Global Collapse-Chapter 459 - 434: She died later_1

Fatty stared at the book that Gu Mian had just pulled from his pocket. "Doctor, do you mean that some of the instances we've experienced are in this book?"

But he had also read *Second World* once and discovered no traces of the instances.

"Speaking of which..." Fatty didn't question Gu Mian's words. He fixed his eyes on the book in Gu Mian's hands. "What would happen if we write 'World Explosion' in this book right now?"

The instance world wouldn't really explode, would it?

Seeing Fatty's thoughts, Gu Mian spoke, "It wouldn't actually explode. There are many copies of *Second World* out there. What we're seeing is just one of them. I think there should be an original version, and that original is the real world."

By now, Gu Mian had flipped through several pages. Fatty, with his sharp eyes, saw a line written with a black gel pen on one page—"World Explosion."

Clearly, it was written by Gu Mian.

So, he was certain that writing anything in the book would not cause the instance world to explode.

"Then..." Fatty chose his words carefully. "What would happen if we find the original *Second World* and write 'World Explosion' on it?"

Gu Mian suddenly realized how much ill will Fatty harbored towards the world.

"I remember Chu Changge mentioned," Gu Mian coughed, "the book written by Wang Yushu is split into several parts. Only a small part at the beginning resembles the real world. I think Wang Yushu must have seen the real 'Second World' book and copied the settings from that book in the initial part. That's why we have this *Second World* I'm holding now. So, the original *Second World* does exist in reality."

"The world in the book," Fatty contemplated. "Then, Doctor, since one of the worlds might be a world from a book, and that book exists in the real world, do other instances also exist in the real world in similar forms, like books?"

As he said this, Fatty saw the "brother" in the water. "For instance, some worlds might exist as CDs, some as games..."

"That's possible," Gu Mian said, looking at the book in his hand. "If we could obtain them, it would be like holding those instances within the worlds in our own hands. We could do whatever we want."

"Do whatever we want..." Fatty's face turned slightly red. "That sounds great. Though, I think you've always pretty much done as you please, Doctor."

Chu Changge pushed up his glasses. "If you truly managed to obtain the items to which these worlds are bound, what would you do?"

Gu Mian always had a feeling that the instances were hostile towards him. If he could get hold of the instance worlds...

"Burn them and end this game... Of course, that's impossible," Gu Mian slipped his hands into his pockets. "What if my twin brother is really inside one of them?"

As he spoke, he took a few steps to one side, going to chase Xiao Hong, who had started frolicking joyfully in the water.

Watching Gu Mian's back as he went to chase Xiao Hong, Fatty said, "Doctor, that idea of yours isn't right. Usually, when the main character in a novel finds out there's someone who looks exactly like them, shouldn't they first consider it their dark side and think about how to eliminate him?"

"Forget it," Chu Changge said quietly to Fatty. "I remember when Gu Mian was in the orphanage, he always hoped to meet his parents. He wished they would come for him one day."

Fatty was taken aback. To this day, Gu Mian still referred to himself as an orphan. His wish had clearly not come true.

"As he got older, he stopped mentioning it. But I think if he had relatives when he was a child, he would have been very happy, whether they were parents or siblings." Chu Changge glanced at the "brother" still lounging in the water. "Of course, I'm not referring to *that* kind of sibling."

Fatty wasn't clear about Gu Mian's childhood experiences. He asked, puzzled, "No friends? Didn't Doctor have any friends when he was a child?"

Chu Changge walked a few steps to a nearby lounge chair and sat down. "He used to have some. But as you know, with Gu Mian's luck... anyone who played with him would end up injured, or some other accident would occur. Gradually, he had no friends left.

"Later, a married couple adopted him. They had visited the orphanage many times before and treated Gu Mian very well. You could see Gu Mian was very happy then. But later, that couple also died, right on the second day after the adoption procedures were completed. Gu Mian hadn't even had a chance to take a look at his new home yet.

"After that, almost no one spoke to him. With no other choice, he could only entertain himself. You also thought this person was quite cheerful when you first met him, right?" Chu Changge looked out over the shimmering lake, where the sunlight cast a golden hue, making the water sparkle like scales.

Fatty also looked at the lake and quieted down. "Back then, were you the only one who played with him?"

Chu Changge paused. "No, there was one more person..."

"Who... else?" Fatty turned to look at him. Chu Changge's pause made him feel that things were perhaps heading in a sad direction.

"A girl named Lin Xiaowei, but she also died in her second year of middle school. I remember when he was very young—probably in first or second grade—by then, no one was willing to talk to Gu Mian anymore. But you know how kids are; they always like to play with others. At that time, Gu Mian would always try to find others, following behind them, wanting to talk to them, but no one paid him any attention.

"That period lasted for about a year. Later, Gu Mian understood. Starting from the third grade, he started to be alone, coming and going by himself. Lin Xiaowei, in order to cheer him up, would often stick to him and play rock-paper-scissors... I've told you this before, haven't I?"

Chu Changge turned his head to look at Fatty.

"Ah, you did," Fatty remembered. "I remember you said a girl often pestered Doctor to play rock-paper-scissors with him. Whoever lost would get a kiss. Eventually, Doctor's face even swelled up from all the kisses..."

However, the ending wasn't very good. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Fatty still clearly remembered the last words Chu Changge had uttered in the wind when he told the story—"Later, she died."