48 Hours a Day Chapter 19
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Chapter 19
Zhang Heng’s missed shot caught the attention of the jaguar . The latter quickly turned its attention to him .
Bell was still wrestling the other jaguar, which meant that Zhang Heng would have to face this king of the rainforest on his own . If he had this encounter when he first came to the island, he would have been dead meat .
He probably would not even be able to fight a goose, much less a jaguar .
But was not his entire year of archery practice for this moment?
Quickly, Zhang Heng drew another arrow, and placed it on the bowstring . He was not in a hurry to shoot because he and the beast were still quite far from each other .
At this distance, he did not have the full confidence to be able to hit the target . So, he had to rein in the fear he was experiencing and wait for the jaguar to attack first .
This might sound simple but actually doing it was not easy .
Because for a long-range profession, the further the range, the safer it would be . Every shooter should know the kiting [1] technique .
All the same, reality is cruel . Zhang Heng knew for a fact that in terms of agility and speed, his own two legs could never outrun the creature with four . He could kite but what if the jaguar chooses to join its partner and attack the explorer instead?
Then when the two jaguars had him surrounded, Zhang Heng would never be able to leave this forest .
So, both man and cat came into a confrontational stance . Zhang Heng maintained his aim and an upright position as his instructor had taught him, regulating his breathing .
Opposite him, the jaguar’s patience finally ran out, so it arced its body and prepared to pounce .
Panic rose inside of Zhang Heng . This was a completely different situation from hunting a Dodo bird . Even if he missed his target, the consequence would just be not being able to eat meat . But if his arrow misses, with the jaguar’s fleet-foot, he would not even have another chance to reload his bow .
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The one who would be eaten was him .
Zhang Heng quickly chased all this jumble of thoughts away, and anchored his emotions . In that split second, the jaguar made a move . It was much faster than Zhang Heng had imagined it to be . Kicking the ground with its hindlegs provided the creature with a frighteningly explosive force .
The distance between them was rapidly shrinking . At less than seven meters, finally came the sound of bowstrings being released .
You could say that this shot was Zhang Heng’s most satisfactory shot so far . After an extended period of preparing and gauging, his mind went into a sort of Zen state, where the world before him seemed to be moving in slow-motion and he could see the motion of the jaguar’s whiskers .
Be it strength, angle or calculation—everything was perfect .
As soon as the arrow left his hand, Zhang Heng knew that it would hit the target .
And he was right .
At such a close distance, and running at a full sprint, the jaguar was unable to elude and could only watch as the incoming wood arrow hit its head .
But what happened next was completely out of Zhang Heng’s expectation . He did not know if it was because the carbonized arrowhead was not lethal enough because he had terrible luck, the arrow hit the cat’s skull but did not go any deeper .
The jaguar let out a shrill cry of pain but the injury to its head was not enough to kill . Instead, it provoked the beast which then proceeded to charge towards Zhang Heng, knocking him to the ground .
Zhang Heng pushed the bow up against the jaguar’s neck to keep it from ripping his throat out but the jaguar was pinning the lower half of his body to the ground and was clawing madly at his shoulder, boring bloody holes into it .
But the harrowing pain provided Zhang Heng with a surge of strength that he had never experienced before .
With death just around the corner, he momentarily forgot his fears . He knew that no one could save him at this time . If he wanted to live, he would have to rely on himself .
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Keeping one hand on the bow, Zhang Heng allowed his free hand to flail about the ground . Sensing the pressure against its neck weakening, the look in the jaguar’s turned savage . The beast stretched out its neck to reach Zhang Heng’s neck, the saliva from its razor-sharp teeth dripping down onto his victim’s face . The stench nearly knocked Zhang Heng unconscious .
He was now in much more danger than before .
But at that very moment, Zhang Heng’s free hand managed to reach the spear he had dropped on the ground .
The putrid, hungry mouth was about to tear down on his neck when he plunged the spear into the jaguar’s neck . The creature’s eyes went blank . But Zhang Heng did not let go; instead he pushed harder, twisting the weapon deeper into the cat’s neck .
He had tossed his wooden bow aside, and reached for the arrow that was lodged in the jaguar and thrust both hands with all his might .
All that whirlwind adrenaline had him forget about the pain all over his body . This was battle of life and death . There was no such thing as mercy here . Zhang Heng did everything he could to inflict damage on the wild beast before him until a voice announced in his ear:
[Successfully exterminated an adult jaguar single-handedly . Game Points +10 . You may view your character panel for further information…]
Only then, could Zhang Heng confirm that he was the winner of this bloodbath .
Pushing the breathless piece of dead meat off of himself, Zhang Heng saw that Bell’s fight with the other jaguar was also drawing to an end .
The explorer had punctured the jaguar’s lower abdomen with his knife, and the creature was losing a lot of blood . Its movement was also more labored and leaden . It looked like it was going to follow after its partner’s footsteps .
“Heh, you alright, Zhang?” Bell asked, concerned . He had seen that Zhang Heng was in danger but had been unable to help .
“… I’ve always wanted to own a piece of tiger-skin skirt, but I guess jaguar skin works too,” Zhang Heng huffed, and then dropped to the ground with his arms and legs spread out . Having verified that he was absolutely safe, all the energy in his body suddenly drained away . He did not even want to lift a single finger .
When he thought about how insane everything that had just happened was, his beating heart could not seem to calm down .
He had never thought that one day he would have to fight such a large beast up close and personal . According to the time count back in reality, just an hour ago, he had just been drinking lemon water at the bar .
But now, he was a man who had just killed a jaguar .
It was pretty cool if you think about it . But it was still better if something like this never happens again .
“The stone on the altar broke during the struggle, and I found this . ” The explorer walked up to his companion once he had taken care of his opponent .
“What is that?” Zhang Heng looked at the furry thing in Bell’s hand . It looked like some sort of tail . The strange thing was if the aboriginals did hide this thing under the stone, it would not be in such a good condition after such a long time .
He was about to tell Bell to keep then changed his mind the last minute and asked the explorer, “Can I have it?”
“Of course, you saved me . Twice now . ” Bell was just a generous guy .
“Thank you . This thing might just be useful for me . ”
Zhang Heng changed his mind because when he picked up the furry thing, a voice notified him,
[Found game item—Rabbit’s foot (unidentified)]
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Crazy Leveling System
Your meridians cannot be cultivated? It’s ok! There is the Crazy Leveling System: Do missions, kill monsters, swallow other people’s spiritual power, make pills or forge weapons and participate in big battles. You can gain experience! EXP is too low? No worries! I have double EXP card, ten times EXP card! EXP bursts and level rises! What genius, big family young master, empire emperor, and talent? In the face of this Crazy Leveling System, they are far behind! “Huh, did I level up again?” Yi Tianyun woke up and found himself level up again…
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The world ended on December thirty-first of the year two thousand and twenty, precisely at the stroke of midnight. The human race began to be systematically exterminated by the spawn of the System. We were given a chance to defeat them, to take back our place at the top of the food chain. We failed. The first to perish were those who bravely rebelled. The soldiers. The defenders. One by one, they fell. In their final moments, they begged for aid. Nobody replied. The next to succumb were those who feebly cowered. The deniers. The leeches. Together, they fell. In their final moments, they cried out into the darkness. Countless voices replied in kind. The last to decline were those who shamelessly ran. The deserters. The cowardly. Alone, they fell. In their final moments, they whimpered quietly. There was nobody left to answer. The final human to die was a survivor. A runner. As he died, he begged for salvation. His prayers were answered. He was offered a chance to save himself, along with all of humanity, and he took it. This is his story. “I sat in the dark and thought: There’s no big apocalypse. Just an endless procession of little ones.”― Neil Gaiman, Signal to Noise. I am absolutely new to writing and will take any and all constructive criticism. Please give feedback, it is greatly appreciated. I will update the tags as they change, and I hope that you enjoy this little story I'm writing! Quick warning: Seamus is intentionally a flawed character, and this story is going to explore those flaws and perhaps even change a few of them. I do not agree with all of his actions, but it is what it is.
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I am the system
Looks like I got banished to mortal world with no cultivation, Run over by a car! I will get my revenge against you Subaru… ehh what’s health insurance… huhh what’s a ‘system’… In Soviet Russian the MC doesn’t have a system, the MC is the system.
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Jake was just an intelligent kid living a pretty regular life in Mill Creek, Washington. Then the apocalypse happens. Now with his Dad out of the country and totally in yet out his element, this is his story. My take on a system apocalypse based around "life force" as a currency. The main character will have a special power (as will most of the other characters) and be rather OP, you have been warned. Like many of the authors on this site I have no formal writing experience so writing tips and grammar corrections are much appreciated :)
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Magic of the Extinct
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That Night √
ɢʀᴀᴄᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʟᴜᴄɪᴜs.ʟᴜᴄɪᴜs ᴀɴᴅ ɢʀᴀᴄᴇ.Two inseparable best friends.A bond so beautiful that nothing could've broken them apart.But it all changed 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 night. A drunk girl and a boy overwhelmed with feelings. Things take a turn, and they turn even nastier when Grace mysteriously leaves her hometown the very next day with her family. With no explanations. No reasons. No goodbyes.Just a boy with broken hopes left behind.Until Grace returns after 2 years, to the hometown she grew up in. To the hometown that's all she's left with. But things have changed, and so have the feelings...." ɪ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ sᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴀ ғɪʀᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪ ғᴇᴇʟ ғᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜ, ʀᴏsᴇ."#3 in Teen Fiction Text copyright © Crystal7016 ™ 2020Cover credits: @youtumblrgeek <3
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