June 8th, 23:40.
Outside Lianhua University gates.
The thick night shrouded the city. The school, the darkest point in the night, barely revealed the collapsed victorious trophy statue and the shattered remains of its base through the school gate. Further in, only dust could be seen.
With twenty minutes left before the end of the exams, players outside the school held their breath as they watched.
The players waiting for their teammates watched with wide eyes as the ground inside the school collapsed. Dust and heavy darkness obscured their vision, rendering it impossible to see what was happening inside.
The three-ter-high automatic door barred their steps. The gate of Lianhua University had been modified for the event; only players who had handed in their papers could get out from the inside. Once the exam began, latecors could not enter.
"What's happening in there... there's no sign of anyone else..." Soone sucked in a cool breath while looking into the school.
Just then, they suddenly saw two bright lights bursting out from the darkness, followed by the roar of an engine. Imdiately, they saw a rickety car erging from the darkness, heading straight for the school gate!
So quick-thinking players pulled others to the side. "Get out of the way!"
The startled players scattered like a tide.
Within two seconds, the car that appeared from the darkness had violently collided with the automatic gate. The first crash didn't break it open. They heard a tense voice from inside the car: "Doctor, it's not working! I guess it won't open for us because we didn't hand in our papers!"
Didn't hand in their papers? they wondered. Wouldn't leaving without handing in their paper be a violation? Would the invigilator let them out?
Before they could react, another voice ca to their ears: "Stop whining and hold on."
The stunned people watched as the car reversed slightly, then ramd forward aggressively again, as if to say, 'I don't want to hand in my paper, but you *must* open this gate for !'
Players hiding to the side swallowed hard as they watched this car repeatedly ram the school gate.
"Have they gone mad? There are ghosts in there! What if they let them out by ramming the door open?"
"I guess there must have been an accident inside. Look, the ground inside the school has collapsed. They'd probably be done for if they stayed in there any longer."
As players outside conversed, Gu Mian drove the Spirit Car, violently ramming the gate several tis until the automatic gate was finally broken in two. He slamd the accelerator, carrying a nauseous Fatty, a young man with broken glasses, and a landlord who enjoyed twisting gas canisters, and sped out of the school.
The Spirit Car sped straight out of the school gate for a good distance before making a sharp turn and barely managing to stop.
As soon as the car stopped, Fatty, in the backseat, unfastened his seat belt, rushed out of the car door, and crouched in a corner, retching. Gu Mian thought he should take Fatty drifting more often to get him used to it.
Chu Changge habitually pushed his glasses; the broken lens cut his hand.
"One, two, three, four... four..." Gu Mian also got out of the car and leaned against the car door, counting. "I feel like we're missing soone..."
Xiao Qiao was missing.
Liu Ruyan looked towards the school gate through the open car door. "She said she had sothing to do and left first, telling us not to worry about her."
Oh, really? Gu Mian thought. Although Gu Mian felt that this unemployed actress couldn't have any serious business to attend to, he didn't inquire further. What if, like 007, she went to find her mom... No, wait, Xiao Qiao is an orphan.
Speaking of 007, Gu Mian suddenly rembered their agreent from not long ago. He was supposed to lend her the "Dinsion-Breaking Phone" to make a call. He rembered telling 007 to wait for him at the school gate. Where is she?
Gu Mian thought and looked around. The first thing he saw was the group of players in the direction of the school gate, watching him silently. Even though it was pitch black outside, Gu Mian could still see the strange and frightened expressions on their faces, as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight. The Spirit Car's earlier crash must have given them quite a ntal shock.
And 007 was running towards him from that direction. She panted as she stopped in front of Gu Mian. "Those at the school gate are players waiting for their teammates... Can I ask... do you think they'll still be able to wait for anyone...?"
She was subtly asking about the casualty situation inside the event.
Gu Mian looked towards the school gate. He saw the people outside glance at him a few tis before turning their expectant gazes back towards the school interior, as if desperately hoping soone else would erge. But after quite a while, only a few more people stumbled out. They imdiately collapsed to the ground, and one even started sobbing.
Just then, Fatty, who was retching in the corner, abruptly straightened up and turned around. "Tough luck for them!"
"Enough with the tough luck," Gu Mian swiftly walked over and patted his shoulder. "Give the phone."
But in the end, 007 didn't manage to talk to her parents. When used outside an instance, the "Dinsion-Breaking Phone" would call the person with the strongest affinity to the user. However, the call was answered by a strange player, not her parents. Though regrettable, it was beyond her control.
After returning the phone to Gu Mian, 007 thanked him and left, embarking on her journey to find her parents once again.
Gu Mian decided to stay in Lianhua City. At this stage, with no specific goals, it didn't matter where he stayed. Since he originally lived in this city, staying here was more convenient.
At this point, the four of them had embarked on their journey ho.
Before leaving, he looked back at the school gate. The players were still staring intently at it, but no one else ca out.
Ninety percent of the players died in this event, and so of the remaining ten percent ran out without handing in their papers. Theoretically, one couldn't leave the school without handing in their paper, but this wasn't a big issue, as Gu Mian had broken the gate when he drove out.
The Spirit Car was driving on a road without street lights.
Gu Mian didn't own a house. The landlord of the Passing Inn, where he was staying, was Liu Ruyan.
Speaking of Liu Ruyan, she was quite an oddball for giving the inn such a na. It scared people off; no one dared to stay, fearing they would literally "pass on" if they checked in.
Experience has shown that staying at the Passing Inn is indeed not peaceful. So bold individuals had tried it for a while, but they were all frightened by odd happenings. Sotis the power would suddenly go out during a nightti shower; other tis, pipes would inexplicably burst, flooding a room. Frightened guests quickly demanded refunds and left.
But they did not know this was all because of Gu Mian's misfortune, which even affected nearby guests. In a nutshell, if you live with Gu Mian, don't expect to be safe and sound.
Chu Changge, who had known Gu Mian since the orphanage, suffered greatly from this. Fortunately, he had an easy-going temperant and wasn't too bothered by these tribulations.
At midnight, Gu Mian's dilapidated Spirit Car was parked beneath the Passing Inn. He opened the car door, got out, and stared in the darkness at his battered Spirit Car.
Should I consider getting a new car? he mumbled to himself as he surveyed the shattered windshield.
At this mont, the economical Fatty jumped out of the car. "No way, Doctor! A 998-yuan car isn't cheap, you know! We can try to negotiate with the manufacturer to get it repaired."
Gu Mian touched his chin. I don't recall any warranty ntioned when I bought the car...
"But they didn't say there's no warranty either," Fatty retorted.
A pretty sound argunt, indeed convincing.
Just then, Fatty noticed that a new notice had been updated on the ga panel. It was updated at 23:50 yesterday, but he had only just seen it.
At this point, Gu Mian had already stepped into the Passing Inn. He needed to see what kind of ss his brother and Xiao Hong had made of his room. Chu Changge also headed inside.
And Fatty was still standing in front of the Spirit Car, examining the notice.
[Notice (June 8, 23:50)]
[According to official ga detection, severe vibrations occurred at the 'College Entrance Exam' event location. This event has been closed prematurely. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to players.]
[All players who survived this event will receive compensation. Please check your mailbox.]
"All surviving players..." Fatty muttered. I guess there are less than a hundred.
The apartnt building had seven floors. Gu Mian lived on the sixth floor in a two-bedroom, one-living-room unit. He used to have a roommate, but they were scared off. Too lazy to find a new place, Gu Mian had stayed on his own.
Now, he was standing in front of the security door of his room. He had replaced the door himself and had a spare key. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the spare key, inserted it into the keyhole, and gave it a twist.
CLICK. The door opened.
The room was pitch-black, and he couldn't see anything inside. There was no electricity because the power card hadn't been inserted. And the power card was now with Fatty.
Gu Mian left the door open and walked a few steps inside. The room was silent, as if no one was there. He looked around the dark room, puzzled. "Where are those two ghosts?" There's no sound at all. Could they have gotten lost and gone to soone else's place?
"Xiao Hong?" Gu Mian called out again, but there was no response.
"Coming, coming!" Just as Gu Mian was perplexed, Fatty's voice ca from the stairwell. He'd stayed here briefly before, so he knew where Gu Mian lived.
Fatty ca running up the stairs. He jogged to the door with the power card, inserted it into the slot, and casually flicked the light switch.
The light on the ceiling lit up instantly.
Gu Mian blinked several tis before his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. After blinking a few more tis, he looked up into the room again.
The two ghosts were there. But...
Xiao Hong was sneakily standing on the couch, trying hard not to make a sound as she ripped a photo from the wall. It was a photo of a young Gu Mian, hit on the head by a basketball that had suddenly flown out of nowhere, wailing his eyes out.
He silently followed Xiao Hong's hand and looked around. The walls were plastered with photos from his childhood: pictures of him bawling, monts where joy turned to sorrow, and, most nurous, snapshots of unexpected incidents. Back then, the director of their orphanage loved to take candid shots with his cara. Many photos were even scattered on the floor, and an empty photo album lay tossed aside. This was clearly their handiwork.
Xiao Hong, clearly afraid of being found out, hadn't dared to make a sound earlier, hoping to sneakily tear down a few more. Unfortunately, her sche was exposed.
After silently looking at the photos all over the room, Gu Mian finally uttered with a twitching eyebrow, "Take all of these down!"
By the ti they finished cleaning up all the photos, it was past one in the morning. Fatty had sorted them all and put them back into the thick album, grouping together those taken around the sa ti, almost recreating the original stories behind them. He now gazed at the album in his hands with a fond expression.
Fatty was currently looking at a series of photos of Gu Mian eating lunch.
In the first photo, Gu Mian sat quietly at the table, eating his bowl of rice. The dish that day was seaweed egg drop soup. Everything was peaceful at that mont; ti seed to pass serenely.
In the second photo, a girl in a skirt appeared in the fra, holding a bowl of soup. Seeing this, Fatty could already guess what was about to happen.
Looking at the next one, it was just as he expected.
In the third photo, the skirt's owner had accidentally tripped and fallen, splashing the soup all over Gu Mian's head. Gu Mian, however, continued to eat calmly, as if completely accustod to such things.
The photos after that were from a different series.
Fatty looked at the photos, his face red from suppressing his laughter. "Doctor, who on earth splashed soup on your head like that? That's outrageous!"
Just then, Chu Changge's quiet voice drifted over from beside him: "That was ."
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