Chương 36: Keep Climbing

Ch 36 - Keep Climbing Just how heavy was Hugh, goddamn it? Zeph was genuinely close to giving up as Malon and Suki slowly pulled him back up. Painfully slowly, because it wasn't easy for them to keep their balance on those sticky-looking web strands either. After what felt like forever, Malon and Suki finally managed to pull Zeph onto one of the massive web strands. Even then, they still had to haul Hugh up as well.

It took every bit of strength they had, and only after one final, desperate pull did the exhausting rescue finally come to an end.

"I'm so sorry. Thank you so much, Zeph, Malon, Suki. I'll be more careful next time, I promise." Hugh apologized over and over, thanking each of them so many times that he practically dropped to his knees in front of them. Zeph lowered himself into a sitting position before scanning the area around them. There were still quite a lot of people hanging on and trapped across the web. Maybe half of the participants had managed to stay up?

"The very first challenge is already this brutal?" Zeph muttered. Malon gave a small nod.

"We need to keep moving. We can't stay here forever. I have a feeling there's something wrong with this massive spider web." Suki, who was still staring down into the darkness below, finally spoke.

"Malon, where do you think all those people who fell ended up? I mean... Do you think they survived? Or maybe we should've just jumped too? There could be water down there, so maybe the fall wouldn't actually hurt that much."

"I can jump first if you all want to test it. I don't mind," Hugh offered. Malon let out a quiet sigh.

"In a selection test, once a participant fails, they're immediately teleported back to the outside world." The outside world? He looked around at the enormous chasm, its two sides connected only by giant spider webs stretching across the empty space.

"So... of course," Zeph murmured.

"We're inside a rift."

"Yes. A private rift. An artificially constructed one. Whoever created it has complete control over everything inside. This entire place was designed as a testing environment. It's a real place with real danger, even if we're not supposed to die here. Even so, severe injuries... even fatal ones... are still possible." They quickly prepared to move. Before setting off, they tied themselves together with ropes, making sure that if one of them slipped, the others would be able to catch them before they fell.

Zeph glanced around once more. Some of the other participants had already started moving. A few were lowering themselves into the abyss with ropes, apparently hoping they had brought enough length to reach whatever lay below. Others had already begun climbing the sheer cliff faces on either side of the chasm.

"I can't send my Eye all the way down. Its range is too limited," Suki said.

"And I can't send it high enough to tell how far these cliffs go either." Just as they were about to move, a wave of panic suddenly erupted somewhere farther across the web.

"Get back! Get back!"

"Monsters! There are monsters!" At the same moment, the massive web shook violently beneath their feet, making it difficult to keep their balance. Thick strands of webbing suddenly shot up from below, sticking themselves to the giant web they were standing on.

"Spider monsters! They're coming up from below!" Everyone looked down. Huge spiders were rapidly climbing toward them, racing up the newly attached strands of webbing.

"Zeph?" Malon called, looking at him.

"We climb. But, which side of the cliff should we take?" Malon pointed toward one of the walls.

"This side has a lot of thick roots. We could probably use them as places to rest while climbing." He then pointed to the opposite side.

"This one looks much flatter. There aren't as many handholds, so the climb will probably be more difficult. But that could also work in our favor. Most people will probably choose the other side." Zeph nodded.

"The monsters will most likely chase the larger groups first," he said.

"But taking the flatter side comes with its own risks. If we run out of strength, there won't be many places for us to stop and recover."

"I'm actually pretty good at climbing." Hugh chimed in.

"I've got the strength and flexibility for it. If any of you get tired, I can support you. You can even hang onto me for a while if you need to. I should be able to handle the weight of all three of you." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Zeph gave another nod.

"I probably won't need that," he said.

"Still, let's take the flatter side. It matches our plan, and with fewer people over there, we'll have a better chance of avoiding the monsters." The four of them immediately set off, making their way across the giant web. It was honestly far more troublesome than Zeph had expected. The strands were sticky, and if they stayed in one spot for too long, their feet would begin to cling to the surface. They had to keep moving without hesitation. The other participants were panicking as well.

Some hurried toward the cliff walls, while others were already scrambling upward as fast as they could. Climbing a cliff wall this high... Even Zeph wasn't sure he could do it. This was more than a test of strength. It was a test of endurance. If they hesitated for even a moment, those monsters would catch them. And once they did… They would become dinner. The order on the safety rope was Malon at the front, followed by Hugh, then Suki, with Zeph at the very end. The arrangement was deliberate.

Hugh was responsible for supporting Malon if anything went wrong, while Suki was positioned between Hugh and Zeph so either of them could help her if she became too exhausted to keep climbing. On top of that, Zeph's physical ability was better than Malon's. Since Malon wasn't a close-combat specialist, having Hugh directly behind him gave him an extra layer of support if the climb became too difficult. Before long, they reached the cliff wall. Hugh leaped forward and grabbed onto the rock.

Despite his massive build, he clung to the cliff with surprising ease, almost as if gravity barely affected him.

"Watch where I'm placing my hands and feet," Hugh said as he began climbing.

"Always look for solid holds before you move. Test them first, then shift your weight slowly. Never commit your whole body until you're sure they'll support you." He explained each step while demonstrating it himself.

"The real strength comes from your fingers," he continued.

"Don't waste energy squeezing harder than you need to. And if you feel like you're reaching your limit, make sure you find a stable place where you can rest before you completely run out of strength." Hugh glanced back at them with an encouraging smile.

"This shouldn't be as difficult as it looks," he said.

"The route was probably designed so that even beginners with no climbing experience can make it up. As long as you stay calm, keep your focus, and don't rush, you should be fine." Screams began echoing through the chasm as the spider monsters finally reached the giant web. One of the participants was caught almost immediately, their body trapped as the spider's long legs clamped tightly around them.

"Help! Somebody, please!"

"No! Get it off me! Get it off!"

"Save me!" A moment later, their body suddenly vanished in a flash of light. They had already been teleported back outside. Which meant they had failed the selection test.

"Move!" Hugh shouted.

"Keep climbing!" Zeph had already started climbing as well, and it quickly became obvious that this was nowhere near as easy as it looked. Raw strength alone wasn't enough. Proper technique was just as important. Which made this situation especially frustrating, because this was literally his first time climbing a cliff. Surprisingly, Suki was able to keep up with Hugh without much difficulty. As an archer, she naturally had excellent flexibility, balance, and body control.

On top of that, she also served as the team's scout, so climbing was already a skill she was expected to be comfortable with.

"Come on, Malon! Keep pushing!" Zeph called as he looked over at him. Out of the four of them, Malon was clearly struggling the most.

"I will!" Malon grunted.

"I'm not going to slow you all down!" Even as he said it, his arms were visibly trembling from the effort. They kept climbing, forcing themselves upward one handhold at a time without allowing themselves to stop. As they gradually got used to the rhythm, however, the climb became a little more manageable. Throughout the ascent, Zeph kept glancing down. The number of spider monsters continued to grow. What had started with a single creature had already become three, with more still emerging from below.

Even so, they were not nearly as aggressive as he had expected. Then several participants came up with an idea. They began firing fire spells at the giant web beneath them. Within moments, flames spread rapidly across the thick strands, and the enormous web was soon engulfed in fire.

"They're actually burning the spider web?" Suki said, unable to hide her surprise. Malon answered without slowing his climb.

"At first glance, it makes sense. Burning the web should stop more spider monsters from climbing up." He paused before continuing.

"But they're overlooking something. Before the fire started, those monsters weren't actively chasing the participants. Now that the web is burning, they're panicking... and they're starting to climb toward the cliff walls instead." As the spider monsters began climbing toward the cliffs, panic spread even faster among the participants. Some lost their footing and fell. Many others had not even managed to start climbing before the monsters reached the cliff walls. Desperation quickly turned into hostility.

A few participants even began attacking others who had already started climbing, trying to drag them down or force them to lose their grip.

"So that was your reason, Malon?" Zeph asked.

"What reason?"

"You agreed that burning the web was the right move, didn't you?"

"Yes," Malon replied.

"But we couldn't be the ones to do it. If we had started the fire, the other participants would've blamed us. In this situation, we should do everything we can to look like we're struggling, working hard, and barely keeping up." He glanced toward the opposite cliff.

"That way, we're much less likely to become everyone's target. Most of the fighting is already happening over there." The logic was simple. Every participant was fighting for their own survival. Anyone who realized they were about to fail might try to drag someone else down with them. Others would take the opportunity to eliminate their competition, naturally targeting the participants who looked the strongest or had climbed the farthest ahead.

By choosing the more difficult side of the cliff, Zeph and his team had made themselves far less attractive as targets. From everyone else's perspective, they already looked like a group that would probably fail on their own if they insisted on climbing such a difficult route. A few other teams had chosen to climb the same cliff face as them. Some of them were even much farther ahead already. Just how good were these people at climbing? Zeph really should have included this in his training as well.

Climbing was exactly the kind of skill they were bound to need inside rifts, where the terrain and environment could never be predicted. Swimming, climbing, running, survival skills of every kind... It wasn't that he had completely ignored them. It was just that climbing, in particular, was something he had never properly practiced before.

"Come on! Keep going! You can do it!" Hugh shouted, cheering the others on. The top of the cliff was still nowhere in sight, and there was no telling how long this climb would last. In the end, only one outcome mattered. Either they would reach the top... Or they would give up, just as the other teams probably expected them to.