By exploring how to use his shadow, Guan Tong had found a way to pass the rule's challenge.
But just passing wasn't enough. He could now fully utilize the shadow's fusion property to strive for a high-ranking score.
Although Guan Tong didn't particularly enjoy competing, he certainly wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get the extra rewards for the top three.
'The key is to leverage the shadow's travel distance.'
Guan Tong left the gym, mulling over the problem on his way home.
The speed he could achieve by connecting to the treadmill was already fast, but to him, it was nowhere near the limit.
There had to be other ways to further increase his speed over the 42-kilometer distance.
Besides, it wasn't just him; other people would surely use Psychic Power to improve their scores.
Even if they didn't think of it at first, they were bound to see someone mention it online.
Therefore, as long as one was clever enough and had a high Psychic Power limit, many people should be able to pass the second rule.
But to get a good score, it would depend on whether the items purchased from the Sublimation Store were suitable for the task.
Guan Tong didn't dwell on what others were doing; he remained focused on how to improve his own score.
After returning home, he went online to research shadows.
He had no idea what he was in for, but the results were a shock.
Apparently, under certain special conditions, a shadow's speed could become incredibly fast.
It was even possible, through some clever tricks, to make it move faster than light!
For Guan Tong, however, the shadow's speed wasn't as important as its travel distance.
After much research, Guan Tong came up with an idea.
The next day at noon, when the sun was at its brightest, he went up to the roof of his apartment building with an automatic rotating selfie stick he had bought.
The sun was high in the sky, and the light was incredibly intense.
Guan Tong set up the selfie stick at the edge of the roof. After adjusting its angle and position, its shadow was cast onto the distant street below.
Guan Tong then executed the "rotate" command from his phone, and the selfie stick immediately began to spin automatically.
As it spun, its shadow spun with it, sweeping across streets and buildings at an incredible speed, back and forth in a loop.
Guan Tong could hardly contain his excitement as he watched.
'The speed is incredible, and the distance is huge!'
At this rate, the shadow could cover a kilometer in just a few seconds!
Without a moment's hesitation, Guan Tong stepped forward and lowered the selfie stick's angle, pulling the shadow back closer.
He then pulled out the Wordless Book, released his own "Shadow," and let it make contact and fuse with the shadow of the selfie stick.
Once he felt that sense of control, Guan Tong raised the selfie stick. Its shadow immediately began to travel across the rooftop, down the building's facade, over walls, and onto the street.
Guan Tong then executed the "rotate" command on his phone, cranking the speed to its maximum setting.
WHIRRRRR!
The selfie stick began to rotate automatically at top speed, and the shadow whirled along with it!
In that instant, the numbers for the challenge—time elapsed and distance covered—displayed before Guan Tong's eyes began to change at an utterly absurd rate!
...
"HUFF... HUFF... HUFF..."
A middle-aged man came to a stop on a stadium track, panting heavily.
A smile spread across his face as he looked at the distance and time displayed before him.
Current Distance: 42,198 meters, Time Elapsed: 2 hours, 37 minutes, 56 seconds
"A new record! I broke my record!"
The middle-aged man chuckled. Though he was dead tired, the exhilaration he felt was indescribable.
This time not only meant he had passed the challenge of the second Apocalypse Rule, but it also meant he had shattered his personal best.
Previously, whenever he had run a full marathon, even if he managed to finish in under three hours, he had always just barely scraped by.
He'd had several finishes around the 2-hour, 57- or 58-minute mark, and his absolute best had been 2 hours and 52 minutes.
But this time, he was a full 15 minutes faster than his previous best!
This wasn't just a small improvement—it was a massive leap forward!
The reason for such a drastic improvement was, naturally, inextricably linked to his use of Psychic Power.
The middle-aged man glanced down gleefully at the pair of black running shoes on his feet.
They looked perfectly ordinary, but they were actually a special item he had purchased from the Sublimation Store.
Wearing them didn't just increase his speed; it also reduced his stamina consumption.
The only downside was that using their ability rapidly consumed Psychic Power.
Once it was depleted, the shoes lost their special bonus and became no different from an ordinary pair of running shoes.
The middle-aged man felt a twinge of regret, thinking that if he'd only had more Psychic Power, he could have achieved an even better time.
Still, he was very satisfied with his current time.
'I'll never make the top three in the final rankings, but taking first in my group should be a piece of cake!'
The middle-aged man was well aware of how formidable the world's top runners were.
The previous world record holder's marathon time had reached a terrifying two hours flat!
One could only imagine that if those top-tier runners were still alive—even just some of them—they would undoubtedly have a high chance of breaking the two-hour barrier with the help of Psychic Power.
So, the man wasn't about to be foolish and compare himself to them; he would be perfectly content with taking first place in his group.
The man took a few sips of water, found a bench to sit on, and pulled up his personal terminal.
His nickname was "On the Road."
He opened the group chat and sent a message.
"How's everyone's progress? I just finished the challenge. My time was 2 hours, 37 minutes, and 56 seconds. Can't compare to the pros, but I think it's pretty decent, haha. There's still some time left, so I plan to run again in a few days to see if I can improve a bit more!"
He had previously mentioned in the group that he was an amateur marathon enthusiast, which had already garnered quite a bit of attention. This message immediately drew a flood of replies.
"Amazing! I'm impressed!"
"You passed on just the second day? As expected of a top amateur!"
"Damn... with someone like him in our group, how can anyone else even compete for first place?"
"When the tiger's away, the monkey becomes king! That time might be good enough for first in our group, but it has no chance of cracking the top three in the final rankings!"
"Hey, man, can you share some tips? I ran five kilometers this morning and was totally wiped out."
On the Road read the group messages, and seeing all the comments filled with envy and jealousy, he couldn't help but feel a surge of satisfaction.
He saw someone asking for tips and was about to share some, but the messages that quickly followed made him change his mind.
"Why are you asking an amateur for tips? The officials already got the marathon champion to write a guide!"
"Yeah, I read the official champion's guide, too, but I didn't find it that helpful."
"What good is a champion's guide? This isn't a math problem where you can just copy the answer. At the end of the day, you're the one who has to do the running!"
"Sigh. This is tough."
As On the Road read the messages, he decided to check online to see if any of the top runners had announced their times yet.
But before he could even close his personal terminal, a new message popped up in the group.
This message hit like a bombshell, leaving everyone in the group completely stunned.
On the Road's eyes widened; he thought he must have misread it or was even hallucinating.
[Group member "Shadow" has completed the challenge. Time elapsed: 21 seconds.]