Global Collapse

That's all for Chu Changge's message.

After thinking for a moment, the fat man spoke again in the group chat.

[Wang Dapang]: But Brother Chu, even if the dungeon sets the player's spawn point on the top floor, players can easily get to the bottom floor.

[Wang Dapang]: The doctor and I have found the stairs. It really is the only way down, but these stairs aren't hidden; they lead straight to the bottom. Whoever finds the stairs can go directly to the bottom floor, skipping the intermediate floors.

[Wang Dapang]: There weren't any difficult mechanisms set up on the stairs, only the doors on each floor seemed to be locked, but they opened easily by breaking them. It seems the doors on the first and second floors were opened by players who came up to those floors before them.

[Wang Dapang]: In that case, the middle floors are useless. I think the retrieval openings might not only be on the ground floor, but also on other floors.

[Wang Dapang]: By the way, there really isn't a mall entrance on the first floor map.
After sending these messages, he patiently waited for Chu Changge's reply.

But Chu Changge seemed to be busy with her own things again and didn't reply to him for a while.

He closed the group chat thoughtfully, but then felt like he had forgotten something.

It wasn't until his gaze fell upon the familiar-looking ice rink in front of him that the fat man remembered that he had opened the group chat earlier to look for Liu Ruyan.

He finally remembered his business and hurriedly opened the group chat again to find Liu Ruyan.

At this moment, Gu Mian had already gotten up and continued walking forward.

The fat man hurriedly typed while keeping up with Gu Mian's pace.

[Wang Dapang]: Miss Landlady, could you please do us another favor?
[Wang Dapang]: Are Miss Qiao's fruit water bottles still at home? They're the ones she wanted to buy at the supermarket that time, and she threw a tantrum and threatened to hang herself when they wouldn't let her.

Life without the internet in the apocalypse would be very boring.

However, the supermarket had DVDs of various TV series, and Fatty bought many to take back to the apartment for everyone's entertainment. He even specially cleared out a room on the first floor to store the DVDs, so that anyone who was bored could go to the DVD room and pick out a few movies and TV series to take back and watch.

Xiao Qiao loves to get closer to them.

However, she was only interested in those romantic dramas featuring men and women. She didn't get into anything else, but she did learn all the crying, tantrums, and suicide threats from those shows perfectly.

She uses this trick whenever something happens, and after a long period of practice, Xiao Qiao's acting skills in this area can be described as unparalleled.

If the global game ends in the future, Xiao Qiao can return to acting and specialize in playing these melodramatic, tearful, and suicidal roles.

Liu Ruyan, on the other hand, had nothing to do all day and wasn't as busy as Chu Changge. She replied to the message almost within seconds of the fat man sending it.

[Liu Ruyan]: She always says the same thing. Which time are you talking about?

The fat man gasped for breath.

[Wang Dapang]: Never mind which time it was, just check if those colorful fruit cups in the room are still there. Miss Landlady, you live with Xiao Qiao, so you must see these tableware and such often. Also, could you please check if the family ceramic figurine in Miss 007's room is still there? If I remember correctly, it was on the cabinet next to the bed.

After a few minutes of silence, Liu Ruyan gave her reply.

They're all there.

"It seems it wasn't directly extracted from the real world," the fat man thought to himself.

[Liu Ruyan]: Something's happened in the dungeon again? After the dog, now there's a cup and a bedside ornament here?

The fat man marveled at Liu Ruyan's uncanny foresight, and seized the opportunity to continue his request.

[Wang Dapang]: There's also the ice rink at the West City Amusement Park, which is also in the dungeon. Miss Liu Ruyan, if you have time, could you please go check it out for me...?

By the time Fatty got to this point, he was already feeling a little guilty. He was asking her to do this and that, and he was afraid that if Liu Ruyan got angry, she would throw him and his bedding out of the apartment.

After sending that message, Liu Ruyan, like Chu Changge, went silent.

The fat man suspected she had gone to help him pack his luggage.

After walking a little further, the fat man saw the elevator on this floor.

It's worth mentioning that there aren't claw machines everywhere on this floor. He guessed that when the doctor imagined the claw machines, he didn't think about the other floors besides the first one, so you won't see any more claw machines emitting green light on the lower floors.

There was a map of the entire floor on the wall next to the elevator on the first floor. The fat man suspected that this floor was also covered, so he excitedly dragged Gu Mian to the elevator.

Upon arriving, they discovered that there were indeed maps pasted on the elevator walls, and the dust had already been wiped away by others before them, so they didn't need to clean them.

"Hey doctor, someone found the map of this floor before us."

As he spoke, the fat man held up a lantern to look at his feet, hoping to glean some clues from the nearby footprints.

However, this floor is not as spacious as the upper floor. This floor has more fun facilities, with many ball pits, small rocking horses, and colorful electric cars blocking the elevator area, almost obscuring the floor.

Making room to squeeze in is like "finding a needle in a haystack".

Naturally, the footprints are no longer visible.

Gu Mian kicked the trash on the ground aside, and the plastic duck bumped into a large ball next to it. The ball immediately started flashing its eyes and began to sing: "The sky after the rain has cleared, a beautiful rainbow floats by, la la la chasing the rainbow, happily rushing forward..." It was clear that the ball's battery was running low, and the singing was choppy, adding a touch of eeriness to the cheerful music.

It was rather creepy to have something singing in the quiet mall. The fat man moved his feet away from the ball and then obediently followed behind Gu Mian.

At this moment, Gu Mian had arrived in front of the map on this floor.

The person wiping this layer of map was rather casual; there were still a few specks of dust that hadn't been completely cleaned. Gu Mian reached out and wiped away those specks of dust, and only then did the entire second-layer map appear before them.

This entire floor is dedicated to entertainment.

According to the map, if you walk further ahead you will find a children's bookstore, and around the corner you will find a children's playground.

There are also a variety of children's entertainment venues such as parent-child parks, craft parks, and fishing parks.

The layout of these entertainment venues was quite varied, and the fat man snapped a picture of the map.

He examined the photos in the camera: "There really is no door on this floor."

There is no main entrance on the second floor of the mall.

However, after Chu Changge mentioned the retrieval portal, the fat man equated "door" with "retrieval portal" in his mind. He felt that the retrieval portal wasn't necessarily all on the bottom floor; there might be "doors" on other floors as well.

At that moment, he noticed new messages in the group chat.

Clicking on it revealed a reply from Chu Changge.

[Chu Changge]: The location of the item retrieval opening is probably very hidden, and its appearance is unlike any other exit. Only a ghost would know its location and appearance, so even if players know that the item retrieval opening is only on the lowest level, they still wouldn't be able to find it.
Upon seeing the message, the fat man scrolled back and found that Chu Changge was replying to his own message that suggested there were also access points on floors other than the ground floor.

"This doesn't look like a normal exit..." the fat man pondered.

In that case, the exit could be a table, a piece of clothing, or even just an invisible door.

This makes it very difficult to locate the exit.

But after the ghost grabs the doll, it will throw the doll towards the retrieval point, which means that as long as you are grabbed by the ghost, you can be taken to the retrieval point.

The fat man thought of the head he had bumped into on the stairs.

When a ghost grabs someone, it cuts off their head first...

Of course, it's also possible that you accidentally knocked your head off while playing the claw machine because you were too strong. But whether it was intentional or accidental, the mortality rate after being grabbed by a ghost is as high as 99%. You probably won't even see where the prize is before you die.

[Chu Changge]: After the grappling hook grabs the doll, it will move towards the retrieval opening. Only by following the grappling hook that is holding the doll can you find the retrieval opening.

[Chu Changge]: There's even a possibility that the retrieval opening will only appear when the grappling hook brings the doll close.
[Chu Changge]: Even if players know the item retrieval point is on the lowest floor, they still have to actively search for the ghost on other floors.

That would mean actively seeking out ghosts, which is far too dangerous.

The ghost has to hold a doll; it's all alone and won't go looking for the way to retrieve it.

The fat man's face turned all sorts of colors, but with the doctor there, the idea of ​​actively seeking out ghosts became somewhat reasonable.

Thinking of this, the fat man turned to look at Gu Mian next to him, wanting to hear what Gu Mian thought, but when he turned his head, he found that Gu Mian had already left the elevator and was walking forward with her head down, following something.

"Doctor, wait for me!" The fat man quickly pulled his foot out from the clutter, stepped over the still glowing and singing ball, and ran to Gu Mian's side.

When I got to Gu Mian's side, I saw that he was following a line of footprints.

This is the line of "walking alone in a dark alley" that the fat man saw before.

The owner of these footprints was being chased by a ghost. When he passed by the elevator, he didn't even turn, and went straight ahead.

"Doctor, why are you so concerned about these footprints?" the fat man asked curiously. Gu Mian had been following these footprints ever since she entered this floor.

“We chased the ghost in. When the ghost arrived at this floor, it must have just run into the owner of these footprints. The owner probably thought the ghost was coming for him, so he ran away. Judging from the fact that he didn’t stop running, the ghost must have been following him the whole time. So as long as we follow the footprints, we can know the ghost’s movements.” Gu Mian explained as she walked forward.

"I see." The fat man nodded, finding it quite reasonable.

The owner of the footprints was quite fit; they followed the footprints for quite a while before seeing the end.

The flashlight illuminated the mall's tiles, and Gu Mian saw the footprints turn a corner ahead and disappear into a doorway.

It's a toilet.

The restrooms on every floor of the mall are in the same location, and the restrooms on this floor are directly above Gu Mian's spawn point on the first floor.

The fat man clicked his tongue in amazement as he looked at the footprints that led to the toilet: "They've gone into the toilet. This is the most eerie place ever."

Moreover, there were no footprints.

This suggests that those who went in are most likely still hiding inside. (End of Chapter)