November 1st, 9:00 a.m.
Fire Thief's voice rang in every Ascendant's mind, but the content was not the same.
[Rule Time has ended]
[This Rule Challenge has failed. The Failure Penalty has taken effect.]
[The Thirteenth Apocalypse Rule will be released in thirty days.]
At a gathering point, a young woman named Wang Lan trembled all over when she heard that the "Failure Penalty has taken effect." An indescribable terror spread through her heart.
This was not her first failure. But in her previous failures, her Mind Power Cap had merely been reduced. The Failure Penalty for this rule, however, was rather unusual: she would never be able to tell the truth again.
What exactly would that be like?
As Wang Lan thought fearfully, someone came in from outside. It was a fellow villager of hers. The villager greeted her, "Wang Lan, did you pass the rule?"
Wang Lan had accidentally lied earlier and broken the rule. Not wanting to deceive her fellow villager now, she nodded and admitted,
"I fa—uh—fa—"
Wang Lan wanted to say, "I failed," but she discovered in horror that she could not say the whole sentence!
It was as though something had blocked her throat, and even her tongue was beyond her control. No matter how hard she tried, she could not say what she truly wanted to say.
"Wang Lan, what's wrong?" her fellow villager asked, looking at her in confusion.
Wang Lan's face went pale. She had realized what "the Failure Penalty has taken effect" meant. From that moment onward, she could no longer tell the truth.
Seeing Wang Lan's pained expression, her fellow villager realized something. "W-Wang Lan, don't tell me... you broke the rule and can't tell the truth anymore?"
"Wrong..."
Wang Lan nodded as she spoke, her eyes growing moist.