Free Web NovelChapter 118: Chapter 113: A Surge in Fame
After taking out more than a dozen thugs, Guan Tong had lost all desire to sleep.
He knew this sort of thing was bound to happen in the age of the Apocalypse Rules; it was only a matter of time.
In fact, it would probably happen even more often in the future.
It was like the "First Ascender Challenge." The Ascenders who died in that competition were merely eliminated, not truly killed.
But what if dying in the competition meant *really* dying?
Would Guan Tong have given up on fighting for the Holy Grail? No, he still would have gone.
So, since he was already mentally prepared, he didn’t feel much of anything even after using his Shadow to kill over a dozen people.
Guan Tong sat down at his desk and opened his computer. Plenty of people online were already discussing the Sound Hunter.
Many had already figured out its main trait: Invisibility.
Furthermore, some online theorized that it couldn’t be very large.
Some of the victims had been attacked inside shelters, but all the shelters had sealed their main gates shut after the new rule was announced.
So, with the gates undamaged, how did the Sound Hunter get inside to attack the person who made a sound?
Either it could teleport, ignoring spatial restrictions; it could phase through walls in addition to being invisible; or it was simply small enough to sneak in through places like ventilation ducts and drainpipes.
Most people preferred to believe the third option.
The first two were just too terrifying.
But as for the truth, no one could say for certain.
Even Guan Tong, who had witnessed the bearded man’s death at the hands of a Sound Hunter, could only confirm its Invisibility.
He had tried to split his Shadow into countless tiny tentacles to cover the surrounding area, hoping to physically touch the Sound Hunter, but he had failed.
This failure left him unable to determine if the Sound Hunter was simply too fast, or if it had "teleported" away after the kill.
There was a fundamental difference between the two possibilities.
If it was just fast, there was still a chance of ’chasing’ it. But if it simply teleported away, ignoring distance, then pursuit was impossible.
Guan Tong opened his website, Ascender’s Home.
In the "Intel" section, many people were posting threads related to the current rule.
"[Help] How do I make sure I don’t make any noise?"
"About the Sound Hunter, does anyone know how to survive an attack?"
"Official shelter announcement, posting for those outside to see."
Because this section had a "No one-line topic threads" rule, there were very few pointless, spammy posts. Most threads were serious discussions; the shitposts were generally confined to the "Chat" section.
Guan Tong browsed for a moment and found a particularly popular thread.
"I have a cheesy way to beat this rule, aren’t you jealous?"
Guan Tong saw the four words, "cheesy way to beat," and noted the thread already had several hundred replies. Curious, he clicked on it.
The poster’s ID was "I Am a Good Person." For some reason, the name seemed familiar to Guan Tong, but he didn’t dwell on it and started reading the post.
I Am a Good Person: "It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but my Psychic Power item is the ’Hypnosis App.’ As the name suggests, it can be used to hypnotize others or myself for a duration of 24 hours."
"Once successfully used, the subject enters a deep sleep. They won’t talk in their sleep or wake up suddenly. In other words, I can clear this rule by hypnotizing myself once every 24 hours and staying in a deep sleep."
Guan Tong was left speechless after reading the post.
He had to admit, this "I Am a Good Person" had a point. If he kept hypnotizing himself, he really could breeze through this rule in a state of deep sleep.
And the first reply to the thread reminded him why the poster’s name had seemed familiar.
"I Am a Good Person? That ID is so familiar. Isn’t that the legend who posted during the first rule about using edging to stay awake?"
"I think you’re right. I remember that thread got over a hundred thousand replies..." ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Liangzi is still alive?"
"Hey, watch your mouth up there. The fact that he can edge without ever finishing proves he has massive potential!"
"Liangzi? More like Liang God!"
"Hypnosis App? You live up to your name, Liang God. That item is perfect for you..."
"Bro, share the app! I want to hypnotize myself too!"
"You sure you want to hypnotize *yourself* there, buddy?"
"No, I’m serious. This guy’s item is really useful for the current rule. And since he can hypnotize others, I think he should use this opportunity to make a killing, don’t you think?"
"I agree with the user above. The rich and powerful will definitely be in need of this. Now’s your time to shine, Liang God. Any other time, you’d be lucky not to get beaten to death for using that thing on someone... But now? People will not only thank you, they’ll have to pay you handsomely!"
"Liang God, where are you? I want to find you so you can hypnotize me! I’m a total chatterbox. I usually talk so much in a day that my mouth gets dry and I have to drink liters of water. This new rule is going to be the death of me! I don’t think I can last a month!"
The thread was incredibly active. Some people were envious, some were begging to be hypnotized, and others were giving the OP advice on how to monetize his item.
After reading through the comments, Guan Tong agreed that this was a real opportunity for I Am a Good Person. However, actually going out to hypnotize other people was still risky.
I Am a Good Person replied in the thread himself: "Quite a few people have contacted me, offering Gold and Sublimation Coins in exchange for hypnosis. But after thinking it over, I’ve decided against it. The will of heaven is easier to predict than the hearts of men. I’m afraid of being set up in a honey trap or coerced by some shadowy organization... However, if an official government department needs my help, I’d be willing to assist once they’ve verified their identity."
As soon as he posted the reply, people flooded in, saying they were moved to tears.
"A man of great principle!"
"Now he’s truly earned the name Liang God."
"Liang God, I’m begging you, use your infinite hypnosis and put the whole world to sleep so we can all pass this rule!"
The replies grew increasingly absurd and off-topic, so Guan Tong stopped reading.
He thought for a moment, then posted a thread himself using the site admin account.
"Some Intel on the Sound Hunter"
The post contained the two points mentioned in the hidden rules.
One, although the Sound Hunter is extremely dangerous, it can be killed.
Two, killing it grants a Sublimation Coin reward and a chance to get a tradable Communication Secret Scroll.
Guan Tong decided to release this information because the hidden rule was similar to the information about the "Mother Transformer" during the Living Dead rule.
He hadn’t released that information at the time because he lacked a secure channel to do so. If he’d had one, he would have made it public.
The reasoning was simple: there was only one Mother Transformer per region. No matter how strong he was, Guan Tong couldn’t possibly eliminate the transformers in multiple regions all by himself.
By making the information public, the powerful individuals in other regions could hunt them down. They would get the rewards, and the survival rate for ordinary people would increase. It was a win-win.
This rule was no different. Even if Guan Tong planned to hunt Sound Hunters himself, there was clearly more than one. Therefore, he was willing to share the information and let other capable people make an attempt.
Besides, there was another benefit: it would further increase his influence as the site admin and the influence of the Ascender’s Home website itself.
He had already searched online and found that no one had yet mentioned that "killing a Sound Hunter has a chance to drop a Communication Secret Scroll." Whether no one else had discovered it, or someone had and the government had censored the information... his post would be the first to make it public.
After publishing the thread, Guan Tong watched as the number of replies exploded in real-time.
He refreshed the page once, and the reply count shot past several dozen. He refreshed again, and it broke a hundred. freёwebnoѵel.com
He clicked into the thread. The top comments were all expressing shock.
"It’s the Admin! Caught you!"
"Holy shit! The admin killed a Sound Hunter?!"
"??? How did the admin do it?!"
"Teach us, teach us, teach us, teach us!"
"A tradable Communication Secret Scroll can drop? Won’t the price be astronomical?"
"Is this info for real?!"
"But aren’t Sound Hunters invisible? How did you kill it, Admin? Seriously, please explain!"
There were a few skeptical replies, but not many. Most people believed the admin and wanted to know exactly how to kill a Sound Hunter.
Guan Tong saw their questions but couldn’t answer them.
Everyone assumed he knew about the drops from killing a Sound Hunter because he had actually done it.
In reality, he could only see the hidden rules; he hadn’t actually killed one. So for now, he had to remain silent and couldn’t offer any careless advice.
He had, however, underestimated just how viral the thread would become. In less than an hour, the reply count surpassed several thousand.
Many users also shared the thread on other social media platforms. This sparked massive discussion and drove a huge influx of new users to register on the Ascender’s Home website.
For a while, the name "Ascender’s Home" started trending on many social media platforms, and its fame skyrocketed.
This directly led to official internet monitoring departments discovering the site and quickly realizing it wasn’t registered with the authorities.
A series of investigations was quickly launched. Several cybersecurity experts attempted to penetrate its defenses, but all of them failed.
The news was swiftly reported up the chain of command, arriving at the Strategy Research Room at dawn and landing on Gao Liangwei’s desk.
Surprised, he immediately called an emergency meeting with the relevant experts after reading the report.
Gao Liangwei: (Take a look, everyone. We haven’t even officially begun our tests on the Sound Hunter, yet someone is already detailing what you get for killing one!)
An expert in charge of test preparations was also stunned: (This... can we really trust this forum post? It isn’t just made up, is it?)
(The relevant departments have reported that this ’Ascender’s Home’ website is unregistered, and its creator is unknown. Furthermore, the site appears to be using some kind of special security technology that we currently cannot bypass.)
(Can we try to contact this site’s administrator? If the post is true, then this person might know more about the Sound Hunter than we do and has figured out a way to kill it. That would be incredibly important.)
Gao Liangwei typed: (After the meeting, I’ll have someone try to make contact. I’ve also taken a look at the website. Some of its content is quite dangerous and, by regulation, shouldn’t be allowed to circulate.)
A network expert typed: (Our ’One-Way Mirror System,’ the AI we developed to automatically block keywords, seems to be ineffective on this website. It’s very strange. The system should be automatically scraping data from the entire web.)
(Are you saying your AI system can’t collect information from this site?)
(Yes, which is why it’s so strange. This AI system is currently the most advanced of its kind in the world... The website’s security technology is highly unusual. It was likely built using an item related to Psychic Power.)
Gao Liangwei was silent for a moment. (So we’re helpless against a website built with a Psychic Power item?)
The network expert replied: (Not unless we have someone with a similar item or ability. They might be able to crack it.)
(Then immediately search the ability and item registration databases for every major city! Find and report any personnel who possess this type of ability or item!)
