Global Collapse

Chapter 2 Global Collapse
Then the lights in the elevator suddenly went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness, with only the panel in front of us still lit up.

Words are still popping out from above, very cheerfully.

Welcome to the Global Evolution Game. Player information is being processed. Please wait.

This is your first time playing the game. Please create a character.

Please enter your player nickname.

Gu Mian paused for a moment, then, after careful consideration, typed two words in the nickname field that seemed to express her resentment towards society: "Dad".

[Warning: This nickname is already taken]

They're pretty quick...

Fine……

Gu Mian

[Nickname created successfully. Player profile scan will proceed below.]

[Scan complete, player attributes recorded]

Please select your initial outfit.

Four outfits popped out from below.

[Blurring of key areas] [School swimsuit] [Personal attire]

So sexy.

Gu Mian paused for a few seconds while looking at the school swimsuit, then chose the last one.

"Personal attire"

[Character creation complete. The game rules explanation will begin shortly. Please prepare.]

Seemingly not wanting to waste preparation time, another prompt appeared on the panel.

[You have been moved to the nearest ticket booth. After the beginner rules explanation, all players worldwide will be forcibly matched for a dungeon.]

It seems that everyone has to enter this first instance, whether they want to or not.

Suddenly, a light shone in the darkness.

The light suddenly shone brightly, but Gu Mian didn't find it dazzling at all. He immediately looked around.

The fat man was gone; he was all alone now.

I found myself in a small, dilapidated room, a ticket booth with the words "Ticket Booth" written in large characters on the wall.

It's called a ticket booth, but it's somewhat of a mishmash.

A glass window divides the small room into two spaces, like the glass windows in a bank that separate customers from staff—of course, the glass windows in banks are mainly for keeping out robbers.

I don't know what the purpose of the glass windows in the ticket hall is. They're probably there to prevent robberies or something. At least this thing stopped Gu Mian from trying to steal anything.

Several large characters were pasted on the glass window—"Ticket Office"

There are dilapidated wooden doors, a broken long table, and on the table sit candlesticks that look like triangular forks.

The long table can seat about twenty people.

One end of the table points to a huge, crimson gate, carved with two somewhat ferocious door gods that inspire awe.

It looks like a street outside; it looks familiar. This place should be not far from Lianhua Hospital.

Then a few more lines of text appeared on the panel.

After collecting their tickets at the ticket counter, players can enter the portal to be randomly matched into a dungeon.

Portal?

Gu Mian glanced at the crimson door, guessing that this was the teleportation portal they were referring to.

Aside from the ticket booth matching instances, there are a small number of special instances worldwide that do not require ticket booth matching, appear at any time, and are extremely difficult to obtain.

[The dungeon includes both team-based and solo-based matchmaking dungeons. For team-based matchmaking, please use a multiplayer ticket; for solo-based matchmaking, please use a solo ticket. Special items exist within the dungeon and can be taken out of the dungeon.]

Dungeon difficulty is rated from 1 to 10 stars, with higher numbers indicating greater difficulty. Dungeon rewards are related to difficulty.

A single instance can only accommodate one group of players at a time. If any players remain in the instance, it will not accept another group of players.

Touch the 'Properties' button to view your own properties.

After those few lines of text appeared, the panel in front of Gu Mian underwent some changes.

Instead of being filled with words, images have appeared.

There is a search box in the upper right corner.

The top left corner shows the time, which is currently 8:02 globally, indicating that the time has been standardized.

There are many buttons on the left, from top to bottom: "Attributes", "Friends", "Leaderboard" and "Forum". Further down, there are some gray buttons, which seem to be not yet open.

Of course, the most eye-catching part is the central area.

It was a vast expanse of gray, very blurry, with only a few silhouettes and a line of text—"The world's first large-scale event is coming soon, stay tuned."

Ignoring this ridiculous event for the moment, Gu Mian pressed the [Attributes] button on the left side of the panel.

Then a long list of attributes appeared in front of me, but it looked a little abnormal.

Name: Gu Mian

Gender: ? ...

Game ID: 1

Special items: None available.

[Game Coins: 0]

Number of cleared dungeons: 0

Looking at the question mark after the gender, Gu Mian fell into deep thought.

Below are four more values: [Stamina], [Speed], [Strength], and [Spirit]. Without exception, each one is followed by "???".

This mysterious number, and this mysterious question mark.

I wonder if people all over the world are so confused about gender.

He looked down again and found another attribute below.

[Personality Identification: Heinous Crimes]

Gu Mian: "..."

Bah! I'm clearly a kind doctor!

At this moment, new words started popping up on the screen in front of me.

The leaderboard feature is not yet available (it will be available when global players have conquered ten million dungeons).

The friend feature is not yet available (it will be available when the number of player deaths worldwide exceeds one billion).

The in-game store system is not yet available (it will open when global players have accumulated one million in-game currency).

Each of these lines of text has a progress bar following it, but at this moment, these progress bars have not moved.

There are a few more lines of text below.

The career system is not yet available (activation conditions are unclear)

Players can summon this panel at any time (if you are still alive)

[There may be quest-related NPCs in the instance that players cannot attack, but can try to attack.]

Just as the words popped up here, a smiling middle-aged man, who looked like he was selling tickets, suddenly walked out from some corner.

Two lines of text were written on his head.

"I am an NPC"

"Come and hit me then."

Since the panel says it can't be attacked, then it's obviously impossible to hit it, but this line of text is so annoying.

Gu Mian rubbed her hands together, feeling that she couldn't let herself suffer any more, so she waved them to vent her anger.

She raised her hand while thinking about him.

Seemingly used to it, the NPC still wore a smile, confident that the player couldn't hit him.

Gu Mian's large hand landed, but the NPC still smiled brightly.

unexpectedly--

"Snapped"

"Boom"

"boom"

The NPC, who had just been slapped, slammed his head against the wall, and collapsed to the ground, let out a startled "Holy crap?"

Gu Mian, whose hand was aching from slapping, also let out a startled "Holy crap!"

The NPC, after being slapped once, immediately ran back behind the glass window in a panic, determined not to give Gu Mian a second chance.

Wearing a white lab coat, Gu Mian rubbed her hands apologetically: "I'm sorry."

The man inside the glass window covered his face, his expression extremely abnormal, and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing..."

Gu Mian's beginner tutorial on the panel is almost over.

This time, he didn't care about the NPC who had just been slapped and was looking at him pitifully; he naturally turned around and looked at the panel.

[The tutorial is about to end, and all players worldwide will be forcibly matched into a dungeon.]

Players, please proceed to the ticket counter to collect your tickets immediately. The game will officially begin in one minute.

After reading those two lines, Gu Mian turned her gaze to the NPC who was secretly observing from behind the glass window.

The NPC, as if struck by a sudden inspiration, quickly stretched out his little hand and threw a ticket through a square hole below the glass window, then immediately pulled it back in.

Gu Mian reached out and took the ticket, looking down at it. Several lines of text were written on it:
{Copy Admission Ticket (One-Time Use)}
{Player: Gu Mian}
{Player ID: 1}
{Team Type: Solo}
{Issuing location: Basic ticket booth}
Looking at the ticket, Gu Mian asked, "Does your ticket booth only sell duplicate tickets?"

Wouldn't it be a waste to only sell duplicate tickets?

“Of course not,” the NPC poked his head out: “Once the mall system is launched, the game will build some new supermarkets around the world. If you want to go in, you’ll have to buy a ticket here, but it won’t be free.”

What a shrewd businessman...

Let's set a small goal first, like getting over 100,000 favorites.

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(End of this chapter)