"If you keep saying that, Lu Xun's coffin lid won't be able to stay shut." Gu Mian turned his head back.
After climbing for quite a while, the three of them finally got home. It was already past nine at night.
As soon as the Fatty got back, he hurried into the kitchen. He'd only eaten some snacks to tide himself over at dinner, and he'd digested all of them by now.
Gu Mian set the chainsaw he'd been carrying on his back to one side, sat down on the sofa, and opened his Attributes.
A list of attributes immediately appeared in front of him.
Everything that shouldn't have changed was still the same: a uniform row of question marks. Only a few attributes had changed.
[Game Currency: 138] [Number of Dungeons Cleared: 2]
Not bad. Two dungeons had already met untimely deaths.
As Gu Mian thought this over, he returned to the home page and noticed that the huge activity section in the middle had somehow gained color.
Chu Changge, sitting beside him, had also noticed the change to the game panel. He was pushing up his glasses as he examined the activity section.
It looked like an event announcement.
[The world's first major event, "Lantern Festival," is about to descend upon Earth] [Event location: Inside Hengdian World Studios, Huaxia Country] [Event time: February 19, 2019, 19:00–24:00] [Details: On the night of the Lantern Festival, Hengdian District will be filled with "Ghost's Blessings." "Ghost's Blessings" will appear in the form of lanterns, each bearing a riddle provided by the corresponding ghost. Players who answer correctly can take the lantern and receive its blessing; "Blessings" come in many forms. They may include rare Special Items, Game Currency, or Attributes, but they may also include the resentment of vengeful ghosts or misfortune that cannot be shaken off; Choose your lanterns carefully to avoid disaster] [Requirements to participate: Hengdian District will be sealed off during the event. Only those with a ticket obtained from an advanced ticket booth may enter]
Whenever there was a game, there were bound to be major events. Gu Mian knew that very well.
He'd just assumed the game's events would take the form of dungeons. He hadn't expected the game to designate an event location and only let players who made it there participate.
"So they want players from all over the world to crowd into Hengdian?" Gu Mian rubbed his chin.
Now that vehicles weren't usable either, driving was out of the question given the state of the roads.
Planes might still be able to fly, but he doubted many people would dare take one. What if the pilot suddenly entered a special dungeon mid-flight?
This event might not be very convenient for foreign friends.
Chu Changge adjusted his glasses. "My guess is they want players to run into each other. The game doesn't seem to like players staying put."
It was just another way of herding players into one place.
"Are you planning to take part in this event?" Chu Changge asked, glancing instinctively at the calendar.
Today was January 2, the second day since the game began. The event was still more than a month away.
They weren't far from Hengdian—only about a thousand kilometers. It would take a little over ten hours to get there by highway, but given the situation, they probably couldn't use the highway.
"Of course." Gu Mian closed the panel. "But we'll need to get ready first."
For example, they'd need to prepare some money and buy a Spirit Car.
The supermarket sold Spirit Cars. Gu Mian had seen them that evening.
The salesperson had described one to him like this—
"A Spirit Car, as the name suggests, is different from an ordinary car. It doesn't need gasoline or any other fuel. Just step on the accelerator and it goes."
"Our Spirit Car is packed with features. You've seen the roads yourself—nearly all of them are blocked, so you can't drive at all."
"But buy one of our Spirit Cars, and that won't be a problem. It can drift and leap through the air, so it'll help you jump over obstacles. For only 998, you can take home a quality Spirit Car at a great price."
"And you can put it in your inventory, so it's easy to carry!"
"But there's one thing..." Gu Mian remembered how dejected the salesperson had looked when he said this. "You need a Spirit Car Driving License to drive one. But I heard the license-test dungeon was wrecked by some son of a bitch! Now there's only one person in the whole world who's managed to get a license..."
At that point, Gu Mian had turned and walked away as fast as he could, afraid someone would recognize him and start beating him up.
He could afford a Spirit Car, but the event page hadn't appeared yet. Gu Mian had thought a car like that would be useless and might expose his identity, so he'd left without buying one.
Now it looked like his identity would come out sooner or later anyway.
"In the game, events are the easiest way to get stronger, so we should try to take part in every one we can," Gu Mian said, rubbing his chin. "It's for our safety, of course—and for the quality of our meals."
Just then, the Fatty came out carrying a large plate of fried chicken wings.
"I used up less than half a bottle of Coke. There's still plenty left. Want some?" he asked, setting the steaming wings on the table.
The wings were a bright, appetizing color and smelled delicious. Gu Mian picked one up with his chopsticks. They were crisp on the outside and tender inside. He broke through the crunchy outer layer, revealing the pale, juicy meat within. The aroma wafted up.
As if worried there wouldn't be enough, the Fatty had made two other dishes and cooked a small pot of rice.
Gu Mian had found that his meals had actually gotten better since the world went wrong.
The Fatty poured Coke into a cup and sighed. "With things the way they are, I doubt many people can eat as well as we do."
Gu Mian picked up the thread. "That's why we have to work hard to eat even better."
Only then did the Fatty rub his hands together and speak up. "Doctor, I saw that the event page updated just now."
So he'd seen it too.
"Mm." Gu Mian nodded as he gnawed on a chicken wing.
"Then, Doctor, are you and Brother Chu planning to go to Hengdian for the event?"
"Mm." Gu Mian spat out a bone.
A while later, the Fatty finally asked nervously, "Could you take me with you?"
Gu Mian had been wondering how to drag along the only person who knew how to cook. He hadn't expected the Fatty to walk right into the net on his own.
"You're not going back home?" Gu Mian asked without thinking.
"What home? I never had a fixed place to live, and my parents have been nothing but ash in the ground for ages..."
At least your parents left you some ash. Gu Mian put down his chopsticks. My parents didn't even leave me that.
"Fine," Gu Mian readily agreed. "But we won't be setting out in the next few days. We'll wait a bit. I'll go through a few more dungeons first."
They had more than a month anyway. There was no rush.
The three of them ate their fill that night. The Fatty seemed particularly happy, and just before bed he asked Gu Mian, "Doctor, why did you become a doctor?"
The sight of Gu Mian holding a chainsaw and dragging the bandit leader around had deeply shaken the Fatty. He felt that Gu Mian wasn't really suited to being a doctor.
Gu Mian paused at the question before answering. "Probably because I once picked up twenty-eight first-aid kits and three medical kits in a game. That's when I realized I had a talent for being a doctor."
Chu Changge raised his hand slightly. "I can vouch for that. I was the medical kit."
The Fatty fell asleep with his head full of "first-aid kits" and "medical kits." He even dreamed that he'd turned into a medical kit.
When he woke up the next day, he discovered that Gu Mian was already gone.
And in a ticket booth not far from the apartment, the NPC finally welcomed its first customer to walk in of their own accord.
Before you continue