49 Apocalypse Rules

Upon discovering that the webmaster of Ascender’s Home was selling hidden information related to the rule this time, numerous organizations and groups immediately made the purchase.

One hundred thousand Sublimation Coins was nothing to them. As long as they could get even a sliver of useful information in return, it was well worth it—even information with side effects like the Mind Lock from the eighth rule was worthwhile.

However, members of these organizations keenly noticed that this time, the webmaster’s post stated he would provide the information "after 12 hours," not the previous 24 hours.

Under the current rule, one of humanity’s senses would be randomly eliminated after 24 hours. Some clever people deduced that by then, people might be able to figure out the hidden information themselves from the phenomenon, at which point the webmaster’s intel would become worthless.

But regardless, they had to buy it now.

After completing the transaction, all that remained was to make preparations while waiting for the twelve hours to pass and receive the information.

Guan Tong wasn’t idle either. He had Shadow, a creation of his Psychic Power that could share senses. Based on his experience with the past nine rules, it would likely be useful without causing him to fail the challenge.

However, he still actively sought more methods, one channel being the terminal market.

He was currently sitting on a fortune of four million Sublimation Coins and needed to spend some of it to convert it into actual combat power or means of self-preservation. Otherwise, the coins sitting on his status panel were just a meaningless number.

After opening the market, he first discovered that the price of the tradable Communication Secret Scroll, which had a chance of dropping from killing Sound Hunters during the seventh rule, Silent Moment, had risen significantly again.

Previously, when he was handling matters at Yongzhou Base, the price of a Communication Secret Scroll on the market had already risen to around 80,000. Now, with the advent of the tenth rule, it had jumped another 50%, reaching the high price of around 120,000 to 130,000.

’It seems many people think that after their five senses are eliminated, this will be the only way to communicate with others.’

Guan Tong believed the core reason for the price hike was people’s fear of losing their five senses.

Many people online now believed that after all five senses were eliminated in five days, humanity would face an existential crisis. At that point, perhaps only by communicating with others on a mental level via the Communication Secret Scroll could they confirm their own existence and avoid going insane.

Guan Tong himself still had plenty of Communication Secret Scrolls. He had only used one of his ten bound scrolls to contact Chen Na. As for his three tradable ones, he had given one to Chen Na’s friend, Qing Jin, leaving him with two.

He was just considering whether to buy a few more to hoard, but when he checked the market again, the few that had been listed were already snatched up by others.

’Forget it. I’ll look for something else.’

Guan Tong tried searching with the keyword "five senses," but most of the results were minor, insignificant gadgets.

[Vision Enhancement Medicine]: Enhances unaided vision to 5.0 for 24 hours after consumption. Tradable.

[Price]: 1,500 Sublimation Coins

...

[Hearing Amplifier]: Enhances hearing to its maximum level for 30 minutes after use. This is a single-use item. Tradable.

[Price]: 3,000 Sublimation Coins

...

Guan Tong scanned the listings, though he didn’t have much hope of finding anything good.

After all, as soon as the rule was announced, hordes of traders from the major organizations must have searched for relevant items. Anything good would have been bought up long ago; it was unlikely that anything had slipped through the cracks.

And yet, even under these circumstances, Guan Tong found an item that caught his eye.

[Taste Masking Device]: When activated, the sense of taste for everyone within a 50-meter radius will be masked. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 24 hours. Tradable.

[Price]: 30,000 Sublimation Coins

’After using this device, people within its area of effect should be considered to have a ’disabled sense of taste.’ That should be able to counteract the rule’s elimination effect.’

Guan Tong knew why no one had bought this item. The tenth rule would eliminate one of the five senses anyway, so everyone was looking for items that could "preserve" or "restore" their senses, not another item that eliminated one.

But the key was the hidden "two negatives make a positive" rule. If the public knew about it, this item would have been snatched up in an instant!

Without a second thought, Guan Tong bought it.

’After I send the hidden information to the buyers, I’ll list this item on the market for several times the price. It’ll be bought in a heartbeat... This must be a classic case of profiting from information asymmetry.’

He bought the item and looked to see if there were any other similar deals to be had, but found nothing else.

However, the item gave him an idea: if someone possessed an ability to block a sense, it would be extremely useful for this rule.

...

「8:50 PM, Apocalypse Rules Strategy Research Room.」

Everyone was gathered in the conference room, waiting for the webmaster of Ascender’s Home to send the hidden information about the rule.

The Strategy Research Room had, of course, spent Sublimation Coins to purchase this information as well. However, learning from their last experience, everyone agreed they needed to be cautious in how they judged and used it.

With ten minutes to go until the webmaster was due to send the message, the members began to discuss amongst themselves.

"From what we’ve seen, the webmaster of this Ascender’s Home site has the ability to analyze the rules. The question is whether he can analyze them completely or just in part."

"Judging from what happened with the eighth rule, it’s possible he can only analyze them partially. It’s also possible he deliberately concealed the side effects."

"Speaking of which, does our database have any records of personnel with similar abilities? Anyone who can predict or analyze the rules?"

"None who can analyze the rules, no. But the records show a few individuals with divination abilities. The problem is their results are never clear—often just cryptic phrases—and the Psychic Power cost is extremely high, making them difficult to use."

"I know Soloma has a rather famous Divination Master called the ’Moon Key.’ I heard even their King went to consult her about something."

"From experience, the more powerful and abstract an ability, the greater its Psychic Power consumption. Logically, analyzing something as fundamental as the Apocalypse Rules should consume a terrifying amount of Psychic Power... I have no idea how that webmaster manages it."

"It would be great if this webmaster would cooperate with us. The uncontrolled spread of information on that site isn’t necessarily a good thing."

"The webmaster sent the message," the person refreshing the private messages announced. Everyone’s spirits lifted, and Gao Liangwei, who had been silent the whole time, also looked toward the large screen.

The webmaster’s private message was projected onto it. What they had bought for one hundred thousand Sublimation Coins was, once again, just a single, short sentence.

Webmaster: When the rule eliminates a certain sense, if the corresponding sense is already in a disabled state, it can be restored to perfect condition.

Everyone was astonished when they saw the message.

"There’s really hidden information like this..."

"Does this mean that if the sense of sight is randomly eliminated at 9 AM tomorrow, a blind person would actually regain their vision?"

"I see, it all makes sense! No wonder the webmaster sent the intel early this time. If we had waited until after the 24-hour mark, we could have pieced together this hidden rule ourselves based on reports from different locations!"

"If this information is accurate, then the preparations we need to make are..."

Everyone gradually realized the implication.

Even though Guan Tong hadn’t mentioned "self-harm" in his message, the intelligent people in the room quickly made the connection.

Gao Liangwei spoke up. "Search the database immediately. See if anyone possesses items or abilities that can disable a sense."

"Yes, Director."

The data analysts immediately got to work, while the other scholars and experts continued to discuss the new information.

"To take it to an extreme—and I mean an extreme case—disabling a sense through self-injury could be one option."

"Self-injury? Like gouging out your own eyes?"

"What are you saying? Of course not something so brutal! I mean doing it painlessly, through a surgical procedure!"

"What if it fails? Is the cost bearable? Unless we can cause a temporary disability through drugs or a minor procedure, something that would allow for natural recovery if countering the rule fails. I think that approach would be worth trying."

"Even if the information is correct, which of the five senses gets eliminated at 9 AM tomorrow is completely random. If we’re going to prepare by disabling them, we’d have to do all five, wouldn’t we?"

"Well..."

"The others might be achievable with drugs. But how do you prepare to disable the sense of touch in advance?"

Everyone turned to the medical expert in the conference room, who pondered for a moment before speaking. "We currently don’t know how broadly the rule defines ’touch.’ Is it just the basic sensation of the outer skin, or does it extend to mucous membranes and internal organs?

Without a clear definition, it’s difficult to find a specific medical solution. However, I’ve discussed this with a few colleagues. One possibility is that after losing their sense of touch, a person might enter a unique vegetative state—conscious but without sensation... If we had to try and simulate that, general anesthesia might be one way to attempt it."

"General anesthesia... That carries significant risks, doesn’t it?"

"Of course," the medical expert replied without hesitation. "Normally, general anesthesia requires numerous preliminary checks and a risk assessment. Furthermore, it requires a professional anesthesiologist to be present. Before the era of the Apocalypse Rules, our country only added a few thousand new anesthesiologists each year. Now..."

The room fell silent at his words. With such a scarcity of anesthesiologists, on top of limitations on drugs and equipment, it was clear that even if general anesthesia was effective, only a tiny minority of people could ever attempt it. It could never be implemented across all the shelters.

"The results are in," said the analyst searching the database. "We’ve found a total of forty-three records of potentially useful items or abilities. Among them is one key ability that has been previously verified."

"Oh? Put it on the main screen, let’s take a look," Gao Liangwei said.

"Yes, Director."

The analyst projected the information onto the main screen, and everyone turned to look.

The name of the key ability was Cognitive Displacement. Its possessor was a registered member of a shelter who had been a psychologist before the Apocalypse Rules.

The effect of this Cognitive Displacement ability was to temporarily alter another person’s cognitive perception. According to the record, this psychologist had once used the ability to save another member of their shelter.

That person had been under immense psychological stress and developed a strong somatic response in the form of severe tinnitus. Tormented by the ringing to the point of being unable to sleep, the individual wanted to end their life. But the psychologist learned of their plight and sought them out for a talk.

During their conversation, the psychologist used the Cognitive Displacement ability. Afterward, the person genuinely could no longer perceive the tinnitus. Although the effect lasted less than a day, that brief respite allowed their mental state to improve, and they gradually recovered.

According to the shelter’s summary report, this ability could affect physiological senses by temporarily altering the target’s cognitive perception.

"So, you’re saying this psychologist could use their ability to make a target’s brain ’believe it is deaf,’ thereby temporarily shutting down their auditory sense to counter the rule’s elimination?" someone asked after reading the report.

"We can’t rule out that possibility," Gao Liangwei said. "Notify the shelter immediately and have this person transferred here. Also, gather all other individuals who possess relevant abilities and items. We need to conduct experiments to verify their effectiveness."