Chapter 12 (2/2)

If he had not ‘saved’ Ed, Ed might still be alive, floating on the waters with the other two.

This was not the first day Zhang Heng played games. He knew that this situation meant that he was encountering a bug.

The root cause of that was probably that extra twenty-four hours he had that disrupted the quest.

Theoretically speaking, the game should cease to exist after forty days. The other players had probably all returned to reality. He was the only was still stuck in the game—still suffering.

Most games would have crashed or broken down. Yet, this game continued to run. This fact alone was enough to prove that this was no ordinary game.

The bartender lady had said that this was the greatest game in the history of mankind. Right now, Zhang Heng found himself a little convinced of that. Ever since he arrived in this ‘world’, everything he had seen was extremely realistic, from the plants to the animals on the island, everything was true to the real world. Even Ed did not appear any different from a real person.

Right now, however, a flaw had finally appeared in this impeccable world.

“Is it because the plot has ended, it has no choice but to repeat?”

However, unlike mechanical loops, the Ed whom he had buried in the little forest did not reappear, meaning that the repeat followed a logical sequence.

Zhang Heng peeled off his clothes as quickly as he could; of course, he was not going to miss such a good opportunity.

Unlike the physically weak and feeble person he was forty days ago, Zhang Heng was well-fed, and was even able to perform some training exercising outside of labor.

His body had nearly recovered to its most optimal state.

Having gauged the distance between himself and the two people in the water, Zhang Heng decided to save the laddie in shorts, who was further away. Because according to game designers’ logic, the more effort you put in, the better the reward.

With Ed’s help, he had basically overcome the problem of finding food; now, he wanted to know what kind of changes would saving that young man bring to his life.

…

Ten days later, Zhang Heng found himself marveling at the brick kiln and tile-roofed house.

There were actually people in this world who could build a house with their bare hands! All throughout, Zhang Heng trailed behind the lad in shorts from finding clay, to constructing beams, firing the bricks in a kiln, to finally building the half a meter tall bricked house. In addition to that, the lad even showed him how to make a proper stone axe, set up a wooden shed, make ceramics, prawn traps, and sandals, and use the fibers from tree barks to weave, make bow and arrows, and slings.

Not having to worry about food, Zhang Heng was able to spend his time taking it all in.

It was a pity, however, that the short pants lad never spoke. He merely did as Zhang Heng requested and quietly demonstrated all the techniques.

Then on the nineteenth day, he accidentally ingested poisonous mushrooms and died in the forest.

Killed by the plot?

Now Zhang Heng understood that the game was designed in a way that the player would have to spend the later half of the game alone. So, no matter what they did, the already injured Ed and the lad in shorts would not last until the twentieth day.

Zhang Heng buried the lad in shorts next to Ed’s grave.

Unlike Ed, this lad never spoke a word; so, they did not share very strong ties. In addition, after knowing that it was all just a game, Zhang Heng was not terribly upset.

But, at the end of the day, they were teacher and student. Zhang Heng felt obliged to give him a proper burial.

After that, Zhang Heng digested and began to put everything the lad in shorts had thought him throughout their nineteen days together. In between, the adventurer drifted past twice, but Zhang did not ‘save’ him.

He would come back again some other time.

If Zhang Heng saved him, he would have only nineteen days left to live.

On the 130th day on the island, an announcement rang in Zhang Heng’s ear.

[Tiled-roof house successfully constructed; Wilderness Survival Skill has increased from level 0 to level 1; Game Points +5; you may view the character panel…]