48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng could finally bid farewell to the fish and chips he’d been chomping on for the days he could remember. He could yet throw himself again into the embrace of the canteen on the second floor. His other three dorm mates were used to his occasional night absentees by now, and it wasn’t like their school officially appointed an officer to check on them. Even if he lived outside campus, no one really cared anyway.

Rumors, however, would eventually emerge if one kept leaving campus grounds, just like how Shen Xixi was branded a sugar baby, said to be cozying up to older rich men who would bolster her opulent lifestyle. It was now Zhang Heng’s turn to taste Shen Xixi’s unpleasant experience, especially after someone spotted him having dinner with Han Lu at the food court. Han Lu’s flirtsy attitude definitely didn’t help things; there was plenty a room for imagination since there was a time he wouldn’t return to the dormitory every month. Of course, nobody believed Zhang Heng’s explanation that Han Lu was just his mother’s best friend. The rampant rumors showed no sign of slowing, answering the true, loquacious nature embedded within a person. Besides satisfying one’s curiosity, it was to be expected that a little imagination was also added to whatever topic they wanted to know more about.

The ugly truth was, whenever a person fell from grace, an onlooker would actually receive gratification from it. A few insincere words of consolation were also an inevitable addition to the package. After all, no one would so brazenly endanger their future and finances due to words from a loose tongue. It was probably because he was male, that he attracted lesser attention than Shen Xixi. Men had their attention drawn to different things, where their time would be rather spent on games, sports stars, or manga characters. Not to mention they were in their sophomore year, and most hadn’t even the slightest of what their future looked like.

Zhang Heng or Shen Xixi were both usually busy with things that really mattered, and these rumors didn’t bother them at all. He now owed Shen Xixi a favor after the Dreamland of Death incident. Considering the risk of never returning to the real world, Shen Xixi and her team knew nothing of the consequences of entering Han Lu’s dream. Even so, they still chose to enter, and although they did it out of their own accord, Zhang Heng didn’t want to take their kindness for granted.

As of now, there was nothing he could do to help Shen Xixi. The non-guild player group she led had recently gained momentum. Not only had a large number of players had joined them, but smaller and medium-sized guilds had begun engaging and cooperating with them.

Everyone might not have the same goals, but most of the players knew that killing supernatural creatures would grant a high chance of game items dropping. Considering game items were scarce, and the method to obtain them had always been a mystery, Shen Xixi had actually provided them with a reliable means.

Shen Xixi did not refuse such people, though. Not only was it challenging to discern everyone’s true purpose, but she knew all too well that players like her were a rarity, armed with the sole purpose of protecting the ordinary. They wouldn’t be solving their problems anytime soon with the small number they had, which was why they sorely needed help. No matter what the purpose of the other party was, Shen Xixi didn’t mind working with them, as long as the final results matched their

goal.

As time went on, however, the organization began to juggle with complicated internal issues, and Shen Xixi now spent most of her time coordinating and managing the guild. The city they were in was also an exceptional one, where two of the three major guilds were headquartered here. So far, the grand guild had not expressed their stand on Shen Xixi’s newly-established guild, probably wanting to observe her for now.

The flash-drive obtained from the Whistleblower quest enabled Zhang Heng to log in to the player forum on his computer without worrying about his IP address getting tracked. Hence, he had been quite active on the forum recently.

After some time, he noticed a post.

It was called “Finding People,” its creator going by the handle of Scarlet Sword, a supporting role in a fantasy novel. The forum was filled with a myriad of posts similar to this. The team that lost to Zhang Heng in the Lego quest was a good example. Disgruntled, they furiously told the world that they would look for Zhang Heng no matter what happened.

Whether in multiplayer or single-player mode, there was a chance of encountering other players. Undoubtedly, having more than one player would also see complaints starting to come in. That said, the developers had done an excellent job protecting the privacy of players. Everyone’s appearance and voice were modified, and unless one confessed their identity, it was practically impossible to look for a specific player once a game ended.

The good news was that there was now a player forum-a place where all players could congregate. Looking for a specific player had naturally become one of the hotter topics of the forum. Then, there were quite a few posts created solely to vent a player’s anger, carrying with them not much meaning in the end. Scarlet Sword’s post, however, was different. When Zhang Heng saw the name, he instantly thought of the woman in red from the Whistleblower quest. The two had a brief but fierce fight, finally ending when Zhang Heng blasted off the ceiling of a parking lot with an RPG. The ceiling gave way to a pile of debris, right where the woman stood. Naturally, Zhang Heng thought that she’d been eliminated, only to learn later from Mr. Coffee that she was still alive, deciding to call the quest quits. And this post was no accident. She was looking for him.

The woman named Scarlet made no references to the previous battle, leaving neither resentful remarks, nor did she covet revenge as well. Instead, she simply asked politely if he was available for them to discuss something.

Zhang Heng knew what she was talking about

—the katana originally belonged to Scarlet, broken into two halves during the explosion. Realizing it would be unsafe to linger within the collapsing parking lot, Zhang Heng only managed to pick up the sword’s upper part, leaving it’s lower half-buried under the debris. Scarlet must have retrieved it after Black Nest cleaned up the place.

The two were presently caught in an awkward situation, where neither could use the incomplete game item. Zhang Heng consulted the bartender lady, and to make matters worse, even if the missing part was retrieved, the follow-up maintenance cost of the katana would amount to a whopping 2,000 game points.

The post received many views, but there were only a few comments. Players clicking on that post didn’t see the expected trolling and bickering, leaving many who were hungry for drama high and dry. Some players even pretended to be Zhang Heng, asking to talk to her. However, Scarlet didn’t reply to them.

Bait-post or not, he intended to contact her anyway. If he managed to work things out, he could at least figure out the katana’s value first before deciding if he should repair it or sell it.

“I feel sorry for what happened at the parking lot. What do you want to talk about?” he typed.