Just then, Xiao Qiao, who had been sitting silently at the side, suddenly raised sothing with both hands. She held the item out in front of them, much like unfurling a piece of clothing. At first glance, it looked like a black sleeve. "There's a way," she said.
She glanced at Gu Mian as she spoke, "I'll cover my head, or you cover yours. Or we can all cover our heads."
What she held was a mask.
It was a rather crude mask. Gu Mian suspected she had cut a few holes in a very stretchy black sock to serve as one.
Gu Mian was speechless. "..."
To be honest, he thought a player suddenly appearing in the crowd with a black sock on their head would be the most conspicuous thing.
Let alone an entire group of people all donning black sock masks.
"It's not Christmas. Why would we put socks on our heads?" Gu Mian imdiately rejected the bizarre suggestion.
Fatty, at the side, voiced his doubt. "Do people put socks on their heads for Christmas? I rember socks are for Santa's gifts. Of course, if a girl wished on a sock for you to be her boyfriend, Doctor, then it might be reasonable for you to put your head in a sock..."
"Shut up." Gu Mian reached out, grabbed a pie from the table, and shoved it into Fatty's mouth, leaving him able to only make muffled whimpers.
Gu Mian currently faced three main problems.
First, Xiao Qiao's face.
Second, being identified by players who knew him.
Third, Fatty's in-ga nickna.
Fatty was widely known because he frequently appeared on the instance compensation announcents. Moreover, his na often appeared on these announcents alongside "Gu Mian" and "Chu Changge."
As soon as Fatty's nickna was seen, people would naturally associate it with Gu Mian. Although players in a crowded event might not necessarily be interested in a random fatty's nickna, the threat still existed.
Xiao Qiao's face was an easier issue to address. Instead of using a black elastic sock to cover her entire head, simply wearing a baseball cap and a mask could obscure most of her features. However, even if most of her face was covered, there was still a chance soone could recognize her. Before the global ga started, Gu Mian had occasionally browsed the web for current events, but he mostly ca across gossip and scandal photos of various celebrities. Even if the people in the photos were heavily disguised, they could still be recognized instantly.
In short, every event posed a risk of Gu Mian's identity being exposed, but he couldn't just avoid participating.
Gu Mian wanted to understand the relationship between instances and the real world. His current priority was to find the location of the original "Second World."
Mr. Green, an NPC, likely knew sothing about this. If Gu Mian participated in the event, there was a high probability he would encounter Mr. Green.
Although he wasn't sure how Mr. Green would appear...
"Speaking of which, Doctor," Fatty said, pulling the pie out of his mouth. He glanced at the calendar hanging on the nearby wall. It had always been there, and Fatty had already flipped it to today's date. The large words "June 1st" were very conspicuous. "Before this ga started, quite a few people must have known you, right? But we've hardly run into any of them."
This was actually quite normal.
In countless instances, the probability of two acquaintances eting was not high.
When the ga began, the first instance matched players based on their location. This ant that for the first instance, players who were geographically closer were more likely to be matched together.
That was why he had been matched into an instance with Chu Changge and Fatty.
However, after the first instance, the rule "the closer the players, the more likely they are to enter the sa instance" seed to have vanished. Players were then matched randomly.
Later, Gu Mian and the others had driven out of Lianhua City, making it even less likely for him to encounter anyone he knew.
But this event might be different. The rules were already set: players could use event tickets to directly enter the event location. Perhaps they really would run into so familiar faces during the Dragon Boat Race.
Thinking of this, Gu Mian began to recall the people he had known throughout his life.
But he couldn't recall many.
The few who had left a profound impression on him were almost all dead: his math teacher from his school days, the couple who had almost adopted him, and the little girl from his childhood who always liked to play rock-paper-scissors with him.
There were also people he rembered, though not vividly: roommates from the orphanage, middle school, high school, and university, as well as colleagues from the hospital.
Gu Mian wasn't actually very close with his classmates; he only had vague recollections of those who had shared a dormitory with him.
But co to think of it...
Gu Mian turned to Fatty. "The ga's been going on for half a year. You haven't run into any acquaintances either, have you?"
Fatty was different from Gu Mian. It was clear he had traveled extensively before the ga began, and his social circle was much larger than Gu Mian's.
"That's true," Fatty said, scratching his head. "I haven't run into any acquaintances, so it's normal that you haven't either, Doctor."
But Gu Mian had a premonition they were about to encounter so familiar faces very soon—at the Dragon Boat Race.
Normally, if acquaintances bumped into each other, they might ask things like, "What did you eat today?" or "Found a girlfriend yet?"
But if they bumped into each other at an event like this...
Gu Mian doubted anyone standing over waters teeming with Evil Ghosts would be worried about whether soone on an opposing boat had found a girlfriend.
"Are you going to cover your face?" Chu Changge asked Gu Mian.
Gu Mian considered for a mont. "I'll just wear a mask."
He could imagine the scene: running into acquaintances at the event, everyone staring wide-eyed. Though Gu Mian wasn't eager to be part of that, whether he'd be recognized wasn't up to him.
Gu Mian was already considering how to deal with these not-so-close acquaintances. As the only person on the wanted list, his appearance would inevitably attract their attention. If he wasn't careful, the Dragon Boat Race could turn into a massive identity reveal.
It was certain that so players now possessed long-range weapons. If Gu Mian's na was exposed, he would very likely beco an imdiate target.
Even though his white lab coat was a special item that could block a certain degree of damage, Gu Mian knew arrows or bullets would definitely penetrate it. Besides, skilled players might even manage a headshot.
Gu Mian suddenly felt a headache coming on. He had even seriously considered the possibility of preemptively sinking other players' boats.
Just then, Chu Changge suddenly reached out and removed the school badge from his chest. "This can help a player change their nickna and appearance. The appearance change only lasts for thirty minutes, but I think that's enough. Enough for us to row away from the crowded area once the event starts."
"But I might not be able to use this," Gu Mian said. He knew he was different from other players. He took the school badge from Chu Changge's hand and pinned it to his chest.
Imdiately, Fatty saw Gu Mian's player nickna change.
It had changed to "iren Chu."
It actually worked? Unexpectedly?
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