Global Collapse-Chapter 470 - 445: How Could There Be a Ghost Uglier Than Xiao Hong_1
"By the way, Brother Chu," the dragon boat slowed, and Fatty, who had been initially disoriented, had adapted. He sat idly before Chu Changge. "What do you think of the name I came up with?"
Fatty jerked his chin towards the bow, where the words "Doctor’s Gorgeous Fan Club" gleamed in the sunlight.
Chu Changge glanced at the bow but showed no reaction.
Fatty was puzzled. "Brother Chu, you’ve been very quiet since we got back."
Although Fatty knew Chu Changge was typically reserved, today his silence seemed unusual. This prompted Fatty to suddenly ask, "Brother Chu, are you thinking about that teammate, 007? It felt like that person knew you."
Before Chu Changge could reply, Gu Mian’s voice came from nearby. "What’s wrong?"
Fatty turned his head and saw Gu Mian, who had crouched beside Chu Changge at some point without him noticing, staring at Chu Changge’s face. "Your face is so pale."
Just then, the third challenge suddenly appeared before them.
[In one minute, you will enter the third challenge: Red Light, Green Light (One, Two, Three, Wooden Man).]
[Players must complete the game "Red Light, Green Light, don’t speak, don’t move" with the assigned NPC within five minutes. Failure will result in forfeiting the right to acquire a teammate from this challenge.]
Gu Mian knew the game Red Light, Green Light. One person stood at the front, back to the others, chanting "One, two, three, wooden man!" While "One, two, three" was being said, the people behind could run freely. But when "wooden man" was called, the person at the front would instantly turn around. The others had to freeze and couldn’t speak. Anyone caught moving or speaking was out.
Gu Mian noticed a white-clothed female ghost about two hundred meters ahead on the water’s surface, her back to them. It seemed the NPCs for this event were all ghosts making guest appearances.
The current objective was likely to tag the NPC shouting "One, Two, Three, Wooden Man" to win.
Meanwhile, Gu Mian saw many red dots appear on the map above. These red dots likely signified the dispatched NPCs. The game couldn’t possibly have all participating players trying to tag the same NPC. If that were the case, the NPC probably wouldn’t tolerate it.
"Looking at the numbers, not every dragon boat is assigned its own ’Wooden Man’ NPC. Several boats’ players probably have to tag the same one," Fatty’s voice rang out. "This place is so remote, and we’re the only boat here, so this NPC can only be tagged by us."
Gu Mian nodded seriously. "She’s actually quite lucky. Other ghosts have to be tagged multiple times, and players might hurt them, regardless of how careful they are. But it’s different here. She only needs to be slapped once by me."
"Yes, yes!" Fatty agreed enthusiastically. "Doctor, one minute is almost up. I’m ready."
Time passed quickly. Not long after Fatty spoke, Gu Mian heard a harsh, hoarse voice from ahead: "One..."
The ghost’s voice sounded as if it had been mauled by a dog.
But this clearly wasn’t the time to ask what breed of dog had mauled her throat.
Xiao Hong and her brother were fast, but they couldn’t cover two hundred meters in a second. By the time the female ghost uttered "Two," Gu Mian’s dragon boat had only advanced five meters.
This seemed intentional. The "Two" hadn’t even finished echoing when Gu Mian heard a rapid, machine-gun-like voice from ahead—
"Three!"
Gu Mian was sure he hadn’t even properly registered the previous "Two."
Immediately, the female ghost in front whirled around, revealing a rather ghastly face. Gu Mian began to suspect the event organizers had chosen such terrifying female ghosts as NPCs specifically to startle players when they turned.
Indeed, some players fell for it.
The eerie sight of countless female ghosts standing on the river was already unsettling enough, not to mention the visual shock when they turned around...
Even though many players managed to steady their dragon boats, most experienced a jolt of fear the first time they saw a female ghost turn her head.
By now, the players had experienced numerous horrors and weren’t so easily scared that they’d jump straight from their boats into the water. Still, the chilling sight made their hearts jolt, followed by a sharp intake of breath.
Some people who shifted even slightly were eliminated immediately.
Some players communicated while the NPC was chanting "One, two, three."
"Five minutes... This ghost keeps turning around. Can we even row to her back?"
"It’s only about two hundred meters... I think we can make it."
Gu Mian felt like the ghost assigned to them must have some kind of ailment. She always shouted "One, Two, Three" incredibly quickly but then dragged out the "Wooden Man" part with a long drawl.
He had observed other dragon boats on the river. They could row for at least six or seven seconds each time the NPC called out, but his group barely got two seconds of movement per turn.
Fortunately, their dragon boat was very steady. Even though the female ghost turned her head unexpectedly every time, the three of them on board remained still.
Four minutes passed. Some players had already tagged their ghost and passed the third challenge, but Gu Mian’s group was still twenty meters away.
When they were still twenty meters out, Gu Mian had already raised his hand in anticipation.
At ten meters, Gu Mian raised his hand a little higher, as if preparing to discipline a child.
When they were half a meter away, Gu Mian was already standing at the bow, hand poised to strike the back of the ghost’s head as she was yelling "One—"
"TwoThree"—the two syllables burst out almost as one.
The female ghost turned her head to see a palm stopped just in time, right in front of her face.
Even though it was supposed to be a game, no one was actually treating it as just a game.
Many had played Red Light, Green Light as children, and mischievous kids would often slap the person in front with all their might.
But now, no one used all their strength to tag the female ghosts. All of them were careful, gently laying their palms on the female ghosts’ shoulders, as if brushing away a strand of hair.
Only Gu Mian was different. As soon as the next "One" was called, a resounding SLAP echoed across the area.
Then the female ghost clutched her head and ran off, whimpering.
