Chapter 45- Time Ticking (Part 3)

Chapter 45: Chapter 45- Time Ticking (Part 3)

Chapter 45- Time Ticking (Part 3)

Rize approached the bomb before he started inspecting it thoroughly, making sure he understood how it worked first before he tried to dismantle it and try to defuse it. At first, the bomb appeared to be quite complex, with many parts and a size that was intimidating, to say the least.

However, after a deep inspection, Rize realized that the bomb was rather simple in concept. There were mainly two parts to it: the bomb itself and a computer that kept the timer ticking down, controlled the explosion, and linked with other bombs.

"Wait, a computer?" Rize frowned. "If it is controlled by a computer... Doesn’t that mean if I could control the computer, I could stop it and every other bomb in the area?" He asked himself.

After all, since they were connected, that meant all these bombs were a part of the same system.

’In theory, at least. I need to get access to the computer.’ Rize thought to himself as he finally crouched down and started inspecting the lower parts. He tapped around slowly, making sure not to do anything that might make the bomb detonate. His injured arm and the pain in his rib made focusing even harder, but he forgot about it all as he stared left and right.

Sweat dripped down his nose as he tried to breathe calmly. Eventually, after several seconds of feeling around, his hand finally landed on a small hidden button. The moment he clicked on it, a panel suddenly popped open.

Seeing that, a smile appeared on Rize’s face as he laughed. "Got you, bastards. You really thought you could hide that?" He muttered as he pulled the panel all the way and revealed the inside of the bomb.

As he expected, there were many cables inside in different colors, organized in rows that connected to every component in the bomb. Then, in the centre was a glass panel, which was what Rize was looking for exactly.

"Ok... Fuuuh..." Sucking a deep breath, Rize tapped on it. Immediately, it lit up as it showed several different boxes of codes and other data. It appeared a bit similar to what he knew back on Earth, but of course the language they were using was different.

However, one good thing Rize had under his belt was that he was extremely tech-savvy. He spent a lot of his time learning how to code and doing freelancing jobs to earn money and finance his rather miserable life. He was a very good computer user.

"Well, this is like expecting yourself to understand ancient language because you know how to speak two languages..." Rize muttered. "Not particularly close but... Let’s see..."

Reading through the data, Rize tried to understand what it was saying. Surprisingly, he didn’t find it too hard a time figuring out what the code was saying.

’As I expected, this bomb was designed in a way that makes it extremely hard to defuse.’ He thought to himself. ’The code says that the moment it starts ticking down. However, I doubt these idiots would’ve made a perfect code with no loopholes. If I could overwrite their code and make a new line of code that makes it possible to stop the bomb...’

With that idea in mind, Rize started typing into the panel, trying different ways to overwrite the code. For several minutes, he tried countless ideas but with no real results. At the same time, his eyes wandered to the time as he noticed that there were only 7 minutes left in the time.

’Shit, why is the time moving so fast?’ He wiped his face. ’Ok, calm down. I just need to find the right wording...’

Tapping on every Command Prompt, he tried every single idea he could.

"Come on, just give me anything... Anything please..." After minutes of useless attempts, Rize’s frustration started growing as he punched the bomb. But he sucked a deep breath as he held his face. "Think, Rize... Think... If I were these people, how would I do it...?"

Judging from their attire, tattoos, and their marks, they were clearly a part of a tribe or a clan of some sort that he had never heard of.

’What did they say earlier?’ He frowned. ’For Zathari?’

"For Zathari... Zathari..." Rize tapped his forehead a few times before an idea suddenly popped into his head. "Could that..."

Immediately, Rize looked at the panel again and tapped into it. The moment he typed those words, suddenly... A new panel appeared in front of him.

"Wait! This..."

’The main command prompt! I think I got it!’

Suddenly, hope came back to Rize as he looked at the time. 2 minutes left.

’No time at all!’ He cursed as he immediately started typing into the prompt. He first tried to cancel the timer or make it reset; however, he failed. So, he quickly shifted to trying to disconnect it from the bomb, which could make the bomb reset.

"Come on, come on, I’m almost there..." He muttered as he kept an eye on the timer. 1 minute left.

At that moment, Rize tapped the last few lines of code into the system before he clicked ’enter’. Immediately, a long list of code generated out of nowhere before a new panel appeared before him.

[Disconnecting the system...]

"Yes!!!" He cheered loudly before he coughed in pain. "I did it!!"

[Disconnecting: 1%]

"AAAGH! Why does it need a damn timer too?!!! I only have 30 seconds left!"

[Disconnecting: 5%]

"Oh please..." He sat there watching with a pale face as he prayed in his head to every god he could think of.

Time remaining: 15 seconds

[Disconnecting: 76%]

"..."

’I might not make it in time...’ Rize thought to himself as he watched the timer. A myriad of emotions filled his heart. Regret, disbelief, sadness, and yet also... A sense of peace he could’ve never imagined he would have.

He had been living in this world for 10 years, and during that time, he had survived so many encounters, faced so many hardships, and worked harder than he had ever worked in his life. Granted, he achieved nothing of value, but he felt a sense of pride in himself.

Sitting there, watching as the race for the crucial second continued. Instead of painfully waiting, he closed his eyes and decided to let fate decide if his journey was coming to an end there or if he would live to see another day.

’I’m grateful for this opportunity I received... I really... really wish I don’t lose it... I want to do more... I truly want to do more. Please...’ He thought to himself.

Clenching his entire body, he waited. Seconds passed before...

*TICK*

He heard a ringing that made him shudder. However... Nothing happened... For several seconds.

"Am I... dead?" He muttered as he opened his eyes slowly. However, he was still in the same room. At the same time, he saw a notification on the panel.

[Disconnection was successful!]

"..." Rize’s eyes widened before he crumbled to the ground as a smile of relief appeared on his face. All the fear and worry disappeared from his body.

"Hahahaha... Hahahahahaha! I’m alive! I did it!! I actually did it!!" He yelled like a maniac. The sense of euphoria that ran through his body was indescribable.

It was Rize’s first-ever successful achievement... not just in this lifetime but in both lifetimes.