Global Collapse-Chapter 581 - 549: I Just Lived Briefly_1

So, the Fortune-teller didn't blindly change the ingredient she represented.

She was looking for a way out while also tracking the pattern of the tasks issued by the food factory.

The structure of the food factory was incredibly complex. Each floor had a locked iron door at the stairway. When the Fortune-teller and her team of players entered the instance, they started on the top floor. To escape, they needed to unlock all the iron doors below.

Jumping off the building wasn't an option. All the windows were equipped with anti-theft grates that only allowed a single finger to pass through.

Breaking the door locks was also not feasible, as they discovered they couldn't damage the doors at all.

The only way to leave was to find the keys. For the Fortune-teller, finding things was a piece of cake.

The tricky part was finding the keys while also avoiding being sent onto the production line.

If I could become an ingredient that wouldn't be used for a few hours, I could focus on searching for the keys to each floor's door and escape in one go.

Just as the Fortune-teller was studying some worker's notes left beside a shelf, a rustling sound suddenly came from nearby.

This instance was somewhat special; it wasn't the type where you'd turn around to find a ghost right behind you. She thought it was just another player nearby, so she turned to look in the direction of the sound.

As soon as she turned her head, she saw that the locked door had been opened at some point, and a head was slowly poking in from outside.

The sight of this head made the Fortune-teller freeze, her expression as if she had been struck by lightning.

Her first thought wasn't how the door had opened; she was more astonished that this person was here.

"Gu Mian?" The Fortune-teller's voice rose in disbelief, her eyes wide as she stared at the person who had suddenly appeared. "What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're a ghost!"

There were ten players who entered the instance this time, and Gu Mian was definitely not one of them!

She felt a bit frantic, completely puzzled.

She didn't understand why Gu Mian would appear midway through this instance.

"Fortune-teller?" Seeing her, Gu Mian was also somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected to run into her here.

Upon seeing the Fortune-teller, Gu Mian walked out from behind the door, dragging a toy bear with him. "So this really is an instance."

The Fortune-teller's mind went blank; her brain felt incapable of thinking.

She shook her head vigorously to find her voice. "What do you mean, you didn't know this was an instance before you entered? Weren't you matched into this instance through the ticket booth? And... what the hell is that sad-looking doll you're holding?"

Despite her barrage of questions, Gu Mian didn't answer any of them, instead asking one of his own, "You were matched into an instance, right?"

The Fortune-teller stiffly nodded.

"What's the name of this instance?"

"Wondrous Adventure in the Food Factory..."

"And the task?"

"Escape from the Food Factory before you die..."

As she answered, something dawned on the Fortune-teller. "How did you get up here?"

According to the building's map, each floor had a large door that couldn't be forcibly broken open.

Noticing the Fortune-teller's confusion, Gu Mian replied, "Technically, I could have sawed through the door with a saw. But when I first got in, I ran into an old friend who had the keys to all the doors in this food factory, so I just took them."

As he spoke, he raised his hand. Indeed, a shiny set of keys hung from his finger.

"So... you've opened all the doors on the lower floors?" the Fortune-teller stammered, still in shock.

Gu Mian nodded. "Yes, they're all open."

Great!

The Fortune-teller temporarily pushed aside her shock at encountering Gu Mian. The doors on the lower floors were all open—she could escape directly!

Then Gu Mian heard the Fortune-teller in front of him exclaim with sincere praise, "You're a really good person! Thank you!"

With that, she darted towards the doorway, apparently intending to sprint right out of the building.

But as the Fortune-teller passed Gu Mian, he grabbed her arm.

Gu Mian wasn't dwelling on the "good person" card the Fortune-teller had given him. Instead, he held her arm and pondered for a moment before asking, "How long have you been in this instance?"

The Fortune-teller, momentarily flustered by Gu Mian's sudden grasp, replied, a little disconcerted, "Just over an hour. Why?"

"Are you familiar with the layout?"

"To escape, I did carefully survey the terrain. I remember most of it." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Hearing this, Gu Mian smiled. "You're a great person!"

With that, he forcefully dragged the Fortune-teller, to whom he had now also issued a "good person" card, back into the building.

"Wait a minute!" The Fortune-teller watched the stairs recede as she was dragged away. She began to struggle. "Where are you taking me?"

Since there's a food factory, Gu Mian thought, there must be an NPC operating behind the scenes, like a factory manager. Coach Che had seemed to be arguing with someone earlier. However, by the time I approached, the other person was nowhere to be seen, as if they had suddenly vanished. That person might be the core NPC of this food factory. The Toy Goose Factory has branches all over the Second World and is a supplier to supermarkets in the real world. This company undoubtedly holds a high position in the Second World. The NPCs inside this factory must know a lot. I need to find that core NPC and ask about the instance and the game.

And Coach Che? He's just a truck driver, and a temporary one at that. Obviously, he wouldn't know anything.

When Gu Mian had entered this building, Coach Che was still trailing behind him, looking mournful. Gu Mian, finding him annoying, simply closed the main door and locked him out.

He's probably wailing at the door right now.

After Gu Mian entered, he could hear Coach Che wailing outside the door, saying things like, "Oh, the injustice!" and "I've never seen such a shameless person!" The air inside and outside the main door was filled with a strangely cheerful atmosphere.

Gu Mian, pulling the struggling Fortune-teller, walked past row after row of shelves. "Have you seen an office or anything like that around here?"

The Fortune-teller, still struggling, replied, "This hellhole is full of shelves! Where would there be an office?"

That didn't seem right.

Gu Mian looked at the keychain in his hand.

This food processing factory had many buildings, and Coach Che had many sets of keys.

However, only the keychain for this building had a unique key, engraved with "Office Key."

Theoretically, the office should be in this building.

"Can your divination find things?" Gu Mian asked the Fortune-teller.

The Fortune-teller glared at Gu Mian and snapped, "Find what?"

"Find where the office is."

「Meanwhile」

Bai Wu had long since shaken off the ghost tailing her and was currently hiding in the fitting room of a clothing store.

She didn't understand why the ghost had stopped following her after she passed a snack street.

Once she realized the ghost was no longer behind her, Bai Wu immediately hid in a clothing store. Wandering around on the street was too conspicuous.

This clothing store looked like it was on the verge of bankruptcy. There were hardly any people inside, only a few children, likely belonging to the sales staff, running wildly around the store, chattering loudly. Their sporadic screams scared Bai Wu half to death in the fitting room.