This girl’s trained.

Shana stood firm: "There should be applause here."

Show-off Shana. Lin Wu clapped half-heartedly: "Be careful."

Shana: "Mhm, I’ll go ahead and wait for you." After saying that, she did a diving forward roll, sprinting away.

Tsk! Lin Wu snorted disdainfully. Then he stepped onto the 20 cm wide path; it didn’t seem all that difficult. No need to rush; after all, she had training, he just had to go at his own pace. After carefully walking six or seven steps, there were cliffs on both sides. Lin Wu stumbled with his right foot due to his extreme focus—his right toe caught on his left heel, causing immediate panic. He hastily lay down, grasping the cliffs on either side, then slowly untangled his feet and straddled the path.

Looking up, Lin Wu saw that Shana had nearly reached the other side. His pride made him shakily stand up and carefully watch his feet as he slowly moved forward. Initially walking one foot in front of the other, now Lin Wu was inching along with his feet touching. Shana, with a smiling face, squatted at the edge of the cliff, her hands cradling her face as she watched Lin Wu move forward step by step.

After a while, Shana called out through her Bluetooth earpiece: "Lin Wu."

Lin Wu stopped, nonchalantly replying: "Yeah, the view’s not bad here. Someone once said, we’ll always reach the end in life, but don’t ignore the beautiful scenery around you in your rush to get there."

"Oh, I’m going to scout around."

"Be careful."

"Got it."

Seeing Shana turn and enter the woods, Lin Wu immediately crouched down and sat on the path, moving forward as if rowing a boat. Was Lin Wu afraid of heights? Of course not. If it was just a dozen meters, Lin Wu would’ve crossed in a single spurt, but the whole 400-meter stretch without a place to rest induced fear in him.

Can normal people walk on a 20 cm wide path? No problem. But if the sides of the path were replaced with cliffs, the psychological impact would be completely different. It’s like when you take photos with your phone you hold it steady, but if you stretch your phone out over a cliff or a high balcony to take a picture, an innate fear of dropping your phone arises within you.

After moving a hundred meters, Lin Wu’s state of mind became more tranquil. However, he still didn’t dare to stand up because the path in the middle seemed even narrower and it wasn’t completely flat—in some places, it was as thin as a blade. Of course, sitting down in such spots was quite an acid test.

After about 20 minutes of moving, Lin Wu finally reached the other side. He didn’t call out to Shana, but took a few steps forward and saw her sitting against the root of a large tree, twirling a blade of grass in her hand, softly singing a song. Lin Wu suddenly wanted to give Shana a hug, to thank her for protecting his not-so-valuable pride.

Shana turned her head, saw Lin Wu, and stood up with a smile: "Let’s go." She didn’t mention anything about what had just happened.

...

After walking another hundred meters in the forest, the two finally arrived below the observation post. It was a 400-meter-high mountain peak, quite steep. If vertical is 90 degrees, this was 75 degrees. There were no big trees on the mountain, only some small pine trees and weeds that had shallow roots; they could easily be pulled out of the soil, leaving more rocks exposed on the mountainside.

The only piece of good news was that there were man-made steps leading to the peak. The steps wound around the mountain and were very narrow, with no handrails. If a somewhat overweight player were to walk there, their body might press against the cliff, the reaction force potentially pushing them off the steps and plummeting down the cliff.

In the face of a design maliciously targeting bigger people, the skinny Lin Wu immediately started climbing the steps; after a while, he looked back and saw Shana struggling, so he instructed: "Walk sideways, face the stone wall, and have the backpack face the cliff."

Shana looked down, then pursed her lips and scowled. Lin Wu had an epiphany: "Hang the backpack in front of you, and walk with your back to the stone wall."

Shana hastened: "You’re not allowed to laugh."

"I’m not laughing, not laughing." Both were at 5%, but Shana and Maya were completely different types.

The system wasn’t completely heartless; this challenge was designed more benignly, and the two made it to the middle of the peak without any dangers. The pathway became simpler from here—150 steps went straight to the top with 1.5-meter-tall railings on both sides. Lin Wu looked up and could see an entrance made from stacked containers at the very peak.

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