Three Beautiful Cars

[Teammates successfully matched. Current number of players: 7]

In an instant, four bewildered people appeared beside Gu Mian and the others, seeming not to understand what had happened yet.

The clever fellow who had just been stealing oil with a bucket was among them.

[This instance is a special instance and was not matched through a game pod, so the game will be conducted directly in the real world. During the game, the instance area will be sealed off, and no player may enter or leave.]

[This is a real-world instance. Player injuries and deaths are real. To ensure player safety, players will automatically be ejected from the instance when they are on the verge of death.]

After reading this, Gu Mian finally understood why special instances were said to be so dangerous.

In virtual instances, even if you came out crippled, you could still recover. If you were crippled in a special instance, that was the end of it.

[Instance content: Everyone has taken a driver's license test before, right? That's right, this instance is a driver's license test instance.]

[Instance mission: Obtain a driver's license. Failing an exam will result in immediate elimination. Intentionally failing an exam will result in targeted pursuit by a fierce ghost.]

[Instance reward: Spirit Car Driving License]

[Instance difficulty: ★★★★★★☆]

Gu Mian stared at the candied-haw-like row of stars and fell into thought.

He secretly glanced at the panels of the people beside him. Fortunately, this instance was not specifically targeting him; the descriptions were all the same.

Fatty's expression was not very pleasant. More accurately, it was extremely unpleasant.

Gu Mian heard him muttering under his breath. Only when he leaned closer could he make it out. "Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands..."

"No, no... one, two, three... six. Good heavens! Six and a half stars?"

Instance difficulty ranged from one to ten stars. The higher the rating, the harder it was.

Getting matched with a six-and-a-half-star instance right off the bat, Gu Mian felt that he had dragged Fatty down with him.

While Fatty was muttering to himself, the nearby road and the building beside it, which bore a sign reading "Driver Examination Center," were enclosed by a wall of light.

A player riding a bicycle outside was caught off guard by the rising barrier. A perfectly good bicycle smashed into it and became a folding bike.

After the mission was issued, there was nothing further on the panels. For a while, none of them knew what they were supposed to do.

The newcomers had originally been exchanging glances, until a thin, sharp-faced young man suddenly let out a startled cry.

"You... you..." He stared at a player standing at the edge in disbelief. "You're Qiao Chu?"

Qiao Chu? Hearing the name, Gu Mian began pondering.

Her parents really knew how to flatter themselves. Naming her Qiao Chu, as in "the finest among men."

Wouldn't it have been better to call her Long Aotian outright?

As Gu Mian thought this, he looked in the direction the young man was staring. When his eyes landed on that strikingly beautiful face, he paused slightly.

It was his first time hearing the name, but he recognized the face.

That face often appeared on television. She had acted in quite a few dramas and movies, and was a famous young actress in the film and television industry, known to the public as Xiao Qiao.

But Gu Mian did not follow celebrities. He only knew there was someone called Xiao Qiao, not her real name.

The thin man was clearly a little excited, even bending slightly at the waist.

The others also looked brightly at the celebrity.

The Apocalypse Game had only begun recently, and people still had some room in their hearts for ordinary pursuits.

When a celebrity they had always liked suddenly appeared before them, most people would be excited.

At that moment, the young man who had recognized Xiao Qiao first was practically about to pounce on her for an autograph.

But Xiao Qiao paid no attention at all to the excited people around her. It was not that she was aloof; her attention had simply been drawn elsewhere.

At that moment, she was staring fixedly at Gu Mian.

After staring at Gu Mian, she stared at Chu Changge. After staring at Chu Changge, she turned back to stare at Gu Mian, as though confirming something.

Seeing this, Chu Changge frowned, seeming to have thought of something terrible.

After staring at Gu Mian for a long time, Xiao Qiao finally showed an excited expression and opened her mouth. "I finally found—"

Before she could finish, Chu Changge beside her suddenly began coughing violently as if he were having an asthma attack, doing his utmost to cut her off.

Gu Mian looked at Chu Changge, who was pretending to have an asthma attack, with an unreadable expression. "You know each other?"

Still coughing, Chu Changge shook his head expressionlessly. "No."

...Do you take me for an idiot?

Xiao Qiao clearly realized something was off. She hurriedly changed the subject and began introducing herself in a roundabout manner.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Qiao Chu. You can call me Xiao Qiao."

"I'm 168 centimeters tall and weigh 45 kilograms..."

"My birthday is... I think it's September 25th."

Wait, were you registering your household details?

"My father is Qiao Minglang."

"My mother... my mother is called, called..."

Eh? What was my mom's name again? Though she did not say it aloud, Gu Mian could read the meaning from her expression.

She truly was a rising oddball in China's entertainment industry.

There was actually no need for introductions. Players could see everyone else's personal information.

By now, Gu Mian had already looked through the information of all the other players.

The thin, sharp-faced young man gazing fervently at Xiao Qiao was named Yan Hua Yi Leng.

The square-faced, kindly-looking middle-aged man who had been stealing oil was called Hao Laoshi.

Aside from them, there was also a short, timid girl whose face was covered in freckles. Her name was Liu Xing Gong Zhu.

As for Xiao Qiao, she had directly taken the name "Xiao Qiao." Who knew how she had managed to snatch that name?

There was no time for everyone to report their height and weight. Soon, a new figure appeared before them.

He was not a player, but an NPC.

Because three large letters floated above his head.

He was a man, rather tall, around forty or fifty years old and over 1.8 meters in height. He wore a crisp suit, and his wrinkle-lined face was extremely solemn.

"I am your instructor," the old man said.

Of course there were instructors for learning to drive, but all the instructors Gu Mian had seen wore slippers and shorts. The slightly more presentable ones wore loose athletic clothes.

This was Gu Mian's first time seeing an instructor dressed up so smartly.

But since they were in an instance, there was nothing surprising about it.

Fatty beside him opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but before he had a chance, the instructor continued.

"Your ultimate goal is to pass the examination. This driver's examination has two subjects."

Two? Gu Mian remembered there being four subjects when he learned to drive.

The others exchanged glances, seemingly all guessing how this instance differed from an ordinary driver's license examination.

"The subjects are a written test and a practical test."

"The written test, as the name implies, is naturally answering questions. In a while, I will give each of you a test paper. But remember, the time for filling in answers is from ten o'clock to midnight. You cannot answer at any other time, though you may think about the questions."

"A written-test score above 80 counts as passing. Only those who pass may take the next subject; otherwise, they will be eliminated."

"The practical test is driving on the road. Only after passing the written test may you participate. Each person will choose one of those three cars. Drive three full laps along this road, and you will have passed."

As he spoke, the instructor turned his gaze in one direction.

The others followed his gaze.

There, three cars had appeared at some point.

Upon seeing them, Gu Mian finally understood how this examination differed from an ordinary driver's license test.

There were—

"A funeral vehicle, commonly known as a spirit car, used specifically to transport ashes or corpses. The front even bore the four words 'Funeral Services,' and there was a loudspeaker too, probably for playing funeral music."

"A bloodstained ambulance. Sick patients often ascended to heaven inside this vehicle. Its windows were almost entirely shattered, and its body was covered in bloody handprints."

"A prisoner transport vehicle. Its iron bars had long been twisted out of shape by something, with a piece of prison uniform snagged on them, but the prisoner had vanished without a trace."