Rewards for Survival

Bang!

After Fang Qian walked out in a daze, Guan Tong shut and locked the front door.

His expression was Not Good. He had thought Fang Qian had a decent personality, but her actions had still disappointed him deeply.

People always said not to test human nature, because human nature would most likely fail the test.

If Fang Qian had not known about the Hidden Rules, perhaps she would not have entertained thoughts of harming others.

Her parents had indeed told her for her own good, but they had also stirred up the evil within her. Still, she had made the choice herself and could not blame anyone else.

Guan Tong sat on a stool. Though he had not slept for dozens of hours, he felt exceptionally awake at that moment.

What Fang Qian had done reaffirmed the principles he had held from the very beginning.

He had learned of the Hidden Rules at the start of the disaster. If he had wanted to use them, he could have obtained enough Sobering Mint Candy to ensure his survival long ago.

But he had chosen "no" from the very start.

Guan Tong certainly did not want to die, but he would only rely on himself to keep going.

If he failed in the end, he might regret it, but he would not resent anything. After all, he would have done his absolute best.

Having thought it through, Guan Tong felt an inexplicable lightness wash over both body and mind.

Even his dissatisfaction with Fang Qian from earlier now seemed insignificant.

He walked to the window and glanced at the countdown in the sky.

24:16:28

"Twenty-four hours. I'll just treat it as staying up for one day."

Guan Tong thought optimistically, then stopped dwelling on matters like the time and when the network would recover.

He finished his coffee, got up, went to the study, turned on his computer, and played a few offline games.

Hour after hour passed, until the Fire Thief's voice rang out.

[Rule Time has ended]

[Congratulations on passing the test of Rule One of the Apocalypse Rules]

It was over...?

Hearing the voice in his mind, Guan Tong wondered whether he was hallucinating.

He looked up through the window. The red countdown in the sky had vanished without a trace.

[New function unlocked. Survival rewards have been distributed to the Storage Box and may be viewed through the Personal Terminal]

[Rule Two of the Apocalypse Rules will be released in fifteen days]

The Fire Thief's voice fell silent.

When Guan Tong woke up, it was already ten in the morning.

He rubbed his messy hair and squinted at the sunlight outside.

"Did I... sleep for an entire day and night?"

Rule End had been at nine in the morning, and it was now ten. There was no doubt about it—he had enjoyed a solid twenty-five hours of sleep.

After waking up, Guan Tong did not get out of bed right away.

He simply lay there, quietly savoring the satisfaction of waking after a full night's rest.

He had never carefully experienced this feeling before. Only now did he realize that getting enough sleep was such a blissful thing.

After lying still for a while, he silently summoned his Personal Terminal.

[Name: Guan Tong]

[Nickname: Not set]

[Title: None]

[Mind Power: 96]

[Ascension Coins: 100]

[Comprehensive Biological Information Evaluation: Ordinary]

Guan Tong looked at the changes on the panel, somewhat surprised.

First, he could now set a "nickname." He had seen the note before: as long as one remained alive after Rule One of the Apocalypse Rules ended, this function would unlock.

Guan Tong guessed that the nickname was likely meant to conceal one's true identity.

In his view, that meant the Personal Terminal might gain communication functions later on.

Next came the change in Mind Power.

He had previously thought that Mind Power might be something like a skill, but it was displayed as a numerical value instead.

"My Mind Power is 96. Is that high or low? And what exactly does it do?"

Guan Tong was utterly confused and had no idea.

He could only set it aside for the time being and continue reading.

The other reward was a fixed one hundred Ascension Coins.

When Guan Tong focused on it, an explanation appeared before his eyes.

[Ascension Coins may be used to purchase items in the Ascension Shop or trade with other people]

"I see."

The purpose of Ascension Coins was not too far beyond Guan Tong's expectations.

Finally, his gaze fell on the evaluation.

[Comprehensive Biological Information Evaluation: Ordinary]

"I remember... it was 'Inferior' before, wasn't it?"

Had he gone from inferior to ordinary simply by passing one Apocalypse Rule?

But what exactly had changed?

Guan Tong tried throwing a few punches, but he did not feel any stronger.

He did not dwell on it and continued studying the terminal.

Aside from the panel updates, two new functions had appeared on the terminal.

One was the Storage Box, and the other was the Ascension Shop.

Guan Tong first opened the Storage Box with his thoughts. Inside was only a bronze-colored chest.

The moment his thoughts settled on the chest, information immediately appeared.

[Survival Chest · Bronze Grade]: After opening, obtain a fixed title reward

"A fixed title reward?"

Guan Tong chose to open it.

[Title obtained: Order Keeper]

...Was it just a simple title?

There was no description for the title, nor did it provide any additional bonuses, which Guan Tong found strange.

The title "Order Keeper" automatically appeared in the title section of his panel. Guan Tong stared at it for a few moments, unable to make sense of it.

Just as he had done with Mind Power, he skipped it when he could not understand it.

He activated the second new function, the Ascension Shop.

A brand-new interface appeared before him. It was completely empty, containing only a search bar.

"Are there no items available for purchase? Or will they only appear if I search by name?"

Guan Tong looked at the lone search bar and tried entering something with his thoughts.

Books.

Once the input was complete, the shop screen automatically changed, and a black-covered book appeared.

[Wordless Book]: A book containing mysterious power

[Price: 100 Ascension Coins]

Guan Tong: "?"

He had merely searched for books because he liked reading. He had not expected to actually get a result.

And the price was exactly one hundred Ascension Coins.

"Was that a coincidence?"

Guan Tong tried searching for other things, but no matter what he searched, the result was always "No results."

Helplessly, he searched "books" again, and the same [Wordless Book] appeared.

"...Looks like this book and I were meant to be."

Guan Tong did not agonize over it and chose to buy it.

[Obtained: Wordless Book]

His one hundred Ascension Coins were reduced to zero. In their place, a black-covered book appeared out of thin air in Guan Tong's hands.

The book was not large, roughly A5-sized.

Its material was unknown, but it felt somewhat like kraft paper.

Guan Tong opened it and found that, just as its name suggested, it truly was a "Wordless Book." Every page was blank.

...Didn't it say it contained mysterious power? Where was it?

Guan Tong flipped through it again and again, but failed to trigger any mysterious power.

He sighed, took out a pen from the bedside drawer, and wanted to write his name on the first page.

It was a habit he had had since childhood. Whenever a book belonged to him, he would write his name in it.

However, just as he lowered the pen, he discovered that an inexplicable resistance suddenly appeared in the air, pushing against his movement and preventing the pen tip from touching the paper.

Though surprised, Guan Tong continued applying force, struggling against the resistance.

As the two forces contended, Guan Tong felt some kind of energy begin flowing within his body, gathering in his right hand.

Bolstered by that energy, Guan Tong broke through the invisible resistance, and the pen tip successfully touched the paper.

But just after he wrote the first dot of the first character in his name, "Guan," the energy in his body was instantly drained. The air resistance surged back, sending the pen flying from his hand!