Global Collapse

Chapter 518 Today was another thrilling day.
Just as Xia Jianren was frantically guessing what had happened to Gu Mian, the violent knocking suddenly stopped.

The sound stopped abruptly, and the room fell silent.

Once they were sure there were no more sounds, the people behind the sofa cautiously peeked out. They saw that the door, which had been shaking from the impact, was now quiet. Zhao Shuang, who was in the bedroom, also stuck her head out and looked at the door: "What was that just now?"

Still shaken, Cang Yue turned to look at the female protagonist of this instance. It was Zhao Shuang's untimely words that had put them in danger. It was the same before, and it was the same now. Before they were even sure they were completely safe, she asked anxiously.

If Cang Yue encounters a player like Zhao Shuang while clearing a dungeon, she will definitely abandon her without hesitation.

But Zhao Shuang is an NPC in this instance, and she probably has never encountered such a dangerous situation before, so her reaction is understandable.

Fortunately, the things outside the door really left this time, and were not drawn back by Zhao Shuang's hurried opening of her mouth.

Cang Yue sighed and didn't hide anything from Zhao Shuang: "The unclean thing, you just said you often have those nightmares, it's you... Our colleague is back..."

Zhao Shuang's eyes widened: "You mean... a ghost? How is that possible!"

No normal person would believe it if someone told them, "Your dead colleague has come back as a ghost."

"But you saw what happened just now, that knocking sound didn't sound like a human..."

Just as Cang Yue was explaining to Zhao Shuang, Xia Jianren reached out and pulled Coco next to the car: "Gu Mian is still outside, right? If he were alive, he definitely wouldn't have missed the noise we made."

Coco nodded hesitantly, looking like she didn't know what to say.

Xia Jianren didn't care whether Keke answered or not, but frowned and muttered, "He hasn't come back yet. Could he really be dead? He doesn't seem like someone to be trifled with. He shouldn't be that easy to kill."

Zhao Shuang seemed to have a hard time accepting the reality before her. Her eyes were vacant, and she opened her mouth blankly, asking, "But... but even if they've become ghosts, why are they like this?"

She clearly understood the purpose of the thing's visit; the knocking sound carried immense malice and was chilling.

Ghosts never need a reason to kill.

The players were all certain of this, but Zhao Shuang clearly didn't understand the reason behind it; she even somewhat disbelieved in the existence of ghosts.

At this moment, Wang Chuan stood up and strode towards Cang Yue: "Regardless of our plans afterward, I suggest we leave this place first. After all, this is..."

Although he didn't finish his sentence, everyone else knew what he wanted to say.

This is the staff dormitory, the deceased's former residence, an extremely dangerous place.

"Then she..." Xia Jianren looked at Zhao Shuang and asked the other players in a low voice, "If we leave, should we take her with us?"

Cang Yue frowned. At times like this, anyone with no experience in dungeons would be a burden, and Zhao Shuang had just demonstrated that perfectly.

But something that just happened gave Cang Yue a certain idea.

“You all saw it too, when something knocked on the door just now,” Cang Yue said, frowning, “the thing outside went berserk after hearing Zhao Shuang’s voice, as if it cared a lot about Zhao Shuang. Actually, I’m not sure if it went berserk because of the voice or because of Zhao Shuang… Besides, this instance is called Amnesia, which is closely related to Zhao Shuang…”

"Wait a minute!" Xia Jianren interrupted Cang Yue. "Didn't you agree not to actively explore the dungeon? Why are you so eager to investigate Zhao Shuang's relationship with the dungeon now?"

“Not actively exploring the dungeon is to avoid triggering taboos, but that doesn’t mean we should reject every clue. This is a clue that came to us willingly, and I have an idea now,” Cang Yue’s brows furrowed even deeper, “These ghosts… might have some conflict with Zhao Shuang, or even… Zhao Shuang caused their deaths!”

The others gasped in shock.

"If my guess is correct, then it makes perfect sense that the ghost became enraged upon hearing Zhao Shuang's voice. Zhao Shuang lost her memory after October 1st, forgetting what happened that day. I guess the way out of this instance is Zhao Shuang's memory. Players help Zhao Shuang regain her memories of that day, understand the truth behind the disaster on October 1st, and then..."

Cang Yue paused here, and Wang Chuan, guessing what was to come, continued, "If things are really as you guessed, then those ghosts are targeting Zhao Shuang, not us. As long as we stay away from Zhao Shuang..." "No." Cang Yue refuted Wang Chuan's statement, "Although I guess the ghosts only have a grudge against Zhao Shuang, we all know that ghosts never kill for any reason. As players, we can't be in a safe environment. I think there's a way to prevent them from attacking us."

Xia Jianren immediately understood what she meant: "You mean to avenge the ghost?"

If the people in that car really died because of Zhao Shuang, then as long as they help the ghost kill Zhao Shuang, the resentment won't come after them.

"But is it really as you guessed?" Coco looked at Cang Yue.

They might also trigger a dead end in the instance by blindly killing Zhao Shuang.

Everyone clearly understood this principle, and no one was really prepared to kill Zhao Shuang right now.

Xia Jianren couldn't help but speak up: "But didn't we plan from the beginning not to actively investigate anything? Now you even think that killing Zhao Shuang is the only way to survive. So, should we look for clues or find a place to hide?"

Cang Yue took a deep breath and thought deeply for a while: "In any case, let's leave here first and take Zhao Shuang with us."

This was the first instance where she would actually die. She had originally planned to proceed with caution, but the path to survival in this instance was so obviously absurd that she couldn't bear to give up the opportunity.

Although it may not be a real way out, it is so simple and so obvious that people don't want to let go.

“We’re still missing one person.” Wang Chuan still remembered Gu Mian, who hadn’t returned.

“Don’t wait for him. There’s no need to stay in this dangerous place waiting for him,” Cang Yue walked into the bedroom and reached out to pull Zhao Shuang off the bed. “We’re not planning to stay here. You don’t want to be left here alone, do you?”

Zhao Shuang certainly wouldn't dare.

She asked, somewhat bewildered, "Then where do we go?"

Cang Yue pulled her out of bed: "Let's leave this building first, it's too dangerous here."

"Okay..." Zhao Shuang agreed as she reached for her phone on the bedside table, put it in her pocket, and then reached for her ID and keys.

At this moment, Xia Jianren had already arrived at the door and was looking out through the peephole at the situation outside. As he looked, he muttered to himself, "We agreed not to take the initiative, this is too dangerous."

"Is there anything outside?" Wang Chuan asked from the side.

Xia Jianren looked outside in the light streaming through the stairwell window: "It looks like there's no one here, nothing at all."

"That thing should be gone, it's not in this building anymore, let's go out." Wang Chuan said as he reached for the doorknob, but the moment he touched it, a loud noise came from upstairs, startling everyone.

It sounded like something hitting the ground, followed by footsteps, as if someone was walking upstairs in slippers.

"What's going on upstairs?" Xia Jianren exhaled, "That scared me to death, let's go..."

"Wait a minute!" Zhao Shuang suddenly interrupted him.

Xia Jianren looked at Zhao Shuang, who had spoken, and saw that her face was pale and her teeth were chattering uncontrollably.

Seeing her like this, Xia Jianren panicked a little: "What's wrong?"

Zhao Shuang's pale lips trembled, and it took her a long time to piece together a complete sentence: "Upstairs... upstairs is also a dormitory. They're all dead, how could someone be inside!"

The cooing bird happily flew into Word.
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(End of this chapter)