After the initial shock, Guan Tong quickly calmed down.
He looked at the black silhouette standing before him. Although it matched his height and build, it was merely an outline.
It had no internal substance.
No face, no body.
It was practically like a shadow's edge.
Guan Tong stared at the black silhouette and had a thought about making it jump.
The next moment, the black silhouette actually jumped.
"......"
Guan Tong thought to himself that this wasn't so much a mental connection as it was like having an extra arm or leg that he could manipulate at will.
He had only written his name in the [Wordless Book], so why did this thing appear?
Could this be the mysterious power contained within the book?
If he had written someone else's name, would a silhouette of that person have appeared?
Guan Tong speculated, but without actual testing, he couldn't be certain.
He looked at the silhouette and said, "I'll call you 'Shadow'."
Its completely hollow outline truly resembled a shadow.
In the following time, Guan Tong continuously tested Shadow to see what it could do.
First, it could stand, sit, run, and jump, but it had no physical substance, which aligned perfectly with the name "Shadow" he had given it.
Lacking physical substance meant it couldn't interact with matter.
But Guan Tong didn't know if it could undergo further changes, or whether its form was related to Mind Power?
Then there was the duration.
Shadow only existed for less than five minutes before dissipating before Guan Tong's eyes.
Guan Tong noticed that on the page of the [Wordless Book], his name that had previously disappeared had reappeared.
"It seems when the name leaves the page, it becomes Shadow. When the time ends, Shadow dissipates and returns to the page, becoming the name again."
Guan Tong scratched his head. This ability had too many aspects he couldn't understand.
Moreover, the pages of this [Wordless Book] were seemingly endless - he could keep flipping through them continuously.
If he wrote something on every page, would similar changes occur?
Guan Tong really wanted to try immediately!
But unfortunately, his Mind Power was completely insufficient.
"Just writing my name alone took so many days. How long would it take to write something complex? Unless my Mind Power limit increases significantly to speed things up."
Guan Tong closed the book, a slow smile spreading across his face.
Being complex was fine too - this way he could study it slowly, which counted as a source of enjoyment.
...
Over the next five days, Guan Tong didn't write any new characters in the [Wordless Book].
The Mind Power he recovered was all used to activate Shadow for various experiments.
He tried opening the curtains and having Shadow block the front.
The result was that only the outline parts blocked sunlight, while the hollow parts couldn't block it.
He also tried to make Shadow deform, but it was completely impossible.
This was somewhat disappointing because he had thought if Shadow could transform, there would be many possibilities.
For example, making it turn into several black lines on white paper to serve as a chessboard.
Finally, Guan Tong thought of having Shadow wrap around himself, adding a layer of shadow to his body outline, creating a peculiar visual impact.
He thought if he went out like this, it would probably scare many people, so he decided against it.
While he was researching Shadow's various uses, most others were preparing for the arrival of the second Doomsday Rule.
Actually, before the rule arrived, no one knew what preparations to make.
But most people felt anxious, so during this period they stuffed their homes full of everything, whether useful or useless.
Even the Doomsday Rules countermeasure departments established by various governments were actively preparing.
Such as preparing various weapons, medicines, and so on.
But essentially, these preparations were no different from ordinary people stockpiling painkillers and alcohol at home - all behaviors driven by anxiety.
Others, like Guan Tong, spent much time researching items they had purchased from the Ascension Store.
They believed that only through rule-derived products could they counter the rules.
And the so-called "rule-derived products" naturally referred to items like the previous [Alertness Mint] and those obtained from the Ascension Store.
Beyond these, other items created by human society were unimportant.
This viewpoint had many supporters, with some even believing they should completely abandon modern societal life and embrace the rules and rule-derived products in a primitive state.
As the saying goes, in a large forest you'll find all kinds of birds - facing such powerful supernatural forces, more strange theories kept emerging.
It was in this situation that the second Doomsday Rule arrived as scheduled.
...
8:59.
At this moment, most survivors of the first Doomsday Rule around the world were silently waiting.
Waiting for the Fire Thief to appear and announce the second Doomsday Rule.
Guan Tong also waited silently at home.
He too wanted to know what the second Doomsday Rule would be.
At exactly nine o'clock, the Fire Thief's mechanical, icy voice sounded in everyone's minds as scheduled.
[The second Doomsday Rule has been released]
[Doomsday Rule Two: Extreme Marathon]
[Rule Content: Complete a full marathon challenge within ten days, with a time not exceeding 3 hours.]
[Success Reward: 100 Ascension Coins]
[Failure Penalty: Mind Power limit decay for those who fail to complete the challenge within the time limit]
[Note 1: Humans possess endurance surpassing most species. Please utilize this advantage and strive to pass]
[Note 2: Personal Terminal group function activated. Everyone will be randomly assigned to a group. Results will be ranked within groups. The top performer in each group can advance to the final ranking. The top three in the final ranking will receive additional rewards]
After the Fire Thief's voice faded, Guan Tong felt slightly surprised.
Compared to the rule content, he found the failure penalty more encouraging.
This time's failure penalty was Mind Power limit decay, not death.
Although Mind Power currently seemed very important and decay was a harsh punishment, compared to death, it was much gentler.
"However... the absurdity level of this second Doomsday Rule isn't inferior to the first one," Guan Tong sighed.
Unless they were long-distance running enthusiasts who regularly participated in marathons, for most ordinary people without running habits, training within ten days to complete a full 42-kilometer marathon in under 3 hours was practically impossible.
Additionally, accompanying the second Doomsday Rule, the Personal Terminal had activated a brand new group function.
Guan Tong didn't immediately check the new function. Instead, after opening his Personal Terminal, he examined the rule details.
He remembered that the first time, this was how he discovered the existence of Hidden Rules.
"Will it work this time?"
Guan Tong stared at the details of the second Doomsday Rule.
After a few seconds, the rule began to slowly pulse, with color particles reorganizing.
It actually worked!
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