48 Hours a Day

In order to make time for his upcoming Greenland trip, Zhang Heng didn’t have much rest this time. After meeting Han Lu to discuss the financing, he returned to the game’s checkpoint the next day.

At this time, the school was basically on vacation. The number of students in the bar had obviously increased, and the air was filled with the scent of hormones. Zhang Heng squeezed through the crowd and came to the iron ladder. He showed the player number on his arm before he walked up.

When he pushed the door open, he saw the bartender sitting behind the bar counter, as usual, paddling and playing NS. When she saw Zhang Heng, she raised her eyes slightly. “You’re here?”

“Yes.”

The two acted as if the incident on the Red Island had never happened. From the beginning to the end, Zhang Heng had never questioned why the bartender was there, and the latter had no intention of explaining at all.

However, after the monster in front of her was killed, the bartender finally put down the game console in her hand and stood up again. She took out a tule tree box from under the bar counter and pushed it in front of Zhang Heng.

“Your new item has been appraised.”

Zhang Heng opened it and saw the golden scales inside. On top of that, there was a card with the appraised result on it.

[Name: Earthly Scale]

[Quality: C]

[Effect: The wearer would absorb the earthly scale into his body. When required, the user will receive a large increase in strength. However, after using it, there will be some side effects, mainly being exhaustion. After resting, the wearer can recover.]

The effect of the Earthly Scale was very simple and direct. It was the most commonly seen strength-enhancing equipment in RPG games, in line with Jemengard’s positioning. However, it had to be said that such a rough attribute enhancement was best for practical use.

Whether it was in combat or in special circumstances, this item had strategic significance. However, after looking at the effect’s attributes, Zhang Heng still had some objections to the description.

“What does it mean by incorporating it into the body? I’m not a snake, fish, or any other scaly animal. I Can’t let this scale grow on my body, can I?” Zhang Heng asked.

“That’s easy,” the bartender said. “Show me your chest.”

Zhang Heng took off his T-shirt. The bartender’s gaze wandered over his chest and abdominal muscles. She whistled and stopped at his heart. “Let’s do it here. This scale can also provide some protection for your heart.”

After saying that, she used the scale to cut open the skin on Zhang Heng’s left chest. The wound was very shallow, so even if the scale was placed on top of it, it would not penetrate more than a millimeter. However, the next moment, something miraculous happened, the golden scale seemed to come to life, and it actually began to burrow into Zhang Heng’s chest.

The whole process lasted for about a minute. In the end, the golden scale completely sank into Zhang Heng’s body, and he could no longer see it from the outside. During this period, Zhang Heng did not feel any pain.

Another half a minute passed, and even the wound disappeared.

The bartender clapped her hands. “Alright, when you’re using it, hit your chest three times and recite Jemengard’s name in Luenwen.”

After saying that, the bartender demonstrated the pronunciation twice for Zhang Heng to remember.

Zhang Heng knew that Luenwen was a language used by the Nordic Germanic race, but it was later replaced by Latin and gradually died out. However, now that it was discovered, some people began to use Luenwen for divination.

After Zhang Heng received the Earthly Scale, he was about to head to the booth when he was stopped by the bartender.

“Wait, there’s one more thing for you.”

“Hmm?” Zhang Heng was a little surprised when he heard this. This time, he only had one more item to be appraised by the bartender. It was the Earthly Scale on his body.

“The first round of the proxy war has ended. The top 50 people get a small gift. Have you forgotten?” The bartender said as she took out another box from behind the bar counter.

Zhang Heng had really forgotten about it. He didn’t expect the game organizing committee to be so efficient. The first round of the proxy war had just ended two days ago, and the gift had already arrived.

Zhang Heng looked at the size of the box and asked, “What’s inside?”

“It just came this afternoon. To be honest, I don’t know either.” The bartender was also very curious.

Hence, Zhang Heng directly opened the package in front of her. In the end, he saw a brand-new PS4 Pro inside.

“…”

“Is this a game item?” Zhang Heng asked the bartender.

“No, this is just an ordinary game console,” the bartender said. She looked a little deflated, and she pulled herself back behind the bar counter. “This doesn’t have any supernatural powers attached to it, but the organizing committee has said before that the top 50 gifts are only for commemorative purposes. This thing is worth at least 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. If you don’t want it, you can just drop it on salted fish.”

“Then I’ll leave this thing with you for now. I’ll take it with me when I leave.” Zhang Heng handed the PS4 Pro back to the bartender. He finally reached the booth he frequented, then set a time as usual and lay down.

As the alarm rang, the familiar feeling of dizziness assaulted him again.

[Player identification…]

[Authentication passed. Random 10th dungeon drawing for player 07958…]

[Draw complete—current dungeon is “Invisible Killer”]

“They’re like stars in the sky, shining all day long! We should spread them all over the country. They’re extremely safe—M.A. Stiricovic.”

[Mission objective: Find the key person ]

[Mode: Single Player Cooperative]

[Time flow: 1440 (One hour in the real world is equivalent to 60 days in the game. There is no specific time limit for this round. After completing the mission, you can return to the real world)]

Friendly Reminder, the game will officially start in five seconds. Please get ready.

The dungeon’s name and introduction were unprecedentedly abstract. Almost no valuable information was given, but Zhang Heng could still smell something unusual from the strange dungeon time.

This was the first time he had seen a dungeon with no time limit. This meant that the players could stay in the dungeon as long as they wanted. It was practically an official benefit. This was because almost all the players knew the importance of game time. Not only would increasing game time increase the success rate of the main mission, but it would also allow them to fully train their skills. However, Zhang Heng did not think that things would be that simple.