Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Completing the Challenge By exploring how to use his shadow, Guan Tong had found a way to pass the rule’s challenge.
But just passing wasn’t enough. He could now fully utilize the shadow’s fusion property to strive for a high-ranking score.
Although Guan Tong didn’t particularly enjoy competing, he certainly wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get the extra rewards for the top three.
’The key is to leverage the shadow’s travel distance.’
Guan Tong left the gym, mulling over the problem on his way home.
The speed he could achieve by connecting to the treadmill was already fast, but to him, it was nowhere near the limit.
There had to be other ways to further increase his speed over the 42-kilometer distance.
Besides, it wasn’t just him; other people would surely use Psychic Power to improve their scores.
Even if they didn’t think of it at first, they were bound to see someone mention it online.
Therefore, as long as one was clever enough and had a high Psychic Power limit, many people should be able to pass the second rule.
But to get a good score, it would depend on whether the items purchased from the Sublimation Store were suitable for the task.
Guan Tong didn’t dwell on what others were doing; he remained focused on how to improve his own score.
After returning home, he went online to research shadows.
He had no idea what he was in for, but the results were a shock.
Apparently, under certain special conditions, a shadow’s speed could become incredibly fast.
It was even possible, through some clever tricks, to make it move faster than light!
For Guan Tong, however, the shadow’s speed wasn’t as important as its travel distance.
After much research, Guan Tong came up with an idea.
The next day at noon, when the sun was at its brightest, he went up to the roof of his apartment building with an automatic rotating selfie stick he had bought.
The sun was high in the sky, and the light was incredibly intense.
Guan Tong set up the selfie stick at the edge of the roof. After adjusting its angle and position, its shadow was cast onto the distant street below.
Guan Tong then executed the "rotate" command from his phone, and the selfie stick immediately began to spin automatically.
As it spun, its shadow spun with it, sweeping across streets and buildings at an incredible speed, back and forth in a loop.
Guan Tong could hardly contain his excitement as he watched.
’The speed is incredible, and the distance is huge!’
At this rate, the shadow could cover a kilometer in just a few seconds!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Guan Tong stepped forward and lowered the selfie stick’s angle, pulling the shadow back closer.
He then pulled out the Wordless Book, released his own "Shadow," and let it make contact and fuse with the shadow of the selfie stick.
Once he felt that sense of control, Guan Tong raised the selfie stick. Its shadow immediately began to travel across the rooftop, down the building’s facade, over walls, and onto the street.
Guan Tong then executed the "rotate" command on his phone, cranking the speed to its maximum setting.
WHIRRRRR!
The selfie stick began to rotate automatically at top speed, and the shadow whirled along with it!
In that instant, the numbers for the challenge—time elapsed and distance covered—displayed before Guan Tong’s eyes began to change at an utterly absurd rate!
...
"HUFF... HUFF... HUFF..."
A middle-aged man came to a stop on a stadium track, panting heavily.
A smile spread across his face as he looked at the distance and time displayed before him.
Current Distance: 42,198 meters, Time Elapsed: 2 hours, 37 minutes, 56 seconds
"A new record! I broke my record!"
The middle-aged man chuckled. Though he was dead tired, the exhilaration he felt was indescribable.
This time not only meant he had passed the challenge of the second Apocalypse Rule, but it also meant he had shattered his personal best.
Previously, whenever he had run a full marathon, even if he managed to finish in under three hours, he had always just barely scraped by.
He’d had several finishes around the 2-hour, 57- or 58-minute mark, and his absolute best had been 2 hours and 52 minutes.
But this time, he was a full 15 minutes faster than his previous best!
This wasn’t just a small improvement—it was a massive leap forward!
The reason for such a drastic improvement was, naturally, inextricably linked to his use of Psychic Power.
The middle-aged man glanced down gleefully at the pair of black running shoes on his feet.
They looked perfectly ordinary, but they were actually a special item he had purchased from the Sublimation Store.
Wearing them didn’t just increase his speed; it also reduced his stamina consumption.
The only downside was that using their ability rapidly consumed Psychic Power.