Crushing the Amazing Obstacle Course
"Thanks."
It was a short break between rounds. Chaeni sat down next to me in the waiting room and spoke up.
"We agreed to help each other out, right?"
"I haven't really done anything for you though?"
"We got some fun footage thanks to you, so that's good enough. If I'd been teamed up with someone like Jang Seok-gi or Big Palm Uncle over there, it wouldn't have gone like that. You pulled it off because I'm lightweight."
"You sure know how to talk... Have you ever thought about starting a YouTube channel?"
Chaeni shot me a playful glare.
YouTube? Of course I had. That was the main reason I'd joined Top Beast Survival in the first place. Sure, it was fun, but now that I had some abilities, I wanted to get famous too. Starting from scratch versus making a name on a massive show like this? Night and day.
I'd latch on even if they didn't offer.
"I'd love to. Just don't have an editor or anything yet."
Her eyes sparkled as she held out her smartphone.
"Give me your number. Let me know when you start your channel. I can help out."
Guess she was pretty grateful for me carrying her in the last round. Yeah, she'd probably be eliminated if she'd been paired with someone else. Thanks to me using my advantage to pick her as my teammate, she was the last woman standing. Makes sense she'd feel that way.
Chaeni probably planned to milk some views out of this too.
As we swapped numbers and chatted, the break ended.
"Round 3 is starting soon! Please return to your seats!"
Following the staff's guidance, we headed back to the set from Round 1's tightrope walk. They'd cleared the rope during the break between rounds, leaving only the safety pool behind.
No sooner had we arrived than Crocochi's commentary boomed out.
Round 3 is one we put a ton of effort into! A custom set airlifted in by the studio! Revealing it now!
Thud—
Just like Round 1, the wall beside us flipped open. What emerged was a set packed with uniquely shaped obstacles.
"This is...!"
"I loved watching this as a kid!"
Chaeni and Big Palm Uncle gasped as they realized what Round 3 was.
The chat exploded with viewer reactions.
Some of you have already figured it out! The obstacles in front of you are from the Challenge Amazing Team set! We rented it for the show and tweaked it a bit!
Crocochi continued proudly.
I can confidently say this is our most expensive set! It's not just some old set—we revamped it to be way harder and more complex!
Even at a glance, it looked brutal. Plenty of obstacles that demanded upper body strength. Folks like Kang Sang-won or Big Palm Uncle, who were on the heavier side, would be at a disadvantage. But they'd already banked advantages in prior rounds, so no complaints there.
Round 3 is basically the semifinals! It's individual format, and only the top 2 advance!
There are score panels scattered throughout the course! Touch them for bonus points! Ranking combines bonus points with completion time!
Those sign-like things dotted around were the score panels. Mostly in tricky spots, so you had to risk falling or losing time to grab them.
Challenge order is reverse of Round 2 rankings! Kang Sang-won, you're up first!
Kang Sang-won went first. He powered through the early obstacles with brute strength, but his own weight got the better of him—his grip gave out midway, and he dropped.
Next up, Sanders the foreign model. He cleared the whole course but obsessed over bonus points, burning too much time. Might as well have skipped them.
Then Chaeni, right before me. Her light frame let her zip through, earning cheers from viewers.
She skipped the tough bonus panels boldly, so top 2 looked out of reach.
My turn.
I took my position at the start, deep breath, and activated High-Speed Thought.
Crocochi's countdown stretched out long.
Three! Two! One! GOOOOO!
I bolted with light steps toward the first obstacle: spinning cylinders. Move slow, and the rotation throws you off. Foot hit, high jump—beep— nailed the score panel.
Next: rotating bars. Grip and swing across, panel in a weird spot. Hanging there, I swung my body sideways and kicked the panel with my foot. Beep—
Landed lightly and moved on.
Now a spinning rope net. Others crawled like spiders. Not me. Pat pat pat— timed the flat spin, stepped across before the tilt. Blasted over in seconds.
Straight to the log bridge. Pendulums swung on both sides to knock you off. Dodged their rhythms, touched the panel under the log. Beep—
Flowed through seamlessly.
Left: wall climb with holds, then overhead bars by hand only.
Up the wall fast to the high panel—touch. Then fingertip cling as I wall-ran off it.
Momentum into a jump to the bars. Swung hand over hand like a monkey, blitzed through, slammed the buzzer at the end.
Beeeep—
Deactivated High-Speed Thought. Crocochi's stunned commentary hit.
What the hell just happened?! Lee Min-ho cleared every obstacle at flat-ground sprint speed! Way beyond what the designers expected!
Did some casual stretches and headed back. Jang Seok-gi eyed me with burning intensity.
"Impressive as expected."
"Better time than I thought."
Truth was, High-Speed Thought let me flow without hesitation. My raw speed was just decent. The wall-run? Highlight reel material.
Anyway, someone like Jang Seok-gi could clear it smoothly, maybe a tad slower than me.
Big Palm Uncle followed—dropped mid-course, weight did him in.
Finally, the big one. Jang Seok-gi approached calmly, nailing every panel. Not blistering fast due to the stops, but matched Chaeni's pace—best after me.
Results were in.
Round 3 complete! 1st: Lee Min-ho! 2nd: Jang Seok-gi! They advance to finals!
Finals edited on YouTube in 3 weeks! Watch it!
Contestants gathered for final waves to viewers, stream ended.
But schedule wasn't over—finals and interviews ahead.
"Jang Seok-gi and Lee Min-ho, this way."
Left other contestants behind, followed staff to a smaller set unlike the others.
"This is...?"
Jang Seok-gi sounded puzzled beside me. His reaction said he didn't know the finals format.
Looked like they'd rigged him to win.
The finals set? Front yard of ex-UFC fighter Jang Seok-gi: the octagon.