Global Collapse-Chapter 569 - 537: Money Can Drive the Devil Away_1

She was cut in half.

The upper half of her body, less than a meter long, was covered in fresh blood. Her hair was soaked with blood, and her face was filled with terror; her eyes were wide open, her mouth agape, as if she had been screaming frantically before her death.

This less-than-a-meter-long torso was strung by a rope from the ceiling, fresh blood continuously dripping from her severed waist, falling onto Keke's face.

Cang Yue... was completely dead.

Keke wiped her face and struggled to sit up, but her hand landed on something chillingly cold.

She looked down and saw her hand pressing on a nearly broken neck.

Looking down from the neck, she saw a cold body wearing familiar clothing.

Looking up, she saw a face twisted by sheer terror.

It was Xia Jianren.

He was dead.

His body lay sprawled across their path, having tripped them.

The flashlight illuminated the area. Wang Chuan was staring dumbstruck at Cang Yue's upper half hanging above, momentarily unable to react.

Keke didn't hesitate. She scrambled to her feet, picked up the flashlight, and continued running forward.

The beam of the flashlight startled Wang Chuan back to his senses. He averted his gaze and stumbled to his feet, intending to run, but Xia Jianren's arm tripped him, nearly causing him to fall again.

At that moment, he noticed a sinister face emerging from the darkness behind him, staring at him with a mocking smile.

It was Zhao Shuang's face; she had caught up.

Seeing this, Wang Chuan immediately turned and fled, not daring to look back.

He ran desperately in the dark tunnel. But no matter how hard he tried, the crawling sound behind him never faded; instead, it grew closer...

Wang Chuan ran until his chest felt like it would explode. The potholes on the ground tripped him repeatedly, nearly making him fall.

The eighth time he stumbled into a pothole, he suddenly felt a burning pain in his ankle.

He looked down and saw a pale, veiny hand gripping his ankle.

Wang Chuan opened his mouth, wanting to yell.

But before he could make a sound, he was yanked backward and disappeared into the darkness.

Keke, running desperately ahead, no longer heard footsteps or crawling sounds behind her. She knew Wang Chuan had likely met a terrible end.

But she didn't have time to mourn her teammate; she had to ensure her own survival first.

As she continued to run, the tunnel grew wider and taller, but Keke intuitively felt this wasn't the way out of the cave.

Indeed. After running for some more, she finally saw the end of the grim tunnel.

A wall blocked her path. Sweeping her flashlight across it, she saw bodies stacked haphazardly at its base. The topmost one was eerily Zhao Shuang's corpse.

Presumably, Zhao Shuang had seen this and remembered that she was already dead.

Her gaze lingered on Zhao Shuang's corpse for a long moment before she slowly turned around.

Behind her was a dark tunnel.

And Zhao Shuang, who should have been dead, was standing there, her lips stretched into a wide, unsettling grin.

There was no way to run; she was trapped.

By now, three of the five players who had entered the instance were dead.

Only she and Gu Mian were left.

And now, the ghost stood before her, its hand reaching out...

But just then, Keke suddenly pulled a rather large item from her inventory: a grinding plate, one meter in diameter and waist-high.

Simultaneously, her three-digit Game Coin balance plummeted, hitting '0' within seconds.

This made things worse for the already impoverished Keke.

[Money Can Make Ghosts Grind]

[Introduction: Money is omnipotent, even for ghosts. Perhaps you can escape while the ghost is turning the mill.]

[Function: Each use will deduct all Game Coins owned by the user. After using this item, all nearby spirits will diligently turn the mill. The duration they turn the mill is directly proportional to the amount of Game Coins paid by the user.]

[Tip: If enough money is paid, this item can temporarily evolve into 'Money Can Make Ghosts Push the Mill'.]

This was a special item she had obtained during the college entrance exam event.

The instant the grinding plate appeared and her Game Coins hit zero, Zhao Shuang's hand, which had been reaching for Keke, suddenly changed direction. It began to push the nearby stone mill, turning it in circles.

The scene was quite comical.

But Keke was in no mood to appreciate the comical scene. She took a deep breath and dashed past Zhao Shuang, who was busy turning the mill, heading back into the dark tunnel.

If the exit isn't this way, it must be in the other direction!

Keke hadn't had many Game Coins to begin with, so she knew this special item wouldn't delay Zhao Shuang for long. Gripping the flashlight, she ran as fast as she could.

Sure enough, after only about twenty seconds, a chilling RUSTLING sound resumed behind her.

This time, the crawling sound was more frantic, as if Keke had infuriated it.

By now, Keke had run over two hundred meters. She passed the corpses of Cang Yue and Xia Jianren, and also saw the deceased Wang Chuan.

She didn't stop, running frantically onward as the tunnel grew increasingly narrow and the ceiling lower.

She had no choice but to run hunched over with her head down, which significantly reduced her speed.

To make matters worse, the tunnel continued to shrink. Keke had to bend very low, her arms constantly scraping against the walls, making it almost impossible to run.

And the tunnel showed a trend of shrinking even further.

Keke was starting to break down. How can this be! Is there really no exit?!

The crawling sound behind her grew closer, sounding as if it was right at her back.

Just when Keke began to think she might have been wrong, that perhaps this tunnel had no exit at either end, a sliver of light pierced the darkness ahead.

She looked over excitedly; it was light shining in from outside! Seeing this light, Keke mustered all her strength and ran with renewed speed through the narrow cave, the crawling sound behind her now almost at her ears.

The light grew stronger. Keke could see clearly now; it was indeed an exit.

Taking a deep breath, she lunged forward and burst out. Finally, light enveloped her.

The damp, musty smell of the tunnel was gone, replaced by the fresh scent of trees.

Just as she took a deep breath of fresh air, she suddenly felt her shoulder go sore and numb.

She turned her head and saw a twisted hand resting on her shoulder.

Following the hand with her gaze, she saw Zhao Shuang, her mouth split wide in a grotesque smile. "Caught you," Zhao Shuang said.

Keke looked back at her, motionless.

Just as Zhao Shuang slowly moved her hand, intending to grab Keke's neck, she suddenly felt a sharp tug on her scalp.

She mechanically turned her head.

Her hair was gripped by a hand and was being lifted.

Then, Gu Mian's face loomed closer, growing larger in her vision. She saw his lips move, and heard him say, "Caught you."

Meanwhile, Fatty, waiting boredly in Gu Mian's room, noticed the announcement had been updated.

[Announcement (June 25, 19:02)]

[The main character of the instance 'Amnesia' has died in the line of duty. This instance will no longer operate. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to our players.]

[Compensated Players: Gu Mian, Keke]