Hidden Rule Three

Fasting Therapy...

Looking at the name of the third Apocalypse Rule, Guan Tong truly did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Not being allowed to eat for half a month was clearly heading towards starving people to death and causing organ failure from hunger. What exactly was it supposed to "treat"?

It reminded him of Rule One, Sleep Deprivation. One forbade sleep, while the other forbade food.

Guan Tong did not know whether going three days without sleep or going fifteen days without food, drinking only water, was more difficult. But judging from the rule penalties, the former was certainly more terrifying.

"The Failure Penalty for this Apocalypse Rule is the same as Rule Two: Mind Power decline."

"In other words, if someone does not plan to complete the challenge, they can ignore the rules from day one and eat and drink as they please."

Except...

Guan Tong's gaze fell on the rewards.

Besides the fixed reward increasing by fifty Ascension Coins, there was also a First Ascendant Challenge Invitation.

Although the Fire Thief had not explained the rules or rewards of the challenge, there was no doubt that this invitation was important.

Guan Tong definitely wanted it, but even without it, he would still strive to complete the challenge in order to keep his Mind Power from declining.

"Let's see what the Hidden Rules are..."

Just like the previous two times, Guan Tong opened the rule details on his Personal Terminal and stared at them.

Before long, the colored particles of the rules rearranged and flickered, forming entirely new content.

[Hidden Rules Three: Spend Money to Avoid Disaster]

[Hidden Rules Content: Spend Ascension Coins to purchase Basic Food Boxes. Consuming the food items inside the boxes can assist in completing the challenge.]

[Note: The quantities of goods sold in the Ascension Shop are limited. If you do not purchase them in time, they may sell out.]

Guan Tong shot to his feet as he read the Hidden Rules.

He had not expected that the [Basic Food Box] put up for sale in the Ascension Shop after Rule Two ended could actually be used in this third Apocalypse Rule.

But what surprised him even more was that the goods in the Ascension Shop were limited in quantity!

"I remember those boxes in the shop clearly didn't state how many were available... Could this be part of the Hidden Rules too?"

From a merchant's perspective, this discovery was absolutely crucial.

For an essential product, if people did not know it was limited, there was no difference between buying early or late. The price would not change anyway.

But if they knew it was limited, everyone would worry that buying too late meant missing out, so they would rush to buy it in advance.

So, if the public did not know the quantity was limited while only one person did, that person could stockpile a massive amount beforehand and hoard the goods for profit.

Once that limited item sold out, whoever held a large stock of it could undoubtedly make a fortune by reselling it.

"Wait, no." Guan Tong thought. "I remember that the several boxes listed in the shop can't be traded."

He could buy them, but he could not resell them to others.

That meant he could not hoard them and sell them at inflated prices.

Still, as long as they were limited, many people would inevitably fail to buy them.

Though he did not know the exact limit, Guan Tong knew very well that if the quantity were large, the Hidden Rules would not have specifically warned about it in a note.

"Suppose that Basic Food Box is limited to ten million units... As long as the public learns that they can endure the rules by eating the All-Effect Survival Tablets obtained from the boxes, those ten million boxes will sell out very quickly!"

No, I can't wait!

With the situation urgent, Guan Tong immediately opened the Ascension Shop.

He currently had 120 Ascension Coins. One hundred were circulating coins, while twenty were Binding Coins.

A [Basic Food Box] cost twenty coins each. With his savings, he could buy at most six.

"There's no need to buy six... The White Paper's tests said that one All-Effect Survival Tablet from a box can meet an entire day's energy needs."

Guan Tong pondered.

"The rules require fasting for fifteen days, and water is allowed throughout. Under those circumstances, normal people won't die from hunger after three to five days, much less High Mind Power Users... If I replenish enough energy for one full day, going without food for another five days will definitely be fine."

"By that calculation, I only need to buy three boxes to make it through the rule period for sure... To be safe, I'll buy four."

Guan Tong spent eighty Ascension Coins and purchased four [Basic Food Boxes].

He kept forty Ascension Coins. On one hand, he wanted to save some; on the other, since he knew the boxes were limited, he wanted to leave some for others as long as his own survival was assured.

If everyone spent all their coins on boxes, the boxes might sell out very quickly. Those who did not get even one box would likely be unable to pass the challenge.

Although failing this challenge would not result in death, Guan Tong still hoped that more people could make it through.

After all, before the irresistible Apocalypse Rules and the Fire Thief, all humanity could be considered a community bound by fate.

If humanity could not unite in the face of such a crisis, if they still schemed against and harmed one another, digging pits for each other until everyone fell in, then in the end they would likely all perish together.

After buying them, Guan Tong considered whether he should reveal that the boxes were limited. In the end, however, he decided against it.

Others would soon discover that Food Boxes could help with the challenge even without him announcing it.

But if he did not mention that the boxes were limited, almost no one would think of it before they sold out.

But if he made this information public online, wouldn't that only accelerate people's scramble for boxes?

As things stood, people didn't know the supply was limited, so they would still buy at a leisurely pace. Or they might save their coins until they were truly starving, then enter the Ascension Shop to make purchases.

But once they learned there was a limit, everyone would go on a buying spree on the very first day of the rules, terrified that if they bought too late, there would be nothing left.

After giving it some thought, Guan Tong ultimately decided not to disclose the news. He believed the disadvantages would outweigh the benefits; it was better to let nature take its course.

Meanwhile, online, discussions surrounding the third Apocalypse Rule had already stirred up enormous waves.

Many people's attention was not on the rule itself, but on the "First Ascendant Challenge Invitation" among the challenge rewards.

There were mainly two points of focus. One was "Ascendant," a term that seemed to be the Fire Thief's name for humanity—or, more precisely, for Mind Power Users.

Even before this, some High Mind Power Users had begun calling themselves "Ascendants," their words carrying a sense of superiority, as though they had "evolved faster than everyone else."

In order to avoid provoking conflicts between High Mind Power Users and low Mind Power Users as much as possible, the Official Department had always suppressed such voices and made no distinction in terminology.

But now that "Ascendant" had appeared in the Apocalypse Rules, even the Official Department could no longer suppress it. As soon as the rules were released, a massive number of people calling themselves "Ascendants" sprang up online, quickly forming a tide that could not be resisted.

The second point of focus was the challenge tournament.

People speculated about the tournament's content and purpose. Many believed it might be some kind of opportunity, and post after post declared that they would definitely clear this Rule Challenge, obtain an invitation, and compete.