Chapter 91: Conquer 15 Meters If You Are a Man
Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
“Oh?” Huang Xujie pretended to be surprised, “Do you want to compete with me?”
Everyone else, including the members of the Rock Climbing Club and the crowd, were all astonished when Hao Ren issued the challenge.
Hao Ren didn’t say anything else; he just stared at Huang Xujie.
“Lu Bo, get him set up!” Huang Xujie clenched his fists and said, “If you want to play, I will play with you!”
Lu Bo, the a.s.sistant Captain of the Rock Climbing Club, put the harness on Hao Ren. Although Hao Ren challenged their captain, Lu Bo was careful with the safety preparation since it was a matter of life and death.
With an angry expression, Hao Ren spread his arms for the harness silently. On the other side, several pretty girls from the club surrounded Huang Xujie and put the harness on him; that scene aroused jealousy in Zhou Liren.
Xie Yujia, who was standing in the crowd, hesitated for several seconds before walking over.
“Hao Ren, don’t compete with him! It is too dangerous!” she said.
“Cla.s.s President, don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” seeing Xie Yujia’s frown of concern, Hao Ren rea.s.sured her.
“Rock climbing is a dangerous sport. Since you never practiced before, you will put yourself in danger if you act rashly,” Xie Yujia tried to dissuade him while shaking her head.
She was concerned not only because Hao Ren was her cla.s.smate, but also…
“Xie Yujia, don’t interfere. If his mental state is disturbed, there will be a higher probability of accidents occurring. If that happens, you may need to responsibility for the accident,” Huang Xujie said to Xie Yujia while he buckled up his harness.
His words sounded well-intentioned, but they made Xie Yujia more worried.
She glanced at Hao Ren in concern and looked back at Yu Rong and his buddies, wis.h.i.+ng they would join her efforts. But the truth was, the guys would never issue a challenge and then back out in fear. It would be too shameful for a man.
“Cla.s.s President, just watch. I’ll be fine,” Hao Ren was moved by Xie Yujia’s concern for him, but he wasn’t going to quit.
He was still burning with rage.
Feeling resigned, Xie Yujia looked back at Xie Wanjun who towered over the crowd. At the moment, her brother was watching the whole thing with an emotionless expression in silence.
“The compet.i.tion is about to begin. For safety reasons, everyone, please watch it from the outside of the site,” Lu Bo walked over and ushered Xie Yujia out.
Three belayers held Huang Xujie’s safety rope, and Hao Ren got the same treatment.
The compet.i.tion was about to begin when Yu Rong suddenly rushed into the site and said, “We will act as the belayers! We don’t trust you guys!”
Yu Rong was quite influential among the guys. Several other buddies of Hao Ren followed suit and rushed in.
After witnessing Zhao Jiayi’s failure a moment ago, they lost trust in the members of the Rock Climbing Club. They’d rather keep the rope in their own hands.
Lu Bo had no choice but to walk over and show them how to control the rope and what to do when the climber falls. Finally, Yu Rong, Zhou Liren, and Huang Jianfeng who were the strongest among them were left on site to be Hao Ren’s belayers while the rest were asked to watch outside.
Then, Lu Bo walked to the rock climbing wall and raised his watch.
“Ready! Go!” he shouted.
Hao Ren and Huang Xujie put their hands on the rock climbing wall at the same time and began climbing.
In fact, with this level of rock climbing, a few seconds of difference at the beginning was not a big issue. The critical point was who could make it to the summit. Even if the compet.i.tors could all reach the top, there would be a difference of minutes between the first and the second place.
On the 15-meter rock climbing wall, Hao Ren to the left of Huang Xujie, and they each chose their own route.
Huang Xujie was very deft and climbed three meters shortly. Although the positions of the holds were changing due to different levels in difficulty, he, as the Captain of the Rock Climbing Club, was quite familiar with these holds and knew the best route to the top.
He was wearing an orange mesh vest which exposed his chiseled muscles, and the girls watching shrieked at the sight.
In contrast, Hao Ren was climbing steadily with his hands and feet tightly positioned on the holds firmly. He wasn’t dressed professionally like Huang Xujie, but his steadiness and smart route choice made the students who didn’t know him admire him a little.
“Who’s this guy? He is quite bold to challenge the Captain of the Rock Climbing Club.”
“He is the buddy of the guy who just fell. I guess he is doing this for his buddy.”
“How can he defeat Huang Xujie who is the best climber in the Rock Climbing Club?”
“Don’t you know that he is the guy who defeated Huang Xujie in the long-distance race in the school’s Athletic Games?”
The students in the crowd began to talk among themselves.
Hearing the comments around her, Xie Yujia was so nervous as she observed Hao Ren that her fingernails cut into her palms, and her heart was in her throat.
By now, Huang Xujie had climbed half of the distance while Hao Ren was only half a meter below him.
Huang Xujie had slowed down. After each step, he would pause to rest for several seconds while leaning against the wall.
In a rock climbing race of this level, one needed steadiness, excellent techniques, and sound mental fitness to reach the summit.
Hao Ren continued climbing steadily; he would calculate his route before making several moves.
“This guy’s stamina is terrifyingly good,” Huang Xujie thought as he looked down at Hao Ren who was only half a meter lower than him.
From a professional viewpoint, Hao Ren’s choices of holds were not excellent. They were energy-consuming and challenging to reach. Despite that, Hao Ren was still closely following him.
“Hao Ren is really a monster,” Huang Xujie’s face turned grim at the thought.
Looking up at the remaining eight meters, he inhaled deeply and resumed climbing cautiously. If he made a mistake and fell, the lucky second-year would win the compet.i.tion.
He had just grabbed another hold above him when Hao Ren suddenly signaled to his belayers that he was going down.
“He has finally exhausted his strength,” Huang Xujie was pleased when he saw that. He silently mocked, “Well, you are just average. Even though you were lucky enough to win against me in the long-distance race, there’s no way you can beat me in rock climbing!”
Seeing Hao Ren’s hand gesture, Yu Rong and the other two belayers immediately slacked the rope and put Hao Ren down.
“I’m not finished. You go on climbing,” back on the ground, Hao Ren raised his head and yelled when he saw Huang Xujie’s belayers also wanted to loosen the rope.
Huang Xujie froze in surprise and thought, “What the h.e.l.l is this guy doing?”
Hao Ren murmured some words and took the silver bracelets off his wrists. He bent down and put them on the ground.
Carrying 50 kilograms on his arms while rock climbing was not an easy task. Besides, due to his bad mood, the burden on his arms seemed to have grown another 50 kilograms.
As he swung his arms to relieve the tension, Hao Ren walked toward the wall once again.