Global Collapse

The truck tires screeched against the uneven ground, making an unpleasant sound.

Gu Mian saw several trucks enter the street, but only one drove straight towards them.

Not far from his house number 98, the car screeched to a halt.

Mr. Green was startled awake by the sound of brakes. He jumped out of bed and his first thought was to check if Gu Mian was still there. Only after finding that Gu Mian was still in the room did he investigate the source of the noise that had woken him up.

"What happened?" He jumped out of bed and came to the door, standing side by side with Gu Mian, looking out.

However, the threshold of this earthen house was quite high, even exceeding Mr. Green's height.

He had to take a few steps forward to the threshold, grab it with both hands, and then stand on tiptoe to peer out with difficulty.

Finally, he saw the large truck parked not far away.

At this moment, a white, glowing man stepped out of the driver's seat. He was a superior person, with the noble skin that was exclusive to the upper class.

The man, holding a stack of something, impatiently shouted at the timid, huddled group of lower-class people around him: "Get on the bus! Everyone get on the bus! Anyone who wants to show off their skills on a variety show, get on board!"

As he spoke, he used his other, empty hand to fan the air in front of his nose, as if trying to blow away something smelly.

"It's that variety show!" Mr. Green exclaimed. "That variety show is here to pick people."

As he spoke, he began to climb up using both his hands and feet, attempting to reach the high threshold in front of him.

Gu Mian looked at Mr. Green, who was frantically climbing up the stairs: "Are you in such a hurry to participate in that variety show?"

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Mr. Green retorted as he climbed, "He's a superior being. If he were face to face with me, he would definitely recognize me as a high-level NPC. I'm nothing like the inferior people here. He would be able to tell me apart at a glance if we were face to face!"

But most of the upper-class people here are unaware of the existence of NPCs.

Instead of discouraging Mr. Green, Gu Mian reached out and helped him up, allowing the little boy to climb over the threshold smoothly. He looked back at Gu Mian with genuine emotion and gratitude, then jogged towards the large truck.

Gu Mian believed that his beautiful wish would ultimately be in vain.

He climbed over the threshold and followed.

At this moment, a long line of lower-class people had already formed behind the truck bed. They looked excited and expectant, as if they were queuing to get a marriage certificate.

Of course, some people were unhappy.

Not everyone could get on that beat-up truck. Gu Mian estimated that the truck could only hold a few dozen people, but there were already no fewer than a hundred people in line.

At this point, it all comes down to luck.

Those who didn't meet the eye of that handsome man were all rejected. The rejected lower class could only leave in despair, not daring to say a word for themselves.

Those who were chosen all had smug expressions on their faces, and most of them would glance back at the crowd still in line, as if to say, "See? I was chosen."

Then he took something from the upper-class man, and walked into the truck bed with his chest puffed out.

Number 1115

"Number 1116, go up."

The man handed out slips of paper to the lower-class people as they passed by, while announcing their numbers.

Gu Mian guessed that it was probably something like a number plate. The upper class had no interest in the names of the lower class, so it would be better if they could be addressed by a simple number.

At this moment, Mr. Green had already rushed over, waving his hand: "Hey! Hey!"

He rushed to the front of the carriage without queuing, which immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the lower-class people in the queue. They protested and stirred up trouble, trying to grab Mr. Green and throw him to the end of the queue.

But the upper-class man holding the number plate gave Mr. Green a meaningful look: "It's you. I know you."

Now the lower-class people behind them dared not make any rash moves. Their protests gradually subsided, and they stared wide-eyed at the upper-class people and the dwarf in front of them.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Mr. Green ran over, not even having time to catch his breath. As soon as he heard the superior man say that, he was certain that the other party must have recognized him. "You must have recognized me. I am a high-level..." "You are a high-level NPC." The superior man suddenly smiled.

This was no easy feat. The pale-faced man hadn't shown any good expression since he stepped into the lower-class area, but now he suddenly smiled, startling the lower-class people in line.

Mr. Green was even more excited now.

"Yes!" He was so excited that he stammered, "I knew there were people here who knew what they were talking about. Now that you've recognized me, please take me out of here quickly. You know I don't belong here."

At this point, Mr. Green's expression became somewhat arrogant again, as if he had returned to the days when he was pointing fingers in his own instance.

“Of course, I’ve even fed you,” the man said, pulling out a number plate and slapping it on Mr. Green’s chest. “Number 1117, upper-class NPC. Go on, get in the car and wait to participate in the variety show.”

what?
Mr. Green froze for a moment. He opened his mouth, but it took him several seconds to find his voice: "I am a high-level NPC. You should take me away from here, instead of having me participate in that... that variety show!"

"Your foolish performance should end now. Aren't you satisfied with the opportunity to participate in a variety show?" The upper-class person became somewhat annoyed.

At this moment, Gu Mian also arrived near the carriage.

He was wandering aimlessly in the distance, and this wandering soon caught the attention of the upper-class men.

His attention was immediately drawn away from Mr. Green, and his gaze was fixed on Gu Mian.

Gu Mian was like a piece of chewing gum, sticking tightly to his eyes.

He felt as if he had seen that lowly person in the guitar case somewhere before, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't recall anything about that person.

A strong sense of anticipation welled up inside him, and he felt an urge to get this person to participate in the variety show.

He desperately wanted to see this person in the fierce stage battles.

His mouth opened involuntarily: "Hey you, come here!"

"Gu Mian's appeal to the upper class remains as strong as ever," 007 remarked, sitting in front of the television screen.

They also saw Gu Mian and Mr. Green through the camera on the nearby viewing device, and could even hear some of their conversation.

At this moment, Gu Mian had obtained the number plate as she had wished.

Holding the number plate that read "1118" in one hand, he lifted Mr. Green, who was still trying to argue with the upper class, and carried him into the carriage.

"Let me go, let me go! He knows I'm a high-level NPC, but he still... What an insult! When I get back to my world..." Mr. Green's voice trailed off as he realized how difficult it would be for him to return to his original world.

The train that once traversed various worlds has now ceased operation, and it is unknown when it will be able to restart.

“Don’t you understand?” Gu Mian put Mr. Green on the carriage floor. With the two of them now, there were only eight people in the carriage, so the space was quite spacious. “He doesn’t know anything about NPCs. He just thinks you’re a clown who enjoys performing, and you’re performing like this just to get a spot on a variety show.”

Clearly, that upper-class person wasn't the only one who thought this way.

Just then, Gu Mian heard a voice coming from outside the carriage—"I...I'm a high-level NPC! Let me out of here!"

That's truly putting what you've learned into practice.

The lower class that followed perfectly copied Mr. Green's path to success, but their endings were quite different from Mr. Green's.

As Lu Xun once said, "The first person to compare a woman to a flower is a genius, the second is mediocre, and the third is a fool."

Mr. Green is neither a woman nor a flower.

But the one outside is indeed mediocre.

The upper class lost interest in this somewhat outdated rhetoric.

Gu Mian listened to the "high-level NPC" outside the carriage introduce himself for a long time, and in the end, she only received a single word from the upper class.

"Get out!" (End of Chapter)