Chapter 4

"Hey, have you heard? A senior in the media department tricked some freshmen girls, telling them there was an internship opportunity at a big company. When they got there, it turned out to be a job as a hostess, and some of them were even forced to take nude photos. Last night, her roommate clearly saw her sleeping in bed, but in the blink of an eye, she was gone."

"I heard about it too. It got all the girls in Building 2 riled up. They searched the entire campus but couldn't find her. Later, the police called the school, asking the administration to handle it. Someone had leaked all her incriminating materials to the police, including two photos that looked like they were taken right in front of them, but the people in the photos seemed to be looking away from the camera. It's really creepy."

"Speaking of creepy, the 12 o'clock legend at the Wumei supermarket is even scarier, right?"

"What 12 o'clock legend?"

"Didn't you know? It's already all over the school forum. The Wumei supermarket closest to the library loses a bottle of Nestle coffee every Monday and Wednesday at midnight, but the cash register always has exactly 4.5 yuan more. This scared the two cashiers so much. They checked the surveillance and found that the coffee on the shelf suddenly disappeared, with no one in the footage."

"Wow, hearing you say that gave me goosebumps."

A few chattering girls passed by Zhang Heng, who was fiddling with a Sony mirrorless camera he had recently acquired.

Ever since he discovered that he had an extra 24 hours in his day a month ago, he had conducted many experiments and basically mastered this ability.

The incident with the senior in the media department was just a coincidence, a small test.

Theoretically, he could even start a third world war if he prepared properly.

Of course, doing so wouldn't benefit him at all.

Besides, he could also walk down the street with a fire axe, smash all the ATMs, and quickly become one of the top 100 richest people in the city, or he could steal one yuan from everyone's wallet and quickly get over 20 million yuan with minimal impact.

However, he currently had no such needs.

For a sophomore, an annual living expense of 30,000 yuan was more than enough. He had nowhere to spend more.

His family didn't need his support. His parents, who were happily doing research abroad, didn't need to be mentioned. His grandfather, one of the first university graduates after the restoration of the college entrance exam in 1977, became a senior engineer for a national water project. He retired with a pension and a house with a garden, where he enjoyed gardening and playing chess, content with his current life.

Moreover, after familiarizing himself with his ability, Zhang Heng didn't need to break the law to make money.

For example, he recently applied to join the photography club, which was holding a photography contest with the theme of "City Impressions" next month. The senior in charge of external affairs secured good sponsorship, with a 5,000 yuan prize and a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM wide-angle zoom lens for the first place, and 3,000 yuan and prizes for the second and third places.

Zhang Heng was a late starter, having only attended two classes and one lecture in the photography club. He mainly relied on online videos and self-study, focusing on composition and exposure.

However, his models were very cooperative. For ordinary photographers, those fleeting, perfect moments were rare, but in Zhang Heng's extra 24 hours, they were abundant. The static light and shadow needed no further embellishment to be captivating.

Even though Zhang Heng's technique was still raw and he was confused about color temperature and depth of field, his photos of the city had a unique charm.

He selected two of his more satisfactory photos from his evening photography collection and submitted them to the club for the contest.

He wasn't necessarily aiming to win; he mainly wanted to test his progress over this period.

Since discovering the extra 24 hours in his day a month ago, Zhang Heng had become even busier.

Initially, he conducted various tests, such as whether objects he touched would remain out of the time stop or return to a static state after a certain period. He also tested the range of the time stop, whether it was limited to the city, and even flew to a place a thousand kilometers away on a Saturday to verify this.

Most of these questions were answered through experiments, and for the few that were difficult to verify, he had no immediate solutions.

Next, he had to consider how to allocate the extra 24 hours.

First, sleep was essential. Midnight was the time for sleeping.

The first time he experienced this, his curiosity kept him wandering the city all day, but after getting used to it, he couldn't do that anymore.

In the extra 24 hours when everyone else was frozen, only the time on his wristwatch continued to tick, and his physiological needs remained. He still felt hungry, thirsty, tired, and fatigued from prolonged activity.

"Interesting, does this mean I age twice as fast as ordinary people?" Zhang Heng looked at his reflection in the mirror, deep in thought, but he wouldn't get the answer to this question anytime soon.

In any case, after solving the issues of eating and sleeping, he had about 14 hours left. This extra time was enough for him to do many things.

For example, reading. Perhaps influenced by his parents, who were theologians, he had always been interested in all sorts of peculiar knowledge. Previously, he could only read one book a week due to time constraints, but now he rearranged his schedule to add six hours of reading time on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The bright and spacious library became his private domain. He no longer needed to reserve seats, and there were no odd neighbors. He could even wander the bookshelves in his pajamas and slippers.

An interesting book paired with a cold coffee made for a pleasant time.

Additionally, Zhang Heng picked up rock climbing, which he had abandoned after getting a membership, and added photography to his list of hobbies. He attended classes and learned during normal hours and practiced and reinforced what he learned during his own time.

He also continued practicing archery, and his coach was always amazed by his rapid progress, even suggesting he consider a career in it.

Of course, Zhang Heng's favorite activity was night wandering in the city. He usually spent at least two hours each day exploring.

The big city at night held countless secrets.

Using the frozen time slices and his Sony camera, Zhang Heng quietly observed and recorded every corner of the city, like browsing through a series of stop-motion short films. Most of the time, he was a silent observer, but occasionally, he would intervene to change some scenarios he didn't like.

These changes were not about good or evil. Zhang Heng had no interest in playing God or the devil. He was simply enjoying his own moments.