48 Hours a Day

Tonight, Zhang Heng had achieved two things in one—he solved Yogurt’s kidnapping and accepted the Shadow-set’s test.

The former went by reasonably smoothly. Although he received no game points from 1810, he did acquire a game item. At least he got something in return after spending all that effort to look for Yogurt. As for the grievances between Yogurt and 1810, and the love story between Yogurt and Shen Dongxing, these had nothing to do with him.

After completing the trial of the Shadow-set items, he received a huge amount of new information. He had actually been unable to fully understand what was going on; until now, that was.

According to his previous analysis, he should have entered the Shadow-set’s dungeon for the test after inhaling the white smoke. Due to personal reasons, however, he returned to the strange town that he had dreamed of. This time, though, he managed to find out why the town was slowly rotting away.

But then Zhang Heng noticed Fabericotte’s behavior. That was when he first started to doubt if he should continue investigating his life.

In the end, he decided not to go to the black reef and meet the creatures there. Fabericotte did refer to him as his most loyal servant and follower. However, based on Zhang Heng’s experience, when someone did not mind paying the massive price of forcing another to do something, it often meant that myriad unfavorable factors would plague the matter.

When Zhang Heng first arrived in that town, he instinctively felt a particular connection with him. The person standing on the black reef should be the leader of those half-man-half-fish and frog monsters.

If Fabericotte wasn’t lying, and that person was his servant and follower, then who was he?

What about the other items from the Shadow-set?

If it was as simple as returning to his dream, how were those Shadow items on him? And what about the choice he had to make at the end of his dream?

Did he pass the test? If tonight’s dream was related to his body and he hadn’t completed the Shadow set’s trial, how did he acquire the wings?

What did the bartender have to do with this incident? Did she know that the ritual would go wrong? Could she have been one of the people that knew about Zhang Heng’s life?

What was the relationship between her and the old man in the Tang suit? Did they know each other? If this was the case, it was no coincidence that the old man asked him to come to this checkpoint where the bartender was.

…

So many questions were left unanswered, yet Zhang Heng was in no rush to get their answers. After he came out of the bar, he found a hotel and rented a business suite, falling asleep from morning all the way to the afternoon. Although the mysterious and depressive atmosphere had little effect on him, the battle that began at Gilman Lodge all the way to the swamp had cost him a great deal of stamina.

After returning to the real world, Zhang Heng didn’t want to think about other matters, merely wanting to have a good rest. Fortunately for him, he had a sound sleep, where there were no interruptions and no strange dreams as well. When his eyes finally opened and he glanced at his watch, the time showed 4:20 in the afternoon.

After that, he headed to the bathroom for a shower. Once he came out, he turned on the computer on the desk and organized the information at hand.

Perhaps intentional or otherwise—Zhang Heng realized that Fabericotte had never told him the town’s name from the beginning. However, he did mention that he was traveling around New England.

New England was in no way related to the United Kingdom. Referring to six states in the Northeastern United States, they included Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Newburyport was a city located in northeastern Massachusetts. Zhang Heng had gone to the United States twice in two games, and he still clearly remembered some of the country’s facts.

But the name Arkham was unfamiliar to Zhang Heng. Those familiar with comics, however, knew that there was an Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. The place was filled with talented people, and they were friendly and polite. However, in reality, it seemed that such a place did not really exist. To verify his doubts, Zhang Heng clicked on an electronic map.

As expected, no such place existed.

So was Fabericotte lying about it?

Zhang Heng was in no rush to draw a conclusion. He continued searching for July 15, 1927, the day that Fabericotte and the townsfolk were very concerned about. However, the results obtained weren’t beneficial. The 1946 plague shared no clues about the place he was looking for, and in the end, Zhang Heng was left with a frown on his brow.

Suddenly, his mobile phone vibrated. Zhang Heng picked it up, took a look, and found that Chen Huadong had sent him a message. There were only two words—HELP ME!

He even sent his location.

Zhang Heng took a look and knew that it was near a commercial pedestrian street, not too far from where he currently was.

As of now, the last thing he wanted was to dwell on this matter. He had recently been dealing nonstop with supernatural incidents, and he needed to relax his nerves by doing things an ordinary person would do.

So, he turned off the computer, went downstairs to check out his room, took a taxi, and rushed to where Chen Huadong was. The latter was waiting for him in front of the street. Scratching his head, a girl was beside him.

At about only 1.5 meters, her stubby height made her look petite, not to mention her silver hair and the quirky outfit she had put on. Her bangs were slightly cocked, making her look like she had just woken up from sleep.

Zhang Heng remembered Hayase Asuka saying that she had a friend who loved anime and was here as an exchange student. And she wanted to find someone to practice her Chinese, so Zhang Heng had recommended Chen Huadong, who himself had been coming to terms with his lengthy period of bachelorship. Hence, that marked the beginning of their international friendship.

After Zhang Heng got the contact information Hayase Asuka sent him, he immediately forwarded it to Chen Huadong. He never asked if the friendship worked out or not.

So this was Zhang Heng’s first time seeing her in the flesh.

Chen Huadong was in luck this time. She was almost as gorgeous as Hayase Asuka. Although she fell slightly short of Hayase Asuka’s sharp facial features, she was cuter than most of her counterparts. As they were walking just now, many boys had their eyes on her. It was rare that she shared the same hobbies as Chen Huadong. It was no wonder Chen Huadong had been so passionate about learning Japanese recently.

“You are finally here!” Chen Huadong’s eyes lit up when he saw Zhang Heng.

“Well, how can I help?”

“We are going to visit the bookstore. Nanako… Oh, by the way, I haven’t introduced her to you yet.”

Chen Huadong started to speak in crappy Japanese. “Nanako… this… Zhang Heng, Zhang Heng, this Mukaiji Nanako.”

Nanako then stretched out her hand, wanting to shake Zhang Heng’s hand, “Asuka-senpai talks about Zhang-san almost three times a day. Recently, she had been complaining about you not contacting her. She admires you a lot!”