The dead have passed, while those who survived must continue living.
Seventy-two hours after the first rule's effective time ended.
Countries around the world began publishing the number of people who had vanished due to the rules within their nations.
The countries that suffered the most severe casualties were those where the rules had descended during the deep night.
Due to insufficiently timely warnings, the disappearance rates in these countries almost all exceeded 90%.
The most extreme case was one country where the rough calculation showed a terrifying disappearance rate of 97%.
Effectively, this entire country could be considered vanished.
Countries in time zones experiencing daytime fared somewhat better, but still paid a heavy price.
For example, in Beixing Country, according to official rough estimates, the disappearance rate reached 27%.
Over one-quarter of the population had simply vanished.
Of course, this included many who actively sought disappearance.
Like those suffering from severe illnesses - departing in this manner might actually be a relief for them.
But regardless, the Doomsday Rules had inflicted tremendous damage upon all humanity.
Yet humans had almost no time to grieve or mourn.
Because only 12 days, or 288 hours, remained until the next rule would be announced.
No one knew what the second rule would be like - whether it would be more difficult or easier than the first, or whether failure would still mean death.
This pressure was enough to crush most normal people.
Therefore, for three days, the entire world had virtually ground to a halt.
Most industries stopped work, and students were essentially all out of school.
Authorities announced they would provide free food and cultural entertainment products.
While this was manageable for a few days, prolonged continuation would undoubtedly lead to complete societal collapse.
So by the fifth day, governments worldwide issued a joint declaration.
"We cannot yield to the Doomsday Rules, nor to the Fire Thief! We humans must defend our civilization and protect our way of life!"
Large-scale, sweeping social reforms were thus launched on a massive scale.
The sixth day.
Guan Tong sat in his study, the [Wordless Book] spread open on the desk.
Over these past few days, he had been repeating one thing: wait for Mind Power to recover, then consume it to continue writing his name. Wait for Mind Power to recover, then consume it to continue writing his name.
He had become somewhat stubborn, determined to write his name onto the page no matter what.
Now, he was seeing considerable progress.
Guan Tong looked at the characters on the page - currently the character "Guan" was complete, while for the character "Tong," only the left radical "eye" was written, with the right component "child" still unfinished.
This somewhat frustrated him, because the character "Tong" had many strokes and consumed more Mind Power.
He thought if his name were something like "Wang Yi" with only a few strokes total, he probably could have finished writing it two days ago.
...Although he didn't know what writing his name would accomplish, it gave him something to focus on.
"Buzz buzz buzz."
His phone vibrated on the desk. Guan Tong picked it up and saw the caller ID showed "Police Department."
Answering, a clear female voice came through: "Hello, is this Mr. Guan Tong?"
"That's me. May I ask who's calling?"
"I'm from a newly established data collection department within the Police Department."
"Data collection? Collecting what?"
"It's regarding Mind Power. Authorities are currently compiling data on surviving individuals' Mind Power levels to facilitate better research. Would Mr. Guan Tong be willing to share his specific Mind Power value? I need to record it."
Guan Tong frowned. Mind Power values were somewhat private information - was this kind of investigation really appropriate?
Seeming to sense his hesitation, the female voice continued: "Please rest assured, our data is completely confidential and won't be disclosed to unrelated individuals or organizations."
Guan Tong said: "I'm afraid that might not be convenient."
Although there was no current indication that revealing Mind Power values posed risks, Guan Tong tended to be cautious and preferred not to disclose it publicly.
"Alright, our collection isn't mandatory. However, I should mention that if Mr. Guan Tong's Mind Power exceeds 80 points, reporting it would make you eligible for special state support."
"Special support?"
"Yes. This is a newly implemented policy where authorities will select individuals with outstanding potential for training and support, helping them develop better to face challenges brought by the Doomsday Rules."
"Okay, I understand."
After hanging up, Guan Tong searched online.
Sure enough, many people reported receiving calls from local police departments asking to collect their Mind Power value data.
They also mentioned the targeted support program.
Many people expressed doubts about this.
Some with Mind Power below 80 points complained this was unfair treatment and that they should receive special support too, but these protests didn't gain much attention.
Under the shadow of the Doomsday Rules, many things and perspectives were rapidly changing.
Previous definitions of fairness and justice undoubtedly ranked lower in priority compared to the extinction crisis facing all humanity.
Guan Tong didn't pay too much attention.
His experience with passing the first Doomsday Rule taught him that sometimes focusing on too many things only disperses one's energy.
Like during the final 24 hours, he had simply played single-player games to pass the time, maintaining a calm state of mind.
Another example was Wenren Yizhi.
Because of Fang Qian, Guan Tong had learned about Wenren Yizhi's 72-hour Go marathon challenge.
He specifically checked yesterday and discovered that Wenren Yizhi had actually played Go continuously for 72 hours, passing the Doomsday Rule through live streaming watched by countless people.
This had made her famous beyond her original circles, attracting massive attention.
After learning this, while admiring her, Guan Tong also felt this demonstrated the power of calmness and focus at work.
Therefore, he stopped looking at more news and simply continued his daily routine of eating, sleeping, entertainment, recovering Mind Power, and writing characters.
This continued until the tenth day, when he finally completed the last stroke of the character "Tong."
"Done!"
As Guan Tong consumed his last bit of Mind Power to complete the final horizontal stroke, he let out a long sigh.
Looking at his name on the page, the two characters "Guan Tong" gave him an indescribable feeling.
As if... he could communicate with it telepathically.
Rustle rustle rustle!
Suddenly, the page with Guan Tong's name fluttered without any wind!
Startled, Guan Tong stood up and stepped back, thinking: "What's happening? Did writing my name trigger something?"
The next moment, something astonishing occurred.
The characters "Guan Tong" on the page actually began floating upward bit by bit, expanding, separating from the page to hover in mid-air.
Then, they gradually morphed, evolving toward an outline.
At first Guan Tong was merely surprised, but as he watched, a chill ran down his spine and a wave of horror surged through him.
He realized that these floating, expanding strokes separated from the page were actually forming the outline of a human figure!
Even more terrifying was that this human outline's height and build were identical to Guan Tong's own!
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