Global Collapse

Chapter 617 Hey there, sir! The global collapse is amazing!

When Gu Mian reappeared in the living room, she still had that relieved smile on her face.

As soon as he returned, he saw the fat man squatting on the sofa checking game announcements, muttering, "Why haven't there been any announcements yet?" and "When will the doctor come out?"

The sun was already setting in the west, and there were still clay pots and bowls on the coffee table in the living room.

Gu Mian glanced at it briefly and found that the casserole contained chicken stew with mushrooms, which was what Fatty and the others had for lunch.

Xiao Hong was the first to discover Gu Mian.

She was sitting on the windowsill, enjoying her lychee soda, but when she saw Gu Mian return, she didn't even care about the soda in her hand. She threw the half-empty can out the window and scrambled over.

She ran over and nuzzled against Gu Mian for a while, then hung the whole ghost on Gu Mian's back, and finally stretched out her head and opened her mouth to bite his head.

Gu Mian: "..."

What a terrifying scene, yet at this moment he actually felt a sense of warmth.

The fat man also heard Xiao Hong's noise. He looked up from the announcement panel and saw Gu Mian, who had just left the dungeon.

"Doctor!" the fat man exclaimed joyfully, "You're out! I was just wondering when you'd be able to come out..."

As the fat man spoke, Gu Mian felt another weight on her body.

Turning her head, she saw her brother, who had crawled out of the CD, reaching out to try to pull Xiaohong off him.

Suddenly he felt Xiao Hong nibbling even harder.

But the frail Xiao Hong couldn't beat her brother in the end. She was forcibly pulled off Gu Mian, her face filled with sadness.

"Speaking of which, there doesn't seem to be any announcement this time," the fat man said, turning his gaze back to his game panel. "Has the doctor finally laid down his sword and decided to turn over a new leaf and become a good person?"

As if in response to his words, a new message immediately appeared on the previously empty announcement panel—

[Duplicate Server Closure Notice]

[Dear players, at 18:22 on August 5th, the class dungeon "Circus of Love and Justice" will be temporarily shut down for maintenance due to data corruption and NPC damage. The reopening time is unknown.]

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

"Ah," the fat man said, his mind filled with thoughts of money, "it seems there was no mention of compensation. Doctor, did you leave before the instance crashed?"

"That's right," Gu Mian nodded. "The people in the instance were very enthusiastic. I had a great time there, and they were reluctant to leave when I left."

He also used the last ten seconds to play fun games with everyone in the instance. Everyone was very happy. The host said goodbye with tears in his eyes, his face full of anticipation for "coming back to play again next time".

The fat man nodded thoughtfully: "No wonder this instance is called the Circus of Love and Justice. It's because the NPCs inside are full of love and justice. I'll have to go check it out next time I have the chance!"

"By the way, doctor," the fat man asked, remembering something, "did you see any high-level NPCs in this instance?"

I did see him, but...

Gu Mian raised her head, her gaze searching for something in the room.

He soon found the person he was looking for.

Chu Changge was sitting on the edge of the bed, flipping through a book of unknown type. He seemed to notice the gazes lingering on him, looked up and met Gu Mian's eyes for a few seconds, then looked down again to continue reading the book on his lap.

Before the fat man could get an answer, he saw Gu Mian stride into the room.

The fat man followed Gu Mian's footsteps and looked around. He saw Gu Mian walk into the room, grab Chu Changge who was sitting on the edge of the bed, and then drag him out of the room.

Chu Changge was dragged away by Gu Mian with a blank expression.

The fat man exclaimed in alarm, "Doctor, let go! That's Brother Chu, not Xiao Hong! We can't keep dragging this on!"

Little Red, who was thick-skinned and tough, looked puzzled after hearing what the fat man said.

Gu Mian had just dragged Chu Changge out the door when she ran into Xiao Qiao, who was sneaking around peeking in.

Upon seeing Gu Mian return, Xiao Qiao at the door first widened her eyes slightly to show her happiness, and then widened them slightly again to show her modesty.

Then she spoke in a reserved tone: "I'd like to eat Xiao Qiao's stewed mushrooms again."

Gu Mian: "..."

What "Xiao Qiao Stewed Mushrooms"? Looks like she came over for lunch and is now reminiscing.

Gu Mian thought for a moment, then reached out and grabbed Xiao Qiao, who was lurking suspiciously at the door, and dragged her away, one in each hand.

The fat man jogged to the door and nervously watched the three people leave.

Chu Changge remained expressionless, occasionally reaching out to push up his glasses, which had slipped down due to the bumpy ride.

Xiao Qiao stopped yelling "Xiao Qiao stewed mushrooms" and obediently let Gu Mian drag her along. For once, her usually expressionless face showed a look of enjoyment. The fat man, seeing the look of pleasure on Xiao Qiao's face, took a small step back: "Miss Xiao Qiao, are you a pervert...?"

The fortune teller was enjoying the beautiful evening in his room when he suddenly heard a loud banging on the living room door.

She was startled: "No way, there aren't any home invasion robberies at this hour, are there?"

Thinking about it, she picked up a kitchen knife and went to the door, looking out through the peephole.

"Oh, it's Gu Mian, and she's dragging two people with her... What are they here for?"

After recognizing the person outside the door, the fortune teller wiped the kitchen knife on his clothes before extending a hand to open the door, flashing a warm smile at the person outside: "Ah, I was just chopping vegetables to prepare dinner. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Gu Mian stepped through the door carrying one person in each hand, then turned to look at the fortune teller holding a kitchen knife: "You can tell fortunes, right?"

These words reminded the fortune teller of those who told fortunes under overpasses.

I'm a fortune teller, not a charlatan!

Moreover, even if she could tell fortunes, she wouldn't dare to do it for Gu Mian.

The exploding crystal ball in the Sweet Lovers instance is still fresh in my mind—this is the consequence of fortune-telling for Gu Mian.

This is a lesson learned through blood and tears.

It's worth mentioning that after that incident, she started learning divination methods that weren't very harmful, such as card divination and pendulum divination. At least these things have less power when they explode.

Seeing through the fortune teller's thoughts, Gu Mian said, "It's not for me."

"Let me tell his fortune." As he spoke, he raised one hand, and Chu Changge, slightly lifted, reached out to push up his glasses in front of the fortune teller.

"And her too." Gu Mian raised her other hand, and Xiao Qiao, who had been called out, grinned foolishly at the fortune teller a few times.

Diviner: "..."

Although these two people aren't exactly normal either, they're much better than those who told Gu Mian's fortune.

“Alright, alright,” the fortune teller looked at Chu Changge in Gu Mian’s hand, then at Xiao Qiao on the other side, “Let go first, it’s hard for me to perform properly if you’re holding me like this.”

In the end, the fortune teller opted for the safer method of drawing lots, which would only result in wood chips flying everywhere, much better than shards of glass scattered all over the ground.

Chu Changge and Xiao Qiao each held a wooden bucket filled with skewers.

It's somewhat like the fortune sticks you get when burning incense and praying to Buddha in TV dramas.

"I'm still young," the fortune teller explained his lack of skill with beautiful words, "I haven't been a fortune teller for long, and my potential hasn't been fully realized yet. I can't predict anything too complicated. Right now, I can only predict things like good or bad fortune... But I still have a lot of talent, given time..."

“I understand, I understand,” Gu Mian interrupted dismissively, “The future is promising.”

Diviner: "..."

At this moment, Chu Changge and Xiao Qiao, each holding a wooden bucket, looked somewhat comical.

Gu Mian had never imagined what Chu Changge would look like praying to Buddha and drawing lots; today he was truly amazed.

Chu Changge had already started shaking the wooden bucket in his hand, his expressionless face seemingly saying, "I don't believe in this stuff," but his hand was obediently shaking it.

Xiao Qiao's method was a bit more violent; the wooden skewers in the bucket rattled loudly. Gu Mian turned her head away, afraid that she would shake the bucket apart.

"I heard you went into the dungeon this morning, and you should have just come out not long ago. What happened that you rushed here to have your fortune told?" The fortune teller sensed something.

Gu Mian looked at the two people drawing lots in front of her: "I discovered some things in the dungeon, and now I have a guess, so I came here to verify it."

Guess? The fortune teller was a little puzzled.

Just then, a skewer fell onto the table. Gu Mian looked up and saw that it had fallen out of Chu Changge's bucket.

The fortune teller immediately picked up the wooden sticks on the table. After looking at the sticks in her hand, her expression changed, and she looked at Gu Mian with a strange gaze.

Then, with another "snap," Xiao Qiao's skewer came out.

The fortune teller picked up the divination stick, glanced at it, and his expression became even stranger.

"How is it?" Gu Mian also looked at the two people's slips of paper, but the slips were drawn with strange symbols that he couldn't understand.

The fortune teller hesitated for a moment: "I have something I'd like to discuss with you privately regarding this divination slip."

This tone is like a doctor discovering a patient has a terminal illness and speaking to their family alone.

Fortune teller: "I understand, a promising future equals an unfavorable present."

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(End of this chapter)