Martial Online.

Chapter 439 Mountain Climb

Chapter 439 Mountain Climb

?In the commentator's booth.

"Welcome viewers back to the tournament!" A clean-shaven man professionally said. "Last night, plenty happened that lowered the player count significantly!"

His co-commentator, a woman with long, flowing hair and a vibrant personality, added excitedly. "But today, we have an exciting day ahead, as tonight we might get our first finishers!"

"The team, Coin Men, is currently in the first place and is about to arrive at the treacherous mountain section." The clean-shaven man said.

The screens on their computers and in every household started to display a mountain range with steep cliffs and narrow passageways.

The screens showed the mountain and some passageways that led to the top.

"The players have two options: take the easy way and use those passageways to run to the top, but it's vastly slower, or climb to the top, which is way more challenging but also much faster depending on how fast one climbs!"

"Look, the team Coin Men has arrived at the decision point!" The woman shouted and pointed at the screen.

…

A group of two athletic men left the barren wasteland behind and started to slowly hike to the top.

However, not even a minute later, they came across the wall of the mountain, with two passageways starting to curve towards the top.

"Let's go, man!" An impatient-sounding man was about to pull his teammate to one of the paths, eager to keep first place and win the first round.

"Wait." However, his teammate raised his arm and narrowed his eyes. "There're three ways to go to the top."

"What do you mean, there are only two?" The impatient-sounding man frustratingly said as he looked at the two passageways. He couldn't see the third one.

"One…" His teammate pointed to one of the passageways and then to the other passageway. "Two…"

"And…" He then pointed straight up at the treacherous mountain wall. "Third."

"C-climbing?" The impatient-sounding man asked, not thrilled about the idea of scaling the mountain wall.

"Yeah, that is clearly faster, as those passageways seem to take a long detour." His teammate curiously rubbed his chin.

"Let's just take one of the passageways, quick! I already hear some footsteps coming from behind!"

His teammate looked at him before his gaze drifted towards the rope that tied their limbs, and they eventually agreed with a nod as climbing would be an unnecessary risk.

After they left for one of the passageways, more players reached the decision point and also took one of the two passageways.

No one dared to climb.

…

"As we expected, no one started to climb in front!" The clean-shaven commentator said.

"However, we are expecting much more climbers who are at the bottom of the rankings." The woman smiled slyly. "Climbing might be their only chance to qualify for the second round."

…

A few hours later.

Moriarty and Ambrose ran down the barren wasteland with their lips dry and their stomachs rumbling.

Their water and food supply had run out hours ago.

However, they didn't care as they saw the mountain nearing with each step.

Soon afterwards, they saw that the road below them turned more rocky as the cracked ground gave way to jagged boulders and steep cliffs.

They noticed that they were running up a small hill and soon arrived at the decision point where all the teams in front of them chose one of the two passageways.

However, without making such a careless decision, they stopped and looked at the mountain while players behind them passed them and chose one of the two passageways.

"I thought it would only be climbing, but there are also two easy ways to the top." Moriarty said.

"I should've expected that." Ambrose said. "Not everyone is a climber, and that mountain is very tall."

"Yeah…" Moriarty narrowed his eyes as he looked at the treacherous-looking mountain. "Do you have any climbing experience?"

"No, you?" Ambrose asked, realizing his teammate's desire to use this as an opportunity to increase their positioning.

"Little." Moriarty said, shrugging his shoulders. "In the school, there are only some indoor climbing walls."

"It would be suicide to go for it." Ambrose said, his lips curling into a slight smile.

"Yeah, it seems so." Moriarty chuckled and checked their current ranking.

[Team: Phoenix Quill]

[Ranking: 21,056]

[Teams Finished: 0]

"We need to increase 11 thousand positions," Moriarty said while licking his dry lips.

"Possible just by running." Ambrose said, and he glanced at the passageways. "However, these passageways aren't very wide. We might get pushed off."

"Yeah." Moriarty turned his attention back to the mountain wall and curiously tried to gauge its stability.

"We would have to climb without any harnesses." Ambrose mentioned. "Also, these damn ropes are going to be an annoyance."

"Well, these are basically harnesses, haha." Moriarty grabbed the ropes and gave them a quick tug to test their strength. "If one of us falls, one of us might be able to catch the other one."

"Maybe." Ambrose shrugged his shoulders. "I am heavy, though."

"It'll be fine." Moriarty chuckled.

"Well, one good thing is that there are a lot of holds." Ambrose mentioned.

"Yeah, if the wall was smooth with only a few finger holds, it would be impossible since we aren't some professional climbers."

"Yeah..." Ambrose nodded and smiled. "I guess we've made our decision?"

"Let's do it." Moriarty put his foot and hand on one of the holds and began slowly ascending towards the top.

Ambrose instantly followed after him.

The players behind them looked at them like they were crazy and foolish, as the height of the mountain alone frightened them.

Especially since most players were already exhausted from the intense running. It looked like the climbing would be suicide.

As Moriarty moved slowly up the mountain, he stared up and shouted. "Oey, there are already others climbing!"

Ambrose raised his gaze to the sky, and just as Moriarty said, there were teams climbing slowly.

However, it meant that the climbing was now going to be more dangerous for them if they planned to pass any of them.

At that moment, one of the players, about ten meters above them, turned to look down and showed a sudden smile.

Moriarty's eyes widened in surprise.

The player kicked his legs at one of the loose rocks, causing it to come loose and fall towards Moriarty.

Moriarty immediately hugged the mountain wall and heard the rock crash loudly somewhere below him.

At the foot of the mountain, an unassuming player was about to follow his teammate to one of the safe passageways, but then the rock came hurtling towards him and smashed straight into his head.

It caused his head to explode, and blood splattered everywhere.

His teammate turned around and screamed in shock, but then they both disappeared into pixels.

Back at the mountain wall, Moriarty gritted his teeth and shouted. "Bastard!"

The team above them laughed mockingly and was about to kick down another rock.

At that moment, Ambrose kicked off the ledge and soared through the air towards them. It looked like a suicidal leap, but he managed to grab one of the player's feet.

"Ngh!" The player who tried to kill Moriarty gritted his teeth and tried to shake Ambrose off. "Hands off, bastard!"

Ambrose grinned and pulled the player closer.

The player desperately tried to hold onto the mountain, but his grip was slipping.

His teammate tried to come to his rescue, but then Moriarty appeared from below and grabbed the player, dragging him down.

The player let out a scream, and as his hold on the mountain disappeared, he, along with his teammate, fell straight to the bottom and crashed into the rocky terrain.

They didn't survive the fall, and they died immediately.

"Ptui!" Moriarty spat on the bottom and shouted. "Fuckers!"

He then nodded at Ambrose, and they continued the risky ascent.