Xiao Daidzhao

Growing up with eccentric materialistic parents who left him in the care of his grandfather for a job overseas, Zhang Heng had learned to adapt and be unfettered by the oddities and challenges in life. But he would soon learn the baffling truth about the world he thought he knew when one day at midnight time froze and he found himself in a world so quiet and still it was deafening. That night, he discovered that he had 24 hours more than everybody else and thus, marked the beginning of his adventures. The mysteries surrounding his newfound ability only deepened when a strange old man claimed to have given Zhang Heng that ‘gift of time’ and recruited the young man to participate in a cryptic ‘life-changing’ game on his behalf. Little did Zhang Heng know that accepting those terms meant embroiling himself in many versions of reality and exposing himself to the hidden secrets of the world—a decision he could never undo.

48 Hours a Day

As Zhang Heng wrapped up questioning the group of teenagers, the sky had begun to turn dark.

Zhang Heng did not rush to report to the patrol team for duty. Instead, he found a small restaurant and had dinner there since he still had some time left. He ordered pickled anchovy, grilled meat, and a small piece of goat cheese with a bowl of coarse oatmeal. In total, he spent less than six sestertii on his food.

As he ate, he learned about how much someone would spend on average at a place like this. The price of the food here was half of the cost of the food in the city. The portions here were smaller, however, and they tasted terrible. Zhang Heng felt that the grilled meat tasted weird, feeling neither like chicken nor rabbit.

Patrol Station