48 Hours a Day Novel Chapter 287 - Transitional Quest

Chapter 287 Transitional Quest

Ever since Zhang Heng received the analog watch, his 24 hours had increased to 28. When its hands reached midnight, he would enter a world where ti halted no matter where he was. Having tested his theory multiple tis throughout the entire month, his extra 24 hours would still apply when he entered the ga, thus, accumulated into his total playti.

Before the NASA quest, Zhang Heng had always played the ga himself. From the desolated island to the 18th century Caribbean, all four gas were completed by Zhang Heng alone. It wasn’t until this ga that six other players were paired with him. This situation was a first for him, and he had no idea what would happen at twelve. This was excatly why he chose single-player mode all the while, hoping to avoid unnecessary complications like this.

Usually, Zhang Heng would enter the ga at 11.55 p.m. from the real world. There were five minutes until midnight, and according to the ga’s ti flow, five minutes was equivalent to twenty hours.

It had been almost twenty hours since Zhang Heng entered this world. Imdiately, he told his trainer that he needed to head to the toilet. However, his trainer gently reminded him that he could pee within the provided urinary bag in the spacesuit, considering it as a training exercise for the tis he really needed to relieve himself in space.

Zhang Heng was desperate. He thanked his trainer and insisted that he had to go the toilet by hook or crook. No matter what would happen after this, walking around inside a seventy-pound spacesuit wasn’t part of his plan. In the end, his trainer relented, having to spend fifteen minutes to help him get out of it. The mont Zhang Heng freed his right leg, he retook a look at his watch. Only half a minute was left before the clock’s hands landed on twelve. It was at that ti that Zhang Heng spotted Yin Xiong and tubby looking at him suspiciously. Whether he liked it or not, Zhang Heng having no ti to interrogate them, anyway.

The mont the clock’s hands hit twelve, everyone in the training room literally stopped in their tracks, their faces frozen in ti as well. The world had completely turned into a giant wax museum.

Zhang Heng had expected this outco all along. Earlier, he tested this theory with his computer. In the still world, it was possible to enter a single-player ga. The only caveat was that he would be unable to play any gas that required an internet connection. Although he was unable to scientifically explain the phenonon, the mysterious quest that he just joined was still considered a ga. Every ga that he previously joined was still running when it was midnight in the real world. The only thing that changed was that his gaplay had beco longer. Since there were other players present in this quest, it had proved that the world would still co to a stop co midnight.

However, before Zhang Heng could move a muscle, he heard a notification from the ga’s system.

(Warning!!! Warning!!! Ga-ti critical error detected.”

(Submitting critical error...] (Second level clearance has been initiated. Initial analysis: failure to continue. One player suspected of foul play. Contingency plan activated...]

(Parallel quest activated: Apollo Training Camp’s transitional quest. Number of players: 1. Goals: none; so far. Ti: 240 days. Player, please pay attention!)

Zhang Heng frowned and suddenly heard The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ echoing in his ears. At the sa ti, his surroundings turned pitch black. It wasn’t the sa darkness as when the lights were turned off, but rather, a blackout situation where all light was utterly non-existent. Zhang Heng usually experienced this at the beginning of every new quest, where the complete lack of external stimuli helped him pay full attention to the announcent. This, however, was the very first ti it occurred in the middle of the ga. It felt as if the ga’s online server was being rebooted.

Luckily, the darkness did not last too long. When Zhang Heng opened his eyes again, Paul McCartney was already at, “Oh, yesterday ca suddenly...” He found out that he was no longer in NASA’s training room. The players around him had disappeared as well. Right now, he was standing on a vast runway. He could hear the deafening roar of jet engines, and suddenly a fighter jet flew over his head with a gust of wind almost knocking him over. From afar, Zhang Heng saw a pretty blond girl waving at him, looking extrely anxious. “Jim doesn’t like the newcors wandering around the place. Let’s leave imdiately when you are done with him. The people from the lab are still waiting for us.”

“Lab?”

“Yes. Your school’s students are there now, and you’re the only one left behind. Oh... can you please get off the runway? We’ll be in big trouble if the tower spots us.”

“I’m sorry.”

Imdiately, Zhang Heng moved away from the runway. He had no intention of risking his life as well. Getting hit by a speeding aircraft rumbling down the runway at over 200 miles per hour wasn’t his idea of a good death.

Nonetheless, this wasn’t his first ti hearing a warning from the ga’s system. When the second level clearance kicked in, the error wasn’t submitted to the system, subsequently removing it permanently from the ga’s sequential decision-making algorithm. Zhang Heng suspected that this all might sohow be connected to the mysterious old man. Since the old man had chosen him to play the ga, he must have known that such issues would eventually occur. It was evident that the second level clearance was used to deal with the problem, but apparently, it did not work properly in multiplayer mode. Hence, the system determined that he was technically cheating.

In the still world, he was the only one who could move, and it was safe to say that he was invincible. Just like the Zavilcha case, Shen Xixi and her team failed to defeat it even after several attempts. In the still world, however, Zhang Heng used only a rudintary utility knife to defeat the monster. In other words, he could easily eliminate the other six players in the paused world if he wanted to, as well.

It seed the system had noticed this anomaly, and to protect the other players, it created a transitional quest for Zhang Heng and placed him in there. Due to the rushed decision, no goal had been set up for the quest at the mont. Zhang Heng was wondering if this quest was as dangerous as the Winter War. “What is the ti now?”

“Ti? Erm... 10.35.”

“What’s today’s date?”

“12th February.”

“Which year?”

“Is this supposed to be a joke? It’s 1955! Hmm. Do all MIT students use weird antics like this to get attention? I should remind you that if you are late again, your internship at Louis Flight Dynamics Lab will be canceled!”