Chapter 149: Players lead the U17 elimination group out...
Familiar magma, and familiar skulls,
Put them together - it's the unfamiliar magma skeleton!
——It’s weird no matter how you look at it!
Skeletons and the like were rising one after another from the lava. It was like all the bones in a pot had become spirits and stood up!
When I thought about how I had drunk this stuff before, and even thought it tasted good, I ordered a few more bowls.
Now, the real master appeared before me.
They looked at each other in silence for a moment.
"...Want to say hello?"
"What kind of greeting? Rushing up to him and saying, 'Hey, what a coincidence, we meet here too—I have to say, your food is really good'?"
“…”
“…”
No, stop, it's getting more terrifying the more I think about it!
Everyone in the U17 elimination group was in a different mood at the moment, but the skeleton army that slowly rose from the lava layer was not going to play tricks on them.
Sensing the presence of a stranger, they all turned their heads in unison. The flames in the skull's eye sockets flickered, and it aimed directly at the U17 people at the entrance.
"Crackle, crackle, crackle..."
There were rustling sounds one after another, and the skeleton army stood up, walking with stiff and strange steps on the flowing lava.
This scene was beyond everyone's threshold.
Taking a deep breath, Genichirō Sanada, who was leading the charge, raised his racket. This layer of magma was scorching hot, and flames shot up into the sky. Torches and other lighting tools were useless.
Holding the ball and the racket in each hand, he looked ready for battle.
"Don't retreat!" Sanada shouted, "Pick up your rackets--!"
In fact, no one dared to retreat. After all, when they turned around, they saw the black-haired figure guarding the door holding a bomb ball, throwing and catching it.
There is a tendency to kill anyone who retreats with a ball.
I shuddered at the associations in my mind,
But if it's that guy...it's totally possible!!
All of a sudden, everyone fell silent, not daring to say anything more. They had no choice but to follow Sanada Genichirō's instructions and pick up their rackets and balls.
The experience gained from the last time we faced the Skeleton Army was that these guys had weak defenses and were almost shattered with a single blow.
Now this layer is enhanced by the lava...
Genichirō Sanada glanced over, took direct aim, and immediately sent the ball cleanly. The black mineral ball shot out of his hand and headed straight for the leader of the skeleton army who stood up first.
After the intense and life-and-death training in the first three levels, Genichirō Sanada is no longer the same person he was before.
The serve was unexpectedly filled with an aura of power that was difficult to look directly at. A black arc of light was faintly wrapped around it, and it flew away like a black dragon, suddenly roaring like a dragon -!
The black ball, with its incomparable force, struck the leading skeleton. With a loud bang, the eardrums were faintly impacted. Everyone opened their eyes wide and looked at it.
The leading skeleton was suddenly smashed to pieces by a ball, disintegrating and scattering in the magma layer!
"——The attack worked!"
Kirihara Akaya was overjoyed, even happier than Sanada Genichirō himself.
But Sanada's expression was not much happier because after the leading skeleton was disintegrated by his ball, he discovered more details.
The magma deep in the lower body provides these skeletons with strong retention and adhesion.
Even though the serve was improved by more than one level compared to the previous one, it could still only cause single-target damage.
It seems that these guys have also received a lot of improvement.
There was a flicker in Sanada Genichirō's eyes, but as a challenger to be faced again after improving his strength—this level was just right!
The attack was effective, and the morale of the team soared. Everyone picked up their rackets and joined the battle.
In an instant, the air was filled with flying black mineral balls, accompanied by red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
Shouting the names of their skills and moves loudly, they unleashed their own unique moves.
"Plop, plop, plop," countless skeletons fell from the lava layer one after another. They were submerged in the lava and returned to it again.
The U17 elimination group grew in momentum and continued to attack, almost killing everyone who showed up.
But as the fight went on... I vaguely felt something was wrong.
"These guys...are they just my imagination? Why do they keep fighting endlessly?"
"No, it's not an illusion!"
Kenya Oshitari turned around and hit a ball sideways, shattering the skeleton claws that were about to climb to the safe area.
The sweat on the forehead just flowed down and was evaporated into gas by the heat.
He wiped his face deeply, suppressing his expression, "These skeletons... keep coming back to life."
As soon as the words came out, everyone's eyelids jumped.
Inui Sadaharu adjusted his glasses and said, "Yes, that's right."
He spoke, and everyone looked over, pointing their fingers at a few specific spots, and then looking at them together—
Surprisingly, the remains of the skeleton that had just been shattered by Oshitari had been pushed by the magma and merged into the vortex, re-forming into a new skeleton, slowly standing up, and crawling out of the magma layer.
“…”
The sound of taking a breath of cold air,
"Is this really just a skeleton?..."
"...It's simply an undead army..."
The skeletons with their own 'resurrection' and the U17 elimination group members who can also revive infinitely, for some reason, when thinking about this, I can't help but feel my scalp tighten.
"—Now don't go on about that,"
Unexpectedly, it was Akutsu Jin who spoke up. "I only care about one thing: how to get out of here!"
Sengoku Kiyosumi was embarrassed and apologized to everyone. He tried to pull Akutsu but was looked at with a blank stare.
Gan Zhenzhi pushed his glasses up, but before he could speak, Guan Yuechu opened his mouth first.
"Hehe, the way out? Isn't it right before our eyes—"
With one hand wrapped around his curly hair and the other pointing forward, Guan Yuechu raised his eyes, directing everyone's gaze towards the gate that suddenly appeared in the center of the entire magma layer!
I don't know when it appeared, but it definitely appeared.
Standing there silently, the three points intertwined are right in the center of the resurrection point of the Skeleton Army and the Undead Legion.
"...Looking at it this way, the goal is very clear," Oishi Shuichiro murmured.
"If we want to get there, we must completely crush these guys..."
Oishi Hideichiro's words are exactly what everyone is thinking in their hearts.
But when he opened his eyes, he saw deadly magma everywhere and an infinitely resurrected undead army.
There is almost no way out.
Everyone instinctively turned to look at the expression of the black-haired boy standing at the end. They were absolutely certain that this level definitely had a set method for passing it. All they had to do was ask—
My heart skipped a beat. I don't know when they seemed to have completely trusted that guy. Even if the other party did nothing, their first reaction in a hurry was still that if it was him, there would definitely be a way to break the deadlock!
But at the same time, the cognition that rises together with rationality is constantly urging us to do so. That is—
All the hardships they are going through now are caused by this guy!
The atmosphere suddenly became stagnant and fell into an indescribable complexity.
Inui Sadaharu was still looking around with his glasses on. Yagyu crouched down slightly and glanced outwards from the safe area a few more times.
Jack Kuwahara noticed, "Yagyu, did you find something?"
The reflection of Yagyu's glasses made him more certain of his guess before he nodded seriously. He pointed to the faint black patches emerging from the lava layer.
"Look at these... they are consistent with the plots on the previous floor,"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked over and saw that it was indeed the case. The U17 elimination group members, who had failed countless times, were very familiar with this.
"Does this floor also require running as quickly as the previous one?"
"No, it's not that simple."
Gan spoke quickly, his words drawing blood. "The slimes in the previous level weren't as difficult to deal with as the skeletons in this level, and..."
Taocheng Wu directly urged: "Don't keep me in suspense at this time, Senior! Just say what you want to say!!"
Gan Zhenzhi said nothing, but took out a few mineral balls from his pocket and threw them at the rocks floating on the magma layer in random directions.
The black ore ball flew out in several trajectories, each of which made precise contact.
Before everyone had time to sense the improvement in Inui Sadaharu's precise ball control, the floating stone, which was pressed by the heavy black mineral ball, suddenly sank with a "gurgle"!
Without giving everyone time to react, the random balls thrown out had a probability of less than 1/5 of actually being able to bear the weight.
"...That's it." After finishing the test, Gan stood up and motioned everyone to look at the results.
"There are false slabs hidden in the lava blocks on this level. If you take a wrong step, you'll have to start all over again."
He spoke slowly, but quickly.
"And these undead skeletons emerging from the magma layer will also hinder the progress."
"It seems...there are challenges everywhere."
Suddenly, no one could laugh.
I've noticed that the difficulty of each level is increasing, but I didn't expect it to increase to this extent.
“…”
"Is it a dead end?"
"It seems... it is indeed true."
The Jibaimao standing at the end of the NPC group raised his hand and ticked the mental training.
In this way, the five-dimensional values are basically taken care of.
After testing and recording in the previous levels, it was found that repeated painful deaths and tortures are the best way to enhance the NPCs' mental strength.
Hello cat, just help the NPCs increase the training difficulty to the maximum.
The players looked at the NPCs eagerly, now all they had to do was put it into practice!
Hurry up, hurry up - after this level, there are still 99+ levels waiting for NPCs!
——If you’re a man, go down a hundred floors!!
I can’t count how many times I’ve felt a chill on my back these past few days. Over time, I’ve gotten used to it.
"...Are you being targeted again? Haha, that's interesting."
"It's okay, it's not the first time... It's just a life-or-death struggle, it's okay, it's okay!"
There was silence for a long time, there was no shortcut to luck.
If you want to pass the level, you have to move forward, and once you move forward, you have to die several times again.
Bitter.
It's an unavoidable vicious cycle.
“…Too lax!”
Sanada shouted and immediately took the lead, rushing down to the underground magma layer.
With him in front, everyone in the elimination group also gritted their teeth and worked hard.
"Shit—I'll leave the data collection to you guys," Oishi Shuichiro said with tears in his eyes. "You have to hurry up—!!"
The data collection team members, who were entrusted with heavy expectations and the hopes of the entire elimination group, nodded calmly and rationally.
I immediately watched my good teammate and comrade take a step forward——
“Crash!”
The first step I took on the stone slab was a missed step!
Genichirō Sanada——OUT!
Instantly teleported back to the player, it was no surprise that he started with a super giant bucket of juice.
Before Sanada could even say a word, his mouth was blocked and he was choked to death.
“…”
“…”
"Although, but——the first step is a trap, the probability——isn't it too terrifying!?!"
I seemed to grasp something in the hazy state, but I failed to capture it after a flash of inspiration.
"That's... unlikely. Setting a trap from the start, pushing the team to their deaths..."
In the end, Sadaharu Inui overestimated the moral bottom line of the players and treated them too much as individuals.
And the player’s goal is right here!
Hurry up! Players want to see NPCs bleeding like a river!!
One after another, they stepped forward to explore the way, but one after another, they either missed a step, were caught by the skeleton army, or simply gave themselves up to death.
In short, the number of people refreshing the resurrection point has reached a new high!
After countless times of dying and coming back to life, everyone actually developed a tendency to become immune.
Is there anything more terrifying than death? !
Now they are not even afraid of death - nothing can stop them!!
The data observation team headed by Inui Sadaharu continuously collected information brought back by the suicide squads and the frontline personnel. Finally, after a long period of planning...
The only solution to break the deadlock, calculated from nearly a thousand restarts, is in Inui Sadaharu's mind!
"——I know how to go," Gan quickly stood up from the ground, and everyone exchanged glances.
"Now that the exact path has been calculated, we can successfully reach the next level by simply following this path to the middle door."
He said decisively,
Everyone felt relieved upon hearing this and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"But, there is still a problem."
As soon as he opened his mouth, the hearts that had just relaxed suddenly tightened again. Everyone looked at him with some resentment.
Inui Sadaharu said solemnly, "This road will definitely pass by the resurrection point of these undead skeletons, which means—"
"We must quickly pass this road while preventing the Skeleton Army from resurrecting."
As soon as he said this, the situation became serious.
I originally thought that just testing the waters and figuring out the fastest and most accurate way to clear the level would solve most of the problems.
But now there is still the threat of the skeleton army.
Compared to this level, the slimes on the previous level that won't actively attack people who are passing quickly on the stone slabs unless necessary are simply conscientious!
"What about attacking while running?"
Suddenly, Kirihara Akaya spoke up.
All of a sudden, everyone looked at him.
"Speak more carefully, Akaya," said Genichirō Sanada.
Kirihara Akaya scratched his head. "It's not that complicated actually... Just like Marui-senpai's acrobatic tennis, maybe we can attack these guys while quickly passing through the calculated safe path?"
He even tried to gesture with his hand, swung the racket twice, and muttered, "Those skeletons will have a short resurrection cooldown after being knocked down... Maybe we can seize this moment and run over..."
Not only him, but other people have also thought of it to a greater or lesser extent. It's just that it's easy to say, but when it comes to actually doing it, the difficulty level suddenly soars.
Just moving quickly and accurately takes a lot of energy, and at the same time, you have to raise your racket and aim at the skeletons in front of you that will attack you.
Suddenly, silence spread.
“—Just do it.”
"The success rate can reach 60%,"
The voices of Genichirō Sanada and Sadaharu Inui sounded simultaneously, both of them giving spiritual and theoretical affirmation.
"We've reached this stage now and we can only move forward."
Not only the two of them, but also the players from each school spoke in groups of twos and threes.
They quickly reached a consensus, looked at each other, and immediately adjusted their state and emotions.
Inui Sadaharu, who knew the most accurate shortcuts, was in the front, while Sanada Genichirō and his team, who were most confident in repelling the skeleton army, led the way.
With a few consecutive "Swish, swish, swish, swish" sounds, the U17 elimination group members set off again!
"Left one, right three, then four, turn around and go right two," Gan quickly reported the points.
In line with his voice, Sanada Genichirō stepped directly onto the floating stone slab with a decisive step.
The white skeleton slowly stood up from the lava and stretched out its bony claws to grab the ankle of the rushing Sanada.
"--Let go of Vice Minister Sanada, your opponent is me--!"
"Shua--" With a sharp sound of breaking through the air, the black mineral ball was swift and fierce.
Pointing directly at the core of the skull, the ball shattered the entire structure, and the flickering fire in the eye sockets went out with a crackling sound.
"——Well done, Akaye!" Jack Sangyuan, who was following closely behind, immediately praised.
Kirihara Akaya looked like a little black lion, proudly raising his face. "Of course—if you want to attack Vice Minister Sanada, you must first get past me—"
"Bang!!"
“Bang!!”
“BOOM—BOOM BOO ...
With a series of sounds, the shadow of the mineral ball almost brushed past him, directly smashing the skull under his feet that stretched out its bone claws towards him without any defense, and was just one step away from dragging him into the magma.
The continuous "plop plop" sound was the sound of the skeleton falling back into the magma.
Kirihara Akaya realized it too late and was about to jump up.
A voice came from the back, "——That's it, you're still far from it."
Kirihara Akaya: “!!”
"Haha, don't worry, Kirihara-kun, we're watching from behind too!"
The one who spoke was the duo of Seigaku Momoshiro and Echizen. They looked at each other, their eyes full of the strong camaraderie of escaping from hardship.
This little episode undoubtedly pushed everyone's positive emotions to a peak -
Keep moving forward, keep cooperating, and your tacit understanding will make great progress in this process. While quickly shuttling through, you can launch a full range of suppressive attacks on the skeletons that may be resurrected or stand up at any time.
"The last section, left one, front three, right four—!"
Genichirō Sanada saw that at the last item "fourth from the right" mentioned by Inui Sadaharu, there was only a floating stone slab no bigger than the size of his palm.
No matter how you look at it, it will definitely sink if you step on it!
"—Fourth from the right, last!"
Not only Sanada Genichirō, but also the others who followed closely behind him saw it. Inui Sadaharu once again emphasized the situation.
We can’t stop here. If we stop, everything we have accomplished before will be useless!
Taking a deep breath, calming his emotions completely, Sanada Genichirō stepped forward without hesitation, holding onto the already unstable floating stone slab that looked like it would sink at any moment.
“Tap tap—”
Take one step and land directly.
Genichirō Sanada——reached the finish line first!
"Actually—it's just a slab of stone that looks like it's floating and sinking!"
Everyone in the U17 elimination group walked past one after another, all of them were surprised.
It was so smooth that it was unbelievable. After reaching the end, some people still looked back with lingering fear, fearing that another monster would pop out from somewhere or another wave of challenges would come.
Until the last person jumped across the stone slab and onto the safe area, the gate was right in front of them.
"...Should we go down one level directly or take a break first?"
Knowing that as long as you open the door, new challenges will be waiting for you.
When exploring the magma formation, starting over thousands of times pushed everyone's mental threshold to a precarious level.
Reflexively looking towards the black-haired figure at the end of the team—
“…Fell asleep.”
"...Another day has come to an end..."
"Only one day has passed..."
My mind is floating and my thoughts are different.
"Take this time to rest and disband!" Genichirō Sanada disbanded the group on the spot.
In twos and threes, compared to yesterday's hesitation, the experienced people had already dug a place to sleep.
Sanada glanced around, made sure no one was left behind, and sat down.
His eyes shifted slightly, and he caught a glimpse of the expressions of the Rikkai people. He asked in a slightly grave voice, "What's wrong?"
When asked this question suddenly, Kirihara Akaya, who was in a daze under the gurgling magma, paused, laughed, and hesitated for a moment.
"I'm just a little curious... I wonder what Mr. Yukimura and the other seniors are doing right now?"
“…”
“…Huh, huhha…ha…”
Panting, heavy panting, sweat rolling and dripping on the tennis court, accumulating into a small puddle,
The people gathered in a circle around the court, whether they were high school students or middle school students, all had strange, even bizarre, expressions.
The two U17 coaches, especially Saito Shi, were looking forward to it and excited, staring at the screen without blinking.
The infrared monitor honestly and completely transfers everything that happens on the field to the screen.
Yukimura Seiichi VS Oni Jujiro,
In the eyes of Irie Kanata, Tokugawa Kazuya, and some of the U17 players, who were well aware of the strength of the demons, this was undoubtedly a crushing victory.
But no,
The fighting even continued from day to night.
Whether it is Onijūjiro or Yukimura Seiichi, both of them seem to be monsters with endless physical strength.
The tie-break had even reached 396 vs 397.
The pull of the ball makes it impossible to take the lead. Once there is a sign of overtaking, the other party will immediately catch up.
The other junior high school vs. high school student court challenge matches that were carried out simultaneously have all ended, but the battle between Onijūjiro and Yukimura is still going on.
No one could take their eyes off them. The strength displayed by both sides at this moment had undoubtedly surpassed the level of their age group.
"Besides that person... I didn't expect there was a kid like this hidden among the junior high students."
Saito Shigeki had really found a treasure this time. All the scarlet light spot monitors shifted and focused on Yukimura Seiichi, aiming at his every move and recording it in detail.
"Now I'm even more excited about the abilities of the other three junior high school students."
Kurobe Yukio glanced at Tezuka Kunimitsu, Atobe Keigo and Shiraishi Kuranosuke who were watching the game on the sidelines and had also completed the qualifying matches and advanced to Court No. 6.
But now, their attention is still more focused on Yukimura Seiichi.
"……Um…"
"Want to let the ghost use that?"
Touching his chin, Saito Shi and Kurobe Yukio looked at each other.
"It's already come to this point. I really want to see where this kid's limits are."
Saito Shi said with a smile, and slowly gave a signal to Oni Jujiro who was facing him in the audience.
In an instant, the ghost caught the hand gesture and his aura changed——!
Everyone present could sense the sudden change in the atmosphere, a thick and heavy atmosphere that was almost tangible to the naked eye.
Standing in the center of the court, holding a racket, Kijujiro's aura exploded.
"Boy, I admire you - but now, you better be careful!!"
Onijūjiro's deep voice suddenly rang out, like waves far away in the sky, heading straight towards Yukimura Seiichi on the other side of the net!
Yukimura tightened his grip on the racket slightly and raised his head.
Now, what appeared before him was a towering ghostly figure rising from the ground. It was even more powerful and majestic, and even more terrifying than what he had seen before.
Scarlet eyes, ferocious fangs, looking down from above with a heavy hammer in one hand and a chain in the other, the indescribable horror and inhumanity made the whole body cold.
Almost the moment their eyes met, goosebumps appeared all over their bodies. Many people on the sidelines, unable to bear the pressure of the aura, retreated and gave in.
"This, this is Onijūjirō's Shura Shinto—"
“Horrible, so terrifying—!!”
Seiichi Yukimura gripped the racket tightly, and instead of retreating, he moved forward.
Just the first glimpse of fear, and beyond that, it was suppressed by a deeper layer in my heart.
Thunderous, scarlet blood mist, endless oppression and overwhelming momentum,
But... none of them are as good as that dead, empty, and silent black.
There's nothing there.
There is nothing there,
Yukimura Seiichi smiled slightly. He didn't know why he could still smile when facing such a powerful enemy.
However, just from the perspective of the enemies we face——
This level is far behind that of my younger generation.
...Even at a time like this, you still have to show up suddenly to make your presence felt?
What a helpless younger generation!
"certainly,"
Yukimura Seiichi smiled and raised his racket, truly brushing off the only remnant of his coat on his shoulders.
"—Even if it's for some careless junior, I can't admit defeat here."
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