W ait, did I read that right? Koshie opened the message logs to make sure. Seriously? You need the max sensitivity level to complete this challenge? And that’s the minimum?
A new system window popped up in front of him.
Choose the challenge type:
1. Balance
2. Deliverance
3. Endurance
I don’t think there’s any difference...
Koshie stopped on the first option. Messaging Kingmaker that the clan needed two more testers with the max sensitivity level, he proceeded with the challenge.
There was a crash and the ground beneath him shuddered. Small lumps of soil crept up his legs like bugs, all the way up to his head, covering his whole body and transforming him into a clay figure.
Koshie couldn’t see that though as his mind had been transported to a different location.
Everyone else surrounded the Rollin’ Dice members, watching Koshie’s transformation with curiosity and waiting for his return to learn more about the challenges.
“So that’s it,” a surprised voice came from the crowd. “The portals! This place has them.”
“I’ve been pondering over how we’re to ever make it up here,” someone said with relief.
“Is there just one portal or is there one per statue?”
“If the Dice took over it, how are others to come here?”
“Other clans may try to fight for it, I guess.”
Ori-Tori, who was sitting not far from the spot, immediately messaged the Brotherhood about what she had witnessed. They had to find that portal.
***
When Laughing Queen of Spades saw the message, she looked up at the five players who had just finished killing mobs with her with a sly smile on her lips.
“Wild Wind.” She squinted at the assassin leaning his back against the tree. “It’s time for you to step in. But first, give me your Spheres.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The man took out a small box. Giving it to her, he bowed slightly and disappeared with the same impassive look on his face.
Let’s see how you’ll like that, bitch.
Queen pursed her lips, her smile gone without a trace. That fucking video still stood before her eyes, her long-nurtured loathing for Kingmaker now spreading to Raven. It was him who had made that possible.
He’d pay for that.
She had been planning her revenge for a long time until she got a really funny idea. She could kill two birds with one stone by making the famous rogue do her bidding. The very thought of it was so exciting that she was ready to offer him whatever he wanted to make this plan come true.
And if he turned her offer down, that would be where Wild Wind would step in.
Closing her eyes, she checked her current number of Spheres.
1,482 Influence Spheres
Good.
She wasn’t at all concerned about having that few. All she had to do to multiply this amount, bringing it up to over twenty thousand, was to say the word to Red Jockers: a clan she sponsored and that was currently developing on the first three Floors.
She nodded to the Brotherhood’s observers who were now on her side, and they resumed what they were doing.
***
As the respawning players crowded around the Rollin’ Dice members, waiting for Koshie’s return, he opened his eyes and found himself on a round stone platform. It seemed to hang above a chasm with no support at all. Hovering in the air in the middle of it was a beautifully carved, almost transparent key that immediately drew his attention.
He tried to raise a hand, but nothing happened.
Ding! came the sound of a system message.
You have entered the Sky Platform Challenge!
Inventory and gear unavailable.
Any buffs, spells, skills, and potions applied before the challenge have been nullified.
Description: The gift of Power is akin to armor or a weapon; it makes you stronger. But what if you lose it? Will you blame yourself for becoming that weak, or Lady Fortuna for turning her back on you?
You have a chance to get your own power. It is up to you how to use it.
Look into yourself.
Challenge yourself.
Reach your limits.
Challenge goal: Overcome the mental pressure and take the Key.
Reward:
+ 1 Diamond Key (level 1)
+ sensitivity level increased by 0.1%
The challenge begins in: 10... 9... 8...
Wait. Koshie stared at the last reward. Sensitivity level increased? How’s that possible? I already have it maxed out.
He had set his sensitivity level to max soon after Kingmaker had, following Raven’s advice. It was painful, but it made his in-game adventures unforgettable.
None of Rollin’ Dice members had ever heard of a possibility to increase your sensitivity level beyond the max, although the clan already had over a hundred people playing at that level.
Hold on, hold on...
He opened the logs and realized that he had missed an important bit of information.
Note: Sensitivity level required: 100%
So that’s it.
He checked the time and, feeling his excitement build up, braced himself for a challenge.
When the countdown reached zero, he rushed for the Key, but with the very first step, a tremendous pressure pressed down on his mind, freezing him in place. He couldn’t even move a finger. It felt like someone had put his head in a vise. Like his skull was about to explode.
He groaned, gasping for air, and struggled to take another step. Be it the tiniest step he had ever made, but let it be a step.
BOOM!
His right foot, which seemed to be stuck to the surface, slid forward slightly, but he immediately collapsed to his knee, feeling like he had just tried to push a boulder with his foot.
He felt so sick that he was too afraid to even think in fear of making the pressure even stronger. It took him quite a long time to realize that the squeezing pain wasn’t building up unless he tried to move forward.
To test this hypothesis, he came back to the platform’s edge, taking small steps and feeling the pressure decrease.
Reading the challenge description once again, he understood what exactly he was facing.
Three’s three feet between the goal and me. But it feels like there’s an entire gorge between us.
He stood like that for a long while, not daring to move. But he couldn’t come back empty-handed. He needed the Key, whatever lock it opened, and the knowledge of why a higher sensitivity level was offered as a reward.
***
Wild Wind, better known as Locke, was Kim Steyson’s subordinate not only in Ascension but in the real world as well. He had been the one doing her dirty work for a long while, and her joining Ascension meant that he was to follow her. The young lady had decided to make use of his real-world abilities in the game. When registering, he had done everything she told him and got to start on a higher Floor.
The only choice she had left up to him was his character’s race and class. Not overthinking it, he had picked a Draitner (which he had raised to level one hundred and forty-three): a creature with a bird’s head and animal’s body, with light-green blood running in their veins. According to Ascension’s lore, they descended from a forgotten race, their closest relatives being half-beasts and Kaltars. Living in harmony with nature, Draitners would receive bonuses for hunting and staying in the woods.
Wild Wind’s task was to find Raven, offer him a deal on Queen’s behalf — and kill him if he turned the offer down. In the game world, for a start, but maybe in the real one, too, if his boss got really angry with him.
However, there was a small problem, which was exactly the reason that Queen had brought him into Ascension. She had already tried finding Raven in the real world using her sources, but he had somehow managed to hide all his traces. Even the hackers she had hired could find none — neither of Raven himself nor of any of his family, which was bizarre. No traces, digital or physical alike, as if this guy had never existed. Nothing at all. Either that or someone was really, really good at hiding him.
The attempts to find Raven through anchors and media had caused even more trouble. More than once Queen’s spies were attacked by agents and mercenaries who seemed to know their every step.
Wild Wind knew that well as he had been part of those attempts. A situation like this was extremely unusual.
It’s just a matter of time. No matter where he’s hiding. Everyone makes mistakes.
The only thing unknown to both of them and everyone else who had been trying to detect high-sensitivity-level players was that the latter were protected by The Emperor itself: the mysterious alien sphere that watched their progress and blocked anyone’s attempts to impede it.
The Emperor needed its administrators-to-be so it monitored their every step as an observer, an examiner, and a guide.