48 Hours a Day

In twelve seconds, Zhang Heng had shot out a total of seventeen arrows. Basically, none of them missed, and more than half of the dogs were killed or injured as a result.

When he landed on the ground, he leaned back against the wall of the badminton hall to avoid being surrounded again. Then, he pulled out the Hidden Sheath on his waist and easily killed another six dogs. The remaining dogs finally started to feel fear and stopped charging, scattering with tails between their legs.

Zhang Heng did not chase after them. Firstly, the dogs would probably be too afraid to come back after the incident. Secondly, the battle just now had almost depleted the stock in his quiver.

After that, he searched the badminton hall again to ensure that there were no other stray dogs inside. Only then did he return to the room where the food was stored.

Master Kui had already started cleaning the residue on the ground outside the room. He had even sorted out the food that was barely enough for tonight. Seeing this, Zhang Heng suggested, “After we finish dinner, we can go to the nearby houses to collect some food.”

However, Master Kui shook her head.

“There’s no need.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s go back to the Pripyat Hotel tonight,” Master Kui said decisively.

“Are you guys going to investigate Scherbina?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows, “But the experts haven’t noticed that the reactor might melt through the concrete base and cause a thermal explosion when it comes into contact with the pool. The three engineers who opened the drain valve haven’t even appeared, and the miners haven’t arrived in Pripyat yet.”

“Undoubtedly, their work is of utmost importance; they can even be called heroes, but frankly, I don’t think they’re the ones we’re looking for,” Kui replied.

These few days, she had watched her companions and her own health deteriorate little by little. In addition, until now, she hadn’t received any news related to the main mission. Master Kui finally started to doubt the direction she had chosen.

“Even though I don’t want to admit it, the truth is that we haven’t made much progress in the past few days in Pripyat. Our current work is just a waste of time, and every day we delay will increase the amount of radiation we inhale. Perhaps the repairman and doctor are right. We should leave this place early and find a safe place to wait for the official investigation results.”

“Are you going to look for the doctor and the repairman?” Zhang Heng asked.

“Perhaps,” Mouse said. “To be honest, we don’t know where they are now. After we leave this place, we can go to a hospital for a checkup first.”

It was an era where no such thing called a mobile phone or WeChat existed. Everyone relied on letters and landlines to contact each other. However, before the maintenance man and the doctor left, they did not decide where they would go. The Soviet territory was so awfully vast; there was a high possibility both parties wouldn’t meet again in this dungeon.

“This is only the result of our preliminary discussion,” the young man said. “We also want to seek your opinion. Personally, I will go wherever you decide. If you still want to stay here, I will stay with you.”

Even though the young man’s physical condition was the worst of the three, and he looked like he needed urgent treatment, he seemed to have made up his mind to follow Zhang Heng until the last moment of his life.

Seeing that the somewhat tragic atmosphere, Mouse attempted to ease the tension.

“Actually, the situation might not be that serious. Scherbina is the committee chairman and is in charge of the disaster relief work, so there’s a high possibility he’s the key person. Perhaps we’ll complete the main storyline mission tonight, and everyone will be able to return to the real world safely. Coconut will also be saved.”

Of course, this would be a happy result for everyone, but after experiencing disappointment after disappointment, the players felt a little uncertain.

At this time, Master Kui noticed that there were only two arrows left in Zhang Heng’s quiver, so she asked, “Did you run into some trouble?”

“No, I didn’t run into any trouble but a group of stray dogs at the badminton hall. But I’ve already taken care of them,” Zhang Heng said calmly.

“A group of stray dogs? Are they here?” Uncle Kui was a little surprised.

Most of the stray dogs in the city were hungry, trying their best to find food. There was no food near the stadium, so logically speaking, it shouldn’t attract stray dogs. There were so many of them; they even found the room the players stored their food.

Zhang Heng asked, “Who was the last one to leave today?”

“Me, it was me.” Mouse raised his hand.

“Did you close the door when you left?”

“Uhh… I can’t remember. I woke up in the morning, and my leg was in a lot of pain. At that time, my mind was focused on how to make my leg feel better. Later, when I went out, I realized that I had forgotten to take my gas mask. I even turned back, so I probably forgot to lock the door when I came out again,” Mouse said. “I’ll pay attention next time, although I guess there won’t be a next.”

The players didn’t blame Mouse for this matter. Although most of their food and drinking water had been contaminated by stray dogs, from another perspective, this matter had finally prompted them to make up their minds. They would no longer go around in circles and face the final outcome.

After tonight, Master Kui would also find out if she was heading in the right direction.

After the players hastily finished their dinner, they laid down in their hammocks to recover their energy and prepare for tonight’s operation. Although they had decided to leave Pripyat if there was still no progress and wait for the official investigation results, everyone knew in their hearts that this was just another distant hope.

If they had left with the maintenance workers and doctors back then, they might have been able to hold on until that day. However, now that they had chosen to stay in Pripyat and continue to receive radiation, everyone’s physical condition had deteriorated to different degrees. It was probably too late to wait for the official investigation results.

Similarly, everyone had already placed their bets on tonight’s operation. Now that the answer to the riddle was finally about to be revealed, everyone’s hearts were filled with anxiety.

Mouse had complained about the difficulty of this dungeon more than once. Not only did he suffer a nuclear explosion when he went out, but the main mission was so vague that there were no hints at all. Furthermore, he had tried two directions in a row, but there was still no result. Mouse even began to suspect that the god behind this dungeon was attempting to play them to death.

Zhang Heng was probably the only one of the four who wasn’t paying attention to his actions at night.

He had an even bigger problem to solve.