Global Collapse-Chapter 577 - 545: I’ve made up my mind! _1

This was a newly constructed residential area with complete facilities.

Gu Mian wandered around the neighborhood for a while before locating a convenience store.

It wasn't even eight o'clock yet, and the convenience store had just opened. There were hardly any customers inside.

Upon entering, Gu Mian immediately spotted cans of litchi soda in their distinctive pink packaging.

This was Xiao Qiao's favorite beverage.

They have litchi soda in this instance too? Gu Mian recalled the soda packaging design he saw in the last amnesia instance. It seems these two instances are in the same world.

Gu Mian picked up a can of soda, paid the drowsy shopkeeper, then left the convenience store.

He held up the can, scrutinizing the printed production address. It was also labeled as from the "Toy Goose Food Factory," the same as the sodas they bought from the supermarket.

He frowned. "This Toy Goose is appearing rather frequently," he muttered to himself.

Gu Mian remembered that the special item "phone that breaks through dimensional barriers" was listed as being developed by the Toy Goose Company.

The special item "a tube of failed experimental reagent" was also produced by the Toy Goose Company.

As was the "Toy Goose Brand Flu Medicine" they found in the Sweet Lover instance. Its origin was clear even without an introduction, judging just by the name.

And just now, Gu Mian had seen the name Toy Goose in the newspaper again.

It was a ludicrous piece of news — "Toy Goose Food Factory worker alerts police of an alien walking around in the warehouse."

As Gu Mian recalled the number of times "Toy Goose" had appeared, he reached for his pocket to pull out his phone and search for information on the company.

It was only when his hand reached his pocket that he remembered this instance hadn't provided him with a phone.

"Careless," Gu Mian withdrew his hand. "I should have borrowed another player's phone."

He looked around. "I wonder if any passerby would be willing to lend their phone to a pitiful Doctor," he mused aloud.

Just then, he noticed a woman ahead, phone in hand, rushing past with a flustered expression. She seemed out of place in the surroundings.

Gu Mian opened his mouth to call out to her, but she was running too fast and vanished in a flash.

He stared in the direction the woman had run off. "Looks like a player," he murmured.

A person's aura is a remarkable thing. Players among NPCs stood out like robbers in a bank or silkworms in a pile of maggots; Gu Mian could identify them instantly among ordinary people.

Gu Mian recalled the list on Bai Wu's phone.

The only player on that list he hadn't met yet was called "Yu Ji Zi Wen." No doubt, that was the woman who had just dashed by.

The woman who had dashed by was indeed the player named Yu Ji Zi Wen.

At this moment, she was consulting her identity card while looking at the map on her mobile, searching for the nearest train station.

When Yu Ji first entered the instance, she was in the bathroom of a school dormitory.

A huge stuffed toy lay before her, its belly ripped open and then haphazardly sewn shut with red string.

Yu Ji didn't waste much time in the dormitory; she immediately ran out of the school, wanting to get as far away from it as possible.

Bai Wu, who had entered the instance at the same time, had called her. After they gave each other a brief rundown of their situations, the two hung up, tacitly avoiding asking for each other's locations.

Yu Ji didn't tell Bai Wu that she was planning to go to the train station.

And she also didn't know where Bai Wu was headed.

"I'm not far from the train station now..." Yu Ji muttered, looking at its position on the map while glancing at the time on her phone.

It was now seven fifty-five. In five minutes, the game of hide-and-seek would officially begin.

This made her hasten her steps.

The farther she got from that toy, the better. Thankfully, this instance did not set any area restrictions, so she could easily hop on a train and make a quick escape.

"As long as I run fast enough, the ghost won't catch up to me" — with this conviction, Yu Ji arrived at the train station.

The electronic screen displayed the departure times for each train.

She quickly scanned the list and headed straight for the ticket counter to buy a ticket for the next departing train.

Only two or three people were queuing at the ticket counter. Within a few minutes, it was Yu Ji's turn. "I'd like a ticket to Songwen, please."

The ticket clerk cast her a lackadaisical look. "Identity Card."

Yu Ji hesitated for a moment before handing over her identity card.

The clerk was quick. Within half a minute, a train ticket was pushed in front of Yu Ji.

Yu Ji quickly grabbed the ticket and her identity card, passed inspection, and briskly walked into the waiting hall.

The waiting hall was crowded, with people pulling luggage everywhere. Some sat in the waiting area, idly scrolling through their phones.

Without pausing, Yu Ji quickly arrived at the ticket gate. Boarding for her train had already begun.

She checked the time again. It was eight-oh-five. The safety period had passed. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

The toy is on the move!

Yu Ji looked around the waiting hall nervously.

She was terrified that a toy bear might suddenly pop out from somewhere; even the doll charm on a little girl's backpack held her intense gaze for a long moment.

Fortunately, she didn't wait too long before getting through the ticket inspection.

Yu Ji rushed to the platform; the train had yet to arrive.

She waited nervously. Whenever someone passed by, she would reflexively flinch, drawing puzzled looks from others.

Shortly after, the train approached with a thunderous roar.

Yu Ji promptly dashed into carriage number seven, as indicated on her ticket, startling the conductor who had just opened the doors.

Passengers within the carriage had yet to disembark, and they cast bewildered looks at Yu Ji, who had rushed in.

"Sorry... sorry..." Yu Ji apologized as she shuffled her way through the crowded carriage.

Her seat was in the front row. She didn't struggle for long before finding her spot. Taking her seat offered a momentary respite.

She was aware that having more people around in a horror instance wouldn't necessarily offer more protection, but the sight of passengers boarding still brought some comfort.

As the passengers settled into their seats, the train began to move slowly.

No one was occupying the seat next to Yu Ji. This wasn't unusual; there were often unoccupied seats on trains.

She lowered her gaze to look at her ticket.

The train ride would last five and a half hours, ending at Songwen City. Of course, she had the option to disembark at an intermediate station.

Yu Ji planned on randomly choosing a midway stop to get off. This way, not only would the ghost not know her whereabouts, but she herself wouldn't either.

She pulled out her phone to check the time; it was eight-twenty.

The ghost had been on the move for twenty minutes. She wondered how the other players were faring.

She knew that seven players had entered this special instance. However, when she first entered, there were no other players around, so she had been navigating alone.

As she pondered, Yu Ji opened her contact list. Her gaze lingered on Bai Wu's name for a moment, but she decided against calling.

"We spoke not long ago; perhaps I should wait a bit longer before asking about her situation," Yu Ji muttered to herself. Bai Wu was the only person she knew in this instance.

"But…" she continued muttering while scrolling through her phone screen, "if there are seven players, I should have six contacts. Why do I only have five?"

Moreover, she noticed the name "Meiren Chu" seemed to frequently appear in instance-crash announcements.

Gu Mian, worth one hundred thousand Game Coins, was often seen with Meiren Chu.

However, her mind was completely occupied with survival; she had no intention of pursuing the matter of those one hundred thousand Game Coins.

Then, her gaze fell to the name labeled "Anonymous" at the bottom of the list.

What a peculiar name, she thought, glancing at it a few more times before turning off the screen and putting the phone back in her pocket.

Just then, she felt a sudden sense of unease.

It was eerily quiet; no sound could be heard.

She had taken many high-speed trains before. They were usually filled with the chatter of children or the blare of folksy ringtones from passengers' phones.

This time, she heard nothing.

On careful reflection, she realized that ever since the train started moving, all sound had ceased.

Her scalp began to tingle. She turned her head stiffly to look behind.

It was completely empty.

She rose to her feet, her mouth agape as she stared at the spacious carriage around her.

She was the only one there.

How was that possible!

Yu Ji looked around the deserted carriage with wide eyes. "I could have sworn... I saw so many people board the train with me!"

Panicked, she glanced into the carriages ahead and behind her, only to find them equally empty.

Everyone seemed to have vanished into thin air.

Then, it dawned on Yu Ji.

The ghost had found her.

At that moment, a sound came from behind her—something being dragged, like a heavy, sharp weapon scraping across the floor.

Run!

The thought dominated her mind, and she ran heedlessly forward, trying to escape the sound pursuing her.

But the sound didn't fade; instead, it grew closer...

Finally, when she reached carriage No. 1, her path was blocked.

A securely locked door blocked her way—the door to the driver's cabin.

Yu Ji rushed toward it, frantically banging on the door, but received no response.

Just then, the dragging noise stopped.

Shaking, she turned to see a human-sized toy bear standing before her, dragging a large axe and grinning with a creepy smile.