Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: New Record (1)
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Yuri stared at the writing on the paper for a while before letting out a gasp of admiration.
“I’ve started fights with insults plenty of times, but this is the first time I’ve been hit with one out of nowhere like this?”
Far from feeling bad about being insulted in such a fresh way, he was actually getting intrigued.
Yuri crouched down in front of the narrow gap and peered closely into it.
His golden eyes gleamed through the thin slit.
After squatting there for a good while, Yuri scratched his cheek.
“…I can’t see anything?”
Even enhancing his vision with mana didn’t reveal a thing through the gap.
So Yuri pulled out a thin, thread-like demonic web and slipped it inside.
A faint flow of air traveled along the thread.
‘Just a long tube?’
There was no space beyond for a person to fit.
Just a pipe the thickness of an arm extending upward.
Even that was blocked by something, as the demonic web couldn’t advance further.
Yuri withdrew it and unfolded the paper with the insult again.
‘But this means there’s definitely someone there.’
He nodded with an “of course” expression.
Mechanisms that had been used once would close and take time to reset.
In other words, someone had to repair them.
Yuri had been dying to know who that “someone” was.
‘The people who made these mechanisms aren’t amateurs.’
Yuri, who had broken through them so far, knew that better than anyone.
Traps that activated at the exact same time without a fraction of error, even after multiple runs.
The angles and power were identical every time.
Even more astonishing was that this design applied identically to all twenty caves.
You’d expect some discrepancy during resets or maintenance, but Yuri’s calculations showed zero errors so far.
That’s why, while navigating the traps, he’d often thought:
‘If I could learn this technique…’
And apply it to the new fortress he was building.
‘It’d be pretty damn useful.’
He’d hoped to meet the maintainers if the chance arose, but in twelve days, he hadn’t seen so much as a shadow.
At this point, he was half-convinced there was no one and ready to give up…
‘They reached out first, huh?’
The corners of Yuri’s mouth curled up slyly.
Still crouched, he cupped his hands to the gap like he was whispering.
Then he bellowed into it.
“Anybody hooome?!”
His booming voice echoed off the cliffs.
Yuri squatted there, staring intently into the gap.
Five minutes passed like that.
He waited for another paper like before, but nothing happened.
Yuri shouted again.
“I know you’re in thereeee!”
Silence followed once more.
Still, Yuri didn’t give up.
“Keep ignoring me and some seriously scary shit’s gonna go down!”
No response, no matter how he called out.
Yuri finally stood, brushing off his pants.
Pat-pat.
“I warned you. I said scary shit was coming.”
He flashed a sinister grin at the narrow gap.
Meanwhile, onlookers were watching the scene.
“…What’s he doing?”
“Beats me?”
“Even if he’s hot… that’s kinda weird.”
The three new recruits shook their heads.
To them, oblivious to everything, Yuri looked like a total lunatic talking to a wall.
* * *
Contrary to his warning of scary shit incoming, Yuri didn’t do anything special.
He had more pressing matters right now than pulling off some prank.
“Whew…”
Yuri exhaled deeply.
As he relaxed his muscles to release tension—
Flash.
Focus sharpened in his eyes, and he hit the stopwatch button.
In the same instant, his figure shot forward, reaching the cave entrance.
‘The moment I take the first step.’
Tap!
Yuri lightly touched down.
‘The mechanism detects the vibration, and the entrance seals.’
Thud.
The iron door behind him slammed shut.
‘The side passage exit opens.’
Rumble.
A faint sound came from the wall as the adjacent door slid open.
Yuri’s eyes lit up.
‘And all traps activate simultaneously.’
But activation was all they did.
For them to trigger, vibrations had to hit each section where they were installed.
In short, the traps were designed to detect intruder vibrations and fire individually or in sequence.
That was the part that had given Yuri the most trouble in shaving time.
‘It’s not just about avoiding destruction for full points.’
Precisely, you had to trigger all 100 traps without destroying any for 100 points.
Failure to trigger counted against you.
Even slight displacement without outright destruction was penalized as damage.
‘Basically, trigger them all but don’t touch a damn thing.’
Activate every trap without disturbing them—an infuriating grading system.
No wonder the 10-second barrier wouldn’t break easily.
‘No unnecessary movements down to 0.001 seconds from here.’
Yuri heightened all his senses and summoned his demonic threads.
His body flawlessly repeated the motions drilled into it over endless repetitions.
A blade flew from the left.
Yuri dodged with minimal motion.
‘Linked trap in 0.07 seconds from 2 o’clock direction.’
No sooner had he evaded left than a blade came from the right.
To an outsider, it’d look simultaneous.
But Yuri saw the clear time gap between them.
He slipped through that interval.
Swoosh.
Pushing his Cloud Steps to the limit, Yuri’s form pierced the 0.07-second window.
Slash!
The blades grazed his neck so close it seemed they’d connect and sever.
A slight mistake would’ve meant massive bleeding.
But Yuri calmly pressed on to the next.
One perilous moment after another.
Each time, demonic threads found the split-second gaps, and Cloud Steps shoved his body through.
Step by step.
Motion by motion.
Those instants chained together, and Yuri rounded the midpoint in a flash, ghosting forward with ethereal movement.
Finally, he passed the exit.
Tap!
His hand slapped the stopwatch.
Clunk-click!
The mechanical stop sound rang out.
“Whew…”
Yuri exhaled softly and looked up.
The hand was precisely on the tenth mark.
Crunch.
“…Broke it.”
He’d shattered the demonic 10-second barrier.
Yuri smiled, clenching his fist.
But it was too soon to celebrate.
Eyes tense, he watched the gap for the scoresheet.
And.
Slide-tap!
Out it came.
Yuri carefully unfolded it.
【200.】
Ecstasy washed over Yuri’s face at last achieving his target.
But it faded quickly to calm as he stared into the cave.
‘Still… I can shave more time.’
He’d felt it breaking the 10-second wall.
His movements still had excess.
Faster Cloud Steps handling could’ve cut more.
‘Keep going.’
His challenge wouldn’t end until he was satisfied with his record.
No registering until then.
With that resolve, Yuri pocketed the 【200.】 sheet and activated the clock in another cave.
* * *
Tap!
A quick hand hit the stopwatch.
Nelly checked the time and let out a satisfied voice.
“46 seconds.”
Slide-tap!
She grabbed the emerging scoresheet, smiled, and headed off.
Her destination: the shack with the leaderboard.
Nearly there, she paused.
Seeing two people bickering in front of the shack deepened her smile.
“You guys beat me here.”
Ivan and Pana turned at her voice.
“Hey, you made it?”
“Yeah, came?”
“Yeah.”
Nelly lightly returned their greetings and handed her scoresheet to the yawning man.
“Register my score, please.”
“Yaaawn… Busy day.”
Peter, annoyance plain on his face, took and opened it.
Pana sneaked a peek and whistled poorly.
“Whew, 158? That’s gotta put you in the top 80, right?”
As predicted, Nelly’s name slotted at the bottom of 80th.
【89th / 50th Cohort / Nelly Blanc / 158 points】
Barely scraping into the 80s, but she was pleased.
158 was her highest since arriving in the trial grounds.
As Nelly gazed fondly at her name—
“Please register mine too.”
Ivan offered his sheet to Peter.
Peter scowled fiercely.
“Making me work twice.”
“Sorry. Didn’t expect this guy to go first.”
Ivan said it, but showed no remorse.
If anything, he looked smug.
“Tch.”
Peter tsked in irritation and made two nameplates.
The board updated.
【88th / 50th Cohort / Ivan Baskin / 160 points】
【90th / 50th Cohort / Nelly Blanc / 158 points】
“…?!”
Nelly whipped her head toward Ivan as her ranking dropped.
His smug face was so infuriating she glared, but he just shrugged.
As they traded subtle barbs, Pana spoke up.
“Whoa, both in the rankings? So when are you two challenging the Seven Star Cave?”
At that, Nelly and Ivan simultaneously turned to her, tension forgotten.
Ivan gave a wry smile.
“Seven Star? Think we can even handle that?”
Nelly nodded gravely in agreement.
“With our skills… we’re not ready yet.”
Normally, hitting the rankings would spark cocky thoughts like “Maybe try the Seven Star?”
But their reactions differed sharply from fools who’d challenged and died.
Thanks to a question they’d asked one person and his answer.
[Seven Star? Oh, that? Hmm… not confident enough yet.]
He hadn’t challenged because he lacked certainty.
Nelly and Ivan’s eyes scanned the board for his name.
At the very top.
There it sat boldly.
【1st / 50th Cohort / Yuri Holland / 200 points (9 sec)】
A monumental record they couldn’t dream of.
That’s why they’d abandoned Seven Star thoughts.
‘Even Yuri Holland, with that insane record, hasn’t tried Seven Star.’
‘Us, barely scraping the bottom, challenging it?’
They thought in unison.
‘Ridiculous.’
‘Ridiculous.’
Unbeknownst to him, Yuri had saved two precious lives.
* * *
Exiting the cave, Yuri checked the time.
“…9 seconds again.”
He’d broken the demonic 10 and shaved it to 9 just yesterday.
Another day of attempts, but constant failures.
Yuri nodded to himself.
‘This is… the limit.’
He’d used 2-Star caves as training to hone Cloud Steps.
Proficiency rose, records fell…
‘But now 2-Star’s too familiar; proficiency won’t climb more.’
Meaning no more time cuts.
‘Eh, milked it enough anyway.’
He’d sucked every last drop from 2-Star caves, converting it all to experience.
Cloud Steps proficiency had soared because of it.
Nothing left to gain here, Yuri decided.
His gaze lifted upward.
‘Time to wrap this up.’
Confident he’d claim perfect 1st and set a mega record.
His eyes fixed on the cliff’s peak—the Seven Star Cave.