[Instance: Terror Manor]
[Number of Participants: 6]
[Instance Introduction: You are six mountain climbers. However, an accident occurs during one of your climbs. Due to heavy snow and blocked paths, youâre trapped on the mountain, your only option to seek refuge in the sole manor on the mountain.]
[Instance Mission: Escape Terror Manor]
[Instance Reward: Game Coin*200, a Surprise Lottery Wheel Spin]
Gu Mian pondered over the game rewards, "Whatâs this Surprise Lottery Wheel Spin about?"
Past lotteries were straightforward, without the âfull of surprisesâ descriptor.
Fatty analyzed, "I guess itâs like drawing cards in a game. This lottery wheel probably has a high chance of yielding rare items."
That made sense.
Gu Mian looked again at the mission panel.
The mission itself seemed quite plain. To escape the manor... If they just stepped inside and then immediately jumped back out, would that count as escaping?
Suddenly, the scenery around the three of them changed. Evidently, they had entered the instance.
Before Gu Mian had time to take in his surroundings, a biting wind buffeted them, freezing the tips of their noses.
"So cold..." Gu Mian wrapped his thin white coat tighter around himself.
Fatty was also shivering, his layers of fat quaking.
They were clearly on a mountain, with white snow everywhere. Leafless trees stood nearby, their branches laden with a substantial layer of snow.
Startled birds fluttered away, squawking discordantly as they flew across the grey sky.
The freezing wind whistled through the bare tree trunks, unerringly finding them. It was cold enough to freeze a person solid.
Gu Mian managed to get a good look at the other three players.
There was a couple among them, which Gu Mian noticed immediately.
Not that these two were especially intimate, but their usernames were awfully flirty:
[A Man Bright but not Dazzling], [A Woman Alluring but not Ostentatious]
Fatty gulped as he too gawked at the coupleâs eye-catching usernames.
And the last playerâs nickname was quite outstanding. Though just a string of digits, it exuded an air of high-class elegance:
[10086]
Gu Mian tightened his coat against the chill. This batch of teammates was indeed peculiar.
The other three appeared to be examining each otherâs game information. Even a cursory glance at usernames and game IDs helped determine how to address each other.
After a while, having sized each other up, they finally made eye contact.
Everyone present had rather excellent nicknames. They probably hadnât yet figured out how to address each other.
Gu Mian was adept at this. Looking at 10086, he said, "Iâll call you Brother Mobile from now on."
Fattyâs lips twitched a bit, finding no fault with it.
The man called Brother Mobile appeared to hesitate, intending to say something, but Gu Mian had already diverted his attention to the couple.
"You," Gu Mian eyed the man with the username [A Man Bright but not Dazzling]. "Iâll just call you Mingliang."
"Such a corny name!" Fatty exclaimed.
Mingliangâs mouth fell slightly open; he seemed unable to accept it.
However, Gu Mian didnât care. He directly switched his gaze to the woman with the username [A Woman Alluring but not Ostentatious].
Looking at that name, Gu Mian frowned. Going by how âMingliangâ was nicknamed, this girl should be called âAlluring.â
The woman seemed to approve of the moniker âAlluringâ and was expectantly waiting for Gu Mian to speak.
Contrary to her expectations, he hesitated for a bit, then finally came up with a name, "Iâll just call you Xiao Zhang."
From [A Woman Alluring but not Ostentatious]âheâd carefully picked the âZhangâ from the middle.
Fatty nearly burst out laughing; Gu Mian had painstakingly selected the plainest name possible.
Chu Changgeâs calm voice intervened, "Wait till he starts calling you âOld Wang,â then weâll see if youâre still laughing."
Fattyâs laughter abruptly ceased.
No one was particularly bothered about nicknames. After all, they were in a terror instance; it would be ridiculous to start an argument over names now.
Brother Mobile was the first to speak, "You three...know each other?"
He glanced at Chu Changgeâs and Fattyâs usernames, his expression reflecting surprise.
Then he glanced at Gu Mianâs username, and his expression became even more complex.
"Yes."
"No."
All three of them answered simultaneously. The solo "yes" was, of course, from the naive Fatty. And the two "noâs" came from Gu Mian and Chu Changge.
Brother Mobileâs expression further complicated.
Fatty was initially puzzled, but soon understood why Gu Mian and Chu Changge would deny it.
The coupleâMingliang and Xiao Zhangâlooked at them in surprise, "Fat Kid Surnamed Wang, Chu Changge... I remember seeing those two names in the announcements several times."
When Gu Mian crashed instances, these two were usually involved, so their names naturally appeared in the public announcements.
Naturally, those who paid attention to the announcements also knew something else.
Mingliang asked hesitantly, "I remember you two... usually team up with that Gu Mian, right?"
As he spoke, he glanced subconsciously at Gu Mianâs nickname, only to see a bright green âDoctor.â
These people had never encountered the class system, so they had no idea why Gu Mianâs name was green. They just assumed his username had undergone some kind of mutation.
Seeing their confusion, Gu Mian had no intention of explaining.
Was he supposed to lie and say, âI used color codes when I typed my usernameâ?
Brother Mobile fixed his gaze on the trio, "So do you know each other or not?"
Fatty responded quickly, "We just ran into each other at the ticket booth, so itâs a sort of acquaintance."
Brother Mobile pressed on, "Judging by your nicknames, you must know that Gu Mian person too, right?"
The trio wasnât called the âBlast Teamâ for nothing. A saying had spread among the players: whenever these three gathered, an instance was sure to be wrecked.
A truly fitting name: Blast Team.
At this thought, Brother Mobile breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, that Gu Mian wasnât here. Otherwise, they would probably have a hard time surviving this instance.