Final Fantasy 14 player beats five-year-old speedrun record, original holder retakes the crown a day later

gamesradar.com:

A Final Fantasy 14 player beat a five-year-old speedrun world record after months of training, only to have the original record holder retake the title less than 24 hours later.

That speedrun would be the infamous Kugane tower jumping puzzle. Originally introduced to Final Fantasy 14 with the Stormblood expansion, the jumping puzzle is exactly what it sounds like - propelling yourself up a series of tiny platforms in mid-air, all to reach the top of the ridiculously high tower in Kugane.

Many attempt the feat, but few actually succeed in pulling it off. Enter YouTuber Pint, a bit of a legend in the Final Fantasy 14 community, who thought they'd try their hand at besting the current world record for the Kugane tower jumping puzzle, held by player Em0_oticon.

Em0_oticon's record of 43.58 seconds had existed for over five years at this point, and it took them under a month to get that final time down from just under 60 seconds. The honest-to-god hilarious video from Pint just below chronicles their entire hard-fought victory to record a breath-taking 43.30 second run and claim the world record speedrun of Kugane tower after five long years.

https://t.co/y8a3sDRTFhJuly 7, 2023

But this story doesn't have a happy ending for Pint, as you already know. The YouTuber's incredibly extra speedrun would be bested less than 24 hours later by none other than Em0_oticon, the very user that originally held the Kugane tower speedrun world record for well over five years.

With no commentary, no flashy antics, or anything else, Em0_oticon proceeded to absolutely butcher Pint's newly established world record in the video below, breezing through the challenge in a crisp 38.74 seconds. At this point, you've got to ask: is Em0_oticon even