Global Collapse-Chapter 677 - 643: History Always Astonishingly Repeats Itself_1

"Dear Miss 007, I wonder if you've been having a good time lately. I heard you recently entered the Circus Dungeon with the Doctor. I imagine you two must have had a very pleasant chat...

"I'm not sure if you're currently in an instance, but something strange happened here today. If you're not, we were hoping you could come over."

History is often surprisingly similar.

Fatty was sending a message to 007. Of course, if she was in an instance, she wouldn't receive this message; she'd have to leave the instance to see it.

"The Seventh World has open instances?" Gu Mian stared at the radio on the table.

This device wasn't exactly a communication tool, so Gu Mian couldn't use it to talk to 007, who had sent the signal. Moreover, its signal was very unstable; it fell silent after broadcasting that sentence.

007's voice had come from the radio twice today.

The first time, her voice was weak, like a final goodbye before death.

The second time, her voice was full of energy, sounding like she was in good condition.

From deathly still to full of life.

It couldn't be a final burst of energy before death, could it?

Just as Gu Mian was seriously contemplating this possibility, Fatty's voice came from the side, "Miss 007 just replied! Her reply was very quick. She said she's not in an instance..."

"Not in an instance?" Gu Mian frowned. "Hasn't she entered any instance today?"

"Miss 007 said that after leaving the Circus Dungeon, she hasn't entered any other instances."

Well, that was truly strange.

007 was on Earth, yet her voice from the Seventh World was being broadcast on the radio.

"Why would this happen? Could it be that the broadcasts from noon and just now weren't actually from Miss 007?" Fatty, too, found it odd.

Gu Mian had a theory. "Time in the Seventh World is chaotic; you could even say time doesn't exist there. Combined with dimensional interference, what we're hearing isn't a live broadcast from the Seventh World. I believe the voices could be from the past, or perhaps the future."

He elaborated, "For example, let's say you, Fatty, accidentally fall into a room where time doesn't exist. Inside, there's only you and a cellphone. At that point, your time is out of sync with the outside world. If time in the outside world is a line, then your time is a point outside that line."

Fatty, holding his kebab, had a 'Why me?' look on his face.

"Then," Gu Mian continued, "you try to use that phone to call me. But because your time is non-existent, completely unrelated to our time, your call might reach me when I'm three years old, or it might reach me when I'm eighty."

Fatty chimed in aptly, "Doctor, with your luck, I doubt you'll live to see eighty."

Gu Mian ignored Fatty's curse. "So, these two broadcasts from 007 are from the past, or the future."

Most likely the future, Gu Mian thought.

Fatty had the same idea. "So... instances will open in the Twilight Gods World? And Miss 007 went into one?"

Not only that.

Fatty recalled the goodbye he'd heard at noon.

If that voice truly was from the future...

It would mean 007 died there.

Everyone seated at the table fell silent.

The Fortune-teller didn't know what Gu Mian and the others had heard at noon, but judging by the atmosphere, she could guess. "At noon today, you heard 007's last words?"

They were like last words, yes.

As if to confirm the Fortune-teller's mention of "last words," the radio, after a long silence, crackled to life again. It was someone else's last words—

"Damn it! I don't want to die!"

That was the only sentence. After that, only the hiss of static came from the radio.

Judging by the words alone, you'd never imagine a girl said them. But everyone present could tell it was a woman's voice, and a familiar one at that.

Several people slowly turned their heads, their gazes fixing on the person in question.

The Fortune-teller, now the center of attention, widened her eyes. "What's with that voice? How did I get dragged into this?!"

Today was destined to be an unpleasant day.

Last words from 007 and the Fortune-teller had arrived one after another. After hearing both, Gu Mian crouched by the radio, hoping to hear a third or fourth set, but the device, after its burst of activity, fell completely silent.

The radio remained silent.

「Three days later.」

007 pulled up in her kiddy ride car outside the building with the "Bengbeng Imperial Harem" sign.

Fatty was the first to spot 007, who was staring blankly at the inn's sign. He greeted her enthusiastically, extending a warm welcome.

"Why the rush to get me here?" 007 looked somewhat haggard, likely exhausted from the journey.

Fatty hadn't told her about the last words. He felt such matters were best discussed in person. But looking at 007 now, he found it difficult to broach the subject. He couldn't just blurt out, "Your future self died and left her last words," could he? 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

With this in mind, he decided to start with something else to ease into it. "Let's not talk about that for now. By the way, Miss 007, have you found your family yet?"

The saga of 007 searching for her mother had been ongoing for a long time. If you considered it an instance, it would be the longest one in the entire game.

At his words, 007's already somber expression darkened further.

Seeing her expression, Fatty mentally cursed. Looks like I really put my foot in it this time.

After a moment's thought, he decided to pass the hot potato to Gu Mian. "Miss 007, it's been a few days! The Doctor said he missed you very much. He even said something like, 'A day without seeing you feels like three autumns.' Quick, I'll take you to him. Let's give him a surprise."

007: "..."

She knew Gu Mian would never say anything like 'a day without seeing you feels like three autumns.' The person before her was most likely spouting nonsense.

Fatty, pleased with himself, led 007 into the room and then made his exit.

Thus, when Gu Mian opened his eyes the next morning, he saw 007 standing awkwardly beside him.

"You're awake." 007 looked at the quilt, which Gu Mian had kicked to the edge of the bed in his sleep.

The poor quilt was already half dangling onto the floor. Who would have thought Gu Mian had such a habit? Kicking off the covers... that really didn't fit his persona at all.

Gu Mian silently pulled his quilt back. "I'm awake."

The atmosphere instantly became awkward.

007 coughed, pretending she hadn't seen anything. "Did you need me for something? You sounded so urgent calling me over."

Once Fatty found out those last words were 007's, he'd bombarded her with calls, urging her to come to Lianhua City. However, 007, despite being rushed, had no idea what had happened.

Gu Mian, who lacked Fatty's subtlety and wasn't good at reading people or situations, stated the facts directly, "Your future self transmitted her last words to us. You died in this game."

At this, Gu Mian added, "And judging by the sound of it, your death wasn't peaceful."

Fatty, who had just re-entered the room, caught the words "death wasn't peaceful." The hand holding the broom trembled. He really didn't need to say that last part, he thought.

007 was stunned.

She never imagined she'd be informed of her own death while still alive.

As if to comfort her, Gu Mian spoke again, "Another unlucky soul died with you... or at least, around the same time. It was the Fortune-teller; you've met her."

Meanwhile, the unlucky Fortune-teller was lying in bed with dark circles under her eyes. She hadn't slept well since receiving her own last words. She had even performed divination for herself several times, but the results were chaotic and different each time.

Is this future already set in stone? she stared at the ceiling. If we try hard to change things now, can we alter this fatal outcome...?

"That's it!" The Fortune-teller abruptly sat up in bed. "007 was with me then! Can't we just avoid entering the same instance together in the future?"

As long as we don't enter instances together and stagger our entry times, there's no way we'd be matched into the same one. However, our voices weren't broadcast at the same time. It's possible we entered that time-distorted instance separately and broadcast our messages at different points...

Thinking of this, the Fortune-teller became deeply troubled. In that case... unless we stop entering instances altogether, it'll be hard to avoid that deadly fate. And even if I don't go to the ticket office, special instances will appear automatically anyway.