The Challenger's Return: Rebirth of the Rainbow Mage
chapter-41

Elliott felt strong.

Stronger than he had ever felt in his entire life.

It wasn't because of the new spells Otto had given him to learn and use.

It wasn't due to his attributes increasing after his physical training.

It wasn't even because of the experience with combat that Ramesthes had instilled in him.

No.

It was because he had picked up a coin.

Unlike the regular coins he came across which shone in a dim golden color, the coin Elliott had picked up was vivid gold, almost glaring.

It was as if it had wanted to be found.

And Elliott had found it first.

The reason he felt so strong all of a sudden was that this coin was one of the five coins scattered throughout the entire forest ring that was worth 100,000 points.

Elliott's physical attributes had immediately skyrocketed upon finding it, to the point that he hadn't even fallen unconscious after (ab)using his innate trait.

His stamina was almost gone now, but this was no problem.

Since he could still drink a few sips of Otto's specially made stamina potions and pop a few of those pills to restore it to full.

Elliott grinned with barely suppressed glee.

This should help him pass the preliminary round, right?

Plus, he had a feeling.

Even if he was only using his physical body to fight, most of the Throskarts in the forest would no longer be a match for him.

Elliott's experience on the first floor was a bit different than the other three members of the team.

Immediately upon arriving to the floor, Elliott had purposely used his innate trait to guide him.

In the virtual world, he had experimented a bit with it and for the most part had discovered how to turn it on and off.

Though it would still automatically activate if his life was under threat.

He also discovered that his innate trait was even more useful than he thought.

Even though his stamina had constantly depleted over the journey, Otto had specifically prepared an additional giant bottle of pills and another high volume container of stamina potion for exactly this scenario.

Elliott had only been ambushed four times over the course of the entire day.

Each time, his ambushers weren't a match for him and were unable to face his spells or take more than a few blows from his staff.

Better was that just as he was worrying a bit about not having enough points from killing these folks, he had 'coincidentally' run into this glowing coin and turned it into points.

So far, it could be said that Elliott's time on the first floor had been very easy.

…Sadly, it seemed that his good days were about to come to an end.

It was now night time in the forest ring.

But to Elliott's horror, his innate trait suddenly stopped working.

He was no longer able to glean a direction of travel, now matter how many times he tried to exert his trait.

It felt like a car engine that had slowly sputtered out with no gas to pour in.

Elliott felt a little alarmed and subconsciously checked his status screen for his innate trait.

His bad feeling was confirmed.

[Innate Trait]

Survivor's Intuition

[Survivor's Intuition]

Currently unusable. Requires 1 week for recharge.

...What the heck was recharge?

Didn't it only use stamina?

He had plenty of stamina!

Elliott suddenly felt a little vulnerable.

Now what was he supposed to do?

Coincidentally, he was watching his status when he suddenly noticed a new line of words written under his health bar.

[Poisoned (-0.0002 health/minute)]

When was he poisoned!?

Elliott's brain spun as he tried to figure it out.

He had only been eating [Tower] approved nutritional cubes from his pack.

His drink was magically condensed water he had also brought with him.

By rights, nothing from this forest had entered his body.

It wasn't long before he realized.

'The poison is in the air.'

He was probably still breathing it in right now.

Elliott didn't know why there was poison in the air, but he doubted it was an ambush targeted at him.

Because it was his trait that had led him to this place.

His trait had never hurt him before.

He looked through his pack to see if there was a purifying potion or detoxifying pill.

Sadly, he couldn't find anything of the sort even after a few minutes of rummaging.

Otto also couldn't be prepared for every eventuality.

Elliott also firmly believed that he needed to try harder and do his best to stand on his own two feet.

He gritted his teeth and opened the 'shop' menu, filtering the items to only display the 'magical'.

Elliott did not hesitate to buy the expensive 'Perfect Air Purifier.'

Though it would weaken his body a bit to spend so many points, it was better to avoid the poison completely if it was possible rather than be subject to unknown effects.

He immediately used the air purifier, then strode confidently away from the clearing.

Since his intuition was not usable, he would just face the hardships on his own.

He didn't believe he would fail on the first floor.

****************************************************************

Otto glanced disbelievingly at Jackal.

"You want me to trust an unknown audience member."

Jackal flushed slightly, but nodded.

"A member of the same audience that has never let go of an opportunity to harm me through any means whatsoever."

Jackal avoided Otto's eyes and spoke again.

"This guy isn't the same! He's helped me a lot, and doesn't hate humans!"

Otto's eyes bored into Jackal's skull.

His lips moved, and a surprising answer emerged.

"Okay."

Jackal's expression brightened.

Of course, Otto wouldn't actually be blindly believing in this unknown audience member.

He wouldn't easily trust others, especially not a Throskart who were universally understood to be enemies of humans.

Otto agreed for a different reason.

Since he had seen a rather cheap magical object in the game's shop.

[Lie Detector- Textual Version]

18 points

Can determine the veracity of a statement in textual form.

5 Uses

Though it was slightly more expensive than the 'Lucky Arrow,' Otto thought it was worth trying.

If Jackal was right, and the person who helped him could indeed point out the fastest direction to escape the poison, this detector would prove it.

They would be able to escape quickly.

If he was lying, well…at least Jackal would be more careful in the future.

Otto bought this item without hesitation and waited for Jackal to get a response.

In the meantime, he once again cast a light [Purify] on the two of them before checking the comments of his own audience.

Otto noticed that his own audience had grown significantly ever since the massacre.

Thousands of comments were refreshed on his screen.

[!!! The human set a trap!]

[whoaaaa]

[vomit]

[vomit vomit]

[vomit vomit vomit]

[omg omg! so many people dead!]

[ahh I can't watch anymore…]

[+1]

[+2]

[hehe am I the only one who thinks it's exciting??]

[…you're a disgusting person]

[I jumped onto the human's screen after the guy from the channel I was watching died.]

[wow that fireball spread so fast!]

[didn't he kill everyone already? don't watch this channel it'll be boring]

[don't support the human!!]

[but ... won't anyone who attacks him just get killed?]

[at least then it'll be interesting!]

[but isn't that just giving him points?]

[did you guys see? he's rank 6 now!]

Otto rolled his eyes and felt like he was getting some brain holes from these idiots.

The comments were normally nonsensical, but now that his viewers had increased, it was almost unbearable.

Weren't Throskarts supposed to be smart with the help of all this technology?

Luckily, it only took a minute before Jackal received a reply.

They both knew, despite their current lack of urgency, that their current situation wasn't great.

No matter what, they needed to get out of the poisoned area.

Jackal read the comments from his helper aloud.

[Hello, new human. You may think of me as a benevolent audience member. I am simply a Throskart who sympathizes with the humans who were forced into this game.]

[I coincidentally found Jackal soon after he appeared on the show.]

[I have no intention to harm him.]

[The zone you are currently in is a 'red zone' which contains poison that will kill you if you don't escape. You need to find the nearest green zone to detoxify.]

[The quickest route to escape this red zone is to travel north-northwest (your stone house is facing due south) for around 485 kilometers. There is no poison there.]

Otto covertly activated his lie detector on the last message.

His expression lightened a good bit when he found that it was 100% true.

Travelling north-northwest for 485 kilometers was indeed the fastest route to exiting the poison zone.

He didn't tell Jackal about his test.

It would be better for the coherence of the team if Jackal believed his idea was trusted.

Otto's brows knitted with a faint hint of suspicion, though.

It simply didn't make sense that an audience member would provide humans with help despite being of an enemy race.

One had to know that this was no light enmity.

Otto didn't know where it came from, but simply witnessing the ferocious hostility of the other Throskarts as soon as they crossed paths was enough to understand the depth of hatred they had for humans.

On a whim, he decided to activate the lie detector on the remaining four messages, too.

The results were not surprising.

[Hello, new human. You may think of me as a benevolent audience member. I am simply a Throskart who sympathizes with the humans who were forced into this game.]

False. Completely false.

The lie detector couldn't analyze the statement beginning with 'you may think of me as' because no matter what the statement was, it was true that Otto could think whatever he wanted.

But it was certain that this Throskart was not merely sympathizing with the humans forced into the game.

In other words, he had an agenda.

But this didn't bother Otto.

Everyone had an agenda, for better or for worse.

Otto didn't expect this person to help them for no reason.

For now, he didn't care what it was.

[I coincidentally found Jackal soon after he appeared on the show.]

Also false.

Since 'soon' was vague and couldn't be analyzed, the lie must be within the word 'coincidence.'

This audience member had searched for Jackal for a reason.

But why?

Otto's brows were slightly furrowed, but his expression was neutral.

It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Soon, he lifted his head and read through the next message.

[I have no intention to harm him.]

[The zone you are currently in is a 'red zone' which contains poison that will kill you if you don't escape. You need to find the nearest green zone to detoxify.]

Otto's frown relaxed a little as he confirmed that both of these messages were true.

At least this spectator wasn't directly pitting the two of them.

With its last usage, the lie detector crumbled in Otto's hands, turning to dust.

He casually swept a hand out to scatter it in the air, perfectly erasing the evidence of its existence.

Then, he placed a hand on Jackal's shoulder.

"It's time to leave."

****************************************************************

Two teenagers ran through the dark forest filled with poison.

Their figures flashed by the trees as they ran.

One of them, the one with black hair and bright blue eyes, looked calm and unruffled, as if their current speed wasn't even worth mentioning.

The other had brown hair, short and messy, and dark eyes.

His face was covered with sweat and he breathed roughly.

However, he gritted his teeth as he continued to run.

Even if Jackal's physique had been slightly been enhanced by the meager few points he had earned, running 485 kilometers straight was no easy feat.

Especially as the poison steadily grew in strength within his body.

Jackal knew that the poison could also affect his emotions, but he couldn't help but feel irritation, exhaustion, and frustration regardless.

He stopped running for half a second.

Though it was only half a second, Otto still noticed. He glanced over and carefully analyzed Jackal's condition.

After a breath, he sighed and eventually took pity on him.

He cast two of his rarely used spells, [Lesser Rejuvenate] and [Lesser Energize] on Jackal before casting an expensive [Purify] and a [Lesser Heal] for good measure.

[Lesser Rejuvenate]

Light Element

Level 10

Enhance health and stamina recovery of a single target by a factor of 20.

Mana Cost: 200

Duration: 10 minutes

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

[Lesser Energize: Unlimited]

Light Element

Level 11

Restore target's stamina by 110 additional points per second.

Mana Cost (channeled): 85/second

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

The duo had already been running for three full hours.

Otto didn't let Jackal stop or take a rest at all.

He himself also wasn't tired. His newly enhanced body saw to that.

But as they went on, Otto's fears started to materialize.

The poison kept eating at Jackal faster and faster.

Of course, it was eating at Otto as well, but Otto was stronger and wasn't to the point yet where he would be burdened by it.

The bigger problem would be that Otto's [Purify] now cost 1,600 mana if cast every ten or so minutes, and this number was also slowly rising.

His regeneration could still keep up for the moment, so it wasn't as if he was rapidly losing mana.

Still, the duo had traveled only 180 kilometers so far, and the journey would only get harder as they continued on.

If they were back on Earth, this was obviously an incredible speed.

They were moving as fast as cars drove!

But even with Otto's normal, un-enhanced body, he could run faster than this.

Let alone adding all the points he'd earned.

So Otto bit the bullet and decided to carry the deadweight Jackal the rest of the way.

Irritation bubbled up in his chest at the thought of having to bring along a person who wasn't contributing.

But Otto ignored it, thought for a second, then immediately cast [Purify] on himself.

The irritation faded into the background once more.

It was important to mention that the poison didn't create emotions on its own.

It was like drinking alcohol.

Alcohol lowered inhibitions, but it didn't create desires that weren't originally there.

If someone didn't want attention, they wouldn't go dancing on a table just because they were drunk.

The poison was no different.

Otto's irritation was real.

The poison simply heightened its intensity.

Otto also reminded himself that Jackal was not strictly a non-contributor.

In any case, it was he who solicited the anonymous spectator who pointed them in the right direction, wasn't it?

Otto then declared to Jackal with a sigh,

"I'm going to have to carry you the rest of the way. Do you want me to knock you out, or would you prefer to be conscious? It won't be fun- I'm quite fast."

Jackal hesitated at Otto's words.

He clenched his fist with a look of anxiety and said,

"Go ahead and knock me out."

Otto almost laughed at Jackal's face that blatantly carried an expression that he was sending himself to die.

But he refrained for the sake of Jackal's pride.

Then, he professionally chopped Jackal on the back of the head and lifted him into his usual fireman's carry.

As soon as he didn't have to match Jackal's pace, Otto's running speed skyrocketed.

Even with an 75kg man on his back, Otto easily moved faster than a car on the autobahn.

Trees flashed past in front of him and to his sides as Otto careened through the narrowest gaps in vegetation.

If Jackal were awake, he would have fainted at this scene all on his own.

But Otto felt the wind in blast through his hair and let out the widest grin he could make.

One wrong step and he would probably be seriously injured.

Even with his strong body, this kind of impact force was nothing to sneeze at.

Moreover, it was the dead of night.

Disregarding the problem of the poison, it was rather hard to see.

But, damn, running like this was so exhilarating!

Otto finally felt the full benefits of his agility as he ran.

Every obstacle in his path was preternaturally sensed and avoided before it could even come close to being a problem.

He himself wasn't sure if it was his sight, hearing, touch, some combination of the three of them, or a kind of intuition powerful senses granted him.

Occasionally, he played around a bit and twisted his body and Jackal's on his shoulders such that he avoided trees and sturdy plants by less than a centimeter.

It was freeing to move so quickly.

In his past life, he could certainly achieve such a speed.

But he wouldn't use it lightly.

And he definitely wouldn't use it in a forest full of obstacles.

With his 'agility', though, anything was possible!

Otto also cast 'Night Vision' on himself to experience its effects while he ran.

[Night Vision]

Dark Element

Level 10

Grants the caster the ability to see in pure darkness.

Mana Cost: 55

Duration: 30 minutes

Cast Time: Instant

No Cooldown

The world around him suddenly brightened.

Otto looked around at the colors of the trees.

Night Vision didn't emulate something like heat vision or cast the world in gray-scale or anything like that.

It literally allowed him to see in the dark as if it were light.

The colors were the same- the forest looked the same as it did during the day.

But Otto also made an astonishing discovery as he flitted through the forest.

A vague, thin looking mist permeated the surroundings.

The mist wasn't visible in the daytime.

Or, Otto had a suspicion, it wasn't-- present --in the daytime.

He could actually see the poison!

Perhaps he could make use of this... Otto's eyes began to glow.