Global Collapse-Chapter 438 - 413: Vulgar Title_1

When Fatty returned to the coffee shop, gasping for breath, he saw Chu Changge, wearing his glasses and sitting on a somber gray sofa, lifting a cup of caramel macchiato.

The scene was somewhat odd.

A few seats away were two girls, with Gu Mian currently being cornered into a chat.

Fatty straightened his collar, puffed his chest, and feigned being a legitimate customer as he strode in. Passing by Gu Mian, he heard a girl asking Gu Mian for his contact information in a sly tone.

"Gu Mian... can you give me your contact number?"

"The waiters here won’t give you their phone numbers. If you ask for their contact information, they’ll definitely say they didn’t bring their phones."

By then, Fatty had taken a seat across from Chu Changge. The leather gray sofa was so soft that he sank deep into it, not wanting to get up.

"I was still looking for you outside. I didn’t expect you to show up on your own," Fatty reached for an unused spoon beside Chu Changge and boldly scooped some foam from Chu Changge’s cup. "Seriously, Brother Chu, how did you find this place... Ptooey, so sweet!"

Chu Changge lifted his cup, glanced at the business card on the table, and said softly, "Someone died last night. This was found in her clothes."

Just then, someone else walked in. Gu Mian was bowing slightly, diligently putting on the charm.

"Did you see? Police cars came to our school today." The three newly arrived girls were discussing this.

"I saw them, but I don’t know what happened... Oh, speaking of police cars, I just remembered something. Do you know about the serial killer case in the neighboring city six months ago? They say he killed eight people. The strange part is, several bodies were never claimed, and the murderer still hasn’t been caught."

"I heard about that too. They said it wasn’t that the unclaimed bodies were unrecognized. The weird thing is, those people had perfectly normal identities, yet no relatives could be found to claim them, as if they’d sprung from stones. I think that rumor must be fake."

Information from the instance? Listening to this conversation, Gu Mian pondered for a moment, then handed them the menu with a smile. The three girls quickly shifted their conversation from the supernatural to gossip; the rest of their chat was useless.

Chu Changge picked up his spoon, thought for a moment, then put it back down. "It seems that not only can we wait for other players here, but we can also gather some useful information."

Just then, the glass door was pushed open again.

Gu Mian turned to look, only to see a girl in a black robe walk in, her head lowered. She wore a black hood, half her face obscured by shadow, and held something in her hand that resembled a pendant. Gu Mian recognized it as a Pendulum, a tool used for divination. The deep blue Pendulum was swinging relentlessly clockwise. If Gu Mian couldn’t open her player panel, he would have thought she was cosplaying a medieval witch.

The hooded figure stopped at the door and then slowly raised her head. As she did, Gu Mian got a clear look at her face—it was very familiar. It was the same female player he had encountered in the Sweet Lovers instance who claimed to be a "Fortune-teller"! Sure enough, her nickname consisted of the green characters for "Fortune-teller". It seemed that having a profession granted a green nickname.

At this moment, the ostensibly mysterious Fortune-teller had raised her head and was looking at Gu Mian. The instant she saw him, the air of mystery she had barely managed to maintain shattered. Gu Mian saw shock and surprise flash across her face; her expression looked as if she were mourning her deceased Crystal Ball. It seemed this Fortune-teller hadn’t divined she would meet an acquaintance here.

"How did you..." Upon seeing Gu Mian’s face, the Fortune-teller instinctively thought of Teacher Sweet, the most miserable NPC she had ever met, who had been threatened by a player holding a chainsaw to her neck.

Gu Mian quickly covered her mouth, silencing her next words. "Welcome home, miss."

The Fortune-teller was dumbfounded as Gu Mian forcibly pushed her into a seat by the door, giving her no chance to resist. She turned her stiff neck to look at this "Chainsaw Doctor," only to find he had changed his clothes. With the smile on his face, he looked quite gentle, as if he would never raise his voice to anyone. If the Fortune-teller hadn’t personally witnessed how terrifying Gu Mian could be when he went berserk, she too would have been fooled by his deceptive appearance.

"You... you’re in this instance too..." The Fortune-teller timidly raised her head to look at Gu Mian.

He leaned down slightly, a gentle smile on his face, as if listening to her needs. "What can I get for you?"

Staring blankly at Gu Mian’s face, the Fortune-teller instinctively responded, "Ca...cappuccino..."

"Alright." Gu Mian retrieved the menu.

Meanwhile, they heard another sound from the door.

Gu Mian turned to look and saw familiar faces again. It was Xiao Qiao, bringing along an unfamiliar female player. It seemed Chu Changge had given them this location.

Once they entered, they saw Gu Mian in his tailcoat. Xiao Qiao quickly pulled her companion to sit across from the Fortune-teller.

Xiao Tuwan sat down, her gaze sweeping over Gu Mian, then over the Fortune-teller. "Both your nicknames are green, huh? Professional nicknames, right? I heard players’ nicknames turn this color once they get a profession."

"What can I get for you?" Gu Mian asked with a professional smile.

Xiao Qiao immediately answered, "Papaya juice."

Gu Mian frowned. Miss Xiao Qiao’s mind must have been addled by something.

Xiao Tuwan wasn’t interested in such things. She looked at Gu Mian. "I’ll have the same."

That’s not on the menu. I’ll just have to improvise when the time comes. After all, these aren’t real customers. Thinking this, Gu Mian walked towards the back, where Liu Ruyan was preparing drinks.

Meanwhile, the three female players had started to converse.

The Fortune-teller spoke first, looking at Xiao Qiao. "Are you Qiao Chu? The actress."

Xiao Qiao nodded earnestly. "My name is Qiao Chu."

A look of realization dawned on the Fortune-teller’s face. "I never thought I’d meet a celebrity playing this game..." Though, celebrities weren’t so revered anymore. With that thought, she continued, "Did you two get matched into this instance together?"

Hearing this, Xiao Tuwan’s brow twitched. "No... not exactly..."

The pale face she had seen when she lifted the blanket last night belonged to the female celebrity beside her. Thankfully, Qiao Chu wasn’t gruesome-looking; otherwise, she might have had a heart attack on the spot. She recalled how she had once jumped on the bandwagon, calling Qiao Chu a "pretty face," but after witnessing Qiao Chu single-handedly drag that horrifying corpse under the bed last night, her opinion had shifted slightly. At least she’s a brave pretty face.

By the time Xiao Qiao finished explaining to the Fortune-teller the events of last night and their fruitless search for clues during the day, the Fortune-teller was pinching the bridge of her nose, looking somewhat pained.

"As you’ve seen, my in-game profession is Fortune-teller, so I didn’t need to search for many clues to find this place. I used a Pendulum." As she spoke, she glanced at the deep blue Pendulum resting on the table.

Xiao Tuwan’s eyes lit up. "Then you should be able to divine how to survive in this instance, right?"

The Fortune-teller shook her head. "No, my ability isn’t that strong. A fortune-teller isn’t a prophet. I can usually only divine events that have already occurred. If you ask me next week’s lottery numbers, I definitely can’t answer. But if, say, your mother was murdered and you didn’t know who the killer was, perhaps I could divine the culprit for you."

Hearing this, Xiao Tuwan’s expression turned a little strange; she felt the second analogy wasn’t quite right. She leaned back slightly. "Let’s talk more about this instance..."

As she said this, her voice suddenly trailed off.

The Fortune-teller looked at her, puzzled. "What’s wrong?"

Xiao Tuwan stared intently at the glass door behind the Fortune-teller. "I think I just saw... Wang Xin walk by?"