The points were climbing much faster now and his rank was rising with them. It was still horrible, still nowhere near enough, but it was moving.
--
Rank: 463,884,012
--
That was when a scream rang out from his left and made his eyes snap there for a second.
One man had shoved another to the ground and was stomping near him while keeping his own squats going like he had gone mad.
The one on the ground was trying to crawl away while gasping that he could not breathe, but nobody around them cared enough to help.
Nobody wanted to stop their own score.
The bonus event had made monsters out of everyone much faster than Blake had thought.
"Blake!" Michael roared and Blake looked back ahead just in time before his own pace broke again.
He clenched his teeth and kept moving.
Screens of comments were floating all over now, not just beside his face.
Some were small and transparent while some flashed bright blue over the heads of certain people, clearly because those viewers had paid more or had some kind of authority.
--
[Arch-Patron Velqir of the Black Lattice: The sprinting male improves well. Keep him alive for now.]
[Pearl-Seer Ith'ma of the Sixth Foam: The loud one will either survive gloriously or die stupidly. I approve.]
[Dread-Collector Vhaur Set: Show me panic. These humans are too slow.]
[Choir-Mother Aezhri: The thin crying boy is failing to entertain.]
--
Blake did not know which part made him feel worse, the casual way they spoke about killing or the part where they sounded bored.
A new scream cut through the plain and this one was much uglier.
Blake turned his head enough to see the skinny boy from before, the one who had started thanking nobody after switching to a plank.
His body suddenly jerked and a black band of light wrapped around one of his legs.
"No! NO! I am doing it! I am doing it!" the boy shrieked, but another message had already opened above him.
[By request of Feast Curator Ool-Mahri, contestant 441-09 of Sector 884 has received a Dullness Penalty.]
[Penalty: Double muscle strain for 3 minutes.]
The boy screamed like his bones had been filled with fire and collapsed flat on the ground. His points froze, then started dropping.
Blake's stomach turned, 'So the viewers could really do that...' He thought.
And if they could do that, then surviving was not just about beating the mission anymore. It was about not becoming boring to things that treated pain like a side dish.
Michael had seen it too and his face became uglier.
"Don't look. Move." he snapped and Blake almost laughed at the irony because Michael was the one who usually lost control first.
But he was right and Blake moved right away.
The time kept falling and the crowd kept getting worse. People who figured out their best exercise started climbing fast while the confused ones were left behind.
There were people changing every few seconds, trying to chase bigger points, and there were also the stupid ones who kept doing the wrong movement even while watching others pass them.
Blake's score passed ninety and his lungs felt like they were being peeled from the inside.
A soft chime rang in his ear the moment the number hit it and a new line appeared.
[Minimum threshold reached.]
[Remain within safe rank to survive.]
Blake did not slow down even for a breath. The score itself was not enough. He was still outside.
--
Rank: 241,992,118
--
"Shit..." he hissed and kept sprinting in place with even more desperation.
Michael was ahead of him now. The bastard had found his right pace with burpees and was climbing like a beast.
--
Score: 163
Rank: 121,773,442
--
It was still not safe, but it was close enough to smell.
"How bad?" Michael demanded between breaths.
"Still out!" Blake shot back. "You?"
"Still out!"
That alone told Blake how insane this mission was. Michael looked like a machine and even he was still outside the safe line.
The comments kept flowing beside them like poison in a river.
--
[War-Lady Kethra of the Crooked Sun: Increase pace, Victor Blake. Your fear is becoming repetitive.]
[Archivist-Devourer Sso-Lek: The friend pair has acceptable chemistry.]
[High Shell Vur'mek: The broad human at score 311 should be broken now.]
--
The broad shouldered man Blake had noticed before suddenly cried out and dropped to one knee.
Blood ran from one of his nostrils, but he still forced himself into another burpee and another.
Blake could not even tell if that was because of viewer interference or because his body was just giving out.
Then the sky cracked with another horn and the announcer's cheerful voice rang everywhere again.
[Final 5 minutes of Mission #1!]
[The current safe line is stabilizing. Please try harder if you value your life or the lives attached to you.]
Attached.
The word hit Blake harder than the horn did.
Marcus.
His little brother's face flashed in his head so clearly that his chest almost stopped working. He saw his mother trying to call him for dinner, his father coming home tired, Marcus sitting with one leg folded under him while complaining about homework and eating too slowly.
Blake's score jolted when his pace nearly failed.
He bit the inside of his cheek so hard that he tasted blood and then drove his knees up harder than before.
He was not dying here.
He was not going to let those things touch his family because his body gave out in some alien circus.
Maybe the viewers saw something change in him because a new flood of comments burst open near his face.
--
[Priest-Observer Thaariq: Better.]
[Mistress Uuvai of the Amber Maw: The quiet one finally bares teeth.]
[Xhalyss-of-the-Nacre-Spine: Ah, there it is. Keep this human.]
--
He had been noticed.