Global Collapse

[Instance: Terror Manor]

[Number of Participants: 6]

[Instance Introduction: You are six mountain climbers. However, an accident occurs during one of your climbs. Due to heavy snow and blocked paths, you're trapped on the mountain, your only option to seek refuge in the sole manor on the mountain.]

[Instance Mission: Escape Terror Manor]

[Instance Reward: Game Coin*200, a Surprise Lottery Wheel Spin]

Gu Mian pondered over the game rewards, "What's this Surprise Lottery Wheel Spin about?"

Past lotteries were straightforward, without the 'full of surprises' descriptor.

Fatty analyzed, "I guess it's like drawing cards in a game. This lottery wheel probably has a high chance of yielding rare items."

That made sense.

Gu Mian looked again at the mission panel.

The mission itself seemed quite plain. To escape the manor... If they just stepped inside and then immediately jumped back out, would that count as escaping?

Suddenly, the scenery around the three of them changed. Evidently, they had entered the instance.

Before Gu Mian had time to take in his surroundings, a biting wind buffeted them, freezing the tips of their noses.

"So cold…" Gu Mian wrapped his thin white coat tighter around himself.

Fatty was also shivering, his layers of fat quaking.

They were clearly on a mountain, with white snow everywhere. Leafless trees stood nearby, their branches laden with a substantial layer of snow.

Startled birds fluttered away, squawking discordantly as they flew across the grey sky.

The freezing wind whistled through the bare tree trunks, unerringly finding them. It was cold enough to freeze a person solid.

Gu Mian managed to get a good look at the other three players.

There was a couple among them, which Gu Mian noticed immediately.

Not that these two were especially intimate, but their usernames were awfully flirty:

[A Man Bright but not Dazzling], [A Woman Alluring but not Ostentatious]

Fatty gulped as he too gawked at the couple's eye-catching usernames.

And the last player's nickname was quite outstanding. Though just a string of digits, it exuded an air of high-class elegance:

[10086]

Gu Mian tightened his coat against the chill. This batch of teammates was indeed peculiar.

The other three appeared to be examining each other's game information. Even a cursory glance at usernames and game IDs helped determine how to address each other.

After a while, having sized each other up, they finally made eye contact.

Everyone present had rather excellent nicknames. They probably hadn't yet figured out how to address each other.

Gu Mian was adept at this. Looking at 10086, he said, "I'll call you Brother Mobile from now on."

Fatty's lips twitched a bit, finding no fault with it.

The man called Brother Mobile appeared to hesitate, intending to say something, but Gu Mian had already diverted his attention to the couple.

"You," Gu Mian eyed the man with the username [A Man Bright but not Dazzling]. "I'll just call you Mingliang."

"Such a corny name!" Fatty exclaimed.

Mingliang's mouth fell slightly open; he seemed unable to accept it.

However, Gu Mian didn't care. He directly switched his gaze to the woman with the username [A Woman Alluring but not Ostentatious].

Looking at that name, Gu Mian frowned. Going by how 'Mingliang' was nicknamed, this girl should be called 'Alluring.'

The woman seemed to approve of the moniker 'Alluring' and was expectantly waiting for Gu Mian to speak.

Contrary to her expectations, he hesitated for a bit, then finally came up with a name, "I'll just call you Xiao Zhang."

From [A Woman Alluring but not Ostentatious]—he'd carefully picked the 'Zhang' from the middle.

Fatty nearly burst out laughing; Gu Mian had painstakingly selected the plainest name possible.

Chu Changge's calm voice intervened, "Wait till he starts calling you 'Old Wang,' then we'll see if you're still laughing."

Fatty's laughter abruptly ceased.

No one was particularly bothered about nicknames. After all, they were in a terror instance; it would be ridiculous to start an argument over names now.

Brother Mobile was the first to speak, "You three…know each other?"

He glanced at Chu Changge's and Fatty's usernames, his expression reflecting surprise.

Then he glanced at Gu Mian's username, and his expression became even more complex.

"Yes."

"No."

All three of them answered simultaneously. The solo "yes" was, of course, from the naive Fatty. And the two "no's" came from Gu Mian and Chu Changge.

Brother Mobile's expression further complicated.

Fatty was initially puzzled, but soon understood why Gu Mian and Chu Changge would deny it.

The couple—Mingliang and Xiao Zhang—looked at them in surprise, "Fat Kid Surnamed Wang, Chu Changge... I remember seeing those two names in the announcements several times."

When Gu Mian crashed instances, these two were usually involved, so their names naturally appeared in the public announcements.

Naturally, those who paid attention to the announcements also knew something else.

Mingliang asked hesitantly, "I remember you two… usually team up with that Gu Mian, right?"

As he spoke, he glanced subconsciously at Gu Mian's nickname, only to see a bright green 'Doctor.'

These people had never encountered the class system, so they had no idea why Gu Mian's name was green. They just assumed his username had undergone some kind of mutation.

Seeing their confusion, Gu Mian had no intention of explaining. Was he supposed to lie and say, 'I used color codes when I typed my username'?

Brother Mobile fixed his gaze on the trio, "So do you know each other or not?"

Fatty responded quickly, "We just ran into each other at the ticket booth, so it's a sort of acquaintance."

Brother Mobile pressed on, "Judging by your nicknames, you must know that Gu Mian person too, right?"

The trio wasn't called the 'Blast Team' for nothing. A saying had spread among the players: whenever these three gathered, an instance was sure to be wrecked.

A truly fitting name: Blast Team.

At this thought, Brother Mobile breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, that Gu Mian wasn't here. Otherwise, they would probably have a hard time surviving this instance.