Adding Words Attempt

Limei Hotel.

When Guan Tong arrived late at night, there was no one on duty in the lobby. The room cards for all vacant rooms were placed on the front desk, available for anyone to take.

He figured it made sense. In the Apocalypse Rules Era, unless it was a job they genuinely loved, most people weren't doing other kinds of work anymore.

Jobs like operating machinery on assembly lines to produce food or electronics were now handled by specialized machines. Most factories were now "dark factories," requiring no human hands to tighten screws.

Guan Tong casually grabbed a room card for room 306 and went upstairs to swipe his card and enter.

It was a standard king-sized room. He tossed his backpack onto a chair and lay down on the bed. Although it was late, he had no intention of sleeping due to the sudden danger he'd faced today.

"No, I need to find a way to gain some power to protect myself."

Guan Tong sat up, his expression grave.

Before, he'd always thought he didn't need to get involved in outside affairs and could just develop himself slowly.

But now, he realized some things would come looking for you even if you didn't want to get involved. If you had no means of self-protection, you could easily fall into a dangerous situation.

Although Guan Tong didn't know the purpose of the two people who came to his place today, nor could he confirm if it was an isolated incident, it had undoubtedly served as a wake-up call.

So, the key now was how to gain the power to protect himself?

Guan Tong got off the bed and walked to the small table in the room, sitting down to think.

The Ascension Shop did sell weapons, specifically the [Beginner Weapon Crate · Bronze Tier]. This crate allowed the user to choose one melee weapon, which could be summoned from the Storage Box at any time.

However, the melee weapons from this crate weren't divine blades. Against multiple enemies, they would still be ineffective.

In Guan Tong's opinion, this weapon could only serve as a backup.

"If I truly want powerful strength, I need to focus on Mind Power."

He remembered the [Mind Wins] hidden rule from the second Apocalypse Rule. Its description stated, "Mind Power is the source of all strength. Dig it up, use it, and you will be invincible."

With a thought, the [Wordless Book] appeared in his hand.

He flipped to the blank third page and thought that, based on his experience with the first two pages, if he wrote keywords like "weapon" on it, he might actually acquire a weapon.

However, opening another page would consume significantly more Mind Power.

Guan Tong had only discovered in the past few days that writing on the second page required more Mind Power than writing on the first.

If this was a progressive process, then writing on the third page would definitely consume more Mind Power than the second.

With his current Mind Power Cap, it was simply not enough.

What if he wrote on the first two pages again?

Guan Tong flipped back to the first page, where the characters "Guan Tong" were clearly written.

"What would happen if I added something to 'Pupil Lock'?"

This idea popped into his mind.

It was known that the result of the characters "关瞳" appearing was "Shadow." What if he added more characters?

Guan Tong found the shadow very convenient, but its drawback was that it lacked physical form.

"What if I wrote the characters 'Solidified' before 'Pupil Lock'?"

That would change the first page to "Solidified Guan Tong." Would that alter the nature of the shadow?

After a moment of thought, Guan Tong decided to give it a try.

Just as he dared to write "Ascension Coins" on the second page, some things would never be known if not attempted.

So, he picked up his pen and began adding characters.

The next day.

Guan Tong was catching up on sleep when a knock suddenly came from his door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

He opened his eyes and asked, "Who is it?"

A young male voice came from outside the door: "Hello, are you new here? I'm your neighbor in 305!"

Guan Tong asked again, "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just that everyone staying at Limei gathers in the lobby in the morning. It's kind of a habit. I thought you might be interested in checking it out."

Hearing this, Guan Tong opened the door. Standing there was a very young man wearing a T-shirt with an anime character on it. He had a few small freckles on his face and looked about the same age as Guan Tong, around eighteen or nineteen.

"Hello, new neighbor! My name is Xu Xiaotian. I saw the room card for 306 was missing at the front desk earlier, so I knew a new person had arrived." Xu Xiaotian grinned, "Welcome to Limei!"

"Hello, I'm Guan Tong."

"You look about my age. I'm a senior in high school this year. How about you?"

"Me too."

"Oh?! Which school are you at?"

"Yunhua First High School."

"Ah, a top student from First High School! I'm from Third High School, hehe. Come on, let's head to the lobby, everyone's down there."

Guan Tong went downstairs with Xu Xiaotian and asked on the way, "You said earlier that people living here hold a gathering every morning?"

"Yeah. But it's more like everyone just chatting and sharing experiences," Xu Xiaotian explained. "It's like a mutual aid society you see in some TV shows."

"I see."

"Mhm, after everyone shares, they encourage each other. I find it quite useful. Many people don't even want to apply for the free housing because of this gathering; they just keep living at the Limei Hotel."

Guan Tong nodded. He could understand that feeling.

The two reached the first-floor lobby and, just as Xu Xiaotian had said, dozens of people were gathered there, sitting in a circle.

Xu Xiaotian found a spot for Guan Tong to sit. At that moment, a middle-aged man was sharing his experience.

"I'm the only one left in my entire family. My parents didn't survive Rule One. I had a child who was just one year old, and they didn't make it either... My child's mother was overcome with grief and passed away in her sleep. I thought about just falling asleep and leaving too, but I still didn't want to die. Am I being too cowardly...?"

Everyone listened and offered words of comfort to the man.

"That's a terrifying experience. Thankfully, it's all in the past..."

"That's not cowardice, that's bravery!"

"Right, to face such misery and still muster the courage to keep living, that's true courage."

"Keep going. Your loved ones surely want you to live well. We do too. We all need to work together, hand in hand, and survive."

The warm comfort from the people made the middle-aged man unable to hold back tears. Many others teared up in empathy. Watching them, Guan Tong felt it was just like Xu Xiaotian had said – this was indeed a gathering similar to a mutual aid society.

Afterward, a few more people shared their experiences and insights. Finally, everyone sang a highly popular song, "Tomorrow Will Be Better," and the gathering concluded.

As people dispersed, some made plans to go out, while others returned to their rooms. Guan Tong also intended to go back to his room when he heard a slurping sound nearby.

He turned his head and saw Xu Xiaotian happily eating a box of instant noodles.

"Did... you give up on challenging Rule Three?" Guan Tong asked. There were still more than ten days left before the rule's effective period ended.

Xu Xiaotian paused for a moment, then chuckled, "Oh, right. Guan Tong, you don't know yet. This isn't instant noodles from outside; this is my Mind Power artifact. Look."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the instant noodles vanished, clearly put back into the storage box of his personal terminal.

Guan Tong was a bit bewildered now. Instant noodles could be a Mind Power artifact?