Free Web NovelChapter 115: Chapter 110: Hidden Rule 7
"Holy shit!"
In a camp somewhere in the wilds of Yunhua City, a young man blurted out a classic curse after hearing the rules.
As soon as he shouted, everyone else in the camp turned to stare at him in unison, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
The man himself seemed to realize what he’d done and blurted out, "Hey, how could I—"
He quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, but it was already too late.
The others in the camp looked at each other, and several people frantically started making hand gestures.
The meaning of the gestures was obvious, spelling out a single word: Danger!
The rules clearly stated that speaking meant failing the challenge and also being attacked by a "Sound Hunter."
What was a Sound Hunter? How would it attack?
No one had any idea, but they knew one thing: it was definitely going to be extremely dangerous.
The camp’s leader, a middle-aged woman, pointed to a car parked at the edge of the camp, urgently signaling for the young man to get inside and hide.
By now, the young man realized he had already failed the challenge, so he stopped covering his mouth and asked the middle-aged woman, "Yu, you want me to get in the car?"
Yu nodded.
This woman, Yu, was the very same adapted individual from the Blood Plague rules. During that Rule Stage, a great deal of her blood had been drawn to separate the serum, but the officials had also given her a significant amount of Sublimation Coins as compensation.
After the Blood Plague rules ended, the Yunhua City authorities asked if she wanted to join an official department, but she declined, preferring to stay with her own camp members.
The young man immediately ran to the car, scrambled into the back seat, and locked the doors. The others in the camp watched their surroundings with fear and tension, on alert for the "Sound Hunter" mentioned in the rules.
They knew the rules didn’t make mistakes. If it said a Sound Hunter would attack after a sound was made, then it was bound to happen.
They just didn’t know what kind of entity the Sound Hunter was. Would it only attack the person who made the noise, or would it attack everyone within a certain range?
Realizing this, Yu gestured for everyone to spread out. Just then, the sound of shattering glass suddenly rang out.
"CRACK!"
Everyone whipped their heads toward the vehicle. The rear window had been destroyed by something unknown. Yu was the first to rush over and look inside.
The young man’s throat and neck had been completely pierced through. Blood gushed out as he lay on the back seat, his eyes wide open in death.
Yu clamped her hands over her mouth, forcing herself not to cry out.
The other camp members rushed over, also covering their mouths. Seeing the man’s gruesome death inside the car, they were all overcome with terror.
From beginning to end, none of them had seen a trace of the Sound Hunter, let alone how it had killed the man.
Overwhelmed by their companion’s death and immense fear, one person couldn’t stop the tears from flowing, but they kept their hands clamped tightly over their mouth, desperately preventing even the slightest sound from escaping.
Another man with a buzz cut was the first to calm down. He took out his phone, set the font to the largest size, and quickly typed a line for everyone to see:
Communicate with text. Don’t make a sound!
The others all nodded.
Ming, the boy who had previously been infected with the virus and saved by Yu’s serum, now typed on his phone:
The Communication Secret Scrolls from the store would also work. You don’t need to speak with those; you can talk with your thoughts!
The man with the buzz cut shook his head and typed on his phone: Everyone can only buy 10 of those. We can’t waste them.
Yu also typed on her phone: That’s right. This rule lasts for a whole month. Unless it’s an absolute last resort, we’ll use our phones to type or write to communicate.
Everyone in the camp agreed. Then, Yu found a clean piece of clothing, cut it into several strips with scissors, and distributed them to the group.
She typed on her phone to inform them: It’s best if we all tie our mouths shut, to prevent any subconscious or accidental speaking.
...
’Can’t speak...?’
On Mingdao Mountain, a chill went down Guan Tong’s spine as he heard the contents of this seventh rule.
At first glance, this rule didn’t seem as harsh as other survival-type rules, but in reality, it was even more nerve-wracking.
Especially since it would be in effect for a whole month. For a social creature like a human, not being able to speak for a month was absolute torture.
Even though Guan Tong lived alone on the mountain, he would still occasionally talk to himself or tease his black cat, Coal Ball, calling it for meals and such. It wasn’t as if he spent every day in complete silence.
Moreover, this rule didn’t just restrict speech; it even forbade crying and laughing. It was just as the remark stated: it was meant to discipline people into becoming living statues that could only breathe and think.
But...
What Guan Tong didn’t quite understand was that this rule’s reward included a Survival Treasure Chest, which meant it was a survival-type rule.
Typically, failing such rules meant death, but this time, the rules specified that the penalty for failure was "Psychic Power decay."
This implied the possibility of "failing the challenge, but surviving."
’...Is it related to that "Sound Hunter"?’
Guan Tong thought, ’After making a sound, you get attacked by a Sound Hunter. So if you can evade it, or kill it in return, you might achieve the outcome of failing the challenge but surviving.’
Guan Tong certainly had no intention of courting death to test this theory. Who knew what the hell a "Sound Hunter" even was? Besides, he didn’t want to fail the challenge and have his maximum Psychic Power decay.
According to information people had posted online before, the degree of Psychic Power decay after failing a challenge varied. Some people had even lost over ten points at once! For Guan Tong, it would take several months to earn back ten-plus points. He wouldn’t do something so foolish.
’First, let’s see what the hidden rule is.’
Guan Tong silently opened his personal terminal in his mind to check the rule details.
After a moment of concentration, the hidden rule combination appeared.
[Hidden Rule 7: A Risky Hunt for Secret Scrolls] freewebnøvel.coɱ
[Hidden Rule Content: During this rule, Sound Hunters can be destroyed. Eliminating one will grant bonus Sublimation Coins and a chance to drop a tradable "Communication Secret Scroll."]
[Remark: Preserve your Psychic Power from decay, or gain Sublimation Coins and Communication Secret Scrolls? That is the question. But if you decide on the latter—please first ensure you have the strength to eliminate a Sound Hunter.]
’Eliminating a Sound Hunter gives a chance to drop a tradable Communication Secret Scroll?’
Guan Tong was slightly startled when he saw the content of the hidden rule.
He knew that the Sublimation Store was currently selling a non-tradable version, limited to 10 per person at 20 Sublimation Coins each. But everyone knew the actual value of these things was far more than 20 Sublimation Coins; it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to add another zero to that price.
Even without this rule, a tool that could ignore distance, environment, and eavesdropping, allowing communication with anyone added as a terminal friend... an item like that would never be cheap.
This was especially true for those in high positions, who had a greater need for private conversations. If he could get his hands on some tradable Communication Secret Scrolls, he could definitely make a huge profit by reselling them.
However, the risks were also considerable.
The name of the hidden rule, "A Risky Hunt," revealed as much.
Guan Tong estimated that the "Sound Hunter" must be some kind of terrifying enemy, not one that was easily dealt with. If he blindly made a sound to lure one out just for the Sublimation Coins and tradable Communication Secret Scrolls, it would be a tragedy if he couldn’t defeat it.
But even if he was certain of the Sound Hunter’s threat level and had a way to deal with it, Guan Tong was still reluctant to do so.
It was just too difficult to raise his maximum Psychic Power. He had only managed to increase it by 4 points in the past month. To risk Psychic Power decay just for Sublimation Coins and Communication Secret Scrolls—the latter of which weren’t even a guaranteed drop, just a chance—felt like throwing away a watermelon to pick up a sesame seed.
’Unless it’s a Sound Hunter I didn’t summon myself.’ ƒгeewebnovёl.com
An idea sparked in Guan Tong’s mind. ’I wonder if the Living Dead I summon with my Corpse Whistle count as human under this rule?’
’If I summon a few Living Dead and have them roar, would that attract a Sound Hunter?’
Guan Tong was itching to try, but he didn’t act rashly.
If it failed, no big deal. But if it actually succeeded, who knew if the Sound Hunter would only attack the one who made the sound or attack everything within a certain range? If it was the latter, then acting without knowing the enemy’s nature would be an incredibly foolish move.
’Better play it safe for now.’
Guan Tong thought to himself, ’Information about the Sound Hunters will probably leak online later. It’s not too late to try after I’ve confirmed their attack patterns.’
Just then, the black cat, Coal Ball, came up to him and meowed.
"Meow."
Guan Tong looked at it and thought, ’You’re not human, so you can meow all you want. I can’t.’
He thought for a moment, then went back into his wooden cabin and took out a roll of electrical tape.
He then placed a layer of paper over his mouth and wrapped it with the tape. This would prevent a sentence from suddenly slipping out unconsciously.
After all, this rule lasted a whole month. He couldn’t guarantee he’d be on guard every single moment for a month. If he let his guard down at some point and said something, all his effort would be for nothing.
Besides, Guan Tong felt he actually had an advantage.
He lived alone on the mountain, which eliminated a major negative factor: the presence of other people.
It was different for those living in Gathering Points, shelters, or wilderness camps. In a group living environment, even with extreme caution, they might still subconsciously start a conversation and fail the challenge.
...
「At that very moment, in Yunhua City Shelter No. 915.」
Several Ascenders who had been randomly assigned here were gathered in a conference room, along with the staff responsible for managing the shelter.
A staff member was currently typing on a computer, the text projected onto a television screen.
Official notice has been issued. From the moment the rule takes effect, all personnel in the shelter are forbidden from acting together. People must be separated from one another. Eating together, watching TV together, and other similar activities are not allowed.
The residents all nodded nervously. At a time like this, forget doing things together; if possible, they’d want to live in single rooms where they couldn’t see anyone else. That would be safest.
Unfortunately, the shelter wasn’t that large. A four-person bedroom was already quite good.
Originally, the officials had planned to design the bedroom area based on a 6-8 person standard, but they abandoned the idea after discussion and changed it to the standard 4-person room.
The reason was that under the Apocalypse Rules, everyone was under immense psychological pressure. If they went with 8-person rooms, it would likely put even more stress on the residents. If a group were to snap and lose control, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The staff member typed a few more lines on the screen:
To prevent unconscious or involuntary speech, everyone will be required to wear a specially made ’anti-speech device.’ Various factories are currently expediting their research, development, and production. Before they are distributed, we will use cloth strips, pacifiers, and other substitutes.
Furthermore, to prevent talking in your sleep, everyone must go to bed with something gagging their mouth. After waking up, do not get up immediately. First, check the state of your mouth to ensure you won’t make any unconscious noises before getting up.
The residents were a bit speechless after reading this, but they understood the reasoning.
Especially the pacifiers. Though childish, it was true that you couldn’t really talk while sucking on one.
And since the birth rate was now practically zero, massive quantities of baby products were just piling up in warehouses. Now that there was finally a use for them, it would be a waste not to use them.
And so, in every major city, truckloads of pacifiers were immediately transported to the various shelters and Gathering Points to be distributed to the masses.
The sight of people sucking on pacifiers together was so ridiculous that no one dared to look at anyone else, afraid they might laugh out loud.
