Extraordinary

"Hey, look! Another one of the overconfident smartasses is stuck up there!"

A shout broke through my horror. I peeked down and saw three players gathering near the cliff. I glanced at them angrily and quickly looked away as the altitude was making me dizzy. 

"Is this the second one today?"

The one in the middle asked without a shred of sympathy. The first one nodded and complained as a response. 

"Yep. Seriously, they all think that we are fools and only they are the smart ones. Do they think we can't see the stones protruding from the cliff that can be used as perches?"

I turned red from anger and embarrassment but kept quiet hoping to find out the fate of the other guy from their mouth. 

"Idiots! That's what all of them are! This one looks even weaker than the previous one. I give him five minutes before he jumps to death to end this suffering. I will claim his Bow if it drops."

"I bet 3 minutes max. The Bow is mine if I win!"

My blood boiled the longer I heard them callously bet on how long I could hold on using my own equipment! 

Anyways, I had found out about the fate of the other guy who attempted the same feat as me so I tuned them out. Nonetheless, it was not easy to ignore their jeers and arrogant laughter. 

An intense urge to prove them wrong grew in my heart. But how could I make sure that my jump would land on the Platform?

However much I thought, I could not formulate a suitable plan. Instead, my thoughts wandered and a particular image I had seen on a video about Earth constantly popped up in my mind. 

An image of a Chimp swinging from branch to branch. 

Then it hit me why!

Momentum! The Chimp had used his body's momentum to swing forward. 

I needed to do the same and build sufficient momentum and I would also reach the Platform. It was Basic Physics!

I was no longer feeling hopeless as I had a direction. I quickly formulated a plan and started to act on it. 

The platform was towards my left and at a slightly lower height. To swing myself over, I had to pull my body towards the opposite side to generate enough momentum. 

I took a deep breath and slowly let go of the stone perch in my right hand. Then I held the long and smooth, protruding rock on the left with both my hands. My next move was even more risky. 

I slowly started to reposition my left leg over to the same stone my right foot rested on. However, it was not as easy as it sounded. 

My weakening grip as well as the dangling left leg made my situation much more precarious than it seemed. 

I almost doubted my plan and more importantly myself. These were my demons, formed after my banishment from Kailan, resurfacing to haunt me again. 

Can swinging like a Chimp really help me land on the Platform?

Was my plan too outlandish?

How could I succeed where many others had failed? 

As the doubt clouded my resolve, my grip on the stone perch became sweaty and I almost slipped. My heart raced as I teetered on the brink of a fall. 

I quickly repositioned my hands, instinctual desperation for survival guiding my movements, and secured the grip.

Apparently my actions had not gone unnoticed.

"Hey! No point in torturing yourself by letting go one limb at a time. Just let go of all of them at once. The death in Dreamverse is not as bad as they make it sound."

I almost heard sympathy in the speaker's voice and my rage towards him lessened a bit but it came back in full force as I heard his next words-

"He can't even last 3 minutes! I win. The Bow is mine!"

My resolve to prove them wrong returned with full vengeance. 

My rage and arrogance triumphed over my demons and the doubts I had answered themselves. 

My life experiences had prepared me for this moment. The Physics classes I took, the animal channels I watched… They had all helped me formulate a plan to get out of this situation. 

The Yoga my mom forced me to do and training with Trainer Basak had made my body capable of enacting the plan I had formulated.

Was my plan too outlandish? Yes but so were my stats. 

Could I succeed where other ordinary players failed? Yes, as I was not ordinary either.

Ordinary Players could not cross this distance in one jump. However, they also did not possess 14 points in strength and 13 points in agility at Lv2. 

I was basically set up for success so how could I doubt myself at this moment? 

With this thought, I took a leap of faith. 

I pushed off the stone with my right leg and swung forward towards the left. But my momentum was still a little short. I hesitated no further and tried to use the same perch I had just kicked off from to propel me forwards. 

As if the universe aligned with my wishes and I somehow managed to find the perch and kicked off even harder. My swings had built up enough momentum. Now it was the moment of truth. 

"Har Har Mahadev!"

I shouted the chant to invoke the lord and let go of my hands holding the stone jutting out of the cliff. I swung towards the platform and somersaulted midair until my back touched the ground. 

My ears rang and I had my eyes shut tight as my body rolled forward but I could still hear the beeping sound of my Health points decreasing. I was afraid that the sounds would not stop until I blacked out but all of a sudden, the beeping sounds stopped.

I realized that my body was no longer rolling forward. I opened my eyes and looked around only to realize I had succeeded!

I had landed on the Platform! 

I quickly ran to the edge of the Platform and looked at the three players below. They had their mouths wide open as they looked at the place I was before and the place I was standing at now. 

It pleased me to no end to see their smug mugs change to that of disbelief and incredulity. 

"How? How did you do that?"

I recognized the voice of the one who had called all the climbers overconfident smartasses. 

"Instead of acting like a smartass and calling everyone who tried to climb an overconfident idiot, I decided to face the challenge. Now, here I am."

Voicing out all my displeasure felt so good that I could not keep my gloating in control. The one who had mocked me turned silent from embarrassment but the one who called all the climbers idiots sneered. 

"You got up there. Congratulations! But how do you plan to come down, genius?"

This question was valid but I was in too good of a mood to let it ruin my moment. 

"Aww! So sweet! You are worrying about me!" I channeled Stivi as I mocked him in a childish voice. 

When I saw his face turn darker and darker, I realized how pleasing it was to use such a low handed move. 

Damn that girl had rubbed off on me but I did not feel regret for teasing him like this. He had started it first and I was going to finish it. 

I looked at the rolled up Hemp ladder to my left and regained my serious composure. Then I smiled before saying, "Don't Worry. I'll somehow manage."