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Chapter 24 Malfunction
It is 12:03 AM.

Gu Mian and the other three had already handed in their papers and were waiting at the door, but the road test did not start immediately. The instructor waited for the others at the door for a while.

It wasn't until past midnight, when he was certain no one else would come out, that he turned to look at Gu Mian and the other three and smiled slightly.
"To be honest, this is the first time this dungeon has accepted players, and I didn't expect the survival rate to be so high. It seems the difficulty is still too low."

The fat man muttered, "I don't think this has anything to do with the difficulty..."

"Next, the four of you will take a road test. You will randomly choose one of these three cars and drive around this road three times. As your instructor, I will sit in the passenger seat and evaluate your performance."

"Remember, stalling the engine or stopping for any reason during the road test will result in a failure; you must complete three laps without interruption."

Since they've gone this far, it's practically a clear indication that a vengeful ghost will appear and obstruct them while they're driving.

As the coach spoke, he picked up a piece of paper, which looked like a table: "The order of play is determined by the players' game numbers. Let me see, the first player to go should be..."

"Gu Mian, the number... the number... is it 1?"

A crack appeared on the coach's face.

He stared intently at the form in his hand, seemingly looking for the number after the 1, but there was a very conspicuous blank space after it.

He looked up: "Who is Gu Mian?"

Gu Mian raised her hand straight, just like a student about to answer a teacher's question: "Yes, that's me."

The coach glanced down at the player information in his hand, then looked up at Gu Mian: "Your game ID..."

Gu Mian answered decisively: "That's right, I've confirmed it. The number only has one digit, and the gender is not yet clear."

The coach frowned slightly, his face clearly saying, "How could there be such a number?"

But he didn't linger. He pointed to the three cars on the side of the road and said, "Choose one of the three cars."

Gu Mian also turned to look at the three cars that were parked on the side of the road.

Hearse, ambulance, prison van.

None of them seem to be fuel-efficient cars.

He decisively chose the ambulance: "I'm quite familiar with the ghost in that vehicle."

The coach gave him a suspicious look: "Then stop talking nonsense and get on. I'll be sitting in the passenger seat and scoring you the whole time."

Chu Changge and the others stepped back, moving to the edge of the road to watch Gu Mian get into the car.

"Brother Chu," the fat man asked Chu Changge beside him with some concern, "Will the doctor encounter any more accidents this time?"

Chu Changge took several steps back: "If nothing happens to him, then he wouldn't be called Gu Mian. Besides, if something happens to him, the people around him will usually suffer as a result..."

As he spoke, he glanced at the coach in his suit.

At this moment, Gu Mian and the coach were already seated in the car.

It was midnight, and there were only two dimly lit streetlights on the roadside. The ambulance's headlights also seemed to be broken.

The road conditions were very unclear, which was a significant disadvantage for the test takers.

Without much hesitation, Gu Mian started the car.

The sound of a car starting could be heard in the darkness, and within seconds, the blood-stained ambulance drifted from the side to the middle of the road.

That's right, it's drifting.

The instructor next to him was caught off guard by the drift and almost crashed into the car window: "What's wrong with you?!"

Gu Mian got his driver's license when he was in college, but even after getting the license, he hadn't driven a car much.

It wasn't because he didn't have the money to buy a car, but because of his special physical condition, he was extremely prone to accidents while driving. For his own safety, Gu Mian never even considered buying a car.

Therefore, Gu Mian's driving skills were naturally not proficient.

"Don't worry, Coach," Gu Mian said, looking straight ahead without glancing to the side. "This is nothing."

Hearing his words, the coach suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. In the pitch-black night, sparrows would occasionally perch on the streetlights, only to fly away as if startled.

The dilapidated ambulance drove slowly along the dimly lit road, seemingly trying to blend into the darkness, which was somewhat eerie.

One lap...

The first lap went by without incident.

The instructor in the passenger seat frowned slightly; he seemed to be waiting for something, but his expression betrayed his disappointment.

With the coach's somewhat off expression on her face, Gu Mian began her second lap.

The car accelerated slightly, and the engine emitted a soft "rumble".

Halfway through the second lap, the coach's expression became increasingly strange.

He seemed so confused that he had to speak out.

Gu Mian heard him say in a very soft voice beside her, "Not here yet?"

"What are you waiting for?" Gu Mian asked with a smile.

Are you waiting for a ghost?

Then it probably won't come.

The coach immediately looked at Gu Mian with suspicion: "Did you do something?"

But he immediately denied his idea.

What can a player do?

This is his copy, and he knows best that the three ghosts in the building are unsolvable; if you encounter them, you can only run away. The only thing you can do is run away.

He's just an ordinary player; he can't do whatever he wants.

It should suddenly appear on the last lap... The coach thought to himself as he turned back.

Not long after, the car finally entered the third lap.

It remained perfectly smooth, without any unexpected incidents or even a slight jolt, except that it accelerated a little more.

Halfway through the third lap, the coach finally started to lose his composure.

What's going on? He looked ahead with some unease. Just a little more driving and the three laps would be over, and so far, none of the obstacles that should have been present for the road test had appeared.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down the coach's forehead. Had the ghost in the car disappeared?
The vehicle moved smoothly forward and eventually crossed the finish line.

Gu Mian's voice came from beside him: "Coach, the three laps are over. I think I passed?"

The coach then looked ahead, only to discover that the car had not stopped and was on its fourth lap.

He looked at the person in the driver's seat with surprise and suspicion: "Why aren't you stopping?"

Gu Mian tilted her head slightly: "I wanted to stop it just now, but the brakes seem to have failed, and the car keeps accelerating on its own."

This was expected.

With his bad luck, it would be truly unbelievable if his car didn't malfunction while he was driving.

Gu Mian herself has witnessed many ups and downs over the past twenty years, so she can face them with equanimity.

But the coach next to him was different.

His face first froze, then after a few seconds, a look of astonishment quickly rose, followed by a contortion of his face, and then he opened his mouth and uttered a sound of disbelief:
"How can it be!"

"This kind of glitch would never happen in a dungeon!"

Thank you so much for the generous donation from the adorable newbie! (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
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(End of this chapter)