[Warning!]

[The instance is currently experiencing an unknown attack!]

[To ensure personal safety, all players will be ejected from the instance within ten seconds. Please prepare.]

[10, 9, 8...]

What? Anzhi Tianlan's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at the game panel that had suddenly appeared before her. She had been prepared to stay in this instance for three full days but hadn't expected something like this to happen midway. This does save me a lot of trouble...

But this instance was fine before. Why would it suddenly turn out like this?

The ground beneath her feet trembled continuously. The tremors from distant buildings were particularly violent, as if they could collapse at any moment. Anzhi Tianlan quickly composed herself amidst the chaos, her gaze fixed on the trembling world as countless thoughts raced through her mind.

An instance wouldn't collapse for no reason. Something abnormal must have gotten mixed in, causing it to suffer an unknown attack. And this abnormal thing... No matter how I look at it, the most out-of-place thing in this instance is that strange Doctor.

She didn't have much time to think. The countdown on the panel ticked down relentlessly, each number like a strike of doom. Before long, the ticking number transformed into a large, round zero. Anzhi Tianlan stared intently at the "0" on the panel.

Just half a second after this perfectly round zero appeared, a boundless darkness surged forth, blotting out the sky and extinguishing all light.

The same thing happened to Gu Mian. The moment that zero, round as a duck egg, appeared, he was enveloped in darkness. In the instant he was enveloped by darkness, Teacher Sweet, pinned beneath him, was still mouthing words, but no sound could be heard. Gu Mian only saw the Fortune-teller's terrified expression freeze on his face before that seemingly petrified face was consumed by the darkness.

Not long after being surrounded by darkness, light began to re-emerge.

Looks like I'm back in the real world.

A beam of light pierced the darkness ahead, illuminating the immediate surroundings. Just as Gu Mian expected this light to expand and illuminate everything, it remained static. After several seconds, it was still just that single beam.

Gu Mian blinked, taking a moment to confirm he hadn't been transported to some peculiar location; it was simply late night in the real world.

Because it was a special instance, Gu Mian had entered it while in the Spirit Car, so naturally, he returned to his original location upon exiting. Fortunately, Chu Changge and Fatty hadn't driven the Spirit Car away—of course, neither of them could drive, so they couldn't have even if they'd wanted to.

It was now late at night. A flashlight lay on the front seat, the source of the illumination.

Gu Mian instinctively checked the time: 2:35 a.m. It's already so late...

A faint fragrance wafted through the air. I wonder who sprayed perfume while I was gone. The sound of snoring drifted up from his feet. Glancing down, Gu Mian saw Fatty sprawled at his feet, sleeping like a log. His arrival hadn't disturbed Fatty in the slightest.

Not far away, the windshield presented a scene straight out of a midnight horror show: a few strands of hair dangled from the car roof, draped over the glass, looking quite terrifying at first glance. No need to even think about it; it must be Xiao Hong, who, unable to bear the idleness, had gone to the car roof to enjoy the breeze again.

Chu Changge isn't here? Gu Mian searched high and low, almost flipping Fatty's makeshift bed to see if Chu Changge was hiding underneath, but found no trace of him. Vanished into thin air? Quite something.

Just as Gu Mian was debating whether to wake the soundly sleeping Fatty to ask, a figure appeared on the road ahead.

Chu Changge? Gu Mian frowned, looking in the direction of the figure. Because the Spirit Car's headlights weren't on, the figure outside the windshield was extremely blurry. However, it wasn't long before the figure drew closer, and Gu Mian recognized it as Chu Changge.

Strangely, he was wearing a mask in the dead of night. A closer look revealed it to be the Life Type D - Blockage mask Gu Mian had recently purchased from the medical supplies section of a supermarket. This blocking mask, once opened, had a shelf life of one month and could filter out common viruses. It wasn't cheap for ordinary players.

Gu Mian didn't believe Chu Changge was wearing the mask merely to keep warm.

Seemingly noticing Gu Mian's return to the real world, Chu Changge quickened his pace, swiftly reached the Spirit Car, and pulled open the door to get in. A gust of cold wind swept in. Chu Changge quickly closed the door, shutting out the chill. The strands of hair dangling from the roof swayed slightly, then fell still.

Chu Changge paid no mind to Xiao Hong perched on the roof. He looked at Gu Mian and said, "You're back."

"Hmm," Gu Mian nodded thoughtfully. "What were you doing out in the middle of the night?"

"This," Chu Changge said, taking off his mask with one hand and producing something from his pocket with the other. "A map."

Gu Mian took it and glanced over it. Indeed, it was a map.

He had previously teased Chu Changge for being a map aficionado, but he hadn't realized Chu Changge was so passionate about cartography. Why hadn't he noticed this hobby of his when they were younger?

Chu Changge handed him a hand-drawn, detailed map of their current area, roughly the size of a county. The buildings were marked with great clarity, including pre-existing structures as well as the ticket hall and supermarket that had appeared after the game started. Could Chu Changge really have explored all the places on the map in such a short time?

Gu Mian continued to examine it. The color scheme of the hand-drawn map was rather jarring. It was unclear where Chu Changge had found colored pens, but he had managed to color the small county map so vividly it resembled a rainbow after a storm.

Gu Mian frowned. He knew Chu Changge's aesthetic sense wasn't usually this gaudy; there had to be a reason for coloring it this way.

Thinking this, he pointed to the map in his hand. "We're right here, correct? You've colored this area yellow. Is there any particular significance to that?"

The center of the map depicted their dilapidated Spirit Car. Chu Changge's drawing skills were quite good; Gu Mian recognized their Spirit Car at a glance.

Chu Changge glanced at the area Gu Mian indicated and said calmly, "Yellow signifies a high-risk infection zone."

Just hearing the term 'high-risk infection zone' was enough to know it wasn't good. If this were a global zombie apocalypse instead of a global game, the 'high-risk infection zone' would undoubtedly be an extremely dangerous place.

Gu Mian wasn't an idiot; he understood immediately. "There's a contagious disease here?"

No wonder Chu Changge was wearing a blocking mask. He hadn't expected something like this to happen while he was in the instance.

Chu Changge nodded slightly. "I suspect this virus began spreading a few days ago. Furthermore, I believe this isn't the only area affected."

Gu Mian looked down at the map in his hand again.

Natural disasters are often followed by man-made calamities. It was highly probable that inadequate post-disaster measures had led to decomposing corpses and contaminated water sources, breeding a multitude of viruses.

"From my observations, since the virus hasn't been spreading for long, only initial symptoms are apparent. However, it's clear that the symptoms of this infectious disease are significantly more severe than those seen before the game began. It could even develop to a terrifying extent in the future..." Chu Changge paused here before adding, "It's highly probable that this is a virus released by the game."

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