The first floor of the inn was filled to capacity with players who couldn't book a room.

The innkeeper hurriedly shut the front door of the inn and locked it from the inside.

The glass door didn't obstruct the view, allowing the crowded people in the hall to observe the situation outside.

Dark, inky clouds rolled across the sky. Strong winds whooshed, battering the door and threatening to shatter its pathetic glass panes.

Outside, it was pitch black. The street lights were out, and the crowded people in the hall could only peer outside by the weak glow of the inn's electric lamps.

Someone's quilt, forgotten on a balcony, was whipped through the street by the wind, finally slamming violently against a nearby tree.

Trees along the greenbelt leaned precariously under the fierce wind, looking as if they might snap in half at any moment. Yellow dust, stirred up from some unknown place, swirled through the air, as thick as fog, obscuring everyone's vision.

The lock on the front door wasn't very secure. Every so often, a gust of wind would force it open a crack, allowing a chilling draft to sweep into the hall, making people shiver.

Even though winter was apparently over, the current temperature felt even colder than the coldest winter day. Many inadequately dressed people began to shudder, their terrified gazes fixed on the swirling yellow dust and the pitch-black sky outside.

A panicked voice came from the crowd: "Is this a sandstorm or a typhoon?"

Another voice answered: "Who knows what the hell is going on? How can there be such strong wind in February… By the way, doesn't this look like the end of the world in movies?"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Left with no choice, the innkeeper lowered the outer security door. The hall became slightly warmer.

Those who had been shivering slightly breathed a sigh of relief.

The wild wind continued to hammer savagely at the security door. From inside, it sounded as if some monster was battering it from the outside.

It sounded terrifying.

However, the current situation was much better than before; at the very least, no one could see the horrifying scenes outside anymore.

"Damn weather..." the innkeeper muttered, rubbing his hands—frozen from the effort of lowering the door—as he surveyed the hall, packed with players who hadn't paid a dime.

Even if these people aren't staying in rooms, by occupying the hall, they should still pay some sort of protection fee, right?

He was about to open his mouth to say this, but closed it after seeing the worn and worried expressions on everyone's faces.

Oh well, they're only staying for one night. It won't be much of a loss to me.

With these thoughts, the innkeeper sat down behind the counter, listening uneasily to the wind roaring outside. The wind had been blowing for several hours and showed no signs of stopping.

Looks like tonight will bring strong winds and heavy rain.

Just as the innkeeper was lost in thought, a woman holding a child approached him, apparently with a request.

He immediately became alert. This place isn't a shelter, and I'm certainly no hypocritical philanthropist.

Watching the woman approach, the innkeeper said preemptively, "If you're here to ask for something, I don't have anything."

The woman's face reddened slightly, but she hurriedly explained, "No... I just wanted to ask if you could leave the lights on tonight. We're a little scared..."

Just as she was speaking, a violent gust of wind slammed into the security door outside, making the players in the hall shudder.

The child in the woman's arms buried her head, clearly frightened.

The innkeeper glanced at the child in her arms—a girl, about four or five years old.

He paused for a moment, then said, "Alright. With all these people here, it's not safe to switch off the lights. We'll leave them on then."

The woman quickly thanked him and then led her child back into the crowd.

Meanwhile, Gu Mian and the others were by the window, looking out at the sky. Xiao Hong, who had previously been propped up in the middle of the living room, had been forcefully placed on the sofa. This way, they'd avoid the awkwardness of stumbling upon the ghost in the living room if someone got up to use the toilet in the middle of the night.

"Doctor" Fatty looked quite uneasy. "Should we sleep with the lights on tonight?" he asked.

Gu Mian replied nonchalantly, "Whatever. I can sleep whether the lights are on or off."

Chu Changge had no objections. "As long as you're happy."

Every now and then, the sound of something hitting the ground could be heard from outside the window. Visibility in the street was extremely low, but from the window, they could still sporadically see debris being tossed about in the sky by the wind.

Footsteps were occasionally heard in the corridor as well.

All the rooms on this floor were occupied. Perhaps finding the first floor too crowded, some people had moved into the corridors of the upper floors.

Fatty peeked through the peephole and saw several people bedding down on the floor in the corridor.

He didn't pay much attention to the people sleeping in the corridor; he just prayed for this bizarre weather to pass quickly.

They still needed to pick a fine day to set out on their journey.

In fact, even if they stayed here, they wouldn't face any financial pressure. Gu Mian had received a thousand Game Coins from the last instance, and they had gotten an additional thousand as compensation. The Game Coins they had recently acquired were enough for them to stay for twenty days.

But staying here isn't a long-term solution.

Amidst his prayers, Fatty uneasily drifted off to sleep.

However, he hadn't slept for long. At least, it felt like he hadn't.

The sound of something shattering echoed throughout the room.

Fatty, who had been sleeping restlessly, was jolted awake. He sprang up from his bed. "What happened? What broke?"

But no one responded to him.

Soon, Fatty noticed something was wrong.

He had specifically implored Gu Mian to leave the lights on while they slept, but now the room was pitch black. It was so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Not only was the room pitch black, but the living room area was also shrouded in darkness. He could see nothing and, at first, hear nothing...

Wait! There's a sound!

Fatty twisted his head in the dark, turning towards the direction of the sound.

It was the sound of RUSTLING rain. The downpour sounded fierce, drumming rhythmically against the window. The rain, which had been brewing all day, finally began to fall in the middle of the night. The intensity of the downpour almost made Fatty wonder if it was hailing outside.

Fortunately, the light switch in the inn had been thoughtfully coated with luminous paint, allowing Fatty to find his way to it in the darkness.

He didn't think Gu Mian or Chu Changge would have been considerate enough to turn off the light for him in the middle of the night, and it certainly couldn't have been the ghost sitting on the sofa.

But who turned it off isn't important right now. Better turn the light back on first...

With this thought, Fatty flicked the light switch.

But the expected light didn't come. The rainstorm outside continued to pound against the ground and windows.

Fatty, not giving up, pressed it a few more times, but still to no avail.

Just then, he suddenly heard a scream from the corridor, followed by other voices.

"The power's out in our room!"

"Us too."

"There's no electricity in the hall either!"

Upon hearing this, Fatty froze. A power outage? Could it be because of this hellish weather?

Just then, he heard the sound of something being snapped open, immediately followed by a blinding white light that filled his vision.

Fatty covered his eyes and took a moment to adjust. A few seconds later, he dared to squint at the source of the light.

It was Chu Changge, holding a flashlight from which the light emanated. It seemed he had just woken up too.

Then Fatty saw Gu Mian standing by the window.

He saw Gu Mian, clad in his white coat, standing by the window and looking outside.

After a few seconds, Gu Mian turned his head, a strange expression on his face. "The power's out."

Fatty nodded. "Doctor, you don't have to tell me. Everyone outside is shouting about it."

"No," Gu Mian shook his head, his expression still strange. "I mean the whole city is without power."

The whole city is without power?

Fatty felt his scalp prickle. "Doctor, don't scare me."

His hair practically standing on end, he rushed to the window. Just as he thought... even late at night, there were usually several houses with lights on, but now, the outside was pitch black. There was nothing.

There seemed to be a faint light in the distance.

Fatty craned his neck to look toward the light and realized it was the supermarket established by the game.

It really is... a citywide blackout...

No, a citywide blackout... or a worldwide blackout?

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