Chapter 60. Those Who Fall Have Wings
'Just before jumping off the mountaintop, the estimated altitude of Seonjung Mountain was roughly 1,700–2,000 meters.'
This calculation was made based on the slope of Seonjung Mountain and the distance he had traveled while pursuing the survivors.
Mountain paths are never straight, making it difficult to determine by intuition alone. However, if one draws a straight line between the starting point and the endpoint, a certain degree of estimation becomes possible. Since steep paths and gentler paths were mixed together, the margin of error was large. Still, by proceeding with the maximum value of 2,000 in mind, the overall risk could ultimately be minimized.
In truth, Dong Bong-su's calculations had begun the moment Shadow Shifter and Water Shadow charged in from behind him and the pursuit unit. It was then that he devised a new escape route—jumping off the mountaintop.
From the moment he made that decision, he steadily stuffed rocks, stones, and torn-apart body fragments of the dead into his inventory, grabbing anything within reach that wouldn't be noticed.
This was something that could never even be attempted if his body were that of an ordinary person. Everything was possible only because his strength, stamina, and reflexes far surpassed those of a normal human, and because he possessed the Inventory Divine Art.
Above all, what allowed him to be confident in the success of this method was the fact that memories from the modern era still remained.
The Pythagorean theorem, Newton's law of gravity and action–reaction, equations of motion.
With only basic mathematical and physical calculations, Dong Bong-su was able to leap from the cliff with certainty of survival.
'Judging from past experience, there may be exceptional Murim-style physical laws… but the fundamental laws of physics aren't much different here. Gravitational acceleration varies slightly depending on altitude, but only by a tiny amount—nothing worth considering. It's almost fixed at about 9.8 m/s². I'll assume it's roughly 10. If there were almost no air resistance, my speed just before hitting the ground would reach 720 km/h. Faster than half the speed of sound. Of course, terminal velocity exists, so it wouldn't accelerate all the way to that point… but no matter how much stronger I've become through leveling up, there's no way my body could withstand that impact. At best, the falling speed my body can endure would be around 50–60 km/h. If survival is possible even after taking heavy damage… then up to 100 km/h, with my current body, I might barely endure it. Perhaps even a little more.'
Inside Dong Bong-su's head, the calculations and assumptions he had made earlier were being repeated once more. No matter how capable he was, he was performing multiple tasks simultaneously, so the assumptions and calculations inevitably had to be simplified as much as possible.
'However, to descend while decelerating to this extent, one corpse is consumed per second. If free-falling without air resistance, the time required to reach the ground would be about 20 seconds. But if descending while decelerating as calculated, that time increases dramatically—estimated minimum of 1 minute, maximum of about 2 minutes. Therefore, the required number of corpses and items is… since the weights of the items in the inventory aren't uniform… at least 60, at most around 120… perhaps even more. If air resistance is taken into account, it might require fewer than that.'
One hundred and twenty items with enough inertia to bear his body weight.
Dong Bong-su's inventory did not contain that many corpses or objects. There were small stones, branches, and body fragments he had stuffed in earlier, but these would hardly help with deceleration.
'But.'
Dong Bong-su still had a trump card left.
That was to make use of the sloping surface of the cliff.
Thud, thud, thud...…
As Dong Bong-su continued to fall downward while steadily reducing his speed, the place he had been waiting for finally came into view.
"There it is."
Dong Bong-su kicked a rock he had taken out from the inventory toward the cliff. Then he clung directly to the cliff face. Since his falling speed had already been reduced to almost nothing, he was able to latch on with relative ease. This was possible because there were gaps between the cliff surfaces where he could wedge his hands and feet. More importantly, the fact that the cliff's slope tilted ever so slightly downward was crucial.
Dong Bong-su slowly descended the cliff as if rock climbing. Then, when the slope tilted upward again and footing became difficult, he once more suspended his body in midair and dropped downward. When he found space to plant his feet on the rock again, he took out an item from the inventory, gave himself propulsion in the opposite direction, and returned toward the cliff.
Dong Bong-su repeated this process.
When the cliff surface slanted upward, he struck objects and corpses to reduce speed through the resulting reaction force. When he found a section where the slope tilted downward even slightly like a slide, he clung to the cliff and descended.
This was Dong Bong-su's strategy, and so far, it had been successful. By doing this, he could descend while minimizing the consumption of corpses and items. If he had the ability to retrieve items immediately after striking them with his hands or feet, the task would have been far easier, but that was not an ability he possessed. The moment he struck an object, the distance between him and the object increased, making it impossible to put the used item back into the inventory. If that were possible, he could have even performed Void Steps, but that was impossible from the start.
What allowed him to be confident in this strategy was what he had seen when he looked down from the summit of Seonjung Mountain. What caught his attention was the fact that after a long stretch of columnar joints formed from basalt, a layer appeared where granite and basalt were mixed together.
The sheer, vertically cut straight cliff had, at some point, transformed into a faulted cliff structure composed of horizontally stacked layers. Given the mountain's great height, it seemed that multiple layers had formed separately over different eras. Because of this, Dong Bong-su was able to leap from the cliff without hesitation.
He had never done it before, but he believed he could.
And he did it. He was doing it.
He even slid down the cliff at times. Occasionally, among the columnar joints, there were rocks polished extremely smooth, and their slopes were perfectly suited for sliding down.
Dada-dada-.
The sliding mat he used was a corpse. Due to friction, the corpse's skin was stripped away, blood splattered, and bones were ground down. But the more that happened, the farther Dong Bong-su could descend.
When acceleration became excessive and the corpse was completely ground apart, or when it seemed impossible to endure any longer, Dong Bong-su kicked off the cliff wall, suspended his body in midair, and returned to the cliff again. Naturally, the rag-like corpse was used to return to the cliff. Once back on the cliff, he laid down a new corpse slide and slid downward again.
It was an extremely dangerous and difficult method, but Dong Bong-su carried it out calmly. In this way, he gradually increased the distance between himself and the sky, and drew closer to the ground.
Pabababak-.
Another corpse was shredded against the cliff. And with that, Dong Bong-su's chances of survival increased.
It was at the moment when Dong Bong-su was almost reaching the ground.
"Kuaaaagh-!"
A scream from someone falling off the cliff below reached Dong Bong-su's ears.
'They've finally come.'
The moment he heard the sound, Dong Bong-su was already leaping in that direction. In his hand was the novice sword, and as always, it sliced through the air with grotesque simplicity.
Slash-.
The falling person might have thought this. That perhaps, just perhaps, if they jumped off the cliff, a fortuitous encounter would be waiting below. Without even that small hope, they would never have jumped in the first place. But what awaited them was Dong Bong-su's cold blade.
With head and body separated midair, they set off once more on a journey toward the ground. Meanwhile, Dong Bong-su, who had split them in two, summoned a rock, kicked it, and returned to the cliff again. Then he muttered softly.
"87."
[1st class change quest: Wanderer)]
Tester-exclusive class.
Quest completion condition: Achieve 100 kills against enemies of L1: 10 or higher.
Current quest progress (completed/required): 87/100
Only 13 more people until the class change.
Pabababak...…..
Dong Bong-su began descending the cliff again, waiting for the next sacrifice.
***
Just moments earlier, at the summit of Seonjung Mountain.
Whooosh-.
Shadow Shifter stood at the edge of the cliff where Dong Bong-su and the bandits had been, looking down below. Naturally, nothing could be seen. All that met his eyes were white clouds hanging around the mountainside.
"Why did he do that…?"
The hollow question, with no one to answer it, was swept away by the updraft and scattered across the summit of Seonjung Mountain.
Shadow Shifter slowly turned his body and swept his gaze over Tang Wu and his lackeys, who were clustered at the opposite cliff. Then his eyes met Tang Wu's.
"It's regrettable, but I'll have to make do with you."
Shadow Shifter said calmly. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he hurled himself in that direction.
That was the signal. Water Shadow, the bandits, and the Heavenly Demon Castle members all attacked Tang Wu and the remaining survivors at once, and
the 87th sacrifice of the class change quest became the first among them to leap off the cliff.
And then.
Soon, many more would jump below, placing their hopes on a thread-thin chance of survival.
***
New Murim Online Rule No. 8: In cases where multiple people kill a single person, the amount of experience Dong Bong-su gains is proportional to the damage he inflicted on the deceased. (Further research is needed regarding the efficiency of first strike and finishing blow.)
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