Anon smirked as he strode past the starting line, taking a seat on the ground, leaving the audience in awe.
“Ladies and gentlemen, as you all can see, Anon has crossed the starting line, indicating the beginning of the race feom his side. However, instead of continuing, he chose to sit down, creating another perplexing situation for us to decipher,” Landon spoke, his voice tinged with confusion.
“I believe that he is taunting Samantha,” Seraphina chimed in with a taunting tone.
“Why do you say that, Seraphina ? Is there any particular reason for you to say a comment like this ?” Landon inquired with a smile.
“It’s just a hunch, but what if Anon wants to demonstrate to everyone that he can easily catch up to Samantha even if she is far ahead of him ?” Seraphina proposed as she tried to figure out the situation.
“Yes, that could be entirely possible, Seraphina. In fact, i believe that is the only reason he have.” Landon replied, his gaze fixed on the screen in front of him.
“Why would he rest if he still has mana and stamina ? It doesn’t make any sense, what are you planning now Anon ?” Luna pondered, her eyes focused on the screen.
Meanwhile, Anon was deep in calculation at the starting line.
“1,567… 1,566… 1,565…” Anon counted down.
‘Okay, if Samantha gains a shadow stack every three minutes, increasing her speed by 20% each time, she’ll need 25 stacks to reach 500% speed, equivalent to my Phoenix Ignition. But I shouldn’t purge her at 25 stacks; otherwise, I won’t be able to catch up, and she’ll accumulate more stacks over time. I should aim to purge her between 10 and 15 stacks.’
“That means my first purge will occur in 1800 seconds. It’s already been 200 seconds since she left the starting line, so I have approximately 1600 seconds remaining,” Anon calculated.
“Eh, that’s more than enough time,” Anon muttered, retrieving something from his inventory.
“What is Anon withdrawing from his dimensional pocket? Is it an artifact for running or a doping agent?” Seraphina announced, her gaze fixed on the screen.
However, what Anon withdrew from his inventory left everyone shocked and amazed.
It was a long, black cigar that only nobles used to smoke.
“Is that a…?” Seraphina tried to ask but Landon interpreted immediately.
“Yes, Seraphina. It’s a cigar, and Anon is about to smoke it if I am not mistaken, that’s a high quality cigar, i have to tell you.” Landon announced.
Click
Anon snapped his fingers, conjuring a small fireball that hovered over his middle finger. He used it to ignite the cigar and took a puff as he released the smoke from his nostrils.
For the next 25 minutes, the same scene played out. Anon sat near the starting line, smoking his cigar, while Samantha continued running, under the impression that she had already bested Anon.
“That fucker must be thinking of catching up to me just like Luna but today you will be faced with truth kid. Not everyone is Luna Warwood.” Samantha spoke as an evil smile appeared on her face.
“Ladies and gentlemen, while Anon continues to enjoy his cigar near the starting line, Samantha has already covered half of the kingdom, surpassing two hurdles with her increasing speed. Will Anon be able to catch her now? Will Samantha claim victory in this race and complete the Kingdom’s Night Run?” Landon posed the questions.
“3… 2… 1,” Anon murmured, dropping the cigar and rising from the ground.
??Best to give me your loyalty, ’cause I’m taking the world, you’ll see.??
Anon suddenly burst into song, assuming a running stance once again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Anon Agreil has finally risen from his spot, adopting a running stance. Will he now start running?” Seraphina exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement.
“He can’t defeat her now. The best he can do is briefly overtake her, but it won’t last long. She’s already accumulated over nine stacks,” Jake stated, his smile betraying his confidence.
“What do you mean by ‘stack’?” Frank inquired.
“Every three minutes, she gains a shadow stack, increasing her running speed by 20%. She already has over nine shadow stacks, meaning a 180% speed boost. Anon has wasted so much time, and the time he’ll spend catching up will only allow my sister to accumulate more stacks, granting her greater speed. It’s already a victory for us. My sister can’t be stopped now; her speed will keep increasing. If Anon had run alongside her from the start, there might have been a slim chance of his success, but now it’s simply impossible,” Jake explained. ．
“Hmm, so she’s using a stacking spell. I was wondering why she was initially running so slowly,” Frank remarked with a serious expression.
“My sister has calculated everything. Anon pauses every ten minutes, triggering a cooldown for his skill. By the time he catches up, which will take at least six minutes, he’ll need to stop for another four minutes for his cooldown. That will be his true moment of defeat. After that, even if he uses his skill, he won’t be able to surpass her,” Jake continued, unaware of Anon’s hidden plans.
??They’ll be calling me royalty.??
As Anon uttered these words, his entire body ignited in crimson flames, propelling him forward from the starting line at an astonishing speed.
“Anon has resumed running, and with this velocity, he’ll catch up to Samantha very soon,” Landon declared.
“An effort in futility. Even if you run faster than that, you’ll still lose, Anon,” Jake laughed, confident in his assessment.
‘Hmm, Anon must not have realized that Samantha was using a stacking skill. His overconfidence has led him to believe he’s invincible. I believe he can be defeated now,’ Frank chuckled to himself, observing the screen before him.
Seventh ring, House of Alchemists…
“Hmm, so that’s what overconfidence looks like, huh?” a man remarked, sitting in a chair inside his chemical lab, his eyes fixed on Anon on the screen.