Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 252 Don't use the rules to test

Inside a four-person dormitory room at the college.

A student holding a phone said, "The college issued a notice that this rule does not mean all classes will be suspended during this period; some classes will still be held."

"Huh?" another boy who was playing a game said dejectedly, "I thought it was all shut down."

"It's unlikely that all classes will be suspended. Those classes with less talking don't need to be suspended."

"That's true."

If classes are suspended every time a new rule is announced, students will probably have to spend half of their year in their dormitories, leaving them with very little time to study.

"You guys are quite talkative," the boy lying on the bed reading a novel said, looking up. "Aren't you afraid of accidentally lying and causing the rules to fail?"

"But we can't just stay silent."

"Just think about it in your head for a few seconds before you speak, and make sure it's okay before you speak."

"But this rule is quite interesting; you can use it to ask questions." The boy holding the phone chuckled and asked the one reading the novel, "Wang Xiang, answer me, is there a woman you have a crush on in the academy?"

"...I refuse to answer."

"So there is one. This rule exists: when faced with a problem, not directly acknowledging it is equivalent to admitting it!"

After the boy finished speaking, he went to ask the person playing the game, "Wu He, let me ask you, have you ever done anything bad since you were a child?"

The boy named Wu He rolled his eyes at him: "Are you crazy?"

"Ignore him."

"No way, let's play. Or you can ask me anything, I absolutely won't stay silent!"

"Okay, then let me ask you." Wang Xiang, who was reading a novel, looked up and asked, "Zhu Jun, have you ever stolen anything?"

Upon hearing this, the boy named Zhu Jun looked slightly embarrassed, hesitated for a moment, and nodded: "I have stolen money before. When I was a child, I stole money from my family to buy snacks."

"Okay, I'll ask—"

"Hey, you're being unreasonable. You ask me one question, and I'll ask you one too." Zhu Jun interrupted, his eyes darting around as he asked, "Wang Xiang, is your mental power limit over 160?"

Upon hearing this question, Wang Xiang's expression darkened. The other two in the dormitory also stopped what they were doing and looked over at him.

The exact value of the upper limit of mental power is a secret to each ascendant.

The reason is that the effectiveness of certain special abilities and items may be greatly reduced depending on the comparison of the upper limits of the user's and the user's mental power.

In other words, others don't know the upper limit of your mental power, so even if they have such an ability or tool, they wouldn't dare to use it on you rashly.

If your mental strength is significantly higher than his, and he fails to use it on you, you will notice. In that case, conflict between the two will undoubtedly be inevitable.

Therefore, even roommates in the same dormitory in the college will not reveal the specific maximum value of their mental power to each other unless they have a particularly good relationship.

Now, Zhu Jun is using this matter to raise questions by taking advantage of the rules, which seems a bit excessive to the other three roommates.

Zhu Jun, oblivious to his own ignorance, added, "We agreed not to remain silent; you either admit it or you deny it."

Wang Xiang replied coldly, "No, it didn't exceed that."

"Haha." Zhu Jun laughed smugly, "Then it seems my skill level is still a bit higher than yours."

“Zhu Jun, this is so pointless,” another roommate said. “You actually asked such a question.”

"So what? It's allowed by the rules."

"It's my turn now," Wang Xiang said.

"Want to keep playing? Then let's see who quits first!" Zhu Jun retorted, not to be outdone.

The other two roommates exchanged glances, already sensing the tension between the two.

Wang Xiang asked, "You previously mentioned that your parents disciplined you very strictly, and after the Firebringers appeared, they both died in the first rule of the apocalypse. My question is, are you happy about your parents' deaths?"

Zhu Jun flew into a rage upon hearing this question: "What did you say?!"

"What, are you trying to cover this up by getting angry?" Wang Xiang said. "Or are you simply too afraid to answer this question? Because you know that if you give the answer, we'll look at you strangely."

"..."

Zhu Jun clenched his fists and remained silent.

The other two roommates were also a bit stunned, not expecting Wang Xiang to come up with such a tough question.

The atmosphere in the room was almost frozen, and no one spoke for half a minute.

Zhu Jun's silence almost certainly indicates that he was actually happy about his parents' deaths.

But how could he possibly admit that? If he did, what would his roommates think of him? Even if he explained that his parents had always been harsh on him since childhood and that his family background was terrible, the idea of ​​"wanting his parents to die" would still be difficult for ordinary people to accept.

But he knew that denying it would violate the rules.

But at this moment, his long silence had already revealed his thoughts to the others.

"I told you two that's enough. You're all in the same dorm, is it really necessary?" The roommate broke the silence and tried to smooth things over.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xiang said, "Never mind then, forget I asked."

Zhu Jun's face was ashen; once words were spoken, they could not be taken back.

Moreover, his silence had already given the other three roommates the answer.

"Wang Xiang, this isn't over!" Zhu Jun said fiercely, slamming the door as he left the dormitory.

Although Wang Xiang was the "winner," his expression was not good at this moment, and a hint of regret flashed in his eyes.

If he could do it all over again, he wouldn't impulsively ask such a question just to vent his anger. This has caused an uncontrollable conflict between his roommates, which is definitely not a good thing.

The other two roommates were speechless, never expecting a casual chat to escalate like this. Should this be blamed on the rules set by the Fire Thief, or on Wang Xiang and Zhu Jun themselves?
The two exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's thoughts: During this rule period, it's best not to ask others any questions!
……

About two hours after Rule 13 was published.

The Countermeasures Research Office has updated the "Doomsday Rules White Paper".

People are used to this strategy guide being updated every time a new rule is released, so they download or browse it online as soon as possible.

The official advice regarding this rule is actually quite similar to what most people think: speak less or not at all, and don't write or publish anything.

Another important piece of advice is to refrain from using the rules to ask others private questions during the rule period. If someone asks you, you have no obligation to answer; it's best to remain silent, or at the very least, use a statement of refusal such as "I don't want to talk about it."

Furthermore, once the administrator of the Ascendant's Home website posted on the forum, it became widely known online. Now many people are waiting for the official information to be released.

Therefore, the white paper also mentions at the end of the rules that any hidden information related to these rules will be updated and released after the official team becomes aware of it.

At this point, many complaints have appeared in the comments section below the official white paper update.

"Sigh, it would have been better if they had released it earlier. That way, I would have had a reason to refuse to answer my partner's tricky questions. I could have just said that it was an official suggestion."

"Really? Are you sure your partner can accept you using the official suggestion as a shield?"

"A lesson learned the hard way... Never use this rule to ask any questions... My girlfriend and I broke up because of it... Damn it!"

"They're distributing the food upstairs so quickly? The rules were only released a few hours ago!"

"Two of my roommates have fallen out over asking questions, and it looks like they're not going to make up. I bet one of them will apply to change dorms."

"Are people who use this rule to ask about privacy out of their minds? What's the difference between this and 'If you love me, give me your phone unlock password'?"

"It's tough; he got himself into trouble by playing petty tricks."

"It would be good for the authorities to use this rule to interrogate criminals, so that they won't wrongly accuse innocent people."

"There's no need for that. I remember someone from within the government once leaked online that the relevant departments already had lie detectors."

"Upstairs, have you forgotten the hierarchy of mental power? This kind of tool is very ineffective against prisoners whose mental power is higher than the test subject's!"

"The person upstairs is the stupid one. Do you think that with so many elites in the official departments, they can't find one whose mental strength surpasses that of a criminal?"

Inside the shelter, Guan Tong used his computer to read the comments under the official posts. He thought to himself that in a few months, it would be two years since the world entered the era of apocalyptic rules, and yet so many people still hadn't learned their lesson and treated the rules so lightly.

Is it because you feel that as long as you won't die from failure, you become complacent on a psychological level?
However, the consequence of failing this rule was that one could never tell the truth, which he considered extremely terrible.

Because they cannot speak the truth, they can no longer express their true feelings, almost cutting off the possibility of normal communication with others and turning themselves into an isolated island.

Putting away his phone, Guan Tong thought that in a few hours he would send part of the hidden rules to the buyer.

He certainly wouldn't send it in its entirety, as that would make him an accomplice to the fire-stealers, encouraging those who trust each other to harm one another, and severely damaging trust between people.

His plan was to only issue a portion of the money.

That is, only the first and third parts of the hidden rules are issued: If both parties to the contract do not lie to each other, they will receive double the reward after the rules expire; if both parties lie to each other, they will both be punished for rule failure after the rules expire.

The second part, "If one party lies and the other doesn't, the lying party will receive triple the reward," will be hidden and not displayed.

If he could, he would like to modify the second part to "If one party lies, the lying party fails." But there are rules in place, so he cannot modify it—because doing so would violate the rules, since words cannot lie on a subjective level either.

Therefore, he could only keep it hidden.

In this way, anyone who knows the information, unless they are crazy or stupid, will never lie without a visible benefit.

There might be situations where one person lies and the other tells the truth. But since the reward is only given after the rules end, at least the news won't spread before the rules expire.

As for whether or not to find someone to establish a contract...

Guan Tong felt that this posed a certain risk to her.

Because once betrayed, you lose not only the reward, but also the punishment for failing the rules.

Keep in mind that so far, he has passed all twelve rules without a single failure. His goal is to pass all forty-nine rules.

Is it worth taking this risk for double the reward?
Guan Tong felt it wasn't worth it.

His own mental strength naturally increases very quickly, so there's no need to take any risks.

Moreover, if he were to seek someone to establish a contract, there aren't many suitable candidates. Shi Jingyi, with whom he has a life-or-death bond and who knows his identity, could be considered one, as could Xu Xiaotian, with whom he has always had a good relationship.

The former person is more reliable, but it's inconvenient to meet them right now.

The latter... to be honest, it's not that Guan Tong doesn't trust Xu Xiaotian, but rather that she could tell from the Yunhua kidnapping case that this kid is a bit simple-minded.

Even if Guan Tong trusted Xu Xiaotian and believed he wouldn't intentionally betray her, she wouldn't dare form a contract with him. What if this kid accidentally lost his mind at some crucial moment during the rule period and unintentionally told her a small lie? Then everything would be over.

It's like playing a single-player game versus a multiplayer team game. In a single-player game, your victory or defeat depends on your skill level; if you lose, you can only blame yourself for being less skilled than others.

In multiplayer team games, you might be skilled, but your teammates' lack of skill or carelessness could drag you down and cause you to lose. The frustration you feel in such situations is indescribable.

Therefore, after careful consideration, Guan Tong decided not to establish any True Word Contracts with others during this period. She couldn't rely on others making mistakes to determine whether she would pass the rules.

(End of this chapter)