Chapter 2082: Could It Be a Time Reset
The content on the recorder was not much different from the notebook, because they had no other gains in the past two days, repeatedly exploring the surrounding streets. Every time they regained consciousness, they were near the shopping mall, so Feng Hui had also joined them. Later, the records mentioned another player, but that person had left after a brief encounter without any conversation, and neither yesterday's nor today's records included this individual.
"He must have gone in a different direction," Meng Wenguang said. "This morning, we also switched directions to search, but we didn't run into anyone else, so we came back."
Xu Huo quickly finished reading the notes, paused for a moment, and then asked, "Are you sure the content is all true?"
"I wrote it myself, so there's definitely no problem," Meng Wenguang said confidently. "Besides the notebook, we also have the recorder. At least everything we've experienced is real."
Not entirely trusting the written records, Xu Huo still requested to see the recorder. Meng Wenguang hesitated briefly before agreeing. Xu Huo focused on a specific segment—the record from yesterday afternoon when Meng Wenguang and his group were heading in his direction.
Everything else was almost identical, except the Time Tower was missing.
Moreover, their records were consistently cut off after 9:10 PM each night. It seemed that the 9:17 PM displayed on the Time Tower's main entrance indeed held special significance, and the key to this venue lay in that Time Tower.
"Why are there no records after 9:10 PM?" Xu Huo asked.
"You probably won't believe this, but after realizing the time was off, we also placed recorders at the locations we reached. However, the first one was destroyed on the first day. On the second day, we managed to preserve it by putting it away before 9:10 PM, but it didn't capture much useful footage."
The city's thick fog only dispersed when people were active. Once they moved away, the recorder's screen showed nothing but a vast expanse of white.
Xu Huo projected the photos he had taken earlier into the air. "Between the newsstand and the Hugging Fish Toy Store, there is a Time Tower."
The group was shocked to see the actual records and quickly compared them with their own. Both the newsstand and the Hugging Fish Toy Store were present, but the spot where the Time Tower should have been was occupied by the toy store, leaving no gap at all.
Meng Wenguang exchanged glances with Yue Rui and the others, feeling a surge of hope. "It seems it's not bad luck on our part, but rather that we simply cannot reach the key location of this instance."
"Actually, we're still pretty lucky," Feng Hui added. "We only waited a few days... Mr. Xu, this instance is far from simple. It might be safer to team up."
Xu Huo glanced at the uniform panda patterns on their clothes. The temperature in Zone 011 wasn't high, so most players wore jackets. To remind themselves and others at a glance, they had put on an extra small garment over their jackets.
Noticing his gaze, Meng Wenguang said, "The clothes are from Yue Rui. They're a bit small, but that has its advantages. They don't fit well but are worn properly, so anyone can tell something's off at a glance."
"Yue Rui, quickly get a piece for Mr. Xu too."
Yue Rui shyly pulled out a matching short-sleeved shirt. "This is something I recently collected. Apart from mine, the only size available is my younger brother Hong Chen's. He's a bit short, so the largest size is this one."
Xu Huo took it but didn't put it on. Instead, he led them toward the Time Tower.
He had returned first but couldn't contact Wang Ling or the Sweet Girl, so he could only wait at the spot.
The two of them returned one after the other, but Wang Ling had brought another player with him—Long Jianfeng, also a B-rank player.
Long Jianfeng's entry time was uncertain because, like Xu Huo and Wang Ling before him, he believed he had just entered.
Of course, whether Wang Ling had truly entered on the first day was debatable, since his luggage compartment was almost empty of food before he came in. As for Long Rong, since the food wasn't prepared by him, he wasn't sure how much there was.
"Even if it wasn't the first day, I shouldn't have been in here long," he said. "If the food had been consumed too much, I would have noticed."
Xu Huo's situation was similar.
After comparing notes, they all focused on the Time Tower.
Based on Meng Wenguang's records and Xu Huo's observations, the Time Tower was a key piece of information.
"9:17 PM is likely the time when our cognition resets," Wang Ling said, copying a set of notes. "Tonight, we can record the Time Tower's condition and see if everyone really loses their memory at 9:17."
"Even if we confirm that cognition resets at 9:17, it doesn't change our current situation," Meng Wenguang said. "What's more important is finding a way to break this reset pattern."
Xu Huo nodded. "Based on the clues we have so far—whether it's a time reset in the instance, collective amnesia, or a cognition reset—the period from 9:17 PM to the next morning is blank."
"This time can be divided into two parts: from 9:17 PM to 9:01 AM the next day, and from 9:01 AM onward."
"If at that time point we automatically repeat the past day, I entered the instance at 10:55 AM, Meng Wenguang and his group at 9:01 AM, Wang Ling and Long Jianfeng at 9:22 AM..."
He turned to the Sweet Girl.
"Lu Miaomiao," she gave her name.
"Lu Miaomiao entered at 12:32 PM," Xu Huo added. "If all of us have been in here for more than a day, then starting from the second day, before our respective arrival times, we should have already been in this instance."
"Taking Meng Wenguang's earliest entry time as a reference, I've been in here for at least three days. So when Meng Wenguang and I regained consciousness this morning, I should have already been in this instance. Since Meng Wenguang's recorder has clear timestamps, and we're in the same venue, our time records should be accurate."
"Therefore, between 9:01 AM and 12:32 PM, there is a cognitive time gap."
"Additionally, from 9:17 PM the previous night to 9:01 AM the next day—if cognition resets starting at 9:01 AM—what were we doing during the blank period before that?"
"Let me interject," Wang Ling said. "If it's a time reset, the period from 9:17 PM to 9:01 AM the next day might have been cut out entirely. There is no intermediate time. Each of us goes from 9:17 PM straight to 9:01 AM. As for not meeting each other, that's normal. We haven't been in here long enough to realize time is resetting. Since Meng Wenguang's records haven't disappeared, maybe tomorrow morning, when they find records about us, they can come directly to find us?"
"If it's a time reset, shouldn't we not exist in this space before our respective arrival times?" Lu Miaomiao asked.
"You're thinking about it wrong," Wang Ling shook his head. "A time reset can't arbitrarily reverse time. Even if it could be done with a super item, existing people and objects can't go from existence to non-existence or vice versa. If that were the case, with time reversed here and you not existing, but outside in Zone 011 time isn't reversed, where would you be?"
"If it were truly a time reversal, our existence should be self-consistent with time and space," Xu Huo said. After a pause, he added, "But I'm leaning toward this being a multi-space situation, not an actual time reset."
(Chapter End)