Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 21 New Functions of the Terminal
"I don't know the difference between excellent and average?"

Guan Tong thought she should go online later to see if the white paper on the rules of the apocalypse had been updated.

However, he still has things to study.

First, there are new features enabled on personal terminals.

There are two in total: [Social] and [Trading].

The name is easy to understand, just like the literal meaning, but upon closer inspection, a hidden meaning is revealed.

In the [Social] feature, it is allowed to display nicknames that are duplicated.

In other words, Guan Tong can be called "Shadow," and others can also be given the nickname "Shadow."

The key to distinguishing the differences lies in each person's unique "digital ID".

Guan Tong checked her ID and found it to be 771539268.

To add a friend, simply enter their numeric ID; this way, you won't add the wrong person.

In addition to adding friends, the [Social] function even has an option to add "rivals".

Guan Tong checked and found that if someone was added as a rival, the added person would also receive a notification. Once both parties are rivals, a notification would appear when their positions are within a certain distance.

Furthermore, as arch-rivals, the two cannot "team up".

Although Guan Tong didn't know what "teaming up" was for, he guessed it was something that would be used in the subsequent rules.

Another new feature, "Trading," has a "Market" option when opened.

Everyone can list tradable items on the market and set a price for sale.

Those who wish to purchase can do so using Ascension Coins.

However, there are currently no items listed on the market, and no one has listed anything yet.

Guan Tong looked at it and remembered that the Fire Thief's voice had said that the Ascension Shop had added more items to its shelves.

He turned off the market function and opened the Ascension Shop.

Sure enough, the interface changed.

Previously, the store contained nothing but a search bar; now, products have appeared.

However, there weren't many items. Guan Tong looked at the list and saw that it only had one page with just a few items on it.

[Basic Weapon Crate - Bronze Level]: Allows you to choose one melee weapon after use.
Price: 50 Ascension Coins

……

[Basic Medkit - Bronze Level]: Grants a random medical item upon use.
Price: 80 Ascension Coins

……

[Basic Food Box - Bronze Level]: Grants 1 unit of basic food upon use.
Price: 20 Ascension Coins

……

There were three items for sale in total, which Guan Tong glanced at and looked at quickly.

His first impression was summed up in two words: a gimmick.

Take the weapon crate as an example. Opening it allows you to choose a melee weapon, such as a dagger or machete.

Choosing a dagger from a box versus buying a small knife from the supermarket—the former's biggest advantages are portability and discreetness.

Because real-world man-made items cannot be stored in a personal terminal's storage compartment.

In other words, you can buy a box from the Ascendant Shop, open it to get a dagger, and store it in the storage box when you're not using it.

If any danger arises, one can instantly retrieve the dagger from the terminal's storage compartment with a thought, and deal with the danger.

—That's about all the advantages we have.

It's not bad, but would Guan Tong really spend 50 Ascension Coins to buy it? He wouldn't.

On the one hand, he was poor and couldn't afford to waste his sublime coins. On the other hand, he preferred to avoid getting himself into a dangerous situation rather than wielding cold weapons and engaging in hand-to-hand combat.

If he really had to buy one, he would prefer to buy a second medical kit.

If a multi-functional drug is prescribed, it might come in very handy sometime.

As for the third food box, it puzzled Guan Tong somewhat.

The first two each have their own purpose, so what's with this food box?
"If there are problems with the social environment and a great famine breaks out, it's okay to use Ascendant Coins to buy this food box as an emergency. Under normal circumstances, as long as there is still food, no one will buy it."

Everyone knows how hard it is to obtain a Shenghua coin.

The only known way to obtain it now is by successfully challenging the apocalyptic rules, making it extremely scarce.

Guan Tong believes that now that the [Trading] function is open, including the new additions to the Ascension Shop, the value of Ascension Coins will be terrifyingly high.

I bet those big shots in real life wouldn't even bat an eye if they were asked to exchange a pound of gold for a single Shenghua coin.

Unfortunately, it's impossible to change it even if you want to.

Even if someone wants to give away their Ascension Coins, it's not easy to do so!
Currently, there is no "gift" function in the terminal. If you want to get other people's Ascension Coins, you have to sell items to other people.

However, it seems that no one has any tradable items right now, at least no one is listing them on the market.

The [Sobering Peppermints] produced under the first apocalyptic rule are completely untradeable.

The [Gene Optimization Essence] that Guan Tong just opened from the box is tradable, but unless someone's brain-dead, no one would put such a precious item on the market.

Even if it were sold off, who could afford it? Selling it cheaply would be possible, but that would be incredibly foolish. Generally, someone that foolish wouldn't be able to acquire such a valuable item anyway.

"I'd better save my coins for now."

After Guan Tong looked at it, she closed the shop.

He doesn't plan to spend anything; there's no need for it at all.

For Guan Tong, the best option is to save up and wait for the newest and better items to be released.

Afterwards, Guan Tong, feeling satisfied, went to the study and turned on the computer.

He originally wanted to go online to check the updates to the white paper, but the internet was flooded with complaints from netizens.

"Holy crap! My mental energy has decreased by 15 points, and my maximum has been pushed to over 30!"

"I lost 7 points, it's awful..."

"I'm so dizzy! I was originally 80, barely getting a normal rating. Now it's dropped to 72, and I'm in the poor category again!"

"Why is it that the rate of decrease in mental strength varies among those who fail the challenge?"

"The white paper has been updated, and it seems to be related to the completion rate of the rules. The closer you are to successfully completing the challenge, the less the decay value will be."

"I'm so upset! The store has new items, but I don't have any coins and can't buy anything!"

The success rate of the previous groups shows that most people failed to complete the challenge.

This means that while you won't receive the Ascension Coin reward, your precious Mind Power cap will also decrease.

In Guan Tong's view, this was the most fatal flaw.

"As the rules progress, mental strength will likely become increasingly crucial. If you don't have enough, it will definitely become more and more difficult to pass the challenges."

Upon realizing this, Guan Tong knew that she could not be arrogant or complacent.

Don't get cocky just because you got a bottle of gene optimization serum and raised your upper limit by 20 points.

The cycle of relentlessly exploiting and restoring mental energy must continue every day.

Guan Tong logged onto the official website of the Post-Apocalyptic Rules and Countermeasures Research Lab to check the updates to the white paper.

Unexpectedly, a pop-up window appeared as soon as I entered the website.

[Notice: The Mind Power Development Academy is currently under construction. Those interested please call for more details.]

(End of this chapter)