Global Collapse-Chapter 405 - 388: The Advancing Yuan Qinghua _1
Such an incident occurring on Earth would naturally lead to the suspension of classes at the school.
The somewhat dilapidated school was completely deserted, with the gleaming car lights sparingly livening up the campus.
Gu Mian looked around in the light.
The place indeed resembled the layout in the instance.
Fatty leaned against the car window, looking outside, "I died too early, I don't remember what the school looked like in the instance, do you guys remember?"
007 looked out the window and took a sharp breath, "Almost the same…"
The subtle overlap between the instance and the real world—was it a premonition of sorts?
"Maybe we can really find some secrets about this global game here."
As she spoke, she subconsciously glanced at Xiao Hong, who had been pressed against the rear window with the back of her head facing 007.
When she first got into the car, she had been startled by this long-haired figure in red, as her appearance was eerily similar to the female ghost in red in the instance.
But Fatty quickly reassured her, saying she was a friend.
However, this friend didn't seem quite right, having kept her face pressed against the rear car window, making it impossible for 007 to see her face throughout the journey.
In actuality, it was Gu Mian who had pressed Xiao Hong's head against the window, fearing that if Xiao Hong faced 007 directly, it would cause a panic.
The Spirit Car slowly advanced through the school grounds, the beams of light cutting through the darkness, heading deeper.
Fatty, slightly dazed, looked outside, "If everything that happens in the instance is a replica of past events, will we someday encounter our own past?"
Chu Changge interrupted his sentimental musings, "Right now, we still can't determine whether there's a direct relationship between the instance and reality."
By this time, Gu Mian had brought the Spirit Car to a slow halt.
He remembered that there was a basement entrance nearby.
After stopping the car, Gu Mian turned around to look at the others, "I remember the entrance to the basement is near here. Do you want to go take a look?"
Fatty, who died too early and was clueless about everything, obediently nodded even in the darkness, "Wherever you go, Doctor, I'll go."
Chu Changge kept his mouth shut; Gu Mian took it as a silent agreement.
007 pondered for a few seconds and nodded as well, "We might as well, since we are already here..." As she spoke, she turned to look at Xiao Hong in the back of the Spirit Car, "Is she not coming with us?"
Gu Mian gave a small smile, "She's quite timid. Let's just let her stay here by herself."
007 let out a breath. Wouldn't staying here alone be even more terrifying?
Worth mentioning is that there actually was a basement underneath Wensong College.
The structure of the basement was similar to the one in the instance.
And in one of the musty classrooms, Gu Mian found a vintage photograph.
It was the same one that Chu Changge found in the instance. The photo from that instance couldn't be taken out, but unexpectedly, they found the same one in the real world.
There were twelve people in the photo, six males and six females.
In this picture, the face of that girl was not blurred; it was the brightly smiling Yuan Qinghua.
Gu Mian turned the photo over. A date was printed on the back.
June 12, 2013.
The date was exactly the same as the one on the photo from the instance.
Aside from this photo, they did not find any other useful items.
When Gu Mian and the others returned to the Spirit Car, it was already 3:00 a.m.
007 looked at the time and sighed, "Ever since experiencing the 'Close Your Eyes' instance, I feel uneasy every time it hits 3:00 a.m."
Gu Mian understood 007's feelings all too well; she herself had been voted out at 3:00 a.m.
Although he hadn't seen 007's dying moments, he had seen others die from being voted out. It was really quite painful. If a description of that method of death were written in a web novel, it would likely get censored.
Speaking of which, 007 looked at Gu Mian in the dark. "Actually, I'm pretty envious of you, having so many friends to help you... I still don't understand why they insist on you winning, but thankfully we're on the same team. Otherwise, I shudder to think how I'd be sabotaged."
After finishing, 007 sat in the car deep in thought, probably reminiscing about Yue Nu, who was sabotaged and died.
Gu Mian coughed a few times.
If he had lost, he would truly have died, but 007 was unaware of this.
At this point, Fatty had leaned close to Gu Mian. "Doctor, are you saying this photograph was in the instance too?"
"Yes," Gu Mian nodded and pointed. "This is Yuan Qinghua, the only real ghost in the instance. Her face was blurred in the photo from that instance."
Fatty had died too early and did not even get a glimpse of Yuan Qinghua before his death.
So Gu Mian had to point her out to him.
It appeared Yuan Qinghua did exist in the real world...
Gu Mian frowned as he thought, "Could the game really be collecting ghosts from the real world to put them into an instance? And then create a similar instance map?"
At this point, Fatty, who was nearby, spoke up, "Doctor, if what you say is true, and dead people become ghosts and all flock to the instance... wouldn't that make the instance hell?"
"Let's go to the office," Gu Mian said, putting his hand on the steering wheel. "Chu Changge, do you remember that office where Yuan Qinghua took us to steal files? I want to see if there are any files on Guo Jimei and Li Yibai."
Chu Changge silently nodded.
Gu Mian moved quickly and had a sharp memory. He swiftly led them to the office and, with a chainsaw, quickly sawed open the fragile lock.
The similarity between the instance and reality was truly uncanny!
Even the placement of the files was exactly the same.
It didn't take long for Gu Mian and the others to find a stack of files, and they began to rapidly flip through them.
Unfortunately, throughout the entire stack of files, they couldn't find any on Li Yibai or Guo Jimei, but they did come across the familiar name "Yuan Qinghua."
However, Yuan Qinghua's file was from 2013, and next to her name, two words had been written in red pen: "Deceased."
Fatty compared the photo he had found in the basement with the portrait photo in her file. "They're exactly the same."
Yuan Qinghua... she had indeed existed and had already died in 2013.
Then how did she end up in the instance? Are ghosts from the real world really pulled into instances?
Gu Mian closed the file, preparing to take all the records pertaining to Yuan Qinghua's class with him.
Just then, a flashlight beam illuminated the open office doorway, followed by a loud shout, "Who are you?"
Fatty was so startled his hand trembled, and he immediately looked towards the door.
A middle-aged man, already half-bald, stood at the door glaring angrily, his glasses reflecting an eerie gleam.
Looking at his demeanor... and that pitifully sparse hair... he must be a teacher, right?
Gu Mian was a practiced liar, especially when the situation called for it. He passed the file in his hand to Fatty beside him. "We're a student's parents. We just rushed over from out of town but couldn't find our child, so we thought we'd look through the office files."
The middle-aged man stood at the door, looking suspiciously at the group, then noticed they were indeed only flipping through files.
He looked at the three men and one woman in front of him and, adopting a serious tone, asked, "Who are you looking for?"
Gu Mian hesitated slightly, then said, "Yuan Qinghua."
The teacher's eyes immediately widened, as if he recalled something. "But she... she died a long time ago!"
Gu Mian squinted his eyes.
Not only was Yuan Qinghua recorded in the files, but even an older teacher remembered her.
It seemed there was some subtle connection between the instance and reality.
Just then, the balding teacher noticed the group photo of twelve people in Fatty's hand. He walked over and took a look. "Yes, Yuan Qinghua is in this... Huh? And Wang Yushu?"
Wang Yushu?
Gu Mian quickly picked up the name, "Who is he?"
