The beams did not slow.
If anything, they grew crueler.
What had looked like a simple rhythm from afar revealed itself as layered timing once Jin Yue stepped fully into the obstacle field. The logs did not swing evenly. Some lagged. Some accelerated without warning. A few were deliberately offset, their arcs overlapping just enough to punish anyone who relied on instinct instead of observation.
The course rewarded impatience with pain.
Jin Yue watched.
Not the beams themselves...but the spaces between them.
Ahead of him, a man tried to sprint through, pulse flaring around his legs in bursts of fire. He misjudged the timing by half a breath. A beam caught him across the ribs and sent him skidding sideways into another runner, who screamed as they both went down in the mud.
Jin Yue did not change pace.
He stepped forward only when the opening existed.
