After all that walking, for a moment, I couldn't feel my legs, and so I just lay sprawled on the ground at the edge of the chasm looking up at the sun high in the sky. It was cold here, and the sun's heat seemed to dissipate the instant it touched the chasm's edge, offering no warmth at all.

With every hoarse breath I took, I could see the cold air turn immediately into a ragged plume of white mist that vanished quickly.

A few minutes passed and then I shifted my gaze to a tiny screen that displayed the time:

[11:27]

I then looked away. We still had a bit of time, as the Bridge of Nothing appeared once every noon, precisely on the dot.

With a grunt, I turned and crawled to the very edge of the chasm to peep down. When I saw only an unrelenting, featureless blackness, I crawled back a few meters and sat upright.

But as soon as I sat upright, someone leaned heavily against my back. I reflexively twisted around to see who was sitting there.

'Oh... it's Aika,' I realized, turning back. She was drinking water heavily from a pouch. When she finished, she dropped it by my side, and I picked it up.

But before I took a drink, I glanced over a few meters away to where the other members of the party all lay sprawled on the ground like corpses, breathing hoarsely. I had just two pouches of water left in my inventory. I then looked to Dion, and one of the water pouches from my inventory fell onto his side. He immediately scrambled to pick it up, but before he drank, I cut in, "Share that with the others. I can't spare any more water after this."

He nodded solemnly, then began drinking. He wasn't even halfway through a few gulps when Evelyn reached out. "Hey, hey, that's enough. Pass it over."

But Dion shifted his weight away while still drinking. "No, I still have to give some to Ino, so chill out."

Julius's face twisted in irritation. "What do you mean? My lady takes precedence."

Dion snorted, spat a droplet of water onto the ground, and pointed dramatically to the chasm. "I will kick your ugly ass into that chasm."

Meanwhile, I shook my head and looked away from the bickering, toward the notification that had appeared.

[You have acquired 50 Karma points]

[Available Karma points: N 1,865 / P 660]

When the notification disappeared, I lifted the pouch of water and began drinking greedily. When I was done, I wiped my mouth and looked back at the others. Dion was now actively fighting with Julius to get the pouch of water back.

'I thought these people were on the verge of death from exhaustion just seconds ago. How do they still have this sort of energy?'

Just then, Celeste looked up to the sky as if trying to determine the time. Then she asked tiredly, "Uhm… How do we know if the bridge has already appeared for the day, and what do we do if it already has?"

I looked in the direction of the vast chasm, then after a few seconds replied, "It has not yet appeared for today. Though it will be appearing in about thirty minutes."

Hearing that, Dion clicked his teeth and slumped onto the ground. He had successfully managed to reclaim the pouch of water. He took a gulp, then looked to Celeste and said, "I don't know about you guys, but… I really don't think I can run across that bridge. In fact, I don't think I can run at all. I'm so exhausted, I could die."

"Same here."

My gaze shifted to Evelyn, who had spoken. She was now lying on the ground, using her hands as a pillow and staring at the sky. After a few seconds, she added, "If you ask my opinion, I'd say let's just wait here till tomorrow and use the bridge that appears then."

Julius nodded in agreement and said, "My lady is so wise." He flipped his head to me like a cockerel and added, "Let us follow her wishes."

I stared at him for a bit, then turned away and said bluntly, "We can't. We need to cross the bridge today."

"Huh?" Evelyn sat up a bit. But before she could speak, I looked to her and quickly added while also pointing to the chasm with my thumb. "We can't, because there are creatures who crawl out of that chasm at night."

Julius arched a brow. "And how do you know that?"

Without looking at him, I replied. "I just do."

For a moment, no one said anything, until Dion finally exhaled loudly and said, "Fine… since we don't have a choice, we'll all cross. But frankly, I think our chances of making it across that bridge in our current state are really low."

As soon as he said that, my inventory opened atop him, and three Stamina Elixirs fell onto his lap.

"That's for the Dominants," I said, pointing to the elixirs that Dion had now picked up with wide eyes.

Julius swallowed hard and pointed to himself. "Uh… what about me?"

I looked at him and replied, "I only have enough to grant the Dominants. So you do not get one. It'll be better and more cost-effective if you return to your dormant state before we cross."

Julius frowned, but nodded understandingly. Though his eyes flicked behind me to where Aika was nonchalantly drinking a Stamina Elixir. When his eyes landed on her, he looked like he wanted to say something but didn't.

Evelyn and Celeste took a Stamina Elixir each from Dion and chugged them down. I also took one out from my inventory and chugged it down. Unlike the Health Elixir, whose effects were gradual, the Stamina Elixir's effect was almost instantaneous, and so, in less than a few seconds, we felt like we were in peak condition.

Still, I couldn't help but worry:

Would we be able to run across the entire bridge to the other side within the time limit?

Well… there was only one way to find out.

I sighed and looked toward the chasm in contemplation while also waiting for the bridge to arrive.

The minutes slowly passed by, counting down to noon, and when it was finally noon, the air shimmered and tore open, and a bridge of pure, blinding gold snapped into existence across the void.

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