The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Unable to trace the game's origins, and with leaders from various countries having been influenced by psychological suggestion, the curiosity and investigation surrounding the game ultimately shifted to exploring its content.

The more people try to "discover the truth" from games, the more people will become immersed in that world and subtly influenced by the game.

Everything is going according to Moran's expectations.

In less than three years, almost everyone across the entire planet who has ever had internet access and a basic communication address has received a gaming headset and experienced the game.

Although not everyone is consistently active, they have gained a basic understanding of the game.

Those who didn't receive the gaming helmets are mostly people who are detached from technological society and the internet, so the impact of the future "apocalypse" on them will be negligible.

The game world is no longer the monotonous ruins it once was.

Everywhere you look, there are various shelters created by players by hand or materialized with cards. Player markets of all sizes are scattered throughout the game world, and even guilds dedicated to meditation and magical research have emerged.

In these three years, the "reborn" have made progress far beyond that of ordinary players, thanks to the sense of urgency and guidance brought by their "memories of their past lives." All of them have successfully stepped into the threshold of "low-level spellcasters," and some have even achieved the ability to cast spells in the present.

Although not many people know about it, it has sparked a secret craze for learning magic.

More players are starting to save money, prioritizing their precious gem coins for purchasing {magic cards} rather than simply food and tools.

Posts on the forum about "how to meditate effectively" and "an introduction to various magic systems" are popping up everywhere.

A spontaneous surge of curiosity, longing, and initial exploration of the supernatural power system of "magic" has quietly emerged among players.

Although it contains elements of utilitarianism, curiosity, bandwagon effect, and even superstition, it has indeed allowed millions of ordinary people to have early exposure to and begin to try to understand a power system that is completely different from the technological paradigm.

Their mental strength was also subtly but continuously trained and increased through repeated meditation attempts and the use of magic cards.

So far, the player base's acceptance of the magic system and their willingness to explore it have exceeded Moran's expectations.

Compared to the game's progress, the situation on Tech Ghost's side is far from optimistic.

For the past three years, Moran has used various methods to search for the location of the technological ghost.

It must be admitted that the technological ghosts have extremely sophisticated methods of concealment.

It has no physical form; its consciousness is scattered and parasitic in technological products, and it also travels with the network. It is almost impossible to accurately locate its core consciousness or main carrier in the vast global data flow.

However, the development progress and changes in decision-making logic of military AI projects, strategic early warning systems, and automated weapon platforms in various countries also indicate that the specter of technology is becoming increasingly active.

Many countries have announced a significant increase in the frequency and scope of their "fully autonomous defense AI" field tests, "based on security needs."

Some AI projects originally intended for civilian or scientific research have been quietly injected with military R&D funds and redirected to the fields of situational awareness or automated command.

Globally, discussions about "AI weapon ethics" and "risk of getting out of control" have been ongoing in academia and among the public, but there always seems to be a force guiding the discussion toward the idea that "AI must be given more autonomy in order to ensure absolute safety."

In certain border areas or disputed waters, incidents of "drone misjudgment" and "radar false alarms" occasionally occur. Although they do not cause actual conflicts, they repeatedly provoke tensions.

The technological specter is already testing the waters to gauge the reactions of various countries.

Moran uses divination magic every day to determine whether the technological ghost will take action, and in turn decides whether to use "Civilization Decay" to give players as much time as possible to adapt.

For several months in a row, the results of the divination gradually declined from "auspicious" to "slightly auspicious" to "neutral," and the situation gradually became more and more serious. When the divination finally revealed "inauspicious," she had a feeling that "it has finally come."

Moran no longer hesitated, channeling all his magic power into dragon power and unleashing a dragon language spell—Civilization Corruption—cursing all technological creations on Earth to instantly decay and disintegrate. At that moment, time on Earth seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second.

Immediately afterwards, all electronic devices, whether running or in standby mode, from children's electronic watches to supercomputers controlling nuclear missile launches, experienced their intricate silicon crystal structures, metal circuits, and logic gates being thrown into a strong acid that accelerated time by billions of times. From the most microscopic level, they began to relax, dissolve, and lose all their orderly structure.

The screen goes out, the indicator light remains dark, and the chip turns into a meaningless pile of silicon powder and metal slag.

The crisscrossing energy network, from high-voltage cables to household wires, has been completely "corroded," permanently losing its "ability" to transmit current.

All aircraft, whether civilian airliners, military fighters, drones, missiles, or even orbiting satellites, instantly "die" and turn into a pile of metal debris that falls from the sky due to inertia or gravity.

All creations that depend on modern technology decayed instantly.

The technological ghosts that parasitized technological products vanished completely before they could even make a ripple of struggle.

On the entire planet Earth, only life forms and natural materials remain unharmed.

Rural and remote areas, thanks to their more dispersed living patterns, were less affected, while technologically advanced cities became the hardest hit.

Countless people living in skyscrapers and those traveling by airplane fell from the sky. Just when everyone was in despair, a warmth appeared on the back of their hand, and the card system was activated on its own.

Their experiences with various terrifying apocalyptic scenarios in the game, such as hurricanes, floods, extreme cold, extreme heat, and earthquakes, have taught them which cards to use in such situations!

With the help of the card system, most people safely survived the crisis brought about by the early stages of civilization's decline and the disappearance of technological products.

After regaining their footing, people looked at the city ruins and exclaimed, "Isn't this just like a scene from a game?"

"Are we in a game? Or...?"

"Logout successful! I want to logout successfully!"

"The game is actually real!"

……

After the initial panic subsided, touching the card system mark on the back of his hand, hope returned.

"The card system has become a reality!"

"All my cards are here!"

"The cards in the card shop are still there, but the {magic cards} have all gone up in price!"

"The author of 'Rebirth After the Apocalypse' actually wrote something true!"

"Is that magic real?"

"If we can survive in the game, we can survive in the real apocalypse!"

……

The instinct for survival ultimately triumphed over fear and panic.

The memories from the game have become the most precious and direct guide for my actions at this moment. (End of Chapter)