Seeing Min-ho overshoot, Sae-wee—being the closest—tried to reach out to grab him, but it was too late.
He had fallen far beyond her reach.
CRACK!
He fell hard on his back with a slight groan. It took him a second, but he realized Jang-book had outstretched a slab of stone from the building he fell from, stopping him in place.
"Get up," Sae-wee said, concern for the slab's integrity eating away at her.
Squinting, Min-ho slowly got onto his feet, then he reached out for Sae-wee's hand and grabbed it.
She wasted no time pulling him up the building before crumbling to the floor.
Min-ho paused for a moment, then turned toward the direction Dok-su had fallen. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw him lying on the floor with Ji-su and Im-hee beside him.
Now having confirmed his team was whole, he took a second to catch his breath—which was both a relief and a continued cycle of pain as his muscles and insides lashed out each time he moved.
"Thank you," he said to Sae-wee. She didn't respond.
He turned to Jang-book, attempting to thank him before Jang-book cursed aloud when his bridge crumbled again.
This bridge was their only way across the thirty-meter gap, and he was failing time and time again.
Each time he outstretched a piece of stone, he would create supports attaching to it from underneath, which held it firm in place for about half the length of the way. But any time it almost reached halfway through, the bridge would crumble.
"This isn't working!" Jang-book said in anger, balling his fists as he began to pace.
He, like everyone else, looked physically exhausted. But what differentiated him from the others was that his Affinity seemed to be taking a toll on him. He looked like he would pass out at any minute, even if he tried to pretend otherwise.
They had come a long way. Somehow, they managed to push themselves to cover five kilometers in under an hour.
The sky had darkened, and several times they had to make detours to avoid slews of Spectors.
Yet they managed this feat. But now they'd hit a dead end.
Turning to the Fog, Min-ho felt his strength falter when he saw it ever closer. It was now about two kilometers away—and gaining fast.
They needed to move, now.
> [You Have Slain A Tier One Spector 'Roctopie']
[You Have Acquired 500 Coins]
[You Have Acquired A Relic 'Haze Limit']
Min-ho paused for a moment upon hearing and seeing the notification.
He wanted to investigate, but found doing so of no importance right now.
"You just need to calm down," Min-ho said, forcing himself onto his feet.
"You don't understand, it's not going to work," Jang-book said, placing both hands on his face.
"He's right," Ji-su said, making his way toward them. "The slab of stone he creates keeps thinning the further out it stretches. There's no way it'll work."
Min-ho's heart thumped.
"So what? We're stuck here?" Jang-book asked, fear creeping into his soul.
Taking in a deep breath, Min-ho turned to the building on the other side of the rift.
He stared at it for several heartbeats, then got an idea.
"Can…" He swallowed. "Can you create a platform from that side? Can your Affinity reach there?"
Everyone paused, Ji-su's eyes lit up.
"If it could, then he could create one on this side as well," Ji-su elaborated Min-ho's idea like he was reading his mind.
"I could," Jang-book turned to the building. "But there would still be a good distance separating us from it."
"What about propelling us the rest of the way?" Sae-wee asked, her gaze on the Fog.
Everyone paused.
"She's right," Min-ho said, turning to Jang-book. "You could propel us the rest of the way."
Jang-book studied the distance, a sudden sweat sliding down his brow.
"You can do it, right?" Min-ho asked, but Jang-book didn't give a response.
Seeing his reserved state, Min-ho realized something. The toil of his Affinity was biting bone-deep into him.
And they still had about three kilometers to traverse.
The odds were not looking to be in their favor. But he had to do it if they were to survive.
Jang-book turned to Min-ho.
"I'll try."
---
A considerable amount of time had been eaten up as Jang-book worked. He took his time to carefully build out the bridges and place their supports.
He managed to finish the bridge on the far end in five minutes. Now he was working on the bridge connected to the building they were on.
Though he was halfway through, he needed to work faster. Because below the building, Worm Hounds were climbing the side of it, racing for them.
Min-ho, Sae-wee and Dok-su had gotten to the side of the building where the Worm Hounds were climbing up, and they began to fling their weapons at them.
Once the weapon made contact, it either had no effect, or managed to cause a Worm Hound to fall. Though it did no damage, it bought Jang-book time.
Each time they flung their weapon, they would recall it into their Inventory, and then summon it into their hands.
They kept at it without relenting.
But the Worm Hounds were gaining.
Damn it! Min-ho screamed on the inside as he found their situation getting more and more hopeless.
"I'm done," Jang-book said, sparking a faint hope within them.
"Let's go!" Min-ho shouted, pulling back.
The others followed behind him.
Jang-book, Ji-su and Im-hee were the first to get on the narrow bridge.
Min-ho, Sae-wee and Dok-su had reached the bridge in no time. But the Worm Hounds had now gotten to the top of the roof and gave chase.
The group managed to get to the bridge and ran as fast as they could.
They made it halfway across before the Worm Hounds got to the bridge.
The first Worm Hound had shaken the foundation of the bridge as it gave chase. The second took down one pillar. And the third caused the bridge to crumble.
"Damn it!" Jang-book cursed.
"Do it now!" Min-ho yelled.
Jang-book did as told and willed the stone under their feet to jet upward.
They were shot out into the air and toward the other bridge.
But they were too far.
Jang-book barely caught the bridge with one hand, while the others fell toward the rift.