Global Collapse

Chapter 462 A Change of Conscience, A Prodigal Son's Return, and the Holy Mother's Radiance Illuminate the Earth

"rule,
"Rules that are already deeply ingrained in people's minds often do not need to be specifically explained. For example, when you go to a supermarket, there will be a sign at the entrance that says 'No pets allowed,' but there will be no sign that says 'No killing.'"

"Because the prohibition against killing was deeply ingrained in my mind, just like the prohibition against robbing a bank or going clubbing at school..."

Gu Mian thought Chu Changge was right. He had never seen a "No Robbery" sign in any bank, nor had he ever seen a "No Disco on Campus" rule in a school.

At this time, Gu Mian was still in Girls' Dormitory No. 4, and he entered without any hindrance.

Despite this, Gu Mian did not believe there was anything wrong with her gender.

"It's all because of a bug in the game program"—that's what he thought.

Chu Changge wasn't in the girls' dormitory. His voice came from a speaker above the corridor wall. He wasn't intentionally trying to convey a message to Gu Mian, because Gu Mian noticed that Chu Changge's voice was echoing throughout the entire school. All the loudspeakers in the school were playing his words, and everyone could hear him.

Gu Mian guessed that he might be in the broadcasting studio, and judging from his tone... it seemed like he had accidentally turned on the radio while talking to someone.

Chu Changge's voice was still ringing out: "...Just like you can't cheat on an exam."

Gu Mian was certain that other players would feel a chill run down their spines and burst into tears upon hearing those words.

"The candidates' exam papers are different, which prevents them from copying others' papers and greatly reduces the possibility of cheating. However, some people have come up with a new idea: to do the questions together."
"For example, just like when we take an exam, a group of people get together to do the same question, or you do my question and I do yours, that's also cheating."

Chu Changge paused for a moment when she said this.

Gu Mian heard footsteps coming from the speakers, as if someone had taken a few steps in the broadcasting room.

Then he heard a sound outside the window. Gu Mian peeked out and saw a group of examinees gathered downstairs who had accidentally kicked over a trash can.
“I just came from the monitoring room, which is right next door. According to the surveillance footage, any student who interfered with other people’s exam questions will die. Ghosts can’t kill their own test takers at will, but they can relentlessly hunt down other people who interfered with the exam questions. As long as you’ve interfered with other people’s exam questions, and as long as you’re still in this school, you’re doomed.”

After he said that, there was a long silence.

About ten seconds later, Gu Mian heard Chu Changge's voice continue: "Don't tell the other players about this. The more people die, the higher our ranking will be."

Xiao Qiao took two steps forward and peeked out at the control panel behind Chu Changge: "But you seemed to have turned on the broadcast button just now."

"Oh," Chu Changge glanced back at the control panel, reached out and turned off the broadcast button, "It's off now."

"Don't tell anyone! Anyway, I heard it." The fat guy had just come out of Building 9 when he heard Chu Changge's voice echoing throughout the entire school.

He then realized that the reason he wasn't caught by the ghost while doing the problems wasn't because he was brave and resourceful, but because he didn't break the rules.

There were also two or three players on his path, and these players were all gathered together.

These people visibly panicked, presumably because they were among those "doing the problems together".

However, Chu Changge's words did not scare all the players.

“I think this person did it on purpose,” An Zhitinglan said, looking at her teammates who were starting to get scared. They were standing next to a green belt on Xueyuan East Road. “How could it be such a coincidence that someone would say something like that in the broadcasting studio and then just happen to turn on the switch so we could hear it?”

The junior sister frowned and said, "You mean him..."

“He’s trying to scare us away,” Anzhitinglan said, looking in the direction of the teaching building in the distance. “He specifically mentioned that ‘anyone in the school is doomed to die.’ The exam has been going on for over an hour now, and ninety percent of the players have already joined forces to interfere with other people’s exam questions. His choice to say something like that at this time is obviously an attempt to force people to leave.”

Candidates can leave the school at any time, but they must hand in their papers first.

"Because if you hand in your paper early and leave, your score won't be very high, so the players who stay until the end will get higher scores," the junior sister pondered.

"That's right," Anzhi Tinglan nodded.

She remembered the doctor again, the doctor she had met in the dungeon and the dragon boat event.

When the broadcast sounded overhead, she instinctively thought it was the doctor's doing.

But if you listen carefully, you can tell that their voices are different. The man's voice is calm and steady, unlike the tone of the somewhat neurotic doctor.

"Shall we continue with the questions?" The junior sister was actually a little scared. The man on the radio was right. Most of the players were indeed in groups, just like she and An Zhitinglan.

The two of them went to the question location together, and now they have each filled in one question.

At this moment, Xiao Qiao and Chu Changge were still in the broadcasting room.

After separating from the fat man, Xiao Qiao explored on her own and happened to run into Chu Changge in the broadcasting room.

Chu Changge, with his back to the control panel, pushed up his glasses: "Disorderly ghosts are what players fear most. Compared to ghosts that kill according to rules, players are more afraid of ghosts that have no rules and can kill at any time."
"Just like how students are more afraid of their homeroom teacher who might suddenly press their face against the glass of the back door than a discipline teacher who patrols regularly."

"Most of the students in this school have died, and the rest are in a panic because they have discovered that the ghosts in this event seem to kill people without any reason. They can kill people at any time and are not bound by any rules... Unlike dungeons and other events, in the dragon boat event you won't die as long as you stay on the boat. In dungeons you can escape the pursuit through deduction, but that's not possible here."
"And I just explained to them why they were being hunted indiscriminately, so there should be fewer people in the school now."

Xiao Qiao suddenly realized: "You want the players to leave the school?" So the last sentence, "Don't tell anyone else," was also a lie.

Chu Changge paused for a moment, then took two steps forward in the darkness and left the broadcasting studio: "I don't like crowds."

Xiao Qiao turned to look at Chu Changge's retreating figure: "But is what you said true?"

"It's true." Chu Changge took a few more steps forward, his figure disappearing into the darkness.

Gu Mian heard everything in the girls' dormitory, including Xiao Qiao's comment, "But you seemed to have turned on the public address system just now."

He immediately understood: "Chu Changge wanted the affected players to run away quickly? And then he added a line at the end saying not to let anyone else know..."

Given Chu Changge's consistent style of doing things, Gu Mian felt that he might be planning to scam someone.

"But not necessarily. What if it's a case of a prodigal son having a change of heart and the radiant light of a saint shining upon the earth?" Gu Mian thought to himself as he turned to leave the dormitory, when he caught a glimpse of the window out of the corner of his eye.

Gu Mian could see the school fence not far from the dormitory building from his spot. When he saw the outside, he froze as if struck by lightning.

There are ghosts outside... or rather, two of them...

Little Hong had climbed up the fence at some point, and now she was happily sitting on it, reaching out to reach her brother who was still outside.

Gu Mian opened her mouth peacefully.

007 is being relentlessly pursued by the proctors.

She had already recognized the voice on the radio as Chu Changge's. After listening to Chu Changge's broadcast, she planned to hand in her paper and leave.

Although 007 didn't participate in other people's exam questions, her intuition told her that something was wrong with this event, so she took the paper with only three questions and wanted to go back to the exam room to hand it in.

Unexpectedly, I ran into the proctor downstairs at Building 6.

Upon seeing the proctor, 007 turned tail and ran towards the No. 4 girls' dormitory directly opposite.

In the instant she turned and ran, she saw several examinees sticking their heads out of the windows of Building 6, as if watching her make a spectacle of herself.

The candidates in the examination room did not have to worry about being caught by the proctors, so they dared to peek out.

007 had no time to care about the onlookers; she ran desperately toward the door of Apartment 4, trying to rush into the dormitory building to hide.

But the proctor was moving too fast. Just two seconds after she rushed into the apartment building, the proctor was already close to the door, less than five meters away from 007.

There's no way she could run that distance.

It seems like there are more and more people peeking out from upstairs.

But just as the proctor outside was about to enter the girls' dormitory, 007 suddenly heard a very loud, angry voice from above—

"Get out of here!"

The sound was extremely penetrating, seemingly coming from an unknown floor, and it appeared to contain boundless rage. The sound was now echoing throughout Apartment 4.

At that moment, 007 saw the proctors outside the door stop in unison, then turn around, leaving her with a group of lonely figures.

After watching the dozen or so proctors leave, she subconsciously looked up. 007 recognized the voice, of course, even though the owner of the voice seemed very angry now; she had never seen that person angry before.

007 didn't think Gu Mian's voice was meant for her, because although the voice was loud, it was clear that it wasn't near her.

It seems to be on one of the upper floors, but how did Gu Mian get into the girls' dormitory?

The sound was so loud that it could be heard in several buildings around Apartment 4. The examinees in the exam room of Building 6 were originally watching the female player being chased, but this shout came out from nowhere and startled them.

But they soon discovered that they weren't the only ones who were startled; the proctors who had chased them to the girls' dormitory entrance also stopped abruptly in response to the call... and then turned and left?
"They're gone?" A player who was watching the commotion with binoculars wiped his lenses. "Is my binoculars still working?"

Xiao Hong was also startled by Gu Mian's deadly shout. She actually jumped off the fence and fell outside, even making a splatter sound.

The older brother's gaze followed the sound and locked onto Gu Mian. At this moment, his obedient dog was squatting outside the fence, as if it had never participated in the wall-climbing operation.

Gu Mian only shut her mouth after seeing Xiao Hong collapse outside.

If those two come in, they might not come back.

(End of this chapter)