The NPCs were surprised that Winter Snow, a player deemed to be weak, was able to reach the 15-yard mark. Little did they know it would only be a while before they would completely go berserk.
Winter Snow's intuition sensed something so she raised her head and looked at the NPCs to see they were now in berserk mode. They raised their muskets and aimed at Winter Snow as she ran towards the 20-yard mark.
Winter Snow felt her skin shiver as goosebumps started to form on her. She immediately peaked her senses to their limits as she glared fixedly at the NPCs. She watched very closely and cautiously, carefully to avoid any mishaps.
The NPCs started shooting her, subsequently, another volley of musket shots rang out; a total of twelve bullets were shot this time.
Winter Snow's expression immediately turned grave.
The spectators gasped almost in unison as they watched the challenge race. All were surprised that the difficulty increased by twofold.
Some took notes of the sudden change in difficulty as it might come in handy in the future.
While everyone was surprised by the sudden turn of events, Winter Snow was the main attention of the trial grounds. She now faced intense pressure from the volley of bullets rushing at her. Twelve green lines shone on her body indicating the location of the bullets as if warning her where to dodge.
At this critical moment, Winter Snow calculated the distance and the velocity of the bullets in less than half a second.
In a blink of an eye, Winter Snow swiftly grabbed her sword from her waist in such a fast motion that you couldn't see her hands move before the sword suddenly appeared in her hand.
As the bullets were getting nearer and nearer, she hurriedly unsheathed her sword. In a swift motion, she deflected the bullets with ease.
Unfortunately, one bullet managed to slip past as it hit Winter Snow in the side of her body where her liver was located. A critical hit.
Winter Snow was resurrected back at the starting point.
When Winter Snow thought about how she was only two steps away from passing the 20-yard mark, she couldn't help but feel bitter.
The spectators, on the other hand, were dumbfounded.
Of course, they were surprised by the method Winter Snow used when she was facing the volley of bullets rushing at her, but they also couldn't help but feel disappointed that she wasn't able to complete one more miracle.
However, their disappointment quickly faded as they knew that the challenge race wasn't easy. Even reaching the 10-yard mark is a challenge.
In that sense, could they even imagine reaching the 18-yard mark?
No!
Everyone erupted with cheers, praising Winter Snow, the first woman… no, the first player to have ever reached the 18-yard mark!
''WOOOOOO!!! I LOVE YOU WINTER SNOW!! PLEASE MARRY ME!''
''NO, PLEASE MARRY ME INSTEAD!!''
''NO, ME...''
''ME…''
The whole crowd of spectators all shouted her name, spouting random nonsense as they cheered and praised Winter Snow.
Winter Snow was moved that even though she failed, they still cheered on her nonetheless.
She turned to leave but felt someone rush past her like the wind. She turned around and saw the guy from earlier. She had preceded him to the Challenge Race earlier.
…
Lyn was shocked by the increased difficulty once you passed the 15-yard mark as he looked at the twelve bullets nearing Winter Snow. He realized that the challenge wasn't as simple as it looked and he felt pressure even though he was not the one facing the challenge.
What would happen if he faced it head-on? As the thought crossed his mind, his body shivered. Was it fear? No, it wasn't fear. It was more of an immense excitement just thinking of facing it head-on.
As Lyn trembled with excitement, Winter Snow grabbed her sword from her waist once more and swung it at the incoming bullets.
Lyn, of course, noticed. The moment he saw what Winter Snow did, he immediately knew what she would do.
At that moment, he felt a kind of enlightenment. He immediately closed his eyes, slowly recalling what he remembered from watching Winter Snow.
As he looked back, falling deeper and deeper, the challenge race ended.
He slowly opened his eyes and sparkled with excitement as it was finally his turn.
''Finally, it's my turn,'' Lyn smiled. He walked through the trial grounds at his own pace.
Now let's go back to earlier…
…
"That's the guy," Winter Snow couldn't help but feel something odd about him. He seemed … confident? Even though I failed so why do I feel like this is the case, I can also feel something similar to eagerness…
'Maybe it's just my imagination' Winter Snow shook her head. She turned around and walked to the spectators to join them as she will watch the guy as she still can't shake this feeling.
''Hey everybody, look! Someone is participating again.''
''Ha! He will probably still lose anyway, didn't he see that earlier?''
''Yeah, he must be an idiot.''
The crowd was talking about Lyn.
Seeing him entering the trial grounds after witnessing Winter Snow's performance earlier, only a fool would try the trial grounds after witnessing its might.
Lyn, however, didn't care about that, as he only cared about what was in front of him.
Lyn paid the three copper fees to the NPC to enter the Challenge Race.
After flipping the Copper coins a few times, the NPC nodded his head in approval. He opened the wooden door to the Challenge Race, allowing Lyn to enter
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new challenger on the field. Please let us welcome this brave Assassin." The NPC loudly announced.
Inside the field, the three NPCs standing at the finishing line readied their muskets, aiming them toward Lyn.
Above the challenge field, the timer started counting down.
3...
2...
1...
Challenge Start!