Global Collapse-Chapter 653 - 621: Isn’t It Beautiful to Have a Three-Month Manuscript Stored_1

Gu Mian hadn't expected to see Coach Che again so soon. Mr. Green must have a blessed tongue; whatever he said came true instantly.

Gu Mian was delighted to meet an old friend in the instance and flashed a friendly smile at Coach Che, who was behind him. Coach Che, however, did not share this delight; his expression was like he'd just eaten shit.

He stared at Gu Mian's face in astonishment, subconsciously taking a few steps back. Realizing he wasn't dreaming, Coach Che immediately turned and walked away. After a short distance, he seemed to remember something, turned back, quickly snatched up the file that had fallen on the ground, and then ran off.

Keke, who was closest to Gu Mian, saw his friendly smile and followed his gaze, only to see a hurriedly departing figure.

Keke had never seen Coach Che, but she realized that Gu Mian seemed to know this NPC.

After Coach Che left, Gu Mian turned back to examine his surroundings in the courtroom.

The light overhead shone brightly, illuminating every corner of the hall.

This was a courtroom of about two hundred square meters. Half of it was a spectator gallery, currently empty. The other half was designated for the judge and the prisoner.

There were two doors. The larger one, for spectators to enter and exit, was opposite Gu Mian, behind the spectator gallery. This door was wide open, with a circular clock hanging above it. Gu Mian saw the time was now 12:03; they should have entered the instance at 12:00.

The other, smaller door was located diagonally behind the judge's bench, used by the judge, assistants, and staff. Mr. Green had just run out through this door.

Gu Mian was sitting at the judge's bench, a long table, with the others seated on either side of him.

A few meters in front of the judge's bench was a separate small table. A young man sat there, his wrists and ankles locked to the chair beneath him.

The young man sat silently with his head lowered. Gu Mian's gaze shifted from his face to the small copper plaque on the table in front of him, which stated the young man's identity: "Prisoner."

In front of the several players were also copper plaques indicating their identities. Gu Mian reached out and picked up the plaque in front of him.

It read, "Judge." Gu Mian looked at the small plaque in his hand. The instance mentioned that each team would have only one judge, and the remaining three would be assistants.

With this in mind, he turned to look at the plaques of the others. Keke was seated to his left. Her plaque read, "Assistant Keke."

Did they add names too?

He then looked to Xie Bi'an on his other side. Xie Bi'an was next to him on the right, and his plaque read, "Assistant Xie Bi'an."

Gu Mian looked past Xie Bi'an, intending to see Chu Changge's plaque to the right, but instead saw that the plaque of the person to Xie Bi'an's right read "Assistant Bai Lu."

What's going on? Did Chu Changge change his name?

Confused, he looked up at the person seated to Xie Bi'an's right. It wasn't Chu Changge, but a woman in a white shirt.

Did Chu Changge change gender?

Still skeptical, he opened the player's panel and confirmed that this was indeed not Chu Changge, but a female player named Bai Lu.

Other than the "Prisoner" not far away, they were the only four in the courtroom. Apparently, they were one group.

Keke also noticed Chu Changge's absence. She glanced around. "Mr. Chu might have been split into another group."

The female player named Bai Lu also looked surprised; she clearly hadn't expected to be grouped with three strangers. Judging from her expression, Gu Mian guessed she had also entered the instance with teammates.

Interesting. Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "By putting players who entered the instance together into different groups, is it intending to pit players against each other, just like in the 'Close Your Eyes' instance…"

At this moment, the young female player spoke, her greeting hesitant, "Um... well, hello."

She had entered this instance with her friends. She hadn't expected to open her eyes and find them gone, replaced by three strangers. It seemed the instance had shuffled and regrouped everyone. Being matched with unfamiliar players was one thing, but the more she looked, the more abnormal these players seemed. The player closest to her was shrouded entirely in a black robe, completely covered from head to toe. This person hadn't made a sound since the instance began, and Bai Lu couldn't even tell if they were male or female. Their Player Panel showed a red "Anonymous," which felt ominous. Fortunately, the copper plaque in front of this person had a name: "Xie Bi'an." Hmm, Bai Wuchang's name. Bai Lu felt even more uneasy. To the left of this player named "Xie Bi'an" was a handsome… doctor? At least, his nickname suggested so; the green word "Doctor" floated above his head. Bai Lu wondered if she'd eaten some poisonous mushrooms; why else would she be seeing players' nicknames in different colors? Besides the bright green "Doctor" nickname, the player's white coat also indicated his profession. However, she'd never seen a doctor so passionate about music; he carried a huge guitar case on his back, looking like he was ready for an impromptu performance at any moment. Furthermore, this doctor seemed to have a habit of stroking his chin and muttering to himself. His chin was indeed handsome, but did he really need to keep touching it? The player farthest from her was also female. Compared to the other two, this one seemed much more normal, with a normal-colored nickname and standard attire. She looked like a regular player, very young, probably only seventeen or eighteen. This normal-looking player was chatting familiarly with the Doctor, indicating they had entered the instance together.

Just then, the female player named Keke noticed her gaze and looked over. Bai Lu immediately offered a friendly smile.

However, the female player blinked, a frightened expression spreading across her face before she shrank behind the Doctor.

Then, Bai Lu heard Keke saying in a pitiful voice, "Doctor, I'm scared."

That expression, that tone... Well, she seems to be a Lv Cha!

Bai Lu's mouth twitched. It seemed she was the only normal person in this group!

Gu Mian silently watched Keke shrink back beside him. He'd forgotten Keke's established persona in instances was that of a Chu Chu pitiful Xiao Bai flower, fond of playing the innocent to ambush others, using perceived weakness to her advantage. Having gotten used to her normal demeanor, hearing her speak in such a tone now was surprisingly hard to bear.

"AHEM, hello," Gu Mian coughed a couple of times, returning the unfamiliar player's greeting.

Keke also leaned her head out from behind him, replying to Bai Lu in a soft voice, "Hello."

Xie Bi'an also turned his hooded face towards Bai Lu and greeted her in a gentle voice, "Hello."

Hearing Xie Bi'an's voice, Bai Lu paused for a moment. His voice is really nice, she thought.

After only a moment of appreciation, she refocused and looked at the three in front of her. "Did you also enter this instance with friends?"

Gu Mian put down the plaque in his hand. "The three of us came together."

Bai Lu nearly choked. The three weirdos are together...

"Birds of a feather flock together, huh?" she muttered.

Gu Mian didn't catch what she was mumbling. "What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing," Bai Lu quickly waved her hand. "I also entered with a friend, but it seems we were separated."

As she spoke, she glanced around again, discerning no sign of other players.

"There must be more than one courtroom here." Gu Mian looked at the open door on the opposite side, which led to a wide corridor. Tilting his head slightly, he could see windows along the corridor. Outside, large clouds drifted across a pale blue sky, pushed gently by the wind.

He retracted his gaze. "I guess there are at least three courtrooms. You should be able to find your teammate after we leave here."

There were twelve players, four to a group, so there had to be at least three courtrooms.

Bai Lu nodded. Even though her teammate wasn't here, the instance had to continue. She glanced at the prisoner in the room and said softly, "The task is to make a correct judgment within three days. I presume that means judging him, right?"

The courtroom in this instance wasn't exactly like one in real life. Although Bai Lu had never worked in a court, she'd seen trials in TV dramas.

Gu Mian also looked at the prisoner in front of him. "There's no plaintiff, no defendant, no lawyer, and no audience..."

Keke added from the side, "Not even a case file."

Gu Mian suddenly realized something and looked back at the small door behind him.

"Yeah," Bai Lu said, looking at the empty table before her, perplexed. "If we're to make a judgment, they have to tell us what happened, right? But there's no background information here."

The case background was probably taken by Coach Che when he fled. Gu Mian suspected Coach Che was supposed to be the Guiding NPC in this instance, meant to brief them on the case. But upon seeing Gu Mian, Coach Che had been overjoyed—so overjoyed he'd ecstatically run away. He guessed the players in the other two courtrooms had already started getting briefed on their cases by NPCs, while the four of them were left here, clueless.

Xie Bi'an's voice suddenly came from beneath his cloak, "The task is to make a judgment within three days, so we're not rushed. I remember the instance also mentioned we need to find evidence, right? Find evidence, then make the judgment, and we can leave the instance."

"And after making a judgment, we must adjourn the court before we can leave," Gu Mian added.

"So we don't have to stay here," Keke said, looking at the young man in the middle of the courtroom. "We can find clues and evidence outside first, then come back to judge him."

Bai Lu nodded. "Right, we first need to know what case we're judging. This instance seems hard. I thought we just had to deliver a verdict, but I didn't expect we'd have to investigate the case ourselves."

Actually, they probably just needed to judge, but the Guiding NPC had run off with the case file.

As he thought this, he picked up the small gavel in front of him. It was on the judge's desk; the other players didn't have one.

Gu Mian had seen judges preside in court on TV. They would bang a small gavel on the desk to announce the verdict.

He was eager to try the gavel. A bold idea popped into his mind. "I have a great idea to get us all out of here right now."

Upon hearing his words, everyone turned to look at him.

Gu Mian raised the gavel. "I'll just find him guilty right now, adjourn the court, and we can exit the instance. Wouldn't that be splendid?"

Bai Lu's eyes widened; she was at a loss, unable to determine whether he was joking or serious.

"Wait, wait," Keke quickly grabbed his arm. "Doctor, please calm down."