A huge, huge thanks to all our kofi supporters: GreenKiTea, Alex, and Mapz, for your support! Enjoy these bonus chapters!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

“Congratulations to all players on successfully clearing the first two rounds of this Speedrun Frenzy.” 

The host, who had been full of passion just moments ago—almost eager to incite the teams behind to focus their fire in a Game of Thrones manner—now seemed to have softened his tone.

“The intense and thrilling competition segment has come to an end. Next up is a time to relax and enjoy yourselves.” 

Everyone:?

The host said cheerfully, “The third round of the Speed Carnival—the Hot Air Balloon Ride—is about to begin.” 

“Players, you’ll have three hours to ride hot-air balloons and explore and experience the beauty of this world.” 

As he spoke, the arena’s scenery changed once again.

Sunlight, flowers, and grass.

One by one, large balloons that look like clouds appear before the players.

Beneath the balloons, the resting area for players is a refreshing square green platform. The platform is thoughtfully equipped with tables and chairs, and the tables are set with drinks and snacks.

All the players felt a breeze rise from the ground, lifting their bodies up and carrying them onto the platform.

The balloons began to take off slowly.

“Wow!” Dan Xingyu leaned against the railing on one side of the platform, watching as it grew farther and farther from the ground.

“Is this magic?” he asked, looking up at the unremarkable cloud-shaped balloon. It didn’t look anything like the hot-air balloons on Earth—it had no special mechanisms—yet it could fly.

And it could fly really high.

In the blink of an eye, they were carried above the clouds.

Qiyu couldn’t help but reach out; his fingertips passed through a wisp of cloud, feeling its icy-cool touch.

“Ah—”

A long whoop rang out from nearby— it was a player on another balloon.

“I’m—flying—now—!” 

“I won’t yell at you in the survival game today—”

One person started shouting, and several others joined in. As they shouted, it turned into a wish:

“I want a dragon!” 

“Survival Game, can we still go home?”

“If we can’t go home, that’s fine—just bring my mom and dad here to be with me—”

“……”

【Ugh, a survival game—why did it suddenly get all sentimental?】

【Ah, that looks so much fun. I’m regretting not signing up again. I’ve never even ridden in a hot air balloon on Earth!】

Dan Xingyu leaned against the railing and turned to look at Qiyu, who had been playing a game of poking at the clouds with his

fingers: “Why don’t you call out a couple of times? Make a wish—what if it comes true?”

Qiyu shook his head: “No way. I’m not making any wishes.” 

He was already very, very satisfied with his life right now. 

“If you’re not going to shout, then I won’t either,” Dan Xingyu said with a straight face. “We’re still live—shouting like that just isn’t dignified.”

【I can’t take it anymore—this guy is such a proper person.】 

【Look, what’s that?】 The players noticed it.

The shouting died down as they all saw the massive figure hidden within the clouds.

The wind carried the balloon toward that shadow; the clouds parted, and a faintly visible form appeared before everyone.

“Holy crap!”

“We were just talking about it, and now a dragon has actually shown up!”

Qiyu’s eyes widened. It was a dragon.

Unlike Dan Xingyu’s little dragon, the giant dragon soaring through the clouds possessed a fully mature, agile, and graceful body; every single scale seemed to have been kissed by the sun, shimmering with a dazzling radiance. 

The clouds and mist swirled with its every breath, and the players’ balloons, in the presence of such a colossal creature, seemed like nothing more than insignificant tree leaves. Such a beautiful, majestic, and awe-inspiring creature. 

“It’s so beautiful…” one player murmured in awe.

The dragon seemed to have spotted them.

Its golden vertical pupils gazed over like little suns, sending shivers down the spines of everyone caught in its gaze.

This was the threat of a top predator.

“Roar!” Perhaps feeling its mood spoiled by them, the dragon flapped its wings and plunged straight toward them with its massive body. 

“Holy crap, holy crap! The dragon’s coming, the dragon’s coming!” 

“Survival Game, you said that if we take a fatal wound, the bracelet would activate its protective mechanism, right? Will it work against a dragon?”

“Aaaah, it’s coming! Watch me slide tackle it—” 

Although watching the livestream wasn’t as nerve-wracking as experiencing it firsthand, the players all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

【Man, this sense of oppression—now that’s a real dragon.】

【Will Ershen end up like this because of that little dragon? I’m even more envious of Ershen now.】

【Wait, am I the only one worried that everyone in the No. 1 Arena might get wiped out all at once?】The first player had already charged head-on toward the dragon.

His eyes wide with a mix of tension and excitement, he seemed to have given up all resistance, spreading his arms wide: “Aaaah! I never imagined I’d get this close to a dragon one day! Come on! Don’t spare this delicate flower!”

BOOM!

The collision he’d imagined never happened.

As the dragon’s massive body collided with the cluster of balloons, its entire form dissolved into golden specks of light. It was like an illusory shower of stars.

“It’s fake?” The players’ hearts were still pounding wildly, unsure whether to feel joy or sorrow. “That overwhelming sense of pressure—was it actually fake?”

The host’s enthusiastic voice came at just the right moment: “Players, everything you’ve seen on this journey is a simulated, illusory scene. Of course, as long as you don’t touch anything, we can guarantee 100% realism.”

The dragon’s appearance felt as if someone had pressed a button to enter a fantastical world.

All manner of wondrous creatures began to emerge from the clouds: magnificent birds with long, flowing tails; giant trees, gleaming golden from trunk to branch; and beautiful, snow-white, flawless unicorns…

The birds seemed to have emerged from a wondrous world on the other side of the clouds, curiously observing this group of humans who had suddenly appeared. 

A little bird, radiating a gentle sapphire-blue glow, flew over with a twig in its beak, from which hung a cluster of bright red berries.

The bird flapped its wings, seemingly startled by the sudden appearance of the balloons and humans. But the bird was tired from flying and, hesitantly, decided to take a rest here for a moment. 

Even though he knew it was fake, Qiyu couldn’t help but reach out his hand.

The little bird landed lightly in the palm of his hand, tilted its head, and chirped twice. As it opened its beak, the twig it had been holding dropped to the ground. Before Qiyu could even smile, the little bird, along with the twig, turned into a wisp of thin cloud.

“How beautiful,” said Dan Xingyu, standing beside him. “I never expected that the survival game, which was supposed to be just for fun, would actually turn into a real entertainment competition.”

Even this final round treated them to such a romantic “journey.” 

They didn’t know how much time had passed, but as the mist cleared, these beautiful, fantastical creatures vanished along with the clouds. Beneath the sky, a deep blue sea came into view.

The balloon began to descend, getting closer and closer to the sea’s surface, and then, amid the players’ gasps, plunged suddenly into the water.

This time, the players were mentally prepared, so they didn’t lose their composure too much. However, the suffocating sensation of falling into the water didn’t materialize.

A hazy layer of bubbles enveloped the interior of the balloon.

Players pass by ferocious sea beasts, swim through migrating schools of fish, and weave through coral reefs…

【Aaaah, what kind of company-sponsored trip is this? Why didn’t I sign up!】

【They say it’s fake, but it’s so lifelike it’s indistinguishable from the real thing.】

The players had originally thought this trip was just to experience the beauty of the deep sea, but they had underestimated the situation. After traveling from the deepest depths of the ocean and passing through countless dazzling wonders, the scene suddenly brightened before their eyes.

Everyone’s eyes widened: “What is this…”

A colossal, human-shaped statue, hundreds of meters tall, stood silently before them. The man, wearing a crown, had a majestic expression and held a sword in both hands, its tip pointing downward. A message floated before everyone’s eyes. 

【Darian, the founder of the Deep Sea Kingdom of Glein.】

The Deep Sea Kingdom? Glein? 

The balloon passed through the statue and, seemingly having accidentally fallen into a dark whirlpool on the ocean floor, plunged sharply downward.

“What’s going on?”

Caught in a rapidly spinning vortex, Qiyu felt Dan Xingyu’s hand grip his wrist tightly.

Fortunately, the dizziness subsided after a moment. 

Suddenly, the area erupted in a clamor.

The players stared at the scene before them, frozen in shock.

It was like a marketplace.

Men and women with fair, radiant skin were hawking their wares, carrying baskets brimming with pearls.

Creatures with human torsos and fish tails, creatures with two shrimp-like antennae, creatures carrying turtle shells on their backs, creatures with faces covered in scales… They were talking and trading with people who were clearly dressed as humans.

【Every summer, Glein hosts an ocean market that attracts many visitors from far and wide.】

It all looked so lifelike that one player couldn’t resist reaching out—the mermaid they touched instantly turned into bubbles. The scene changed again in an instant.

Majestic, sweeping mountain ranges stretched out like a massive black dragon lying on its side. 

Players saw groups of warriors and mercenaries exploring the mountains while chatting and laughing; when they looked around, they saw countless powerful, never-before-seen mutated creatures, each occupying its own territory and dwelling there. 

【The Black Rock Mountain Range, the largest gathering place for adventurers in the Zhongdu region. Countless powerful beasts dwell here.】

Next came the biting cold wind, ancient, eternal glaciers, and all manner of creatures and rare treasures born from the ice and snow: snow sprites, ice demons, ice crystals, snow crystal grass…

【The Bitter Winter Ice Plains, the coldest region at the northern tip of the continent…】

The players went from being boisterous and full of exclamations and wonder at the start to gradually falling silent. 

It seemed they had finally grasped the meaning of the host’s words: to explore and appreciate this beautiful world.

Was what they had just seen really the world of the survival game? 

It wasn’t, as they had once believed, merely a “competitive game” for a single player. Rather, it was a world with a history longer than that of Earth, an even more ancient civilization, and a vaster territory—a… complete world?

Amid the silence, the balloon drifted past a white cloud, and the scene shifted once more. A tall, solemn, and elegant building came into view.

The intense aura of magical energy sent a shiver down Qiyu’s spine. The balloon passed through the wall and entered the building.

A young man in a mage’s robe was wailing, “I’m doomed! I messed up the potion proportions again!”

In a room resembling a classroom, a woman in a black robe held up her wand, demonstrating water magic.

Several people stood in the hallway, talking.

A line of text slowly appeared:

【Mages Association Headquarters.】

Just as the text appeared, the balloon drifted into a conference room. The person seated at the head of the round table was speaking when they suddenly fell silent.

His gaze pierced through the boundary between illusion and reality, pinpointing the players inside the balloon. “Which of our friends has graced the mages association with their presence?” 

Everyone felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over their heads; they shuddered involuntarily. When they looked back, the building—the mages association—had vanished without a trace.

They were sitting in the balloon, drifting leisurely among the clouds.

“Oh no, we’ve been found out,” host Hakimi said regretfully. “Due to some unforeseen circumstances, this trip has been cut short by half an hour. As compensation, the Survival Game will be giving all players in this arena an extra 【Holiday Surprise Mystery Box】.”

“What just happened? Was everything we saw just an illusion? Why does it feel like we were caught peeking?” 

“Surely what we saw wasn’t real, was it?”

“But the items vanish when we touch them, which means either we’re fake or they’re fake. One real, one fake—and yet we still got caught. Isn’t this just too far-fetched, isn’t it?”

Viewers of the livestream felt as if they’d just woken from a dream: 

【The live stream from the No. 1 Arena really is something else.】

【 Seriously, I was watching other livestreams earlier and only switched over after seeing the comments in the regional chat. It’s the same balloon trip, but in other arenas, they just go for a swim in the ocean and interact with little fish and birds. Here, though, there are dragons, unicorns, magical trees—you name it. Not to mention the undersea civilization and the mages association.】

【Double standards! This is a double standard!】

【Maybe it’s because everyone here is number one on the charts? It can’t possibly be because there’s a “suck-up” here, haha.】