Chapter 1

Zhang Heng discovered that his day had an extra 24 hours a month ago.

The first thing to change was his watch, a Tissot Seastar Automatic III mechanical watch, which his parents, who were in Iceland, had given him for his 18th birthday.

They had placed a very perfunctory order on Taobao, and the seller shipped it, even filling in the wrong class address.

Zhang Heng was too lazy to complain about these two. Before he even finished primary school, these two "gods" had already packed up and flown to Europe to start a new life.

They met at an academic exchange conference, both being theologians, experts in religious mythology. In their great country, where materialism prevails, this profession naturally doesn't have a good future.

However, unlike those fraudulent charlatans, Zhang Heng's parents were genuinely competent. One was a graduate of Oxford University, specializing in Norse and Greek mythology, and the other was a master's student at Durham University, focusing on Christian mythology, having published several influential papers in the field.

As a result, they couldn't make a living after returning to China.

...

Just then, Zhang Heng's father's mentor took on a big project and was short of staff. After some discussion, they left Zhang Heng with his grandfather and started their research life, traveling all over the world.

They would only return home once a year, so Zhang Heng spent his childhood with his grandfather.

Perhaps feeling guilty, these two "gods" didn't skimp on expenses for the old man and the child. Excluding tuition and accommodation fees, Zhang Heng's annual living expenses for university were 30,000 yuan, not as much as those rich second-generation kids who drive sports cars, but quite good compared to ordinary students.

Let's get back to the main topic.

The watch was quite strange. When Zhang Heng woke up and instinctively checked the time, he found that the scale on the watch had changed from twelve to twenty-four.

Zhang Heng was stunned for a moment, then calmly put the watch back in its place, pulled the covers over himself, and continued sleeping.

An hour and a half later, his roommate sent a text message, regretfully informing him that he had been called out in the advanced math class.

Not a dream?

Zhang Heng spent ten minutes washing up, sat down at the desk under the bed, and turned on his computer.

He first logged into Taobao, searched for "double-scale watch, prank," but the search results showed—sorry, no related items found.

So Zhang Heng deleted the "prank" part.

Still no matching results.

Not a prank?

Zhang Heng stroked his chin. If he ignored the extra twelve scales, the time on the watch matched the time on his computer. After careful observation, Zhang Heng confirmed that this twenty-four-scale watch was indeed the same Seastar he had been wearing all along.

Including the scratches on the back cover and the creases on the strap, these details were known only to him, the original owner.

Of course, some hardcore enthusiasts might be able to replicate the details perfectly, but who would go to such lengths for a prank? Wouldn't it be better to use such skills and energy to restore artifacts at the Forbidden City?

In summary, Zhang Heng knew he was in for something.

Ordinary people would probably be scared out of their wits by such a paranormal phenomenon, but Zhang Heng was not ordinary, thanks to his "godly" parents.

While other parents would tell their children bedtime stories about bunnies and squirrels, these two didn't waste their professional knowledge. Zhang Heng grew up listening to stories of Norse mythology and the Bible.

Although he ultimately didn't betray his nine years of compulsory education and became a proud materialist, the foundation laid in his childhood remained.

Zhang Heng was much more accepting of such things than ordinary people.

Using the concept from the popular board game "Call of Cthulhu," his character's SAN value dropped very slowly.

Instead of fear, he became intensely curious about what was happening to him.

A normal watch has twelve scales, and the hour hand completes two full circles in a day. Now, with his limited edition twenty-four-scale Seastar, it only took one circle to complete a day.

In this light, it didn't seem like a big deal, and after getting used to it, it even felt a bit cool.

But Zhang Heng believed that whoever did this wouldn't be satisfied with just giving him a new dial.

His intuition told him that the truly interesting things would only happen after the hour hand completed one full circle.

There were still about 15 hours left in the day, and Zhang Heng didn't plan to idle away this time.

He didn't need to go to the morning advanced math class since he had already been called out. According to the professor's rules, his final exam score would automatically be reduced by 5 points.

This couldn't be salvaged.

Zhang Heng decided to go to the track to make up for his missed morning run.

His classmates thought Zhang Heng was quite mysterious. After starting university, no one liked getting up early, but he still insisted on morning runs. However, he never signed up for sports meets and rarely participated in other group activities, especially disliking parties. But if you got to know him, you'd find he wasn't as aloof as he seemed; in fact, he was quite interesting.

Among the girls, there was a rumor that Zhang Heng was multi-talented. Someone who returned to school early during a holiday said they saw him playing Paganini's "Caprice No. 24" in the music room. This piece, based on the theme of Paganini's "Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor," is known for its difficulty and is written in rondo form, with the theme appearing in different variations, testing the pianist's skills.

Others said they had seen him training at an archery range off-campus, and a male roommate privately revealed that he was a member of a rock climbing club.

All of these were true, but also not entirely true.

Zhang Heng wasn't as mysterious as people made him out to be. His morning runs were a result of his grandfather's insistence, and he had continued the habit, though his speed and endurance were only slightly better than average, far from matching the sports talents admitted on special scholarships.

He had recently taken up archery on a whim, having only attended three classes and was just a beginner. Rock climbing was something he had registered for but quickly lost interest in.

The only piano he had played since childhood, but his skill level was around grade 8 or 9. He had stored "Caprice No. 24" on his phone and played it in the music room for himself, not realizing it would cause such a stir.

So, Zhang Heng, who wasn't ordinary, wasn't as extraordinary as people thought.

He was interested in many things around him, but time is fair to everyone.

Whether you cherish it, plan to use every minute effectively, or just want to lie in bed and play dead, everyone has only 24 hours in a day.

Not a minute more, not a second less.