Global Collapse

Teacher Sweet lay on the floor, just like the other bound individuals.

She had been tackled, and the perpetrator was still pinning her down.

Gu Mian supported himself with his left hand on the floor, while his right hand held the chainsaw, its handle pressed across Teacher Sweet's neck.

The chainsaw was already running. Its blade tip, unsupported, rested on the tiled floor, where the teeth had ground a deep, long groove into the tile.

Tile debris flew from the groove as the blade moved, like earth churned by a plow.

If Gu Mian loosened his grip, the chainsaw would fall instantly, and Teacher Sweet's head would be severed from her neck.

The Fortune-teller's mouth fell slightly open.

Years of habit made her instinctively step forward to mediate violent disputes.

"Wait..." The Fortune-teller trembled, taking a small step forward. "Let's talk this out!"

Oh my God.

What on earth is this surreal scene?

I've never witnessed anything like this in my entire life!

The Fortune-teller desperately suppressed the torrent of sarcastic remarks flooding her mind, inspired by the insanity unfolding before her. For now, she only wanted to restore peace.

However, neither party paid her any attention.

Pinned beneath Gu Mian, Teacher Sweet stared directly at him, her voice frantic, "Gu Mian! If you stop now, she'll be the only one in this instance who knows your identity!"

The Fortune-teller was baffled.

Does "she" refer to me?

And this Doctor is... Gu Mian!

Of course, I know the name Gu Mian! That name has a bounty of 30,000 Game Coins on his head!

The Fortune-teller was dumbfounded.

"You see," Gu Mian said, showing no intention of stopping, "a moment ago, when you were unharmed, you could threaten me with revealing my identity to make me leave this instance. But now that you're about to die, you can only use that same threat to beg me to spare your life. This shows that the more decisive a person is, the greater their advantage."

As he spoke, he demonstrated his point about 'decisiveness.' His grip on the saw loosened slightly, and the chilling blade slid an inch lower, poised to slice into Teacher Sweet's delicate neck.

"Besides, if I cared about my identity being exposed, I wouldn't have disregarded your threats and done this to you. I care about something else. You understand that, right?"

Teacher Sweet was practically exploding with rage.

She hadn't expected Gu Mian to be so nonchalant about his identity being exposed.

Moreover, she couldn't afford to act recklessly and immediately inform all players in the instance of Gu Mian's identity. This was her only bargaining chip; if she used it, it would be gone, and she'd have nothing left to threaten Gu Mian with.

At that moment, the saw in Gu Mian's hand lowered another inch.

The sharp teeth whizzed past Teacher Sweet's neck. Her skin seemed to react to the sound of the chainsaw; her pores rapidly dilated, as if emitting terrified screams.

Death would arrive in the next second.

In that split second, the Fortune-teller heard Teacher Sweet's urgent cry, "I'll tell you! What do you want to know?"

Her words were clearly effective. Gu Mian stilled his hand, the saw now hovering about two centimeters above Teacher Sweet's neck.

Gu Mian's eyebrows twitched; this was exactly what he wanted to hear.

The somewhat oblivious Fortune-teller was still watching from the side, but Gu Mian didn't care.

"I'm asking you," Gu Mian said, staring intently at Teacher Sweet's face, "what's the significance of the number seven...?"

'Seven' was the word the abnormally powerful ghost from the previous instance had blurted out before dying. Unfortunately, it had only managed that single word before it perished completely.

Hearing this, Teacher Sweet first furrowed her brow in confusion, but it quickly smoothed out. "Who told you this?!"

The Fortune-teller nearby was completely bewildered. She had no idea what cryptic game these two were playing and could only watch helplessly.

"Less nonsense," Gu Mian said, remembering how forcing a confession last time had led to the instance's destruction. "Speak up."

If Teacher Sweet starts talking now, she probably won't get many words out before the instance is shut down. We have to hurry.

Teacher Sweet seemed caught in a dilemma. She frowned and hesitated for several seconds before finally speaking, clearly compelled by the threat to her life, "It's not merely a simple number..."

Meanwhile, Anzhi Tianlan stood far from the villa, gazing at the building where all the players had gathered at the start.

A few cameramen were sticking close to her, filming her from every conceivable angle.

Anzhi Tianlan glanced at the cameramen beside her. "That's right. My other opponent died long ago, so you can only film me now."

The pale-faced cameramen remained silent, continuing their work.

They seemed particularly fascinated by Anzhi Tianlan's long, dark hair, often zooming in for close-ups of her tresses.

Anzhi Tianlan's gaze returned to the distant villa, her earlier gentle expression gone.

Early on, she had found the hidden way to clear this instance: kill Dong'er, hide the body, and take her place.

This way, no one could hold her accountable, as long as other players didn't meddle unnecessarily.

Moreover, she was confident in her acting skills and believed she could deceive the other players.

But the appearance of that Doctor had thrown her into a panic.

In truth, the Doctor hadn't actively sought trouble with her, nor even given her an unnecessary glance.

But Anzhi Tianlan had encountered many people in her life; some, she knew were trouble just by looking at them.

The Doctor was such a person.

Therefore, Anzhi Tianlan tried even harder to conceal her identity, but unexpectedly, she was still exposed—in front of all the guests, including the Dong'er who had been under the bed for some time.

Since my role-play was a massive failure, my only option is to flee.

As long as I make it past the third day, I'll naturally leave the instance...

As Anzhi Tianlan thought this, she retracted her gaze and was about to turn and leave.

But just then, she suddenly sensed the distant building quiver slightly.

She stopped abruptly, frowning. "Am I imagining things?"

Almost immediately, a stronger tremor came from beneath her feet.

This special instance seemed to be experiencing an earthquake.

What's going on?!

How can there be an earthquake in an instance?!

But she quickly realized this was no earthquake; it was a malfunction of the instance itself.