The First Rule of the Apocalypse

In the classroom of Class 2, Grade 3, Yunhua Third High School.

It was homeroom.

The homeroom teacher stood on the podium, speaking passionately, "The college entrance examination is less than three months away. Everyone must persevere until the end and give it their all!"

"The college entrance examination is the fairest rule, the biggest opportunity to change your destiny! If you don't fight hard now, you'll regret it later!"

The fairest rule.

In the back row by the window, a boy with messy hair looked on with a calm expression.

As someone who had "been there before," Guan Tong knew that there was no such thing as the fairest rule in this world.

His previous world was like this, and his current world was no different.

However, Guan Tong was quite satisfied with his transmigration.

On Earth, he was just an ordinary office worker, doing a job he disliked, and his body was in a sub-healthy state.

After transmigrating to this planet called "Tianshui Star," he had somehow returned to being eighteen years old.

Putting aside everything else, just regaining this young and energetic body was enough.

As for the future...

Guan Tong looked out the window, his eyes suddenly changing.

--What is that?

Irregular black spots suddenly appeared in the sky, like drops of ink on a sky-blue canvas.

Those spots seemed to be "alive," moving and combining in strange ways, quickly forming four dancing characters.

[Test Start]

[Test Start]

At this moment, these four words echoed simultaneously in the minds of everyone on Earth, in their respective languages.

The homeroom teacher, who was speaking, also paused, a look of confusion on his face. The students exchanged bewildered glances.

"Just now..."

Someone started to speak, but the voice in their mind had not yet finished.

[Welcome, Homo sapiens, to the "Ascension Plan" test.]

[I am your test administrator: Fire Thief.]

[Test scope: All Homo sapiens on Tianshui Star.]

[Test content: Forty-nine Apocalypse Rules.]

[Test objective: Those who pass the test will be privy to the test's truth and participate in the Apocalypse Operation.]

"You all heard that, right?!"

A student stood up in panic and shouted.

"I heard it! It sounded like someone was talking in my head!"

"Holy crap! What's going on?"

"Forty-nine Apocalypse Rules? Ascension Plan? Apocalypse Operation?"

"That voice sounded like a robot!"

Guan Tong also heard the voice in his mind.

However, he wasn't overly surprised.

Something as significant as "transmigration" had already happened to him. Anything else happening now was hardly unexpected.

At this moment, the voice in his mind spoke again.

[Personal Terminal function activated. You can mentally prompt to view it at any time.]

[First Apocalypse Rule has been issued.]

[Apocalypse Rule One: Sleep Deprivation.]

[Rule content: Starting from the issuance of this rule, you cannot enter a state of sleep in any form within 72 hours.]

[Survival reward: 100 Ascension Coins, Mind Power.]

[Failure penalty: Once you enter a state of sleep within the rule's effective period, you will never wake up again.]

[Note: It is known that some Homo sapiens on Tianshui Star have stayed awake for 297 consecutive hours. 72 hours is far from the limit, so please strive to pass.]

After the voice, which called itself "Fire Thief," stopped in their minds, the entire classroom erupted.

No one knew what was happening, and even the homeroom teacher stood on the podium, bewildered and at a loss.

"Look!"

At this moment, someone shouted while looking at the sky outside the window. The others turned to look.

A giant red countdown hung in the sky, its numbers constantly changing.

71:59:22

71:59:21

71:59:20

Everyone stared blankly at the countdown in the sky. Just then, a roar suddenly came from the back row of the classroom.

"So annoying! What are you all yelling about!"

Startled, everyone turned to look.

The one who shouted was a burly guy with a buzz cut. Judging by his sleepy appearance, he had clearly been sleeping just moments ago.

The guy's name was Xu Beipeng. His grades had been consistently last in the class for years. Because he was strong and had a bad temper, teachers didn't dare to discipline him much, and they usually turned a blind eye to him sleeping in class.

"What test... rules... so annoying." Xu Beipeng picked at his ear. He thought the voice in his head was just him dreaming. Muttering a few words, he slumped back onto his desk to continue sleeping.

Everyone in the class looked astonished.

"He, he's sleeping?"

"Didn't that Fire Thief say..."

"The first Apocalypse Rule is that you can't fall asleep within 72 hours! Is this real or fake?!"

Guan Tong looked at Xu Beipeng, frowning slightly.

"Hoo, hoo..."

Xu Beipeng fell asleep incredibly fast. Just a few seconds after slumping down, he was already snoring.

Seeing this, the classmates all breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's fine, it seems that rule isn't real..."

Before he could finish, Xu Beipeng's snoring suddenly stopped.

At that moment, the classmates saw Guan Tong, who was sitting by the window in the back row, suddenly stand up and walk towards Xu Beipeng.

Guan Tong walked straight to Xu Beipeng's side and nudged him. "Xu Beipeng, wake up."

Xu Beipeng didn't move, didn't make a sound, and showed no signs of waking up.

The students around him couldn't sit still anymore. They got up in fear and moved away.

"Slap!"

Guan Tong suddenly slapped Xu Beipeng hard across the face.

"Wake up!"

Still no reaction.

Guan Tong placed his finger in front of Xu Beipeng's nostrils. After a few seconds, he withdrew it. Facing the stares of the entire class, he shook his head. "He's not breathing."

"Ah!!!"

The timid boys and girls in the class started screaming.

The class teacher also panicked. He quickly took out his phone from his pocket to call for an ambulance, saying as he dialed, "Everyone, please sit down and don't panic... Guan Tong, where are you going?!"

Guan Tong was already at the classroom door. Hearing the question, he replied without looking back, "Home. It's going to get chaotic outside soon."

"You..."

"I want to go home too!"

"Me too!"

With Guan Tong leading the way, the other students rushed out of the classroom.

The entire school was soon engulfed in noise. Students from all the classes were in an uproar. The bicycle shed was overcrowded, with everyone scrambling to get their bikes and leave.

Guan Tong, having left earlier, was already outside the school gate.

Seeing a little, one could infer a lot. If even the tightly managed high school campus had descended into chaos, what about the outside world?

The streets were filled with people running in panic, car horns blaring incessantly, and accidents happening frequently.

A large screen hanging in the plaza was broadcasting an emergency announcement. A well-known host from the Beixing Nation repeated with a grave expression:

"In the face of this sudden emergency, please do not panic. Enter safe indoor locations in an orderly manner and await further official announcements."

"In the face of this sudden emergency, please do not panic. Enter..."

Not only the large screen in the plaza, but everyone's mobile phones also received emergency notifications from their carriers. The content was the same as the broadcast, urging people not to panic and to await official announcements.

Guan Tong stood on the street, looking at the text message on his phone. He thought that in just this short time, many people must have already died. Otherwise, the authorities wouldn't have acted so quickly.

He mused, In many countries on the other side of the planet, it's currently nighttime, and most people are asleep. Even if they were woken up by the Fire Thief's voice like Xu Beipeng, most would probably be like Xu Beipeng, thinking they were dreaming and rolling over to sleep again... How many people will die from this?

Domestically, places like hospitals are probably the hardest hit.

Normal sleepers could still be woken by the Fire Thief's voice in their minds, giving them a chance to survive. But what about those in hospitals who were unconscious due to illness or under anesthesia during surgery? How would they "wake up"?

The authorities must have received a flood of death reports from hospitals in various cities to dare not delay and issue a nationwide announcement immediately.

Guan Tong realized this, and many others surely had as well.

For example...

Guan Tong looked at a supermarket not far away. Seven or eight strong young men were crowding the entrance, arguing.

"I was here first! All of you, get out of the way!"

"Who the hell cares about who was here first now! Boss, give me all the Red Bull, Jianlibao, and other energy drinks in the store. I'm buying them all! Oh, and coffee too!"

"What gives you the right to buy so much by yourself?!"

"I've got money! What's it to you?"

"You motherfucker!"

"Hey, let's talk this out, no need to get physical!"

New book release, hope all you big shot readers like it!