Life

It was clearly an event preview.

It was now January 1st. There was still some time before New Year's Eve on February 4th.

As expected of a large-scale global event—the preview had to come out two months in advance.

As Gu Mian pondered this, he glanced again at the last line on the panel—"Only those holding tickets obtained from Advanced Ticket Booths may enter."

So, if he wanted to participate in the event, he first had to get a ticket.

He remembered that the NPC had given him a ticket before, but that had been a dungeon ticket. It said Basic Ticket Booth on it.

But how were players supposed to tell Basic Ticket Booths apart from Advanced Ticket Booths?

As he thought, he looked toward the NPC behind the window.

The ticket-selling NPC immediately understood and explained, "Well... you can tell by the decor."

The ticket booth's interior was incredibly shabby, resembling a dangerous old building that had somehow failed to be demolished from the last century until now. Even the ceiling paint was peeling off in flakes.

So this was a Basic Ticket Booth.

The NPC paused before speaking again. "Actually, ticket booths can be upgraded, but it's a little difficult. Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I explained. Hurry up, pack your things and leave."

Gu Mian had already stayed here for quite a while.

He was in no hurry to leave and looked back at the panel.

Another function had just been unlocked.

[Global players have obtained one million Game Currency. The Mall System has officially opened.]

[Here, you may use Game Currency to purchase any items you need, including food, medicine, weapons, daily necessities, and more.]

[Use the search bar in the upper-right corner to search for desired items.]

[Please note that the Mall also contains some dungeon clue prompts, but they are expensive. Purchase with caution.]

[To ensure game balance, players may not use the Mall System inside dungeons.]

In other words, once you entered a dungeon, you could forget about everything. Players could only prepare blindly before entering one.

After all, nobody knew what dungeon they would be matched with.

It was worth mentioning that the Mall truly had everything.

Gu Mian even found a category called "girlfriend" among the items.

He had originally assumed it contained gifts for girlfriends and the like, but the moment he opened it, his vision was filled with balloons in every color.

Silently closing that category, Gu Mian looked at the Mall homepage.

The homepage mostly displayed frequently purchased items.

"Instant noodles, 0.5 points per cup."

"Boiling water, 0.5 points per kettle."

There were also vegetables, meat, fruit, and the like.

Food and daily necessities were mostly very cheap. By the looks of it, clearing one dungeon could keep someone fed for several days.

Weapons, on the other hand, were somewhat expensive.

"Damaged Chainsaw, Broken quality, 200 points each."

"Dull Watermelon Knife, Broken quality, 50 points each."

So expensive, so expensive.

Broken quality was the lowest tier. Above that were things like Excellent and Perfect, and even the cheapest of those cost tens of thousands.

If every dungeon only rewarded ten Game Currency, then one would have to clear several thousand dungeons without eating or drinking to afford a decent weapon.

At that thought, Gu Mian burped.

Then he looked at the page selling dungeon clues.

Well, these clues were even more expensive.

"Hearse Driver Examination Center, dungeon clue price: 99,999 Game Currency."

"Fierce Ghost Post Station, dungeon clue price: 30,000 Game Currency."

Setting aside the absurd prices, why were the names of these dungeons so outstanding?

Hearse Driver Examination Center... Fierce Ghost Post Station...

Who the hell came up with these names?

Fortunately, only clues for a few dungeons were sold in the Mall. Otherwise, Gu Mian's eyes might have been blinded by the row of dungeon prices.

I should first test whether I can buy things from this Mall, Gu Mian thought.

After all, he could not even add Attributes points. It would not be strange if he could not use the Mall System either.

There was no need to look at anything he could not afford.

He would buy a cheaper weapon first and test it out.

As he thought this, Gu Mian selected the "Dull Watermelon Knife," priced at 50 Game Currency.

Fortunately, the game had issued compensation when the previous dungeon collapsed—100 Game Currency—so he could still afford a watermelon knife.

After he made his selection, the watermelon knife's Attributes appeared on the page.

At the same time, a knife appeared in Gu Mian's hand.

[Dull Watermelon Knife, Broken quality]

[Length: 1.2 meters (slightly longer than usual)]

[This is a Dull Watermelon Knife. It is extremely dull. If you wish to be merciful toward your enemies, there is no need to strike them with the back of the blade, because you may not be able to tell which side is the back.]

This thing really was dull enough...

Holding the Dull Watermelon Knife, Gu Mian finally left the ticket booth under the owner's eager gaze.

He even heard the owner behind him let out a long breath after he stepped outside, as though he had narrowly escaped death.

What were you feeling lucky about?

Gu Mian stepped out of the ticket booth.

Outside lay a familiar road.

Not far to the south was Lianhua People's Hospital. To the right was a road leading directly to the suburbs, with a driver examination center in between.

Normally, this road saw plenty of traffic and pedestrians, but now it had descended into complete chaos.

Some people had been forcibly pulled into ticket booths and matched with dungeons while driving.

The driverless cars instantly went wild. Gu Mian saw five cars ahead of him pile up into a spectacular mess.

Several other cars had crashed wildly into the outer walls of the ticket booth. The already dilapidated booth lost even more plaster from the impact, and dust billowed into the air.

Not to mention the chaotic vehicles.

The pedestrians on the road were equally panicked.

Gu Mian saw another ticket booth not far to the north. It was quite lively. From time to time, people ran out of it in panic, their legs trembling like waves, worse than the epileptic patients in the hospital.

The people in his sight ran about in disorder. They definitely were not planning to return to work now; they were probably all running home.

Some even took out their phones, seemingly trying to make calls, but nothing could get through.

Since Earth had launched this game, and since the game had a Friends Communication System, humanity's communication methods no longer had any reason to exist.

Earth had probably directly blocked the signals of human technology.

This was truly the apocalypse.

Though it was not as grandiose as in those blockbuster movies, it had indeed dealt humanity a devastating blow.

The reconstruction of the power structure and the suppression of technological means would both lead to the collapse of Earth's civilization and social order.

And once the existing civilization collapsed, a new civilization would emerge.

"Perhaps society will change from a free society where everyone is equal into a slave society," Gu Mian mused.

The rule of the strong had always worked. The strong were unwilling to remain ordinary and would certainly not stay obediently in place.

And the weak could not remain content with being ordinary forever. Although they would not truly die in dungeons, death in the real world was still real death.

Dungeons could not kill players, but in real life, players could kill players.

Who knew what this world would become once social order collapsed?

Thinking about it that way, dungeons were actually safer, even if they were a little frightening.

But at this moment, most players had not considered that. They fled the ticket booths in panic.

Among those fleeing figures, Gu Mian spotted a fat man.