Global Collapse

It was a shame that this Paper-Man was too flat to make any speculation about its dimensions.

Back in the day, Zi Liang had his own Paper-Man wife, but now he could never consider Gu Mian, the Paper-Man in the game, as his wife.

"I say..." Zi Liang looked at the chainsaw-wielding little figure in the game and swallowed. "Is that the one worth 30,000 Game Coins?"

Of course, he was referring to Gu Mian, who was running riot on his mobile screen.

Fatty, who was anxiously glued to the screen, heard him and turned his head. "I've realized you really do love to come up with nicknames for other people." The nickname was indeed quite fitting.

If they were lucky, stabbing Gu Mian once meant 30,000 Game Coins, so it was reasonable that anyone would want to run up and take a few stabs at him.

Sometimes Gu Mian would even have the sudden thought, I'll kill myself, but his rationality wouldn't allow him to do so.

At this moment, Zi Liang was still looking at Gu Mian's figure, lost in thought.

He wasn't sure how this green-clad Doctor had gotten into the game. Nor did he understand why the Doctor could pull out a chainsaw to chase ghosts after entering. He was utterly bewildered.

Just then, Zi Liang heard a sound coming from the corridor ahead.

He looked up blankly and saw a familiar figure slowly approaching. It was Chu Changge!

The man, who wore glasses, was slowly walking towards them, adjusting his glasses. His face was expressionless, showing no awareness that he was in a terror-filled instance.

Zi Liang remembered that this person should have entered the art museum with Willow not supporting wind. He should still be in the museum right now, so how did he get out?

Could it be that the museum exploration is complete? Is that why he came out to find them?

But if so, where did Willow not supporting wind go?

Zi Liang pondered this, looking confusedly at Chu Changge's back, but there was nothing behind him.

Fatty, also confused, now asked, "Brother Chu, where's the person who was with you?"

Chu Changge lowered his hand and shook his head slightly. "I don't know."

Zi Liang was stunned. What does he mean, 'I don't know'?

Chu Changge continued, "We split up in the art museum. Later, she disappeared."

Hearing this, Zi Liang didn't dare to question further and kept quiet.

But he noticed Fatty's expression seemed a bit off, as if something had occurred to him.

Before Zi Liang could get a good look at Fatty's expression, Chu Changge suddenly spoke. "I found some paintings in the art museum. They had some clues, but they were too troublesome to carry, so I didn't bring them. I do, however, remember their content."

He seems completely unconcerned about his teammate's disappearance.

Hearing this, Zi Liang couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. If I disappeared, would Fatty also forget me so callously?

Chu Changge continued, "All the paintings I saw were by an artist named Chu Hang. Apparently, students have gone missing playing this game before, and Chu Hang seems to have painted those very students who disappeared after playing this game..."

"The paintings often depicted two identical people—one chasing, the other fleeing... I take it you two have already figured something out?" Chu Changge suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at Fatty and Zi Liang.

Fatty's expression didn't change much; he seemed to have already figured it out.

Zi Liang, however, still looked dazed, as if he were thinking about something else.

Neither of them had been listening attentively to Chu Changge.

Fatty snapped back to reality and nodded. "Yes... Just a little while ago, we discovered that the characters we registered aren't really *our* registered characters!"

His statement was a bit convoluted.

But Chu Changge understood his meaning and nodded. "Correct. Based on my deductions, of the two small figures—the pursuer and the pursued—the one fleeing is, in all likelihood, us players. The one chasing is our registered character. Or perhaps, these characters already existed and weren't created by our registration at all."

"Furthermore, these ghosts disguised as characters will constantly follow our movements and then strike when they have an opportunity. That's why we mistakenly assumed these ghosts were directly related to us."

"Speaking of which," Chu Changge adjusted his glasses, "since you already know the in-game characters are ghosts, you must have been chased by them, right?"

"Indeed," Fatty swallowed. "Just a short while ago, they almost caught us and tore us to pieces."

Chu Changge glanced at Fatty, then at the still-dazed Zi Liang. "But looking at you two now, it seems you feel you have nothing left to worry about. What about the two ghosts that were following you?"

Fatty sniffed. "Brother Chu, your eyes are really sharp. Yes, just now, when we were running for our lives, we saw the Doctor... but in the game..."

As he spoke, he pointed to his phone screen. "Right here! In the game, the Doctor turned into a Paper-Man!"

Fatty didn't need to say more; Chu Changge could already guess most of what had happened.

It was simply that Gu Mian, having turned into a Paper-Man, had run into the two approaching ghosts and then pulled out his chainsaw...

That explained why the two of them could now be idly spacing out here.

"In the art museum, I also saw two such paintings," Chu Changge said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "where someone was dragged by a hand into a room through a door. After they were pulled inside, the door shut, and then blood began to seep out from the crack beneath it."