Global Collapse

Chapter 323 Honkai Impact 3rd
"So now you're going to confess to me that you actually saw it, but lied and said you didn't?" Gu Mian looked at Chu Changge.

Chu Changge's expression at the time did indeed indicate that he had seen it, but he seemed to have something he couldn't say.

“No,” Chu Changge shook his head, “I didn’t see it.”

It seems he has no intention of being honest.

After shaking his head, Chu Changge continued, "What I mean is that the obscured word could very well be some kind of clue."

He paused slightly, seemingly organizing the clues: "You learned from Teacher Sweet that the number 'seven' is related to 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.' Coincidentally, we encountered the clue about the seven dwarfs back in the Crazy Guessing Words dungeon, but we didn't think about it in depth."

"This might not be a coincidence. My idea is that at the very beginning of the game, the dungeons are giving you certain clues. These clues might be hidden in the daily tasks within the dungeons, or they might be displayed in very conspicuous places, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

"Do you remember Mr. Green's expression when the phrase 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' came up?"

Gu Mian remembers.

It wasn't that he cared so much about Mr. Green, but rather that the expressions on everyone else's faces were quite peculiar when the word appeared on the word guessing board.

Gu Mian, who didn't know what the word was, took a closer look at everyone's faces. Among them, Mr. Green's face was the most spectacular, almost magnificent.

However, this dramatic expression only lasted for a moment before it was quickly concealed.

Gu Mian initially thought he was marveling at the absurdity of words, but now that she thinks about it, it seems there's more to it than that.

“Now that you mention it, I suddenly remembered something too…” the fat man’s weak voice chimed in, “When the words appeared on that blocked teleprompter, Mr. Green was in a real hurry to let us get the reward. According to Brother Chu, he was probably afraid that we would see something.”

Gu Mian thought for a moment.

"If we consider it this way as Chu Changge said, then the instances we experienced before may also contain some hidden information, but they have all been overlooked."

Upon hearing this, the fat man frowned slightly, as if recalling clues from the previous instance.

"I remember the first instance was about a girl and her classmates who were burned to death; the second was a terrifying hearse driving test; the third was about you, doctor; and I remember that Chu and I didn't get into the third instance..."

“Yes,” Gu Mian nodded, “The third story is about a female ghost who lost her head.”

The fat man frowned deeply. Why did the conversation suddenly turn inappropriate when it came to Gu Mian?
Gu Mian added, "The fourth one is a word guessing game instance, and the fifth one is a killing game instance, which is my profession instance. There is a doctor in it who wants to save the world and eliminate the gap between the upper and lower classes. Well, he fulfilled this wish before he died."

"Let's talk about these first five for now. Have you found anything in these dungeons?"

The fat man racked his brains, but couldn't seem to recall anything, so he shook his head.

Chu Changge remained silent, lost in thought.

Gu Mian carefully recalled that the most meaningful of the five dungeons should be the Killing Game dungeon.

Absolute forbidden zones, mad doctors, and spectators reveling in pain—this is the most extreme and insane dungeon Gu Mian has ever experienced.

Thinking back on this crazy dungeon, Gu Mian couldn't seem to recall any useful details.

At this moment, Chu Changge suddenly spoke up: "You're thinking about that killing game instance, aren't you?"

Gu Mian looked up at him and nodded slightly.

It seems that Chu Changge was also deeply impressed by the Killing Game instance.

Chu Changge paused for a moment, then continued, "I was thinking, broadly speaking, killing games are also called games, and we are currently in a global game. Although the details are different, games always have similarities; if this global game is called the big game, then one of the killing game instances can be called a mini-game." Gu Mian immediately understood: "You mean mapping?"

Gu Mian's Chinese language skills were quite good, and she was able to come up with a few idioms to describe it immediately.

Similar to sayings like "seeing the big picture from small details," "knowing the big picture from small things," or "looking at the sky through a pipe."

A small game can reflect the larger environment of the Earth.

This global game is like a forbidden zone in a killing game instance, where countless players struggle desperately.

Each instance is like a monster in a forbidden zone, posing a danger to players.

But if we really use this analogy...

Gu Mian stroked her chin: "Then what do those revelers in the dungeon correspond to on Earth?"

Upon hearing this, the fat man suddenly felt a chill run down his spine: "So... there really is something on Earth that corresponds to the spectators celebrating in the dungeon, but we just don't know... No, no, we have to think positively. What if the killing game dungeon has nothing to do with this global game? After all, these might all be just our assumptions."

At this moment, Chu Changge suddenly took out something.

Gu Mian had good eyesight and could tell that what he took out was a special item he had obtained before.

[Email from Hell]

For some reason, Chu Changge didn't seem to use these special items much. After obtaining them, he would just put them in his inventory, and Gu Mian almost forgot what they were for.

[Description: This is one of ten emails sent out by a bored ghost, containing some meaningless words:]
This is a place of exile.

'We are all monsters in a cage.'

Its function is to burn letters so that ghosts won't notice for ten minutes, as long as you don't shove them in someone's face.

It's worth mentioning that when Gu Mian first read this letter, she thought the tone was incredibly cringeworthy, but now it seems that the cringeworthy tone was full of implications.

“This is a place of exile, and we are all monsters in a cage,” Gu Mian repeated. “These two sentences alone are somewhat similar to the dungeon in the killing game.”

Chu Changge nodded slightly: "But this is not a special item from the Killing Game instance; it was obtained much later."

This thing has nothing to do with killing games, yet it's remarkably similar.

Surely these two sentences aren't implying something about this world?

The fat man fell silent, seemingly struggling to recall previous dungeons again, his expression like that of someone constipated: "Let me think carefully about the previous dungeons..."

Just as the fat man was looking constipated and trying hard to recall the past, a not-too-loud "thump" suddenly came from the left side of the car.

It sounds like someone has run into it.

To facilitate the discussion, Gu Mian had already parked the car on the side of the road.

Upon hearing the sound, Gu Mian turned her head slightly towards the direction from which it came: "What's going on? Is this some kind of staged accident?"

The author should strive to be a good author who updates on time!
Day 1 of hard work (check-in)

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(End of this chapter)