49 Apocalypse Rules

As soon as he opened the Sublimation Store, Guan Tong immediately noticed that the [Basic Food Box - Bronze Level] item was gone.

’Did it sell out and get removed?’

A notice showing ten million units remaining had appeared three days ago. Now, just three days later, they were all sold out and removed... It was truly astonishing.

But considering the number of Ascenders worldwide, if just one percent—or even one-thousandth—of them had Sublimation Coins and some purchasing power, they could easily buy up all ten million boxes.

Guan Tong had previously thought that once he had a surplus of coins, he could just buy food boxes for his meals. Now, that seemed rather unrealistic.

However, he couldn’t say for sure, as he couldn’t rule out the possibility that delisted items might be restocked after a while.

He turned his attention to the new items added to the store after the latest rule. There were three in total.

[Multi-Terrain Marching Boots]: Suitable for moving across various complex terrains. Appearance is customizable.

[Price: 100 Sublimation Coins]

...

[Thermoregulating Technology Underwear - Basic Model]: Maintains a constant, comfortable body temperature for 6 hours when worn. 24-hour cooldown. Customizable appearance.

[Price: 120 Sublimation Coins]

...

[Genetic Optimization Liquid - Inferior]: Improves some genetic defects when consumed.

[Price: 150 Sublimation Coins]

...

After looking at the three new items, the one that surprised Guan Tong the most was the Genetic Optimization Liquid.

This [Genetic Optimization Liquid - Inferior] was undoubtedly the same type of product as the [Genetic Optimization Base Liquid] he had unboxed from the Glory Level box before.

It was just that one was a "base" liquid and the other was an "inferior" one. There must be a huge difference in their quality.

’If I hadn’t unboxed the base liquid, I definitely would have made buying this optimization liquid my top priority,’ Guan Tong thought. ’But since I’ve already consumed the base liquid, taking this inferior version probably won’t have much of an effect.’

Having reached his conclusion, he decisively gave up on the idea of buying it.

As for the other two items—the multi-terrain boots and the underwear that could maintain a constant body temperature for a set time—they were both excellent.

But Guan Tong didn’t feel he needed either item right now. Previously, he would have definitely saved his Sublimation Coins and only bought them when the need arose.

But the lesson from the food boxes made him wonder: Was every item available in limited quantities?

If every item was like the food boxes—not showing a limited quantity at first, only displaying the remaining amount once sales dropped below a certain threshold—that would put Guan Tong at a great disadvantage.

Unlike the many people who spent over ten hours a day online, Guan Tong spent most of his time developing his Psychic Power and resting.

The upside was that his emotional state was relatively stable and his daily routine was quite normal. The downside, however, was that he wasn’t quick to receive the latest news.

As a result, if a new item sold quickly enough to hit the threshold where its limited quantity was displayed, Guan Tong’s slow reception of news could put him in a bind—he might open the store only when he needed something, just to find it had already sold out.

Moreover, the store had no "limited stock alert" feature, and Guan Tong didn’t want to have to open his terminal every so often just to check.

After a moment of consideration, he decided to spend 120 Sublimation Coins on the more expensive item first: the [Thermoregulating Technology Underwear - Basic Model].

The 70 coins he had left weren’t enough to buy the 100-coin [Multi-Terrain Marching Boots]. However, since he could create his own Binding Coins, he could cover the 30-coin shortfall himself without needing to rely on rewards.

Guan Tong then closed his personal terminal and got up to find something to eat. After being hungry for three or four days, a little milk and a piece of chocolate weren’t going to be enough to fill his stomach.

...

On the parts of the internet Guan Tong rarely frequented, the end of the third Apocalypse Rule and the reveal of a mere three-day interval sparked another massive debate.

"The fourth rule is being released in three days?! Are you kidding me?!"

"Why so soon...? Wasn’t there a month-long break last time?"

"The Fire Thief has no intention of letting humanity rest! They’re just finding new ways to torture us!"

"The intervals can be as long as a month or as short as three days. It looks like there’s no pattern to them at all."

"What are you guys planning to buy from the new stuff in the store?"

"Is that even a question? The Genetic Optimization Liquid, of course!"

"I agree, that stuff is the most important. It can actually improve your genes!"

"I’m gonna wait and see what the Strategy Research Room’s experiments show..."

"I’m not waiting. By the time I decide I want it, it might be gone. This stuff is definitely going to be the hottest item!"

Someone started a purchasing poll, and over 95% of people chose the [Genetic Optimization Liquid]. Clearly, most people were on the same page.

The general consensus was that improving genetic defects was a long-term investment in one’s own body. The other two items, when it came down to it, were just external tools.

However, the discussion boards were soon flooded by a single post.

The post’s title was: "Why is my personal terminal bugged? Am I The Chosen One?!"

The OP wrote: "After the rule ended, I tried thinking ’personal terminal’ but it didn’t work. The interface won’t show up at all. Has this happened to anyone else? Is my terminal bugged? You think the Fire Thief is about to send me a huge compensation pack and I’ll become OP?"

The post immediately received a flood of replies.

"?????"

"The personal terminal can bug out? First time I’ve ever heard of that."

"OP, drop your numeric ID. I’ll try adding you as a friend and see what happens."

"Lurking. OP, if you get a compensation pack, give me a heads-up." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Don’t forget us when you’re famous, OP!!!"

The top replies were mostly confusion or people asking to leech off him. But a reply that appeared over a thousand posts in shocked many people.

"What are you even dreaming about, OP? My guess is your Psychic Power dropped to 0, so your personal terminal shut down automatically."

This reply got hundreds, even thousands of nested replies.

"Holy shit! For real?!"

"If your Psychic Power drops to 0, the personal terminal automatically shuts down?!"

"Need a reliable source on this! ASAP!!!"

"Fuck, don’t scare me like that! I failed the last challenge and my Psychic Power is already in the single digits. If it drops again, does that mean I won’t be able to open my terminal either?!"

Soon, that user’s reply sparked a heated debate across the entire web.

As more and more people who had failed the challenge came forward to report that they couldn’t open their terminals, the claim was finally confirmed by multiple sources.

Three hours later, the Apocalypse Rules Strategy Research Room issued an official statement confirming the claim was true, based on their own experiments.

Once a person’s Psychic Power drops to zero, their personal terminal will automatically shut down.

The moment this terrifying fact was verified, it immediately sent shockwaves across the entire world.

This was especially true for the Ascenders who had failed two challenges in a row, their Psychic Power already dwindled to almost nothing. They were plunged into a state of indescribable terror.

In this era of Apocalypse Rules, if you couldn’t use your personal terminal, didn’t that mean you would be abandoned and eliminated by the times?