Global Collapse-Chapter 544 - 512: You haven’t seen it in nine days! _2

Chapter 544: Chapter 512: You haven’t seen it in nine days! _2

As the Old World instance collapsed, Gu Mian and his group were compensated with Game Coins.

There were four survivors in the team "Accompany me next year" during the instance collapse—Su Xiaocha, who was thrown into a cesspit; Xie Bi’an, who was just a bystander; Xingluo Buzhichu, who was barely noticeable; and You Si, Fatty’s roommate.

They should have received a total of four thousand Game Coins in compensation.

Lai Nian seemed dazed. "Compensation? What compensation?"

Noticing her confused expression, Gu Mian took half a step back. "Forget I mentioned it."

Lai Nian saw Fatty’s strange expression too. She opened her mouth but didn’t say a word.

She remembered that after an instance collapse, the announcement would list those eligible for compensation. In fact, when she found out about the collapse of the Old World, she had looked forward to this. But You Si and the others who had survived the instance collapse all shook their heads, saying there was no compensation.

Gu Mian found it strange. Was the impact of the Old World’s collapse really that severe? So much so that the Low-Dimensional World couldn’t even afford to pay out compensation?

Lost in thought, he started heading upstairs.

As Gu Mian walked further away, Lai Nian heard him mutter, "Damn it, don’t players these days know to buy one or two tickets at the beginning of the month just in case?"

Fatty’s voice drifted over faintly, "Doctor, it’s you who’s too out of touch with the hardships of the common folk!"

Lai Nian clutched the ticket in her hand. She almost coughed up blood.

The one who was truly out of touch with others’ hardships was Xiao Hong.

Perhaps stimulated by the amusement park, she had built a swing in the hotel’s backyard.

Whenever she had nothing to do, she would drag Gu Mian over to admire her masterpiece. After some admiring, Xiao Hong would plop down on it, and Gu Mian would have no choice but to give her a few pushes.

Sometimes, she would also put Mr. Green, who had followed them there, on the swing and push it hard from behind, happily watching the little green figure swing up and down. For a period, Mr. Green’s face was an even deeper shade of green.

Xiao Hong often swung in the yard downstairs. Every time Lai Nian and her group passed by, they would be startled by that horrifying face.

By the time she finally grew tired of the swing, fifteen days had passed.

Late on the night of June 25th, the last day of the instance suspension, the game released a new announcement.

Gu Mian had just been drifting off to sleep in bed when he was jolted awake by a loud shout from Fatty. The sound was as terrifying as if one had seen Chu Changge butchering a pig. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Doctor!" With a yell, Fatty burst into his bedroom and plopped down on Gu Mian’s bed, making Gu Mian bounce a few times. "Doctor, something big has happened! Quick, look at the announcement!"

At the same time, Lai Nian, who was still awake downstairs, also saw the game announcement immediately. The moment she opened it, her jaw dropped. Then, she shot up and shouted loudly, "Everyone, quick, look at the announcement!"

Simultaneously, other players who saw the announcement also gaped, feeling as if they had been plunged into an ice cellar.

What’s wrong? Gu Mian pulled a hand out from under the blanket. Could there be anything more shocking than a global instance shutdown?

As he thought this, he opened his panel to check the announcement. The title read: [Regarding the Closure of the Instance Death Protection Mechanism]

"Hah, I thought it was something major," Gu Mian said, pulling his hand back. "Isn’t it just that people can die in instances? That’s how I’ve always treated them. It’s not a big deal..."

He was about to tuck his head back into the blanket when something suddenly occurred to him. He sat up abruptly. "No, wait, this *is* a big deal."

He, Gu Mian, had never died in an instance, but Chu Changge and Fatty both had.

If there had been no instance protection mechanism from the start, those two would have long been buried by Gu Mian in pits he’d dug.

Pondering this, he carefully reread the game announcement’s content, Should I start digging the pits in advance? Fatty will probably need a large one.

[Following a unanimous decision by the planning team, the operator has decided to disable the instance death protection mechanism effective immediately (June 25th). This means death within an instance will be true death, with no possibility of resurrection.]

[The instance injury protection mechanism will remain active. Severe injuries sustained in an instance will be healed upon exiting.]

The announcement was short; Gu Mian scanned through it in a few seconds.

After reading it, he fell into deep thought.

Just as Gu Mian was contemplating what size pit to dig for Fatty, the intended occupant of said pit started clamoring in his ear, "Doctor, we’re doomed! If we encounter an instance like a werewolf game in the future and happen to be on opposing sides, wouldn’t that mean a life-or-death separation for us?"

Gu Mian reached out and turned Fatty’s head aside. "Yapping all day long. You’re the king of yapping."

"This isn’t yapping!" Fatty exclaimed, gesticulating wildly. "We need to prepare for unforeseen circumstances!"

"That won’t be necessary," Gu Mian said, pressing down Fatty’s agitated hand. "I have a solution."

"What solution?"

"I’ll just enter instances alone."

Upon hearing this, Fatty predictably showed an expression that screamed, "I knew it would be some rotten idea like this."

While Fatty was frantically planning for the future, Gu Mian heard a loud commotion from downstairs. It sounded like someone was raising their voice, questioning something loudly, and others were arguing.

It seemed the other players were having an even stronger reaction than they were.

"Why would the game suddenly disable the instance death protection mechanism?!" Xingluo slammed his fist on the table and said heavily, "Did they perform maintenance for fifteen days just for this? Wasn’t this game created for human evolution? I’ve been suspicious from the beginning! Prices are sky-high, then there’s the harsh winter and the plague. How is this supposed to help humans evolve? They’re clearly out to get us killed!"

Lai Nian also let out a long sigh. "I’ve been suspicious too, ever since I saw the prices. Something felt off... Besides, we’ve hardly received any Attribute Points that could actually improve us."

After experiencing the college entrance exam event, she had become even more bewildered.

Earth knew that death in the event would be real, so why did it set up such a huge trap in the college entrance exam?

And only the top twenty percent in the dragon boat race event could get an admission ticket. These top twenty percent must be the best among the players. Even if some sold their admission tickets to others, most of those who entered the college entrance exam event would still be from that top twenty percent.

The dragon boat race event and the college entrance exam event gave Lai Nian a peculiar feeling—as if the game gathered elite players through the first event, only to throw them into a trap in the next one to be annihilated.

Was this game really intended to improve humanity’s physical fitness?

Eating only a little food each day for half a month had left her feeling weak. Without thinking much more, Lai Nian leaned back on the sofa to regain her strength.

"But now is not the time to be doubting such things!" You Si suddenly spoke up. "We need to discuss, discuss what we should do next."

Their group had come together during the college entrance exam event and hadn’t known each other for long. However, one disaster after another had made them instinctively band together, thinking that perhaps with more people, they would have more courage to face what lay ahead.

Su Xiaocha, who had been quiet all this time, finally spoke up hesitantly, "Why don’t we wait and see for now? We can go to the ticket booth tomorrow and observe the situation."