Without any further delay, Aectaeon began to search for items that could help him jump over to his next destination.
Since the distance between the two buildings was only three meters, Aectaeon gained a bit of confidence that he would be successful in his attempt to jump.
"Let's see, a rope is my best choice. I have one in my invento--"
At that point, Aectaeon slapped his head upon remembering the incident earlier. He exhaled, deep enough so his frustrations would vanish.
"Alright, that rope is long gone. I'll just have to find something within this room." He muttered to himself.
Truth be told, Aecteon had a hunch on just where he could get the things he would need. From the moment he walked inside the room, it was what immediately caught his sight.
It was the wooden trove located in the corner of the room, farthest from where he was standing.
He walked towards it right away and opened it. Aectaeon was lucky that it wasn't locked. He became even more grateful when the contents of the trove were as what he had expected.
Aectaeon lifted the nylon rope and measured its length using the span of his arms. He proceeded to take out the three metal hooks and hung them right at the edge of the trove. Then, he took the belt out and fastened it tightly on his waist. He went on to fasten the carabiners on the belt hooks.
"Leap of faith, a leap of faith," He said, concurrently inspecting the belt, "My faith should not be on the rope, but on my courage to try just about anything in this world."
Once he was done, Aectaeon sauntered towards the window and glanced outside. He was trying to see if there would be anyone who would bear witness to his stupid bravery.
Despite having made his resolve, Aectaeon's hands were slightly shaking. His breathing also became shallow and hasty. Be that as it may, there was a small smirk on his face.
"I never would've thought that I will be able to do these things."
Even if he was the type to stick to normalcy, Aectaeon was still a man. If he didn't have to make a living, he would've sought hobbies that could fire his adrenaline. That's the reason why he wasn't all that upset at the missions that the two systems were giving him regardless of the accompanying hazard.
Aectaeon fixed one carabiner on his belt, and then put a loop through it. He subsequently tied one end of the rode on the metal railing of the window, testing its durability afterwards.
Furrowing his eyebrows, Aectaeon uttered, "This doesn't seem like it will hold for long."
For a second time, Aectaeon pulled the rope in a way that it was almost carrying his weight. Unsatisfied with his test, he straightened his body and sighed.
"I just have to do well on my first try."
Moving on with his plan, he tied the hook on the other end of the rope. Once it was tightened, Aectaeon heaved another deep sigh before throwing the rope to the window on the next building.
His first attempt was a failure. The hook fell right in the middle of its flight. Aectaeon thought that it would hit one of the windows on the lower floor, so he closed his eyes and waited for a complaint.
When he heard none of the sorts, Aectaeon slowly pulled the rope back.
Again, he threw it.
After nearly seven tries, the hook finally managed to reach the interior of the other room. Aectaeon adjusted the rope so it would touch the metal railing. In due course, he pulled the rope with utter caution until the hook was caught on the railing.
"Yes!" Aectaeon rejoiced quietly as he was pulling the rope to make sure that it was secured.
Once he was content, Aectaeon lifted himself up to the bottom rim of the window. He then crouched down and placed his hands behind him.
"Let's do this."
Sighing one last time, Aectaeon put all of his strength on his lower limbs and swung his arms forward.
And then he jumped.
Aectaeon gritted his teeth while he was in the air. He could sense how humid the surroundings was, the sun now blazing so strongly above the island.
In an instant, he felt as if time had stopped. His eyes began to widen, his breathing hitching.
'D*mn it! I'm gonna die!'
He wanted to scream, but set his desire aside for the time being. Aectaeon exerted some strength in his arm muscles as he reached for the window railing. Unfortunately, he was an inch short.
Desperate to finish as fast as he could, Aectaeon reached for whatever he could. To his relief, he was able to grab the tiny cemented part beside the rim.
Aectaeon groaned.
He could feel his fingers burning as he did his best to hold on. Because his hands were sweaty, he slipped a couple of times, making Aectaeon the most nervous that he was ever since the beginning of the game.
"Don't look down, Aectaeon. Don't look down."
Aectaeon couldn't bear closing his eyes, thus he just resorted to encouraging himself. Regrettably, he was still losing his strength by the second.
He began hoisting himself up, using every bit of his strength to lift his body. After almost a minute of struggling, he was finally able to place his entire arms over the rim. Pulling the rest of his body became easy for him from that point on.
The moment that he was inside the room, Aectaeon unfastened the carabiner from his belt. He went on to look up the ceiling and closed his eyes.
He almost wanted to give up and just rest. The experience of almost falling from that tall of a height made his whole body tremble.
'I swear I won't ever do that again. Once is enough, right? Right? I shouldn't do that again. Absolutely not. Not ever again.'
Still breathing heavily, Aectaeon lowered his gaze and surveyed the room. But once his gaze fell on the door, he saw a soldier standing there with their mouth agape.