Chapter 194 (1/2)

“Begin!”

“Ahooooo!”

“GRAAAAAA”

“For the Kindred Mountain Style!”

As Randidly expected, as soon as the challenge began, and the weight was slowly lowered down onto their shoulders, most of the individuals thrust upwards with all their strength, frantic to reach the 20%+ mark. When activated, the scales underneath them had a panel which displayed a strange symbol.

After Randidly looked at the symbol for a bit, it swirled and resolved itself into a number that was quickly falling.

0

-1%...

-4%....

Hastily, Randidly pressed upwards, pushing until his number once more settled back down at 0%. Around him, there was no cheer of success, so it didn’t seem like there was anyone who was able to succeed.

“17%....! Just a little more…… Dig deeper! Explosive Strength!”

“No, I will be taking that first finish reward! Let’s gooooooo!”

It seemed that two individuals formed most of the competition, as most everyone else, just tried to maintain their equilibrium. Still, if neither of those two had made it, there probably was no one out there who was allowing their total to go far below 0. Randidly briefly considered letting his fall down, to let one person out and get this process started, but he hesitated. After all, there was no guarantee that those two would be the ones to absorb the amount.

This was a 0 sum game, after all, in a fashion. The one difference was what everyone was searching for was a percent of their total. Due to this, it would be much easier for an individual with a lesser amount of strength to pass this challenge, because the absolute amount of 20% for them was much less.

Having someone leave due to passing was a much better outcome than a failure too. Because the weight of failures would be distributed, but it wouldn’t for passing.

Randidly grimly looked upwards. His arms were trembling, and a thin trail of sweat was dripping down his forehead. This level of weight… it really made him feel like he was being crushed. But he hadn’t trained viciously for nothing these past two years. This level of exertion was something that he could support, perhaps indefinitely, but that prospect was rather daunting, even for Randidly, who had a ridiculous amount of strength.

But if they pressed up much longer….

Randidly looked upwards. He obviously couldn’t see anything but the large square weight that was pressing down against them, but as he looked around, he realized most everyone was pressing upwards, their arms straight. Which explains why they were separated by height, this challenge wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

And then the mechanisms above began to click. Randidly bared his teeth as his hands trembled, and his arms began to drift downward, pressed by the increased weight.

“This….!” Orangey seemed agast. He was one of those struggling to reach that 20% early, and now, as the weight began to slowly increase, the folly of his actions seemed to strike him. “Everyone! We need to relax and discuss it calmly, don't’ struggle for the 20% above threshold! You will doom us all!”