Global Collapse

Chapter 431 The Real Crematorium
When Chu Changge and the fat man stepped into the dark mall, the first thing they saw was a corpse with its eyes wide open in death.

The fat man stared at the corpse on the ground, its eyes wide open in death: "It's Mingyue..."

Fatty wasn't surprised that Mingyue would die. He always felt that Mingyue was somewhat cunning, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Chu Changge glanced at the wounds on the corpse on the ground with his flashlight: "The wounds don't look like they were caused by a sharp weapon. She must have been stabbed and bled to death, but she lived for quite a long time in between. And it seems like she was dragged here from somewhere else."

"That was a really gruesome death," the fat man thought, looking at the trail of blood that had been dragged ahead. "This couldn't have been done by a ghost, could it?"

Would a ghost have the leisure to kill someone and then drag her to the doorway?
of course not.

The fat man followed the trail of blood and saw a figure standing in the darkness ahead—it was Xiao Qiao.

She was walking slowly towards them, emerging from the darkness, her entire body illuminated by the flashlight in Chu Changge's hand.

“Xiao Qiao?” The fat man looked up at her. “This corpse…”

Just as the fat man was hesitating to speak, he suddenly heard the person in front of him speak, as if recounting something he had heard before: "Success or failure in this world is never determined by a person's character. That sounds very reasonable."

"Huh?" The fat man was a little confused; he didn't quite understand what Xiao Qiao was talking about.

Chu Changge walked forward on her own, carrying a flashlight: "She's probably just repeating herself in a rambling, nonsensical way because she's heard some nonsense again. Ignore her."

Seeing Chu Changge walk away, the fat man quickly followed.

At this moment, Gu Mian and the ghost were still in the corner.

This feeling was a bit strange to Gu Mian. His previous roommate had owned a cat, and perhaps because of Gu Mian's own unlucky nature, rats were frequent visitors to their dormitory.

Gu Mian often saw the cat cornering a trembling mouse against the wall and then teasing it with a paw.

It's strangely similar to the current situation.

Gu Mian considers herself a respectable person and never flirts with others.

As he pondered this, he turned his gaze back to the ghost: "When, when did you see me in that place?"

People who meet at a crematorium generally don't develop a "love at first sight" relationship.

Because it's mostly where corpses and living people meet, most people wouldn't have any particular thoughts about corpses.

The ghost claimed to have seen Gu Mian in such a place. Although Gu Mian had experienced many hardships since childhood, she had never set foot in a place like a crematorium.
"One year ago, on a certain day." The ghost in the corner slightly raised its head, as if recalling something.

A year ago, before this global game even started, Gu Mian spent most of her time in the hospital and it was impossible for her to enter the crematorium of any dungeon world.

So what exactly did it see? Its own existence within the copy world?
Gu Mian saw the eerie light in its eyes. It was a ghost with a very rich facial expression. In an instant, Gu Mian saw suspicion, inquiry and fear on its face.

It's hard to imagine these three emotions appearing in a ghost.

Before Gu Mian could continue speaking, a voice came from the corner: "I died on that day. After seeing you, I died. Later, I became a ghost, but at least I was a ghost with my own thoughts. I was trapped in a place and killed intruders day after day. Later, I realized that this world was not as real as I had imagined."
"It's like we're in a game, and there's another, much larger world outside our own. They call us NPCs."

"So I tried my best to escape, and strangely enough, I actually managed to escape. I wandered from city to city trying to escape the control of this world—until I met you."

As Gu Mian spoke of discovering the ghost, her tone was filled with immense fear.

It looked at itself as if it were looking at a giant monster.

Gu Mian suddenly realized that the ghost's fear of her did not seem to come from the title "Dungeon Destroyer," but from the fear she had instilled in it on the day it died.

Why is it so terrified? Gu Mian frowned. Even if it had seen Gu Mian's corpse at the crematorium, it shouldn't have shown such fear when it saw the living Gu Mian.

Moreover, it died after seeing "Gu Mian" back then.

Thinking of this, Gu Mian frowned: "What exactly did you see?"

"Do you know why this instance is called 'Death Image'?" Ghost suddenly flinched and uttered an irrelevant question.

The death appearance is what you look like when you die, but it seems to have nothing to do with this instance.

"Before I escaped control, this instance was indeed related to the name 'Death Appearance,' in which the corpses of dead players would remain in the state they were in at the moment of death."

"You know I can disguise myself as other people and hide among players and human NPCs. At that time, the key to this dungeon was to 'find the ghost,' and the death appearance was the key to solving the dungeon."

Gu Mian immediately understood.

Previously, the key to this dungeon's mission was to 'find the ghost,' and since players would remain in the state they were in at the moment of death, the reflection in the eyes of the dead player would not change!

The last reflection seen by the player who died was the image of a ghost.

By focusing on the eyes of the corpse, you can find the ghost hidden among the players and NPCs!
But what's the point of saying all this? Gu Mian looked down at the ghost in the corner: "Could it be that you're also in the moment of death right now..."

He frowned as he said this.

If this ghost's body is in the process of dying...

The image reflected in that ghost's eye is the last scene it saw before it died!
The last scene I saw at the crematorium.

Gu Mian leaned closer to its face, wondering what it had seen in that crematorium that caused it to die so quickly and show such a terrified expression.

What did it see?
Gu Mian held the flashlight and looked into its dark eyes. Suddenly, he noticed a subtle tremor in the ground, a sign that the copy was about to collapse.

Ignoring that, Gu Mian continued to look intently into the eyes of the ghost in front of her.

(End of this chapter)