But today, it might serendipitously come in handy. If it works well, he might be able to clear the instance in ten minutes.

"Now that I am inside the instance, if I use this mobile phone, I will surely get through to another NPC that has a phone."

Gu Mian mumbled, "Speaking of which, ghosts count as NPCs too, right?"

"If the ghost really is hiding among us players, then it must have a mobile phone. If I dial a number on this phone, then the player who answers it must be the ghost!"

Finishing the instance in ten minutes might not be a dream after all.

Gu Mian didn't waste any time.

He swiftly pressed the dial button on the bottom right. Immediately, a strange BEEP came from the earpiece.

The sound dragged on, echoing in the dark street.

"BEEP—"

The greenery in the median strip gently swayed, casting grotesque shadows under the streetlights. Faint rustling noises sounded from a corner, as if a rat was emerging from its hole to scavenge for food.

But none of these noises disturbed Gu Mian.

He listened intently to the sound from the earpiece. As soon as the call connected, even if the other party said only one word, he could instantly recognize their voice and find the ghost.

As long as the call gets through.

"BEEP—"

The eerie, drawn-out BEEP once again filled Gu Mian's mind.

He remained focused, waiting.

Then, a different, rapid BEEP suddenly sounded. It seemed to be the signal that the call was connecting.

Gu Mian immediately perked up his ears.

Even the wind on the street seemed to turn cheerier, as if celebrating his discovery. Gu Mian was on the verge of laughing.

Following the rapid BEEP, a dull, gloomy female voice suddenly burst from the earpiece.

"Hello..."

Gu Mian recognized this voice!

"Hello, the number you dialed is not in service. Please check the number and dial again..."

Before the Global Game started, he often heard this mechanical female voice when he dialed a wrong number. He never expected to hear it again today.

Gu Mian's lips twitched slightly, and he hung up.

He hadn't expected this outcome...

The number being out of service meant there were no NPCs in this instance he could call. It also meant all the players with phones were real players; no ghost had infiltrated them to role-play.

Of course, it was also possible the ghost had immediately discarded its phone after they separated.

Gu Mian didn't know the situation with Chu Changge and the others.

But if one were to dispose of a phone, wouldn't it be more convenient to do it while alone?

Leaving that aside for now, Gu Mian figured the ghost in this instance wouldn't anticipate a player possessing something like the *Dimension-Piercing Mobile Phone*. So, even if it was hiding among the players, it wouldn't have immediately thrown away its phone after they separated.

This meant the real ghost was, in all likelihood, not among the players but hiding somewhere in this city.

And there was no way of knowing how many ghosts there were...

What a headache!

Gu Mian put the *Dimension-Piercing Mobile Phone* back into his white lab coat and pulled out the phone the instance had provided.

"Since my own phone can't get through, I'll try the one the instance gave us..."

Though, he didn't expect Ji Bie Li to answer the call.

After all, they were on opposing sides, locked in a life-or-death struggle. Gu Mian really didn't understand why this instance designed a phone communication element. They were fundamentally not on speaking terms.

With these thoughts in mind, he pressed the dial key on the phone.

The wind was still blowing cheerfully. The season in this instance seemed to be late autumn. Each gust brought down a shower of leaves. Gu Mian, standing under a tree, was immediately covered head to toe in dry, yellow leaves.

"BEEP—"

That eerie BEEP started sounding from the phone again.

After several BEEPS, the other end still hadn't picked up, nor had they hung up...

Gu Mian had been prepared for the call to be rejected, but he truly hadn't expected them to neither answer nor hang up.

A moment later, the same familiar female voice relieved the awkwardness of the unanswered call.

"Hello, the party you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please try your call again later..."

Alright then.

Gu Mian could only lower his hand, hang up, and stuff the phone back into his lab coat.

He had been standing there for quite a while.

The other players had already left. He was the only one remaining, having made two unanswered calls and endured the cold wind for over ten minutes.

Shortly after Gu Mian put the phone back in his pocket, another cheerful gust of wind blew past, carrying a leaf from a nearby tree that landed squarely on his shoulder.

He brushed the leaf off his shoulder and looked up at the tree beside him that kept shedding its leaves.

Just as he raised his head, he suddenly spotted a distant silhouette.

The silhouette stood quite tall.

It was on the rooftop of a three-story building, standing almost at the very edge.

Gu Mian tilted his head slightly, observing the distant dark figure.

He was sure that none of the ten players present would have the leisurely inclination to climb to the top of a tall building to take in the view.

This dark figure is definitely not a player. Could it be an Evil Ghost existing in this instance?

It stood there rigidly, as if ready to jump off at any moment.

Perhaps it became a ghost after falling to its death... but could one really die from falling off a three-story building?

As he pondered this, Gu Mian took a few steps in that direction.

Only after taking a few steps forward did he realize there had been a sign above his head all along: "SCHOOL AHEAD, PLEASE SLOW DOWN."

At this time, Nine Lives, a long-haired teenager, had already arrived inside the school.

This was an elementary school. The student desks were only about a meter high, and the space beneath them wasn't large, making it difficult for an adult to hide.

He walked through, checking classroom after classroom.

The school buildings weren't tall, only three stories high. It was the first time he had seen a school built with so few floors.

But this wasn't the time to grab the designer by the collar and ask why they had designed such a short school.

"Being short has its advantages. At least it's easier to search," Nine Lives muttered to himself, pressing the dial key on his phone again.

His call was directed to a player nicknamed "Safe Life 658."

He had already dialed many times, but the player on the other end kept hanging up. It seemed they had no intention of communicating.

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