48 Hours a Day

“Everyone has their strengths limited in some way. We all come from different circumstances, and we have different forte as well. Some people love using their fists to solve their problems. Some prefer to use their brains to overcome their difficulties. Forming a team with others would allow you to overcome your weaknesses! After all, we are not superhumans. Your character panel should remind you of this as well. The previous quests that you have completed were probably designed to be completed alone. However, you will be in deep trouble if you come across a quest that cannot be completed alone!

Of course, solo-quests have their benefits. The yield for each quest is fixed, and you get everything that you earned. Being in a team, however, would mean that you’ll have to distribute your loot equally. Usually, people would only go solo after they have become stronger. Still, the risk of failure is very high. You can make all kinds of mistakes when you go solo on a quest.”

Zhang Heng was dumbfounded. The old man with the Chinese attire was the one who had invited him to join this quest. It seemed that the other players entered the game differently. He did not receive the invitation that the professor mentioned earlier. Until now, he had also not met other players at the game stop. It was no wonder that he was still playing the game alone.

Technically speaking, the old man did not actually put his life in danger. The extra 24 hours that he had was for him to solo the quest. This bonus time he had substantially lowered the risks of all the quests that he played.

“Unfortunately, my team is full now. Otherwise, I would have given you a test before allowing you to join my team. My advice is to go to the city that you live in and look for a team to join. This is going to be a long game. Your mental and physical state will undergo great stress, and you will eventually need someone to share it with. After all, we can never share these things with our friends and family. Your team members will be your pillar of support.”

Zhang Heng knew that the professor was right about everything. Unfortunately, he also knew that he was meant to keep those secrets to himself and not share it with others. Considering that he spent two years alone marooned on a desolated island, he had no problems with staying and playing alone.

“I heard someone mentioning something about a guild. What is that?”

“Guilds and chambers of commerce are formed by players, with both providing different services. Though you are still a newbie, I’m pretty sure that you’ve heard that the real world is actually not as safe as we thought it is. That is why certain players band together and form a guild to look after each other’s backs. Some of them even volunteered to deal with the supernatural stuff that happens around them.”

“Sounds good to me. Why are you so against the idea of joining a guild?”

Earlier, the professor had criticized the guild member that speaking on the stage. Zhang Heng could sense hostility between his words.

“Guilds are supposed to exist to serve the greater good. As time passed, the definition of ‘guild’ changed. In a guild, everyone was supposed to take care of each other. Sadly, when certain members become more and more powerful, they wanted more than just taking care of each other. Due to this, some guilds have become unstable, the contributors to the chaos right now. We all have different opinions about guilds. Right now, I’m happy with my own team, and I have no interest in joining any other guilds.”

After chatting for a while, the professor descended to the first deck for a round of cards, and Zhang Heng stayed on the third to listen to speeches from different guilds. An hour and a half later, everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered at the ballroom.

Zhang Heng came up with a rough estimate that there were around 4000 to 5000 people here. There were more than 500 items to be auctioned off today. Among these were 12 valuable items that required the bidder to raise their number if they wanted to bid for the item. As for the rest of the 488 items, players could only bid for them online. The system would then determine the highest bidder.

While walking around, Zhang Heng crossed paths with Ding Si once again. It seemed like he had just closed in on a deal as he was smiling from ear-to-ear. He even greeted Zhang Heng first.

He whispered, “According to a rumor I heard just now, I was told that a B-grade game item would on auction later. And there are a few unique C-grade game items as well.”

“Are B-grade game items rare?”

“Of course! There are less than 200 B-grade game items within the entire circle of players right now. Most of the players I know would never sell these off. If I’m not mistaken, it was a B-grade item that left everyone in shock last year!”

Ding Si was really excited as he described the game item. As a businessman, he was always infatuated by objects that carried extreme value.

“Dreamland of Death! It’s an item that can be used to curse others,” Ding Si exclaimed. ”

Everyone was afraid of this thing a few months ago. It can kill someone in their sleep when they are dreaming. The way to trigger this item is unknown. How the curse is lifted is unknown as well. A few elites in the player base have been cursed. The guild leader of Silver Wing was the owner of an A-grade game item and managed to survive the curse. In the end, a few guilds had to work together to eliminate the previous owner of the item. Since there’s only one, it has been decided that they would auction it off.”

“It’s basically impossible for anybody to bid for it. Leaders of these powerful guilds would never allow such a powerful item to land in the hands of an unknown stranger. I’m pretty sure that one of the guilds would eventually get it, and, the rest would take the game points instead. Anyway, their financial strength is unparalleled amongst all guilds and players,” he continued.

While they were talking, the auction finally began.

The auctioneer was a 60-year-old man who looked really serious. The wrinkles on his face resembled the bark of an old tree. He had no intention to hide his face. Just like the bartender lady, he should be one of the employees of the committee as well.

He waited until everyone was seated before presenting his five-minute-long welcome speech. Then, he introduced the first item to be auctioned.

“Escape Dagger. Grade-C. It can be used to teleport within a small area. Remaining uses: 3. You can check out its description after you bid for the item. The starting bid is 1,200 game points. Every additional bid costs 50 game points. The bidding ends when the hammer drops three times. Let’s begin.”

“Damn. That’s a good item!” said Ding Si.

“Are you going to bid for it?”

“It is a good item. Items that can be used to improve in-game survival are usually extremely costly! I’m here to looking for treasure for Fu Lou. It’s not for myself. Items that are undervalued are my target tonight,” answered an excited Ding Si while switching on his tablet.