'What's going on?'
Guan Tong watched the pen fly through the air and clatter to the ground, then his gaze returned to the book's page.
Using all his strength, he had only managed to write a single dot.
'…Is the whole mysterious power of this Wordless Book just to stop me from writing in it?'
Of course, Guan Tong knew it wasn't that simple.
It's just...
Hm?
Suddenly, he noticed a change had appeared on his personal panel.
[Name: Guan Tong]
[Nickname: Not Set]
[Title: Orderkeeper]
[Psychic Power: 1]
[Sublimation Coins: 0]
[Overall Bio-Information Evaluation: Normal]
'...How did my Psychic Power drop to 1?'
Guan Tong remembered very clearly that the number he saw before was 96.
He immediately realized a possibility.
'Was that mysterious energy surging through my body just now... Psychic Power?'
'Did writing that one stroke in the Wordless Book drain all of my Psychic Power?'
Guan Tong believed this was highly likely!
He took a deep breath, staring at the Psychic Power value on his personal panel.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes...
Ten minutes later, his Psychic Power changed from "1" to "2".
'It really does recover automatically!'
Guan Tong smiled.
'It seems my current Psychic Power cap is 96. I can spend it to write in the Wordless Book... I don't know what good writing in it will do, but I have to experiment!'
Guan Tong planned to, in the coming days, first write his own name in the Wordless Book, stroke by stroke.
'I wonder how I can raise my Psychic Power cap. Is it by clearing more of the Apocalypse Rules?'
'I remember the Fire Thief's voice said the second Apocalypse Rule would be announced in 15 days—half a month from now.'
He let out a long breath.
Guan Tong got out of bed, walked to the balcony, and gazed down at the street.
It was completely silent.
'Is everyone still catching up on sleep, or did most people not make it?'
'Maybe it was a combination of both. That would explain this deathly silence.'
BUZZ. BUZZ.
His phone, lying on the desk, suddenly vibrated.
Guan Tong walked over, picked it up, and glanced at it. It was a message from Fang Qian.
"Guan Tong, I'm sorry..."
The message had just been sent, which meant that Fang Qian had also passed the first Apocalypse Rule.
But whether she had endured on her own or used a Sober Mint Candy... Guan Tong had no way of knowing.
He quietly deleted Fang Qian's message, with no intention of replying.
But a message in the notification bar made him realize something.
The internet, which had been down, was restored.
'What has the world become after the first Apocalypse Rule?'
Guan Tong went to the computer in the study and sat down.
...
Liu Yuqiang opened his eyes and sat up from the recliner.
He had undoubtedly also survived the first Apocalypse Rule.
However, at this moment, his face showed little sign of happiness.
He picked up his phone. While he had been asleep, the Qingmei Association's group chat had exploded with messages.
"I passed!"
"The second rule is in half a month. Time is really tight."
"I think we need to start making preparations."
"Has everyone looked at their panels? What's your Psychic Power?"
"Mine is 11. What's this for?"
"I'm 15."
"How come my Psychic Power is only 9?"
Liu Yuqiang stopped reading and quietly opened his personal terminal.
[Name: Liu Yuqiang]
[Nickname: Not Set]
[Title: None]
[Psychic Power: 38]
[Sublimation Coins: 100]
[Overall Bio-Information Evaluation: Inferior]
'I actually have 38?'
Liu Yuqiang was surprised when he saw his Psychic Power value.
This was much higher than what the others in the group chat had posted.
'Even though I don't know what Psychic Power is used for, a higher number has to be a good thing, right?'
With that thought, Liu Yuqiang opened his storage.
There were two things inside.
[Sober Mint Candy] (1)
[Survival Treasure Chest - Bronze Level]
Liu Yuqiang saw the one remaining Sober Mint Candy and was silent for a moment.
He knew that, compared to some of the others in the Qingmei Association, the number of candies he'd managed to get wasn't considered a lot.
But still...
Liu Yuqiang shook his head, pushing the thought aside, and opened the treasure chest.
[Title Acquired: Disorder Breaker]
'Disorder Breaker?'
This strangely named title left Liu Yuqiang confused.
He didn't dwell on it and opened the Sublimation Store.
Looking at the interface that only had a search bar, he was reminded of a time when he had nothing.
Back then, he was just an ordinary delivery driver, his days filled with strenuous manual labor, his only companions a pair of worn-out gloves.
On a sudden whim, he typed the word "gloves" into the search bar.
He searched. A single result appeared.
[Giant Power Gloves]: A pair of gloves imbued with mysterious power
[Price: 100 Sublimation Coins]
"This..."
Looking at the grayish-white gloves, Liu Yuqiang felt an inexplicable urge.
'This is what I want.'
He selected 'Purchase'.
The pair of grayish-white gloves appeared in his hands, and he eagerly put them on.
A strange energy seemed to flow through his body, gathering in the gloves.
Instinctively, Liu Yuqiang slammed his fist on the table.
CRACK!
With a crisp sound, the solid wood tabletop actually cracked...
Liu Yuqiang's eyes widened.
He swung his fist down again, but this time the tabletop was completely unscathed.
'It was... that power...'
Liu Yuqiang realized this immediately and reopened his personal terminal.
[Name: Liu Yuqiang]
[Nickname: Not Set]
[Title: Disorder Breaker]
[Psychic Power: 0]
[Sublimation Coins: 0]
[Overall Bio-Information Evaluation: Inferior]
Just as he thought, his Psychic Power had become 0.
"Looks like these gloves need to consume Psychic Power to use their ability!" Liu Yuqiang grew excited.
"The higher my Psychic Power, the more power I can bring out of these gloves!"
'But why do some people have so much Psychic Power and others so little? There are even people in the group with single-digit amounts...'
Liu Yuqiang picked up his phone again and glanced at the unread group messages.
The members who had been constantly taking Sober Mint Candies instead of sleeping had already figured out the answer to his question.
"Everyone, I think there's a problem... The amount of our Psychic Power seems to be related to the number of candies we ate."
"I noticed that too! The more candies you eat, the less Psychic Power you have!"
"And the titles from the treasure chests are different too. I just got news, everyone who ate the candies has the title 'Disorder Breaker'. And the people who survived without eating them all have the title 'Orderkeeper'!"
"How could this happen?! This isn't fair!"
"Damn it, now we're in trouble. If our titles get out, won't everyone know we used the candies?"
"What's wrong with everyone? Don't forget that even the youngest among us in the Qingmei Association is over forty. If we didn't eat the candies, how many of us would have survived?"
"That's right! Surviving is the most important thing. So what if our Psychic Power is a little lower and our titles are different? What's there to be afraid of! As long as we brothers and sisters of the Qingmei Association stick together, we have nothing to fear!"