Zi Liang swore that he had never seen someone so utterly unhinged in his entire life.

The moment he saw Gu Mian on the screen reach out to open the classroom door at the end of the hallway, he suddenly understood why Gu Mian, and Gu Mian alone, was on the game's massive wanted list.

The door was pulled open. As expected, two startled little figures burst out from the classroom. Liang'er and Wang Panzi, resembling impoverished students cornered by bullies, shot out like lightning the instant Gu Mian opened the door and sprinted nimbly down the hallway. It was as if they'd be forced to pay protection money to a vicious thug if they were a second slower. Zi Liang even felt that these two ghosts were fleeing faster now than they had been when chasing *them*!

As the two on-screen ghosts dashed past their location, the group felt a distinct chill sweep by.

Zi Liang stared at the screen and gasped. Even the partially removed handcuffs on his wrists clinked softly. "What happened?"

The ones who ran away were the ghosts? Who got the script wrong? Or am I hallucinating from sheer fright? A human chasing ghosts with a large saw! This hallucination is certainly showing some initiative!

Seeing Gu Mian in the game give chase with a chainsaw, Fatty quickly ran several steps in Gu Mian's direction. "Clearly, that was a Doctor chasing two ghosts past us just now."

I get the gist, but why 'chasing'? Zi Liang's mind was reeling, yet his body mechanically followed Fatty's footsteps.

At this moment, Chu Changge, who was also staring at his phone screen, stated, "Gu Mian is chasing ghosts."

Fatty pursed his lips. "I saw."

Chu Changge continued, "Gu Mian must have realized he can't leave the game, so he's trying to employ special measures to get out."

Fatty nodded as he walked on.

Special measures... Fatty had seen this sort of thing countless times before, so seeing it again wasn't surprising. The Doctor has another legitimate reason to wreak havoc in this instance now... Fatty mused silently.

Zi Liang asked uneasily, "What are you two talking about? What 'special measures'? It doesn't sound like anything good!"

He felt that ever since that green-clad Doctor sawed off his handcuffs, he'd been dragged into something truly extraordinary.

Chu Changge didn't answer him, instead pondering another matter. "I don't quite understand why Gu Mian turned into a paper cut-out figure. Theoretically, that shouldn't happen."

Zi Liang was thoroughly confused but didn't press further. He just stared blankly at the phone screen, remaining silent.

He noticed Gu Mian's figure reappear on the screen. This time, it was different. There was a corpse at Gu Mian's feet... A corpse...

Zi Liang sniffled twice, his expression like he'd just eaten shit. Who am I? Where am I? What in the world happened here?

The ghost lying on the ground, labeled [Liang'er], seemed thoroughly dead. They hadn't even managed to see how this pitiful ghost had met its end. It was a shame the game's resolution was so low; otherwise, they might have seen streaks of blood and tears on the ghost's face...

The Gu Mian in the game moved slightly.

[Gu Mian: One step closer to leaving this crappy game.]

Zi Liang's mouth fell slightly open; he was now beyond words. He'd never imagined that he would one day encounter such an unorthodox Doctor in an instance. This Doctor completely defied the norm of humans screaming and fleeing from ghosts; instead, he was the one brandishing a chainsaw and wildly swinging it at them! The most shocking part was that he'd actually managed to kill a ghost like that.

One dead, one fled.

Zi Liang recalled that the previous few instances he'd experienced were mostly related to puzzle-solving, but he hadn't experienced any of that puzzle-solving fun in this current instance!

"What's going on? Have instances been downgraded after the event? From puzzle-solving to brawlers?" Zi Liang muttered, still staring at the little figure lying dead on the phone screen.

Just then, Fatty was already tugging him along, continuing to follow Gu Mian.

Zi Liang noticed that just as the in-game Gu Mian took a few steps past [Liang'er], the small figure, which had been playing dead, suddenly sprang to its feet. It was reminiscent of a villain in a TV show who, not properly finished off by the hero, suddenly leaps up for a sneak attack from behind.

He instinctively yelled, "Watch out!" Even though he knew the person on the screen couldn't hear, he yelled anyway.

Unexpectedly, this suddenly reanimated figure had no intention of counterattacking at all. It just leaped up and bolted off, as if a ghost was chasing it.

Wait, it *is* a ghost...

Zi Liang silently watched the on-screen ghost disappear, then couldn't help but purse his lips. "Is that guy in the game some kind of deity?"

Gu Mian seemed to sense the movement behind him. He glanced back, only catching a glimpse of the ghost's rapidly vanishing figure. He paid it no mind and continued onward.

And so, Chu Changge and the other two followed Gu Mian as he made a full circuit of the school. Wherever Gu Mian went, utter chaos ensued—so much so that even pregnant old hens would nearly miscarry from fright. (Of course, the pregnant old hens were a product of Zi Liang's imagination.)

At this point, Zi Liang finally understood what a supremely wise decision it had been to follow Gu Mian. At the very least, there wouldn't be any "ghost sightings" within a several-hundred-meter radius.

During this time, Gu Mian also came across numerous treasure boxes. He opened every single one without exception. However, given his abysmal luck, none of them contained anything good. Moreover, since Gu Mian had no inventory—not even as a paper cut-out figure—he had no choice but to hang the opened items all over himself. Before long, the three watching from outside the screen saw Gu Mian transform into a mobile, chainsaw-wielding Christmas tree.

By now, dusk had fallen. Summer days were long, with darkness only setting in after seven in the evening. It was now nearly eight o'clock. Nighttime was prime time for ghosts and monsters, the most dangerous period in any horror instance. It was indeed very dangerous now, but who exactly was in danger remained to be seen...

Just as the energetic Gu Mian, adorned with flashing neon lights from the items he'd collected, was preparing to make a second round, the game finally seemed to have had enough. A line of text appeared at the bottom of the screen:

[There doesn't seem to be anything left in the school. It's time to end this bizarre game.]

Fatty and Zi Liang exchanged glances.

They must be the first players ever to see this line of text. It made sense. If Gu Mian were allowed to continue, the game would probably lose its shirt. They figured the treasure boxes in the school weren't infinitely respawnable; once they were gone, they were gone for good. The game even called itself bizarre; it must be on the verge of a complete meltdown...

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