When Gu Mian and the others found him, his body was already lightly covered with a layer of snow.

He wasn't dead yet.

So, Xiao Hong, who wasn't afraid of the cold, had resolutely shouldered him from there all the way to a distant ticket booth. Although she left him unattended after dumping him there, it was still better than being left to freeze to death in the snow. Our little ghost girl, Xiao Hong, finally did something good, albeit under Gu Mian's direction…

Because there were no rewards or compensation from the previous instance, Gu Mian still only had 525 Game Coins. Fatty wasn't doing much better; he only had 900 left. Fortunately, Chu Changge was trending towards becoming a packrat. When Gu Mian checked his status panel, he discovered Chu Changge had unknowingly hoarded over three thousand Game Coins. For the past few days, the three of them had been surviving on Chu Changge's stash, which also served to warm up the perpetually frostbitten Fatty.

Until mid-March, the weather showed no signs of improvement and remained as cold as ever. The sun hardly made an appearance. The accumulated snow on the roads hadn't melted, making travel extremely difficult. Helpless, they decided to stay put and participate in a few more instances.

Gu Mian had initially wanted to find an inn. A room with walls was certainly more comfortable than their car, which had nothing. The Hengdian area had inns open to other players. However, this small place lacked sufficient foot traffic, making an inn unprofitable. Furthermore, without a military presence to maintain order, few dared to conduct business here.

The not-so-brave Fatty constantly droned on about entering an instance, because once inside an instance, it wouldn't be so cold.

Today, Gu Mian and the others returned to the same ticket booth they had used before; it was the closest one to them. Although the ticket seller inside probably recognized them by now, it didn't really matter.

However, this time, as Gu Mian reached the entrance of the ticket booth, he saw a brand-new sign hanging there: "Gu Mian and dogs are not allowed."

Gu Mian was speechless.

Of course, he wasn't going to let something like this stop him.

Fatty stood before the new sign, staring at it for a good while before following Gu Mian into the ticket booth.

Inside, the familiar face with wide, bell-like eyes watched them, seemingly surprised they hadn't left yet.

Gu Mian, unperturbed, bought a team ticket and then led Chu Changge and Fatty to initiate matchmaking for an instance.

As they were about to enter the instance, Fatty felt a pang of regret; he had wanted to gaze a little longer at the ticket seller's bell-like eyes.

Before long, the three of them successfully matched into an instance.

[Matching instance... Please wait.]

[Instance successfully matched, matching teammates…]

[Teammates successfully matched.]

[Instance: Heartbeat Hide and Seek]

For some reason, Gu Mian felt that this instance's name exuded an air of… cheerfulness…

[Description: This is the abandoned 'Lost City.' Legend says that many years ago, numerous people who ventured into this place vanished.]

[Number of players: 10]

Gu Mian continued reading. Below was the instance task. However, the description for the instance task seemed a tad too short.

[Task: Survive in the city until midnight.]

No, this isn't just 'a tad too short'… This is way too damn short! They call it hide and seek, but there are no rules, no role assignments. Are we players supposed to figure out roles ourselves once we're in the instance?

However, Gu Mian soon realized he had overthought it.

A faint light entered his eyes. Looking around, he found that he was already inside the instance. Because it was also nighttime within this instance, he hadn't realized it immediately.

He was currently standing on a wide road. It was clear the road had been in disrepair for many years; the asphalt was cracked with several huge fissures, from which lush green grass almost seemed ready to sprout. On either side of the road were shops that had been abandoned for a long time. Some shops even had half of their eaves collapsed, presenting an incredibly desolate scene.

This was a deserted city.

Where were Chu Changge and Fatty?

Gu Mian looked around. He saw four other people standing beside him. They were all surveying their surroundings, apparently still adjusting.

Closest to him was a rather dark-skinned young man who looked a bit like a high school dropout who had joined a gang. However, he seemed very amiable. He always smiled when looking at people, his eyes radiating kindness—if it weren't for the large, grotesque scar on his neck, Gu Mian might have genuinely thought he was a good person.

Gu Mian was an intern doctor; one glance told him this scar was most likely left by an axe. It was clear the wound had been very deep; the doctor who performed surgery on him back then must have exhausted all their skills to snatch him from the clutches of death.

His nickname was [Bai Qiong]. For some reason, Gu Mian felt it suited him quite well.

A little farther away was a pretty girl. She was a high school student with short hair and neat bangs. Her eyes were beautiful, as if veiled by a layer of mist. Even in the somewhat dim night, Gu Mian could see a light shining from her eyes—definitely not the eerie glow one might see in a fish's eye. She was currently observing her surroundings, curious yet apprehensive.

Her nickname was [Keke].

Behind the girl stood a long-haired young man with glasses. He was currently looking around with a smug grin, as if certain of victory... He actually seemed rather deluded by his own perceived grandeur. Since this long-haired young man was quite far off, more than three meters away, Gu Mian couldn't see his nickname.

The last player on this side was a woman with her hair tied up high. She stood at the very edge, holding something that looked like a fruit knife, and would occasionally let out a cold chuckle.

Gu Mian was speechless.

He didn't know why, but he had a nagging feeling that some of his teammates this time might be... complete morons.

Meanwhile, Chu Changge and Fatty were nowhere to be seen. Including Gu Mian, there were only five people here. What happened to the ten people they were promised?

As Gu Mian was perplexedly scanning his surroundings, he suddenly noticed what appeared to be dark figures flickering in the distance ahead. It wasn't unusual to see mysterious shadows appearing in Mysterious Dungeons.

Gu Mian took a couple of steps forward and stared intently at the dark figures. He discovered it wasn't some supernatural ghostly figure, but Fatty, who was energetically jumping up and down and waving at him. Looking more closely, Chu Changge was also next to Fatty, looking in their direction.

That was strange… Was there really a need to separate them so far apart when entering a single instance?

Gu Mian took a few more steps forward, intending to go over, but as he moved, he suddenly found himself unable to advance. It was as if an invisible sheet of glass blocked his path, preventing him from moving even an inch further.

At this moment, the others on his side also noticed the figures over there. They walked over with puzzled expressions, but all of them were, without exception, stopped by the transparent barrier.

Bai Qiong was the first to speak. He frowned and asked in confusion, "What's going on? Are we playing hide and seek in two groups?"

By now, everyone had gathered together, and Gu Mian could finally see the nicknames of the two players he suspected were morons.

The long-haired, bespectacled young man was called [Nine Lives]. Perhaps because his demeanor was so cringeworthy in its self-importance, even his nickname struck Gu Mian as being full of hot air.

And the other woman, the one clutching a fruit knife and smirking coldly, was called [Manjusaka]. Her name also seemed to fit her disposition.

Gu Mian's nickname, naturally, also caught their attention. A nickname in that particular shade of green was quite a rare sight.

Before anyone else could ask, the high school girl, Keke, stared at the top of Gu Mian's head and asked curiously, "Is this your profession?"

Gu Mian looked at the high school girl with curiosity. Could it be that she had seen green names before?

Indeed, Keke continued, "I've seen players with other professions before, and their names were also green."

So that's how it was. Everyone looked at the vibrant green word "Doctor" above Gu Mian's head with dawning comprehension. It seemed he was a healer who needed protection. Although a Doctor might not be of much use in an instance, he still needed to be properly protected.

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