[Congratulations on triggering the special instance 'Corpse Clearer']

[Participants: 8]

[Description: This is a building filled with corpses in various states of death. When three or more corpses of the same type are aligned horizontally or vertically (diagonal lines not included), the aligned corpses will be cleared. The eight players will be randomly assigned to different floors. The instance will issue multiple tasks at random intervals during the game. With each completed task, all players will collectively receive clues about the locations of some corpses.]

[Instance Mission: Eliminate all corpses in the building within the specified time limit. If corpses are not eliminated within the time limit, they will transform into Evil Ghosts and roam for ten minutes (Evil Ghosts cannot pass through walls). The instance will end once the Evil Ghosts depart.]

[Note: All special items are forbidden in this instance.]

[Players' floors have been assigned. Instance entry imminent.]

Huh? Fatty was dumbfounded. We were just discussing heading into Paradise World to rescue Lu Yi. Who would've thought we'd be pulled into a special instance the next moment? By the time we get out of this instance, Lu Yi's body will have gone cold, won't it?

Our only option now is to finish this instance quickly. Maybe the Doctor will show up and just blast this instance apart?

Fatty recalled a special bus instance from last Lunar New Year; Gu Mian had demolished it by crashing a Spirit Car into it before they could even enter.

What was that instance called again? Something like the Bus Route 444 Instance, I think.

But this Match 3 instance sounds terrifying from the description alone... This instance is filled with corpses...

Fatty mulled this over for a while, still surrounded by darkness. He was a bit confused. Why haven't we entered yet?

Just as he wondered, a new prompt appeared on his game panel.

[Players are being reassigned floors. Please wait.]

Fatty was bewildered. Didn't they just say the assignments were done? Why are they reassigning us now?

This reassignment was quick. Not long after the new message appeared, the darkness around him receded like a tide.

His vision brightened instantly, and Fatty could see clearly what lay ahead—

A face with bulging eyes and a bluish-purple complexion suddenly appeared in his line of sight.

Unprepared, Fatty screamed and recoiled, then he felt himself bump into someone.

Fatty quickly turned and saw Keke, who looked somewhat dismayed, standing next to an equally unhappy 007.

Fatty was surprised to see 007. I didn't expect her to be pulled in too.

Meanwhile, Gu Mian faced a similar situation.

Gu Mian found himself staring at a massive, swollen face bobbing up and down in front of him. The face was as bloated as a large watermelon.

Gu Mian took a few steps back, distancing himself from this 'watermelon.'

Stepping further back, he could finally take in the situation. A huge, transparent water tank stood before him, and inside, a swollen corpse floated up and down.

This must be one of the corpses mentioned in the instance description.

Our mission is to eliminate these corpses using a Match Three mechanic.

The corpse before him appeared to have drowned. Gu Mian speculated that "same type of corpses" in the description referred to the cause of death. I'll need to find two more drowned corpses and align all three in a straight line to clear them.

The description stated, "When three or more of the same type of corpses are lined up in a row or column, the corpses in the line will be cleared."

Line up the corpses... Does that mean I have to pull them out and arrange them head-to-head and foot-to-foot to clear them?

As Gu Mian pondered, he scanned his surroundings. He was in a room. On the wall to his left, the number "601" was printed in red, each digit as large as an A4 sheet of paper. This must be the room number, 601.

On the wall opposite the numbers, a huge screen displayed a grid.

The grid was eight by eight.

Each cell in the grid corresponded to a room number. The bottom-most row, from left to right, showed 101, 102, 103, all the way to 108 on the far right.

The second row from the bottom, also from left to right, had 201, 202, 203, all the way to 208 on the far right, and so on.

Gu Mian's room, 601, was in the cell at the sixth row from the bottom and the first column from the left.

This layout is similar to a hotel's room numbering.

Recalling the instance name "Corpse Clearer," Gu Mian guessed this large grid might be the framework for the "Match Three" game. Each cell represents a room, and the corpses in the rooms are the 'blocks' to be cleared. This whole building is a giant Match Three game.

However, the grid on the screen currently showed no 'blocks.'

At the top of the screen was a countdown timer. It initially displayed 5:00:00 but now showed 4:57:31. This must be the time limit. The last set of digits represented seconds, and they ticked down from 31 to 30 as he watched.

We have to clear all the corpses in the building within five hours.

Gu Mian continued to survey the room and spotted a door on the wall behind the water tank.

He took a few steps towards it and peeked outside. Instead of a corridor, he saw another room, which also contained a giant water tank with a bloated corpse floating inside. The number "602" was on this room's wall, and opposite it, another grid screen was mounted. It seems every room has one of these screens.

In the floor of his current room, there was a square opening, apparently leading to the floor below.

Gu Mian walked over to the opening in the floor. Below it, there was a ladder leading down.

He didn't rush down. Instead, he squatted and peered through the opening to observe the floor below.

It was another room. In its center stood a long table laden with food, and beside it sat a man.

Just as I thought, he's dead. A corpse.

His lower body was seated on a chair, while his upper body was slumped over a plate. From Gu Mian's angle, he could see the man's cheeks were bulging, likely stuffed with food. One hand still tightly gripped a pig's knuckle bearing several teeth marks. Looks like he ate himself to death.

The room below was 501. Like his own, it had a grid screen on the wall opposite the room number.

Gu Mian carefully observed the room below through the opening. He noted that there was no similar opening in the floor of room 501. So, I can't get to 401 from 501.

He stood up and glanced at the ceiling of his current room. There was no opening there either. So I can't go up from here. It seems I can only move between these two floors. And this building has no corridors, just interconnected rooms.

Usually, when a special instance appears, it pulls in all players from a small area. So, Chu Changge and Fatty should be in here too, along with Keke, who just explained Xiao Qiao's whereabouts to us.

Gu Mian glanced back at the large screen on the wall. The 8x8 grid must represent this building, with each cell being a room. In that case, this building has eight floors, and I can only access the fifth and sixth. I wonder if anyone else was assigned to my floor.

Gu Mian decided to search the fifth and sixth floors first, to see if he could find anyone and to get a better understanding of these levels.

A total of eight players had been pulled into this instance. I wonder which floors the others were assigned to.