Global Collapse-Chapter 513 - 482: The Disappeared Cooing_1

Before Gu Mian could do anything, he was cordially escorted to the edge of the village by the villagers.

The village boundary was not clearly defined, only marked by a crooked tree. Once you stepped past that tree, you were considered outside the village.

Gu Mian did not have time to wonder what kind of torment the tree had endured to become so bent. He glanced back at the other players. Chu Changge and the others were standing not far behind him, watching him go.

Even though I can’t see Xie Bi’an’s eyes, I’ll assume he’s also watching me leave, Gu Mian thought.

The camera crew and the other villagers were watching him with an expectant gaze, as if the moment he left the village, a pack of large dogs would chase him for eighteen blocks.

The only person who never left Gu Mian’s side was one of the cameramen. He was now shouldering his camera, its lens aimed directly at Gu Mian’s face, seemingly unwilling to miss a single one of his expressions.

"This cameraman..." Gu Mian touched his guitar case. "Don’t tell me I’m going to run into a ghost even after leaving this village?"

Theoretically, this instance should be free of ghosts.

Gu Mian began to consider the possibility of being chased by eighteen large dogs.

But these large dogs... can they be eaten?

The sun was slowly rising. Gu Mian, the most popular guest, was ushered out of the village early. The cameramen focused their lenses on his solitary departing figure, seemingly attempting to capture emotions of "loneliness, helplessness, and pity."

Unfortunately, Gu Mian, who didn’t understand human sentiments, did not satisfy their wishes.

He walked out of the village with his back to them, seemingly lost in thought. Even from just his back view, everyone could tell he appeared to be contemplating, What should I have for lunch today?

Accompany me next year watched Gu Mian’s retreating back. "This guy is truly ridiculous..."

At this moment, most of the camera lenses were focused on Gu Mian, so not many people noticed the other three guests.

Accompany me next year withdrew her gaze from Gu Mian and instinctively turned to look at the two men by her side.

On her right was the securely wrapped Xie Bi’an. In Accompany me next year’s impression, he was a good person. Despite being dressed like a highway robber from a wuxia novel, after spending some time with him, she could indeed sense he was a good man.

On her left was Meiren Chu, another player she had recently met.

Accompany me next year was quite self-aware; she deeply felt that although she had met this Meiren Chu, he might not necessarily know her.

After all, he always looked as if he’d had a botched plastic surgery. His entire face was usually motionless, making it impossible to discern any of his inner thoughts.

Recalling the guest who had just left, apparently pondering What to eat today? she suddenly felt a wave of despair. Why do I feel like none of my teammates in this instance are normal people? Speaking of which, that guy who just left has such a strange nickname, ’Green Doctor’...

But do the viewers of this variety show also call this person ’Doctor’?

Come to think of it, I haven’t heard anyone call him by his actual name so far.

Accompany me next year frowned, looking around strangely, trying to find some clue about Gu Mian’s name.

Unexpectedly, when she looked up, she saw the fanatical gazes of the people.

These strange gazes startled her. Although she had witnessed their abnormality in the instance before, the people seemed even more frenzied now.

They were all, without exception, looking in the direction the guest had departed, their murky eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

A strange instance, strange onlookers... and... what on earth is out there? Accompany me next year shivered as she watched the crowd’s reaction.

At this moment, she heard Meiren Chu, the man beside her, say, "He’s the most popular among us, so his task is naturally the most dangerous. There must be something terrifying outside the village."

Terrifying? What could it be?

Accompany me next year glanced at the bespectacled man beside her. He was looking straight ahead, and she didn’t know who he was talking to.

Then, she thought she heard a faint laugh from Xie Bi’an on her other side.

She turned her head to look, only to see Xie Bi’an completely hidden by his black cloak, his expression invisible. The laughter just now seemed to have been her imagination.

「Meanwhile, Fatty was in a room, engrossed in searching for something.」

The Old World was an era of less developed technology. Television was the primary form of entertainment. Mobile phones and computers existed, but they were comparable to those from decades ago in the real world, suitable only for games like Minesweeper and Solitaire.

One could also search for things online, but most results were spam, like ’Learn this trick and live to ninety-nine!’

Fatty was trying to use the computer in the room to search for past episodes of Metamorphosis, but all he found were spam ads or scam websites.

He stared at the suggestive pop-up ad that appeared in the bottom-right corner of the screen, lost in thought.

He didn’t want to turn on the television, since the name "Gu Mian" could pop up on the screen at any time.

At this moment, Know my thoughts was sitting on the bed behind Fatty, remarking that it was safer for two people to stick together.

Know my thoughts leaned his head towards the screen. "Brother Fatty, are you trying to find previous episodes on the computer?"

Fatty nodded while staring at the computer screen. "But I can’t find any. If we could watch the previous episodes, we might get a clue."

"That’s normal. It’d be stranger if you *could* find them," Know my thoughts said matter-of-factly. "Think about it: why does this global game randomly assign us instances instead of letting us choose? Why does it cut off internet access and prevent us from opening forums? It’s because they’re afraid of guides!"

"If players could freely choose which instances to enter and had access to guides, wouldn’t those instances just become prime spots for farming resources?" Know my thoughts analyzed, clearly having played his share of games. "The content of this show’s past episodes is pretty much the same as a guide. They most likely wouldn’t let you find it."

Indeed, Fatty nodded in agreement.

But even with random matching and no forums, for us, instances are still a great place to farm resources...

Thinking this, Fatty touched his belly, which had grown bigger because of this global game.

"Oh, how I envy you, Brother Fatty," Know my thoughts gazed at Fatty’s belly. "It’s been more than half a year since the game started, and you’re still so fat. I really envy you."

Fatty was dazed for a moment and decided to take it as a compliment.

Since the computer was no help, Fatty had no choice but to ask for assistance in their cheat group chat.

[Fat Son]: Dear Miss Liu, you’re a native of this world. What’s your take on Gu Mian’s mission? @Liu Ruyan

He tried his best to make his tone sound polite, perhaps a little too polite.

Fatty was aware that Gu Mian’s mission was likely to be the most dangerous, so he wanted to find out more about it.

Liu Ruyan’s message arrived not long after:

"In this world, ghosts aren’t what people fear. In the face of their faith, even if they were to genuinely encounter a ghost, they would expose its unrighteous deeds to others.

"Completely destroying a person’s character, completely subjugating someone until they no longer dare to resist, making them bow their heads and suffer others’ insults forever—these are the things that bring them the greatest joy.

"Gu Mian should be experiencing these things right now."