49 Apocalypse Rules

After Guan Tong was sucked into the burning black hole, his vision went completely black, his body feeling as if it were suspended in midair.

After about seven or eight seconds, his vision returned. Guan Tong was surprised to find he was floating high in the sky, and below him was a giant island that looked to be teeming with life.

At the same time, he also noticed many other figures floating in the air just like him. They had to be the other participating Ascenders.

However, as far as he could see, everyone’s body was shrouded in a layer of gray mist, obscuring their faces and figures.

But very few stood alone like Guan Tong; most of the other figures were gathered in groups of three to five, clearly teammates participating together.

[This is the competition venue for the first Ascender Challenge: Holy Grail Island.]

The Fire Thief’s voice then resounded in every participant’s mind.

[The rules of the Challenge are as follows:

All Ascenders will have their appearances blurred before being randomly deployed to locations on the island to compete in teams.

For every opponent defeated, the victor will receive 1 point and seize all of the opponent’s accumulated points. Defeated Ascenders will not die but will be immediately eliminated.

During the competition, all participants will receive a [Temporary Backpack]. Items that randomly spawn on the island can be placed in this backpack. Utilizing these items properly will significantly increase your survival rate.

The competition will last for 24 hours. During this period, the island’s safe zone will shrink every 2 hours. Any Ascender outside the safe zone will be eliminated immediately.

After 24 hours, all surviving teams will be ranked according to their total team points. The team with the highest total score will win the first prize. The teams with the second and third highest scores will receive the second and third prizes, respectively. Teams ranked fourth through tenth will receive a fourth prize. Teams outside the top ten will receive no reward.

You now have five minutes to prepare. Random deployment will begin in five minutes.]

After hearing the rules, Guan Tong immediately understood that this challenge was purely a team-based competition.

’Take out someone from another team for one point, and you also get all their accumulated points. Then, after twenty-four hours, all the surviving teams are ranked by their total score.’

’Looks like a one-man team like me is at a huge disadvantage.’

’Since the final ranking is based on the total team score, for me to rank high, I’ll have to earn more points by myself than an entire five-man team put together.’

’That’s definitely going to be a challenge.’

As Guan Tong was thinking, an idea suddenly struck him.

’The Fire Thief just explained the competition rules... I wonder if this challenge has any hidden rules?’

He opened his terminal and selected the option to view the challenge rules.

After he focused his gaze for a moment, the text of the rules actually changed!

Guan Tong’s breathing quickened slightly as he carefully read the newly appeared hidden rules.

[Hidden Rule: The Lost Holy Grail]

[Hidden Rule Content: Legend tells of a Holy Grail hidden within a secret realm on Holy Grail Island. The team that finds and acquires it is guaranteed to receive an exceptionally generous reward.]

[Note: Once the Holy Grail is acquired by a team and held continuously for 30 minutes, ownership of the Holy Grail will be permanently granted to that team, and the Challenge will end immediately.]

’The Holy Grail!’

After reading the hidden rules, Guan Tong’s breathing grew even more rapid.

Without a doubt, that "exceptionally generous reward" was immensely appealing to him.

’And it’s possible only I can see this hidden rule, which gives me a massive advantage over the other teams.’

’I have to find the Holy Grail!’

Guan Tong was determined. This was an incredibly rare opportunity, and there was no way he would let it slip by.

[Time is up. Deployment beginning.]

The instant the Fire Thief’s voice faded, the countless figures in the sky began to plummet!

Countless Ascenders were randomly deployed all over the island. Who knew how large the island truly was, to be able to accommodate every participant from across the globe.

After Guan Tong landed, a group of five people landed not far from him.

They were less than ten meters apart. Guan Tong spotted them, and they spotted him.

Due to the blurring of their appearances, members of different teams couldn’t make out each other’s faces. But the joy radiating from these figures’ hazy expressions was impossible to conceal.

One of them said excitedly, "What great luck! We ran into a straggler right after landing!"

Without a word, Guan Tong raised his Silver Hunter and fired a No. 3 high-explosive round at them.

BOOM!

[Points +5]

Guan Tong: "..."

He was stunned for a moment, not expecting that an entire five-man squad would actually be wiped out by a single No. 3 round from him.

’Looks like I’m the one with the good luck... running into a weak team right off the bat.’

That said, Guan Tong knew that at this stage, there probably weren’t many Ascenders who could take a direct hit from a No. 3 round. Forget the No. 3 round; even a No. 2 slug round, or a No. 1 Scatter Shot, weren’t easy to defend against.

After dealing with the five of them, he immediately surveyed his surroundings.

He had been randomly deployed on a hillside with the sea at his back; it seemed he was on the edge of the island.

This meant he had to move inland as soon as possible. The safe zone shrank every two hours, and he didn’t want to get eliminated for being caught outside of it. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

But he couldn’t just pick a direction at random.

’First, I need to figure out where the Holy Grail is.’

Trying to find the Holy Grail on such a massive island without any clues would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.