In the train control room, Gu Mian had a friendly exchange with the train conductor. He received a thin book titled "History of the Seven Worlds" from him, which was, of course, written on the spot. To express his gratitude, Gu Mian drew a perfect door on the wall outside the train control room. The conductor was moved to tears by the sight.
About half an hour later, thanks to the combined efforts of the conductor and Coach Che, the train's malfunction was finally fixed. With everyone's effort, the train finally made it to the ninth stop, "Haicheng City Film City."
When Gu Mian and his companions left, the conductor chased them to the platform, waved goodbye with tears in his eyes, and said, "I was delighted to have you as my guests. Please, don't co again."
Gu Mian nodded gratefully, responding, "Definitely next ti," as he left the station.
Outside the station was a sunny landscape. In stark contrast to the gloomy Seventh World, the warm sunshine bathed them, making them feel warm and comfortable.
007 had finally snapped back to reality. She looked up at the clear sky, in a bit of a daze. Only now did she feel the sensation of having escaped death. It was sowhat unbelievable that they had really escaped from that deadly predicant. Although a few people were not in good shape, she glanced at the Fortune-teller and Xiao Qiao with slight concern.
Fatty, also rather anxious, said, "Doctor, we need to find an instance quickly."
They had to find an instance to enter as soon as possible, then swiftly disintegrate it. Gu Mian's goal in entering instances was to quickly leave the Low-Dinsional World, not to actually clear them.
With Coach Che, Gu Mian felt like he had divine assistance. Under his guidance, Gu Mian and his team easily entered an instance nad "Crazy Director Showdown."
The na sounded quite artistic, but in reality, it was about filming a horror movie—with actual ghosts as cast mbers.
There were already four players in this instance. Not long after they started, they were shocked to find a man, dressed like a mummy in a white coat with bandages around his head, barging onto the set. At first, they thought he was an Evil Ghost actor from the set.
Until this mummy pulled a shining chainsaw from the guitar case behind him and brandished it at the other Evil Ghosts on set. The glimring chainsaw almost blinded their eyes.
"What the fuck!" one player exclaid, looking at the suddenly intruding mummy. "I rember our the wasn't *Saw*. Where did this guy co from? Could he be an actor provided by the instance?"
Another player who seed slightly more rational said, "Did we inadvertently trigger a death path, so the instance introduced a ghost that was completely unrelated to the script to kill us?"
"Stop talking and run!" The other two players had already bolted.
"Wait a minute!" the rational player said. "I can open his player panel, he's a player!"
"How is that possible? The intro clearly stated there are only four players... Fuck, this is real! What's going on?"
Then they discovered that the mummy player seed unsatisfied with rely terrorizing the other extras. He shifted his gaze towards the trembling director not far away. The mummy reached out his sinister hands towards the director.
The stagehands and caran had long since fled, leaving caras scattered on the ground. Only the lighting technician stubbornly kept the lights on, the eerie illumination perfectly complenting the current scene. Under the strange lighting, a man with half his face bandaged was grinning malevolently while strangling the helpless middle-aged director. The strangled man's face was ghastly pale, and he couldn't even cry for help.
This was indeed a horror movie in the making. The scene was quite harmonious, almost joyful. The outco was predictable.
Unfortunately, Gu Mian was once again kicked out of the instance, along with his companions and four confused, innocent bystanders.
When Gu Mian returned to the real world, he found himself sitting on a sofa. He glanced around, seeing only Mr. Green crouched in a corner and Fatty looking around anxiously.
Fatty anxiously scanned every room. "What's going on? Have Brother Chu and the others not returned yet?"
Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "They entered the Seventh World from outside, so they should return the sa way. They're probably near the supermarket now. Let's head that way and see."
Sure enough, Gu Mian and Fatty encountered the returning group of four on their way to the supermarket. The Fortune-teller was hopping around cheerfully, the tooth marks on Chu Changge's head had disappeared, and only Xiao Qiao remained as she was.
"Affected by the collapse of the Seventh World, she can't wake up for now," Gu Mian said, looking at the unconscious Xiao Qiao.
When they returned to the motel, they found Liu Ruyan was missing, with no idea where she had gone.
"Weird," Fatty said, scratching his head as he stared at Liu Ruyan's closed door. "Miss Liu Ruyan was still here when I entered the train instance. How co she's gone now?"
Gu Mian frowned. "She hasn't been dragged into so special instance too, has she?"
Fatty's mouth hung open. "Again?"
Gu Mian felt a sense of hopelessness. If Earth kept this up, wouldn't he be exhausted to death, saving people from different instances every day? Moreover, his Dungeon Entry Tickets were all used up, so he couldn't enter designated instances anymore. The fact that he could no longer threaten NPCs also made his heart ache.
"No need to worry," Chu Changge said. "The Seventh World has already collapsed. As long as we're not dragged into a place like that, we can survive with our abilities."
Indeed, the Seventh World was truly special; it had been clear from the start that there was no way out. Surviving in such a world was a miracle.
With Liu Ruyan missing, Gu Mian had no choice but to saw open the door to the room next to his own and move Xiao Qiao inside to prevent any accidents.
After settling Xiao Qiao, Gu Mian and the others began discussing the Seventh World.
"This ti, you were all pulled into the Seventh World without warning. I'm worried this will happen again," Gu Mian said, looking at the swinging ceiling lamp. "I really don't want to wake up every morning to Fatty saying, 'Doctor, Brother Chu and the others have been pulled into an instance again!'"
Fatty chuckled awkwardly. That was indeed sothing he would say.
Mr. Green, who was languishing in the corner, suddenly spoke up, "This ti, Earth broke the rule of not opening instances in the Seventh World. Its control over this ga has substantially decreased as a result, so you don't have to worry about *that* happening again…"
"Rules," Gu Mian repeated. "Who set these rules? Were they established jointly by the Low-Dinsional World and Earth?"
Mr. Green nodded. "Yes. Breaking the rules results in penalties."
This was strange. "And who enforces these penalties?" Gu Mian asked the question that had been on his mind.
It was like the law: if soone broke it, a more powerful enforcer was needed to administer penalties. But what if the lawbreaker was the most powerful existence in the world? Who could enforce the penalties? Neither Earth nor the Low-Dinsional World were pushovers. Whichever one violated the rules, it would be difficult to penalize them, as it would be hard to find an enforcer more powerful than either.
"That's not sothing a re NPC like would know," Mr. Green pursed his lips. "Anyway, the rule is very effective. Earth can't cause such mischief anymore."
Although Earth's control had significantly decreased, Mr. Green's expression showed little joy. He said gloomily, "I heard the Seventh World has completely collapsed. I'm terrified it will affect other places…"
Gu Mian recalled Xingyun's words, "I'm afraid your nightmare will co true soon."
Previously, Xingyun had been preventing the Seventh World's collapse through repeating cycles. But now the cycles had stopped, and the curse Earth had left in the Seventh World began to spread. Xingyun had said she would try her best to stop the curse from affecting other worlds, but who knew how long she could hold out? Maybe half a year, maybe half a month. Or perhaps, the mont he opened his eyes tomorrow, he would see Fatty weeping by his bedside, crying, 'Doctor, the Low-Dinsional World is all gone! Brother Chu and Miss Xiao Qiao... they're all dead!'
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