The lights along the arena suddenly dimmed. Only the giant track of the Dragon Rollercoaster remained illuminated, forming glowing paths that split toward three different directions: the sea, the mountains, and the cave.
All the carts were already positioned on their rails. Safety harnesses locked tightly, and iron wheels creaked softly as they waited for the signal.
The participants stepped forward into teleportation tubes that transferred them to their respective areas.
Nelson's voice echoed again through the loudspeakers.
"All participants are now in position!"
A giant screen above the arena lit up, displaying a massive countdown.
30:00
"The game begins now!"
29:59
Time started running.
The riders in the front seats immediately began steering their carts along the rails toward their chosen paths.
Without hesitation, Shiro accelerated his cart, becoming the first one to launch onto the mountain track.
The metal rail climbed steeply toward the top of a cliff before sharply curving along the side of the mountain. Cold wind struck their faces as the cart began gaining speed.
Gampler was already half-standing on her seat, her face filled with excitement.
"HAHA! It finally started!"
Several silver coins began appearing along the rail ahead of them, slowly spinning along the rollercoaster path.
Without hesitation, Gampler raised her hand.
Out of thin air, her magic staff appeared.
Using her Imagination skill, she created a giant octopus whose tentacles stretched out to grab as many coins as possible.
"(Why does it have to be an octopus…)" Shiro muttered internally, remembering the previous incident.
"Yay! Four at once!" Gampler cheered proudly.
However, the extra weight caused the cart to lose its balance and begin sliding dangerously.
"Sh-Shiro! Ahh! We're going to fall!"
Shiro looked at Gampler with a faint smile.
He simply raised one hand slightly.
The gravity around the cart shifted for a moment, stabilizing the vehicle even as Gampler continued moving wildly.
Their cart shot down the next slope at an even greater speed.
And on another track not far from there…
Steve's cart began moving with Pulchra, who was already prepared with her glowing threads.
Pulchra leapt into the air, swiftly grabbing the coins with incredible agility. Her movements were graceful and elegant as she floated through the air.
She landed back inside the cart.
"Wow, Senior, that was amazing!" Steve said with sparkling eyes.
"Hehe… thank you, Junior," Pulchra replied shyly.
Not long after, near the foot of the mountain, a small temple began producing a large number of gold coins.
Without thinking twice, Steve pushed his cart to maximum speed, racing toward the temple before anyone else could reach it.
On another side of the mountain, Togil and Envy were working together perfectly.
Even though Togil didn't possess flashy abilities like the others, he had several grappling hooks that could quickly pull coins toward him.
Combined with Envy's portal ability, Togil could collect coins without letting go of the controls.
Envy channeled energy into her crossbow.
"Black Hole Shoot!"
She fired a purple black hole that sucked in a cluster of silver coins.
Both Togil and Shiro soon noticed something in the distance.
The same temple Steve had seen.
The three carts accelerated at maximum speed.
None of them intended to let anyone else reach it first.
Meanwhile, at the sea area…
Udin's cart raced along rails that nearly touched the crashing ocean waves. Seawater occasionally splashed into the air as the wheels struck the metal track.
Udin raised his hand, and the water currents around the rail began swirling with his movements.
Several silver coins that were about to fall into the ocean were caught by the small whirlpool and carried back toward their cart.
"Grab them now!" he shouted.
Siti blew a large water bubble toward the coins.
The transparent bubble swallowed three coins at once before floating back toward them.
"Three more!" she cheered happily.
Deep inside the cave area, where darkness dominated and only thin rays of sunlight pierced through cracks in the rock, Gusdur's cart entered a deeper section of the cave.
The light from the rails dimmed, leaving only faint reflections on the stone walls.
Gusdur closed his eyes briefly.
The sound of the cart's wheels echoed repeatedly within the narrow chamber.
"There's a fork in the track ahead," he said quietly.
Before the cart even reached it, Jaid had already vanished into the shadows along the cave wall.
His body reappeared several meters ahead, grabbing two gold coins hidden behind a stalactite before returning to his seat as if he had never moved.
"We're in the lead," he said calmly.
Back on the steep mountain slope, three carts rushed toward the same destination.
In the distance stood an ancient stone temple surrounded by towering cliffs. Dozens of gold coins floated around it, reflecting sunlight like newly discovered treasure.
Envy's eyes narrowed.
Without saying anything, she fired another arrow from her crossbow.
A purple portal slowly opened in the air directly in front of their track.
"Togil."
Togil immediately understood.
The portal expanded, forming a shortcut directly connected to the temple area.
Their cart shot straight into the portal without slowing down.
But from afar, Steve saw everything.
He stood slightly from his seat, staring directly at the portal swallowing Togil and Envy's cart.
"Well, that's pretty unfair," he muttered.
Steve extended his hand forward.
Dark energy gathered in his palm.
A black sphere slowly formed, emitting a powerful gravitational pressure.
Steve threw it.
The energy sphere shot through the mountain air and stopped right above the temple.
Once activated, the gravitational vortex immediately pulled all the gold coins away from their original positions.
When Togil and Envy's cart exited the portal
they arrived at a completely empty temple.
Envy frowned.
"…Huh? What happened?"
The coins that should have been spinning above the temple had been dragged away, floating toward the black energy sphere spinning in the sky.
Togil immediately realized what had happened.
"That brat!"
He prepared to jump out of the cart to grab the coins floating above.
But before he could move
a massive shadow passed above them.
From the sky, another cart descended with two giant wings spread out on its sides.
Gampler stood on top of it, laughing loudly.
"Hello, guys~!"
The wings were creations of Gampler's imagination, keeping their cart floating in the air.
Shiro stood calmly behind her.
"Gravitation."
He raised one hand as a faint blue aura appeared around his fingertips.
The gravity surrounding Steve's energy sphere suddenly changed.
The black vortex trembled briefly before losing its stability.
The force holding the coins in the air vanished.
Dozens of gold coins began falling from the sky like metallic rain.
Togil didn't waste a single second.
He jumped out of his cart.
His body dropped rapidly as he grabbed one of the rail support pillars near the temple.
With agile movements, he swung from one pillar to another, using the momentum to approach the falling coins.
Then with a powerful kick
he launched himself into the air.
His body shot upward like a comet toward the rain of gold coins.
Above them, Shiro lowered their flying cart closer to the temple area while Gampler prepared to create something else to catch the coins.
Not far away
Steve's cart finally reached the same area.
He jumped out of his seat, his body floating in midair with dark energy pushing him upward from beneath his feet.
Behind him, Pulchra had already fired her glowing threads in every direction.
Using their skills, intelligence, and abilities, all of them began competing at their absolute limits.