Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch - Chapter 1423
Chapter 1423: Extra: Speak out your wish!
Chapter 1423: Extra: Speak out your wish!
Atop Pandora’s most majestic peak, players reckless for thrills strapped on their snowboards and leaped one after another.
William stood at the summit, taking a deep breath of the frigid air.
He pulled up his facemask, donned his goggles, and leaned forward…
*
In the language of the Na’vi, this mountain was named [Awan Tuhu]—meaning “Pillar of Heaven,” a white giant column that leads to the sky.
It speaks to the towering and perilous nature of this mountain.
That’s precisely why it was deemed worthy to be one of the eight [Ultimate Challenge] tasks left by Lincoln.
Just reaching the summit of this mountain was an incredibly arduous undertaking, not to mention plummeting from its highest point to complete the almost free-falling [Peak Downhill Speed]!
But at this moment, those who dared to come here were naturally unafraid.
Whether they were climbers or downhill speedsters, players arrived in an endless stream every day.
Unfortunately, determination and courage didn’t always lead to success.
Just like with the other challenges, the number of players who died during the attempt was countless.
Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝօνǤο.сο
One year has passed since Pandora was opened to the public, and Lincoln left eight [Ultimate Challenge] tasks for players around the world.
According to the latest public announcement from Metropolitan News, the number of players who have died from [Ultimate Challenge] has surpassed 30 million.
That’s nearly enough to form a mountain of corpses!
And that’s only the deaths occurring during the challenges, not counting those who accidentally died en route to the challenge locations.
If totaled, the number is likely to double.
No one expected that a challenge where death was not to be feared, where one could try over and over again, would still entrap hundreds of millions of users for an entire year.
Even after William received guidance by offering a Sacrifice and hanging upside down from the Tree of Life for Nine Heavens, and after he determined the positions of the challenges and generously made them public to all the players worldwide, completing the [Ultimate Challenge] remained an arduous task.
Just completing the eight individual challenges took over half a year:
On March 18, Shawn completed the [Creatures of Water]—Ultimate Surfing.
On April 13, Shuihua completed the [Ultimate Trust]—Eva’s Favor.
On April 19, William completed [Blessings from the Heavens]—Tree of Life Base Jump.
On May 25, Honold and William each completed [Master of Life]—Free-Hand Climbing on Suspended Mountain.
On August 2, Shuihua stumbled upon a wounded and dying Tukun while surfing.
After she ended its pain, she completed the “Death God Beast,” “Phantom Dragon,” and “Tukun” trio— the great hunts of the sea, land, and air, officially achieving [Burst of Strength].
The day she achieved the challenge, tens of millions of players went to sea.
Just 6 days later, the top 10 positions on the [Burst of Strength] leaderboard were locked in, and the ownership of 10 Pure Gold Trophies was decided.
On September 21, a German player named Hartman was the first to ride a Phantom Dragon through the Suspended Mountain within the extreme time limit, completing this staggeringly difficult dragon-riding challenge.
[Wind Surge], challenge accomplished.
Having a Neural Connection with the Phantom Dragon, Shuihua had already achieved Human-Dragon Unity, giving her a significant advantage.
At first, everyone thought she would be the first to complete this challenge.
But Shuihua… really wasn’t adept at this kind of adrenaline rush, extreme speed racing that danced with death.
After losing three dragons, she just couldn’t bear it, which greatly slowed her progress.
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Only a month later, after three others had completed the challenge, did Shuihua finally succeed.
Afterward, neither Shuihua’s “home ground advantage” nor the top Bosses in the global extreme sports realm could escape trouble.
Everyone knew the locations of the last two challenges—
[Sky Pillar Snow Mountain] and [Volcano of Death].
The former was most likely a downhill speed, while the latter was probably a summit climb.
Both challenges were more terrifying than the last.
The difficulty of the former was virtually akin to an ascent of Mount Everest without oxygen, followed by strapping on a snowboard and leap off the summit, engaging in a deadly downhill speed race amidst treacherous terrain and rows of ice columns!
The chance of death was almost one hundred percent!
The latter wasn’t as thrilling, but the death rate wasn’t far behind.
Because the “death” in [Volcano of Death] didn’t refer to the volcano itself, but to the lives that neared it.
In reality, it was an active volcano!
How could one climb a Mount Fuji that erupted randomly every few hours?
This was the conundrum all challengers pondered over.
That’s why this snow mountain was much busier than the volcano, as people would rather die from crashes and falls than dehydrate in relentless heat—or worse, be scorched to death by a random spout of lava bubbling up from beneath their feet.
But things often turn out unexpectedly—
On New Year’s Day of the year 2032, a French couple who had studied active volcanoes their entire lives successfully summited the Volcano of Death, achieving [Awakening of the Earth]!
Upon reaching the summit, the couple stood on the edge of the volcano opening against the backdrop of ceaselessly surging lava and took a photo together.
The moment they kissed, the Volcano of Death began a grand eruption!
Beneath this lava-forged Tree of Life, two tiny figures in their foil fire-resistant suits embraced and kissed, lost in each other.
Their tin-foil-like suits, reflecting the lava’s glow, made them shine amidst the devastating end of days!
This unbelievable photo, as soon as it appeared, went viral across the Internet!
Even Lincoln himself gave a thumbs up to the couple.
Inspired by the couple, countless lovestruck individuals around the globe rushed toward the Volcano of Death, eager to experience such an extreme romance.
