Global Collapse

Chapter 396 You haven't read it for a year
"That's it," 007's voice came through the microphone. "I don't know what happened after that..."

"There is no date or anything else recorded here. Because this part is entirely handwritten, I think it is a diary. I have roughly looked through all the books, and this is the only one with handwritten content... but I don't know who wrote this diary."

Chu Changge flipped through the book in one hand and held the microphone in the other, saying, "The fat guy just told me that the person Gu Mian is controlling is the Holy Maiden, the Holy Maiden you mentioned in your diary."

007 on the other end was silent for a few seconds: "So what use are these things we found to Gu Mian?"

"Knowing what happened after he wrote in the diary might help him play the game. Have you ever played this kind of horror game?"

007 paused, his tone hesitant: "...I played it a long time ago, but I don't remember it very clearly."

"These kinds of games usually don't give out very specific tasks. Players have to figure things out slowly in the game and keep figuring things out until the ending to reveal the whole game's world view and background. Usually, different endings will be achieved. I think the game will end after he has figured out what we know."

"Of course, players will die in the game, which is when save files come in handy."

Chu Changge glanced at the book in his hand as he spoke: "By the way, I have a question for you."

"What?" 007 asked, puzzled.

When was the last time Gu Mian went to your place to save her files?

007 seemed to think for a moment before speaking two seconds later: "After I found out that the woman was the character he controlled, he has now saved his game three times with me. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

“It’s alright,” Chu Changge said. “You can continue searching your own rooms for any clues.”

A puzzled voice came through the microphone: "Didn't you find anything on your end?"

Chu Changge slammed the book shut in her hand: "No."

At this moment, Gu Mian was still at the scene of the fire. Although the little bird had come specifically to see the fireworks of the explosion, Gu Mian felt that it didn't seem to care about the person who was roasted like a sweet potato inside the house.

Seeing that she only expressed a token regret, Gu Mian continued, "Why don't you stay at my place tonight?"

Of course, he was speaking to the character he was controlling.

The sound was actually imagined by Gu Mian herself, because this computer didn't have any speakers.

After saying that, the little bird turned around and walked away on its own. It seemed that the game character it was controlling knew the people in the village.

But how could anyone still live in such a dilapidated village?
Gu Mian followed after him while thinking. The person who had invited him into the house had turned into a sausage. Since he didn't have a second lighter, Gu Mian couldn't make a second sausage for the time being.

He planned to sneak into the bird's nest to see if there was anything he could steal before making any further plans.

After all, there was no option to sleep in this game, and Gu Mian didn't think she could see the sun the next day if she closed her eyes.

The little bird led the way quickly, and it's worth mentioning that Gu Mian passed by the save point that seemed to be the fat man's.

Just as the two of them passed by, he saw the little bird in front of him pause, turning its head left and right. Then a line of text appeared at the bottom of the screen, which was what she had said: "It sounds like there's something."

However, she was clearly talking to herself and didn't give Gu Mian a chance to answer. The little bird continued walking forward.

Soon, Gu Mian was taken to the front of a collapsed house.

He had passed by here not long ago and even stood on it to observe, but he did not find any signs of habitation. How could anyone live in the collapsed house?
But the little bird just stopped there, as if to say, "This is where I live."

Immediately afterwards, Gu Mian saw her bend down, grab a large rock with both hands, and pull it to the side. The rock then rolled away with a clatter.

Then the bird cleared away the pebbles under the rock and patted away the dust around it.

Gu Mian then saw a hinged door on the dark ground.

She reached out and lifted the square hinged door that was stuck on the ground, then turned her head. Her eyes were fixed on the screen, gleaming with an eerie light: "Go in, we're all waiting for you."

No wonder there are people in this dilapidated village; they all live underground.
But even with that eerie light, Gu Mian felt she couldn't just go in easily.

But just then, he saw the monster with shackles suddenly appear in the distance again, heading this way.

Clearly, the iron chain on its leg made quite a sound; at least the little bird in front of it turned its head in response to the sound, and Gu Mian no longer had to face its eyes that emitted a strange light.

"Run!" Those two words, accompanied by an exclamation mark, appeared again at the bottom of the screen. It was clearly the bird's voice, and then she jumped down with a sudden leap.

A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle, so Gu Mian immediately took a step forward and followed.

This jump was significant; Gu Mian saw her health bar, which had only been slightly damaged by the monster, drop by almost half in a flash.

He subconsciously looked up and saw that he had jumped down a height of five or six meters, with a circular sky above him.

It looks like we're in a well, with a row of new-looking ladders built into the well wall.

However, the little bird didn't use a ladder; she just jumped down.

"What the hell?" Gu Mian stared at the little bird. "Won't she bleed if she jumps down like that?"
"Why are you staring at me?" the little bird said, its beak opening and closing. "Let's go."

There was a passage on the well wall, which was dark and narrow, and it was impossible to see where it led.

At this moment, the little bird took out a lighter, which illuminated the surroundings somewhat.

Just then, Gu Mian suddenly noticed some scratch marks on the bottom of the well wall. He adjusted his view and looked down, and indeed there were messy, dark brown scratch marks on the well wall.

But half of these scratch marks were hidden by the soil beneath their feet, suggesting that the well had been filled in.

At this moment, the little bird had already taken the lighter and walked into the dark passage, and Gu Mian followed.

As he manipulated the character, he pondered how to steal the lighter from her.

While he was still thinking, the screen brightness suddenly increased significantly.

Gu Mian looked up.

Before them lay a structure resembling an anthill, with several passages branching out in all directions from a fork in the road not far ahead.

Several openings were dug out on both sides of these passages, and curtains or other things were used to cover them, as if they were being used as doors.

Do people live in these caves?

"Since that incident, we've basically stopped going up to the surface. We only go out at night; all the villagers live underground."

"Come with me, your place is inside."

Gu Mian saw what the little bird was saying at the bottom of the screen.

Since he was merely controlling a game character, he couldn't directly ask the questions he wanted to know, such as "What happened here?"

Frustrated, Gu Mian could only follow the little bird forward.

During this time, someone lifted the curtain at the cave entrance and looked outside. Gu Mian then saw a few lines of text added to the bottom of the screen.

"It's the Holy Maiden."

"The Holy Maiden is here again. You still love us after all."

Gu Mian never expected that she would become a saintess in her lifetime. However, being a saintess in the slums must be quite stifling. No wonder the character jumped off the cliff at the beginning; she probably died from being stifled.

Thinking of this, Gu Mian began to look around this godforsaken place.

There wasn't much to see, just dirt and dirt. His gaze fell on a few curtains that had been lifted, and he saw that there were indeed some household decorations in the cave.

But something is strange.

No food.

There was no food, either above or below ground.

These people look like they've lived here for many years. How do they survive without food?
Hey everyone, look here! There's a line of garish yellow text below! Click it, please!

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(End of this chapter)