A scream lasted less than two seconds before cutting off abruptly. The swaying climbing rope snapped taut.
Professor Yamada rushed to the edge of the cliff and stared down, then let out a long sigh of relief. "Miyazaki! Are you all right?"
Professional climbing gear had more than one safety feature. After falling over ten meters, Miyazaki Jiro finally instinctively squeezed the descender hard, stopping his fall just in time. He hung from the rope, face pale, gasping for breath. That had been terrifying as hell.
He'd almost thought he was going to fall to his death on the spot. In reality, it had only been a false alarm.
"Hey, Miyazaki, how long are you planning to hang there?"
Li Bai leaned over the cliff and looked down at Miyazaki Jiro. He was still clinging to the descender with his eyes shut tight, dangling from the rope.
"Pull me up!"
Miyazaki Jiro was not only on the verge of tears; he was about to wet himself.
It was only after grabbing the rope that he'd realized, to his horror, that he was afraid of heights. This instinctive fear was impossible to control!
"Hurry up and get down. Professor Yamada's waiting."
Li Bai picked up a small stone and tossed it down. It hit one of Miyazaki Jiro's fingers.
The sudden pain made him lose his grip. He loosened it only slightly, but the descender immediately released its hold on the rope, and he began sliding down rapidly once more.
"AAAAAAAH..."
His screams rang out all the way down, enough to make anyone who heard them weep.
After a desperate struggle, he squeezed the descender again, bringing his fall under control once more.
"Hey, hey, Miyazaki! Miyazaki? You can let go now!"
Someone was speaking right beside Miyazaki Jiro's ear, but