NOVEL NEXT Chapter 220 - 217 High-altitude Diving
Chapter 220: Chapter 217 High-altitude Diving
The cabin door slowly opened.
The group of four obeyed the Bluetooth commands and silently stepped back, leaving the frame to Bi Fang alone, who stood alone in the only light, his black robe billowing with the wind.
Standing on the unfolded cabin door, Bi Fang looked down at the turbulent ocean below. The wind was strong, and the waves were so dense that they seemed to shatter into foam upon hitting each other in the air, then scatter into the sea as spray.
Bi Fang walked onto the extended platform, and looking down from the high altitude, the first-person camera angle made everyone subconsciously feel a weakness in their knees at the sight of the more than twenty-meter drop.
Even the safety assistant Pondy couldn’t resist clutching his pants, wiping the sweat from his hands.
When the viewers saw the altitude, and that the aircraft showed no sign of descending, they immediately understood the production team’s intention—they planned to have Bi Fang jump directly!
[Damn, that high? Jump straight down?]
[My palms are already sweating]
[Damn, last time I went to the swimming center to dive, I didn’t dare jump from seven meters, and this is at least twenty!]
[Master Fang makes an appearance, extraordinary as always!]
At that moment, a line of numbers also appeared on the screen, a note from the production team: at that moment, the helicopter was twenty-three meters above the sea level!
As soon as the data was shown, everyone silently sweated for Bi Fang!
Bi Fang also took a sharp breath when he saw the surging waves beneath his feet, but soon after, his heartbeat began to accelerate, and the blood flowing rapidly through his veins gradually warmed him up in the cold air.
For a while, Bi Fang couldn’t tell whether his increasing heartbeat was due to excitement or a physiological reaction to the cold.
He turned his head and spoke to the drone with a smile, “What about you? Do you feel the urge to jump down?”
[Jump down? Are you crazy? Not at all]
[Please let me leave, thank you]
[Only you want to jump down!]
“Don’t go against your true self!” Bi Fang laughed in the face of the wind, showing not a trace of fear He placed his hand over his heart, “Just feel it for a moment—do you really feel nothing?”
Seeing Bi Fang speak so seriously, and apparently not joking, quite a few people actually started to contemplate, and upon looking down again, they seemed to feel an inclination to jump? What was going on?
Do I have a suicidal tendency?
Many netizens were puzzled.
“This isn’t about having a suicidal tendency. It’s innate for any living being to seek benefits and avoid harm, and our brain produces a subconscious response to escape dangerous situations or environments to protect ourselves.”
“That’s why none of us like to go near edges of high buildings, bridges, or cliffs without guardrails! However, under the control of our consciousness, sometimes we do go to such places to experience unique scenery. But occasionally, you might feel a strange impulse—that is the desire to jump down!”
As he spoke, Bi Fang had already reached the very edge of the unfolded cabin door, heightening the audience’s suspense even further!
“If you’ve ever felt such an impulse, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you have a subconscious desire to commit suicide, but rather that you’ve experienced a physiological reaction known as the ‘High Place Phenomenon’, which has an even cooler name in France called the ‘Call of the Void’!”
“Cool, isn’t it?”
[Not cool at all!]
[Can you not stand on the edge, I’m scared…]
[Okay, okay, I get it, Master Fang, please spare me your glare! Don’t look down anymore, I can’t handle it!]
“Actually, this phenomenon stems from the distortion of our balance perception. On a horizontal distance, our visual reception system and the vestibular system don’t conflict, but on a vertical distance, as the altitude increases, it can make us feel fear and vertigo,” he said.
“This is because the vestibular perception system believes that the ground beneath our feet is very stable, while the visual system tells our brain there is a significant visual drop, which can make us dizzy and lead the brain to believe that our body is in an unbalanced state, possibly about to fall.”
When Bi Fang looked down at his feet again, even through the lens, the audience felt a genuine sense of dizziness, as if the ocean was really muttering in their sleep, tempting people to jump down. But after some thought, the audience was shocked out of their wits by their own absurd idea.
“When the brain’s balance status is disrupted, it can produce feelings of fear, unease, and dizziness, and the subconscious quickly issues orders to seek safety and avoid harm, to return to a safe place. But sometimes these commands are wrong!”
“Like when we’re standing in high places, the brain’s first reaction is to jump down! To eliminate the imbalance caused by the height difference!”
“Human instinctive reactions are impulsive and fast, when the brain’s safety center is threatened, it immediately sends alarm signals to the cerebral cortex.”
“However, the cerebral cortex processes information relatively slowly. In this delayed process, erroneous commands can be created, causing people to feel the urge to jump. But after a brief rational analysis, one would realize that the best way to eliminate this visual discrepancy is to retreat to a safe area, not to jump down!”
[I’ve learned something new… Old Fang really knows a lot, genuinely awesome.]
[So does that mean one should never climb high when emotionally upset? Is that the message?]
[It’s indeed the call of the void, fatally alluring.]
[Why didn’t I feel anything when Old Fang did high-altitude parachuting last time?]
[That’s because it was too high, and your brain didn’t feel anything. Looking at the ground was like looking at a painting.]
Bi Fang nodded, the last time because the height was too great, without any reference point, the brain couldn’t believe that it was high above, so he didn’t mention this point.
“This delay in rational judgment is more likely to result in impulsive outcomes for those who are sensitive, have weak willpower, are depressed, or already harbor suicidal thoughts, especially in critical moments,” he declared.
Looking out at the boundless ocean, Bi Fang shouted into the wind: “So, if you are emotionally unstable, don’t go to bridges or any high places to clear your mind, it can be very dangerous. Even a twenty-metre-plus fall, even into water, can cause injury or disability. The great impact can, at the very least, cause swelling, and at worst, break bones.”
Quite a few viewers nodded silently, many had studied physics and were aware of this fact.
“Just like what I’m doing right now!”
Right now? What?
The audience was startled, still not fully grasping what was happening, when they saw Bi Fang suddenly throw the life raft into the sea with no warning, bend his legs slightly, and powerfully jump out of the hatch, his body rigidly plunging down!
Fuck, didn’t he just say it was dangerous?
The viewers’ eyes widened, and they suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
They only realized then, dammit, Master Fang did the same during the last parachute jump, talking about the danger, and then he jumped anyway!
Shit, not again! You can’t keep doing this!
Once free from the hatch, Bi Fang closed his eyes tightly, his hands clinging to his legs, in complete freefall, plunging into the sea like an arrow.
The intense airflow instantly blurred the sound of the waves and the rotors, leaving only the howling wind!
Moments later, the camera shook violently.
The white sky suddenly vanished, a vast blue burst into the frame, the screen filled with the silver reflection of bubbles.