48 Hours a Day

“Are you trying to say that you weren’t the one who secretly placed the graphite in our backpacks?” The doctor pointed the gun at Zhang Heng.

“That’s right,” Zhang Heng said calmly.

“That’s impossible,” the doctor said firmly. “Everyone else’s health is deteriorating rapidly. If you weren’t the one who placed the graphite in our backpacks, then he would only be letting you off easy. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Zhang Heng nodded.

Master Kui and the other players were surprised. They didn’t expect Zhang Heng to admit it so readily. Zhang Heng continued, “Unless… the person who secretly put the graphite in your bag isn’t a player.”

“Not a player… What do you mean?” Mouse was confused.

The doctor said, “After we split up, the maintenance man and I drove away from Pripyat. We were cautious along the way and tried not to interact with outsiders. I’m sure no one touched our bag during this period, so the graphite was in our bag before we split up. At that time, all of us were together. Other than our own people, it was impossible for anyone to slip something into our bag without us knowing unless that person was completely invisible.”

Zhang Heng ignored the doctor’s final taunt and asked, “Do you still remember the name of this dungeon?”

“Invisible Killer? What’s wrong with that? Didn’t we already conclude that the invisible killer refers to nuclear radiation?” Grandpa Kui said.

“Nuclear radiation does indeed fit the definition of an invisible killer. Furthermore, we encountered a nuclear explosion as soon as we entered the dungeon, so it’s instinctive to think in this direction. At first, I tried to find an answer in this direction, and I followed the steps to investigate the cause of the accident, but in the end… As you can see, the main mission hasn’t changed at all.”

“Then what else can the invisible killer refer to?”The young man asked.

“Nothing, just the literal meaning,” Zhang Heng said. “The background of this dungeon has been deliberately misleading us, making the whole thing complicated.”

“The literal meaning? Don’t tell me you really think an invisible killer is lurking around us?” Mouse shivered and looked around with a panicked expression.

“Are you treating us like fools?” The doctor didn’t fall for his trick at all. He laughed in anger. “Are you really going to push all this on an invisible man?”

Even the uniformed teenager, who had always supported Zhang Heng unconditionally, found the statement hard to accept. “An invisible man… It’s a little too sci-fi.”

“No, you’ve misunderstood me,” Zhang Heng said. “The teacher who taught me assassin techniques once told me that the best way to disappear quickly in this world is to completely blend into the surrounding environment and become a part of it.”

“So… for now, what’s the fastest way to blend into the environment?” Master Kui asked.

“Pretend to be a player.”

Zhang Heng replied calmly, “The dungeon’s mode is single-player cooperative, which means that the players in the dungeon are all in a cooperative relationship. Although we can’t rule out the possibility of some players killing others for their goods, overall, the relationship between the players in the single-player, cooperative dungeon is relatively harmonious. Furthermore, the background of this dungeon is the famous Chernobyl accident. From the first second of the game, the shadow of death has been looming over our heads, especially when we have no clue about the main storyline quest. It’s almost impossible for us to suspect the companions around us.”

Zhang Heng paused for a moment before continuing, “As I said before, this dungeon has been deliberately misleading us from the very beginning. When we first entered the dungeon, there were seven of us in the same room. When we realized that we were surrounded by players, we naturally assumed that all seven of us were players. This is a form of mental inertia.”

“But after that, we introduced ourselves. At least I didn’t find anything wrong with it. Even if the NPC in the dungeon could blend in with us, it would be difficult to imitate our tone and mannerism. Most importantly, it would be our understanding of the real world.” Despite saying that, she began to think about the possibility.

“Of course, ordinary NPC can’t, but someone can do it.”

“Who?”

“The master behind this dungeon,” Zhang Heng said calmly.

“The master behind this dungeon? Your story is getting more and more ridiculous,” the doctor sneered. “I can’t rule out the possibility that some gods will appear in the dungeon, but I’ve never heard of any gods personally participating in the game.”

“Others may not, but I know someone who will. In fact, I’m not surprised at what he does,” Zhang Heng said.

“Do you already know which God is behind this dungeon?” Grandpa Kui’s eyes moved.

“That’s right. Loki, the God of lies and tricks in Norse mythology, is the one hiding among us and playing tricks,” Zhang Heng said. “This is very consistent with his style of doing things.”

“You said the God behind this dungeon is Loki? Where’s the evidence? So far, all we’ve heard is your nonsense,” the doctor snapped rudely, clenching the TT-33 in his hand.

“The evidence is hidden in every corner of the dungeon. Although Loki has always appeared as a person who can ignore the rules and tease people everywhere, he can indeed break many restrictions. This is also the reason why this dungeon is so unique. However, according to my speculation, he still needs to follow some basic rules in the game. For example, he can’t set up an unsolvable dungeon. He can increase its difficulty to a certain extent, but he also needs to leave the answer to the riddle.”

“Where is the answer?” the boy asked.

“According to Norse mythology, Loki was an outstanding shapeshifter. He appeared in different stories as a seal, a salmon, a white mare, a fly, and an old woman named Sauk.”

“A white mare? The one we met on the way to the hotel?” Mouse asked in surprise.

Zhang Heng nodded, ” The old lady named Sauk lives in a small village not far from Pripyat. The building she lives in is taller than the average residential building because, in Norse mythology, she belongs to the giant tribe. Half of the other building has collapsed, corresponding to the cave she lives in in the story.”

“The dolphin, is it the chain hanging on our car?” Master Kui quickly thought of the dolphin interior hanging on the rearview mirror of the Volga.

“If it’s salmon, it can’t be referring to the canned salmon that we stored, right?” Mouse’s ability to draw inferences from one example was also very strong.