Global Collapse

"If you were simply carried out… you could try persuading the same player to carry you back?" the ticket vendor suggested boldly.

But this idea obviously wouldn't work.

That's because the game wasn't designed for NPCs to travel from the real world to the instance.

"If nothing else works, you can stay with me for the time being. I will report this situation to see if there's a solution…" the ticket vendor said, somewhat awkwardly.

The host nodded, gripping his tall green hat. However, Gu Mian suddenly reached out, grabbed him, and exclaimed, "Wait, I remember you came out as part of my game reward."

How could I leave my own reward in the ticket booth?

This kind of behavior, which could be considered threatening to an NPC, was something ordinary players couldn't really do. But Gu Mian was different.

The host struggled a couple of times, but his efforts were in vain.

The ticket vendor looked at Gu Mian, then at Host Green, seeming to want to intervene but holding back. "Mr. Green, I suggest you wait here… even if we could establish a link to send you back, it would probably only be temporary. If you miss the opportunity…"

The host paused at these words. He thought it through before finally speaking, "Alright, Gu Mian, I know what you're up to. You can have the watch, just let go of me!"

Compared to losing this watch, not being able to return to the instance was an even greater loss.

Only then did Gu Mian slightly loosen his grip. "Actually, I still lost out. I could have brought two things out, but now I only got a single watch."

The host pulled out a twenty-centimeter-long electronic watch from who-knows-where, thrust it at Gu Mian, and rolled his eyes, "You've really struck gold!"

Gu Mian looked down at the item in his hand, the attributes of which had now appeared.

As it turned out, it wasn't really a watch. The host only used it as a timer because there were none in the instance.

[Archive Device]

[Introduction: This is supposed to be a high-tech product, but the designer clearly has questionable taste. From the outside, it looks no different from a digital watch that glows green. Of course, you can also use it as a digital watch if you want.]

[Function: Save and load. Press the green button to save the user's current life state. Press the red button to load the saved state. The Archive Device can only save once a month. If the save is not loaded within a month after saving, it will be deleted. If the saver dies, the save will be deleted, and the saver cannot be revived using the save.]

This thing was quite powerful.

As long as one had a breath left, they could use this to revert to their life state at the time of saving.

This was equivalent to having two lives every month! Of course, if one died instantly without a chance to load the save, then it would be useless.

"Wonderful," Gu Mian stroked his chin. "With this, my chances of surviving in this cold world just went up dramatically."

While thinking, he casually pressed the bright green save button.

Some changes appeared on the Archive Device's panel.

[Recording in progress, please wait…]

But this Archive Device didn't seem as handy as Gu Mian had thought—

[Warning! You are not compatible with this item. Please cease all ongoing attempts!]

Gu Mian: "..."

Could this be a counterfeit?

He looked at the host in front of him.

The host took a small step back. "Don't you understand why your illustrious name is on the wanted list?"

"Because I'm incompatible with the Archive Device?"

...What kind of IQ was this?

The host seemed unwilling to banter further with Gu Mian. "I've already given you the Archive Device. Stop hanging around here and hurry up, go, go."

Gu Mian didn't linger. Chu Changge and Fatty were still nowhere to be seen. They were probably waiting for the instance to collapse to get compensation. With the host gone, the instance would likely become abnormal soon.

He wondered when the two of them would come out. Gu Mian had originally planned to wait for them here, but the host didn't seem to want him around.

So he decided to take his Archive Device back and study it.

When Gu Mian's receding figure had disappeared into the distance, the host turned back to the ticket vendor. "Have you contacted the organizers?"

The ticket vendor nodded slightly. "I've already reported it, but there's no reply yet… Mr. Green, I remember that two people from your side previously complained about this player. But it seems you've had the worst luck this time…"

"Indeed," the host rubbed his forehead. "When I first saw him, I thought I would just have an extended vacation. But it turns out that's not the case. Even though I'm the unluckiest for now, that might not hold true in the future."

In this world, there's no 'unluckiest,' only 'even unluckier.'

The two fell silent.

After a considerable pause, the ticket vendor in the window suddenly called out, "Mr. Green, I just received a notification…"

"What? Can they send me back?"

"No… It's a game announcement. It says your instance has been temporarily shut down because no one's maintaining it…"

...This truly was 'good' news, and entirely expected.

「 」

By the time Gu Mian arrived home, it was already noon. Feeling somewhat hungry, he prepared two packs of pickled vegetable and beef instant noodles.

He would never cook in the kitchen, a place prone to frequent accidents.

Halfway through his instant noodles, Gu Mian heard the front door open. Looking up, he saw Chu Changge and Fatty making their entrance.

"The Word Guessing instance has been temporarily shut down due to the host's absence," Chu Changge said, getting straight to the point upon his return. "Fatty and I each got 1,000 in compensation. For once, you're not on the compensation list."

Since the instance hadn't collapsed by the time Gu Mian had left, it was only fair that he didn't receive any compensation.

Still, I came out ahead.

At the very least, the Archive Device I got is incredible.

Gu Mian tossed the Archive Device sitting next to his bowl to the duo. "You guys take a look at this. I can't use it."

Not only can't I use it, but it's also a pain to carry, like a brick.

"This is…" Fatty seemed taken aback. "Isn't this the host's? He was willing to give it to you?"

"Of course," Gu Mian replied. "Because I, in my considerate nature, brought him out of the instance. So, in gratitude, he gave this to me."

Fatty looked at Chu Changge, appearing confused. "Why do I get the feeling the host didn't mean it that way?"

Chu Changge also looked at him. "The host definitely didn't intend for anyone to bring him out of the instance."

"Did Dr. Gu misunderstand, then?"

Upon hearing this, Chu Changge fell silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "Put it this way, Gu Mian usually gets full marks in reading comprehension on exams."

Fatty was utterly confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means he was playing dumb despite knowing exactly what was going on. He deliberately carried the host out."