In the academy, inside a four-person dormitory room.
A student holding his phone said, "The academy sent a notice. Not all classes are suspended during this rule period, some classes are still on."
"Ah?" another boy who was playing a game said gloomily, "I thought everything was suspended."
"It's unlikely everything would be suspended. Those classes that don't require much talking don't need to stop."
"That's true too."
If classes were suspended every time a new rule was announced, students would probably spend half the year holed up in their dorms, which would be too little study time.
"You guys are pretty chatty," a boy lying in bed reading a novel looked up and said, "Aren't you afraid you might accidentally tell a lie and cause a rule failure?"
"We can't just not say a word either."
"Just think for a few seconds in your head before you speak each time, make sure it's okay before saying it."
"But this rule is quite interesting, you can use it to ask questions," the boy with 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. With this rule in place, not giving a direct affirmative answer to a question is equivalent to admitting it!"
After saying this, the boy went to ask the one playing the game, "Wu He, I ask you, have you ever done anything bad since you were little?"
The boy named Wu He rolled his eyes at him, "You're crazy."
"Don't pay attention to him."
"Come on, let's play. Otherwise, you ask me, no matter what the question, I absolutely won't stay silent!"
"Fine, then I'll ask you," Wang Xiang, who was reading the novel, looked up and asked, "Zhu Jun, have you ever stolen anything?"
Hearing this, the boy named Zhu Jun showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, hesitated for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, when I was little, I stole money from home to buy snacks."
"Good, I ask—"
"Hey, not like this, you ask me one, I ask you one back," Zhu Jun snatched the conversation, his eyes darting as he asked, "Wang Xiang, is your Mind Power Upper Limit over 160?"
As soon as this question came out, Wang Xiang's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. The other two people in the dormitory also stopped what they were doing and looked over simultaneously.
The specific numerical value of one's Mind Power Upper Limit is a secret for every Ascendant.
The reason is that there are some special abilities and items whose effectiveness being greatly diminished or not depends on the comparison between the user's and the target's Mind Power Upper Limits.
In other words, if others don't know your Mind Power Upper Limit, even if they have such an ability or item, they wouldn't dare use it on you recklessly.
If your Mind Power Upper Limit is much higher than theirs, and they use it on you and fail, you will sense it. At that point, conflict between both parties would undoubtedly be unavoidable.
So even among roommates in the academy, unless they have an exceptionally good relationship, they wouldn't reveal their specific Mind Power Upper Limit values to each other.
Now, Zhu Jun using something like this, leveraging the rule to ask a question, seemed a bit excessive in the eyes of the other three roommates.
Zhu Jun himself, however, was unaware, adding, "We agreed no silence, either admit or deny."
Wang Xiang answered with a cold face, "It's not over."
"Haha," Zhu Jun laughed triumphantly, "Then it seems my level is still a bit higher than yours."
"Zhu Jun, that's not cool," another roommate said, "Asking that kind of question."
"So what? The rules allow it."
"My turn now," Wang Xiang said.
"Still want to play? Then come on, let's see who quits first!" Zhu Jun retorted, unwilling to back down.
The other two roommates exchanged a glance, already sensing the friction and gunpowder brewing between the two.
Wang Xiang asked, "You said before that your parents disciplined you very strictly, and later after the Fire Thief appeared, they both died in the first Doomsday Rule. My question is, did you feel happy about your parents' death?"
Hearing this question, Zhu Jun instantly flew into a rage, "What did you say?!"
"What, you want to cover it up by getting angry?" Wang Xiang said, "Or do you simply not dare answer this question? Because you know that after you speak the answer, it will make us look at you with different eyes."
"……"
Zhu Jun clenched his fists, not saying a word.
The other two roommates were also a bit stunned, not expecting Wang Xiang to come up with such a vicious question.
The atmosphere in the room almost froze, with no one speaking for a full half minute.
Zhu Jun's silence almost already indicated that, deep down, he indeed felt happy about his parents' death.
But how could he possibly admit that? If he admitted it, how would the others in the dormitory view him later? Even if he gave an explanation saying his parents had always been harsh on him since childhood, that his family of origin was extremely poor, but "hoping your parents die" is undoubtedly still somewhat difficult for ordinary people to accept.
But if he denied it, he himself knew it would violate the rule.
Yet this prolonged silence at this moment had already let the others know his thoughts.
"I say, you two, that's enough. You're in the same dorm, is this necessary?" A roommate broke the silence, trying to smooth things over for them.
Hearing this, Wang Xiang said, "Forget it then, pretend I didn't ask."
Zhu Jun's face was livid. Words spoken are like water spilled; they can't be taken back.
Moreover, his silence had already told the other three roommates the answer.
"Wang Xiang, this isn't over!"
Zhu Jun threw down the harsh words fiercely and slammed the door as he left the dormitory.
Although Wang Xiang was the "winner," his expression wasn't good either at this moment, a faint flicker of regret flashing in his eyes.
If he could do it over, he wouldn't have impulsively asked such a question just to vent his anger. Now the conflict between roommates had escalated beyond repair, which was not a good thing.
The other two roommates were even more speechless, not expecting idle chat to blow up like this. Should they blame the rule announced by the Fire Thief, or should they blame Wang Xiang and Zhu Jun themselves?
The two exchanged another look, both seeing the thought in each other's minds: during this rule period, better not ask others random questions!
……
About two hours after the thirteenth rule was announced.
The Countermeasures Research Office updated the "Doomsday Rules White Paper."
People were already accustomed to this guide updating after each new rule announcement, so they downloaded or browsed it online immediately.
The official suggestions given for this rule were actually similar to what ordinary people thought. That is, to speak little or not at all, and also not to write or post anything.
Another important suggestion was that during the rule period, do not use the rule to ask others private questions. If someone asks you, you have no obligation to answer; it's best to remain silent, and secondly, use rejecting statements like "I don't want to say."
Furthermore, as soon as the Administrator of Ascendant Home posted in the forum, it spread like wildfire across the inter. Now many people were waiting for the official authorities to obtain the information and make it public.
Therefore, at the end of the content about this rule in the White Paper, it was also mentioned that regarding hidden information related to this rule, it would be updated and released after the authorities became aware of it.
At this moment, below the official White Paper update announcement, the comments were already filled with many voices of complaint.
"Sigh, if only it had been released a bit earlier, then I'd have a reason to refuse to answer my partner's tricky questions too, just say it's the official suggestion."
"Really? Are you sure your partner can accept you using the official suggestion as a shield?"
"Bloody lesson... Never use this rule to ask any questions... My girlfriend and I have already broken up because of this... Damn it!"
"Upstairs broke up that fast? The rule's only been out a few hours?"
"There are two idiots in our dorm who also fell out because of asking questions. Looks like they won't make up, probably one of them will apply for a room change."
"Anyone who uses this rule to ask about privacy has a hole in their brain, right? What's the difference between this and 'if you love me, give me your phone unlock password'?"
"Hard to bear, classic case of playing petty tricks and getting caught in your own trap."
"The authorities using this rule to interrogate prisoners might work, then they wouldn't wrongly accuse innocent people."
"No need. I remember someone from inside the official departments leaked online before, saying the relevant departments already had lie detection items in their hands long ago."
"Upstairs, did you forget the Mind Power upper-lower law? Those items have very poor effect on prisoners whose Mind Power is higher than the tester's!"
"Upstairs is the stupid one, right? Do you think the official departments with so many elites can't find one whose Mind Power exceeds the criminal's?"
In the shelter, Guan Tong used his computer to look at the comments under the official announcement. He thought to himself, in a few more months, it would be almost two full years since the world entered the Doomsday Rules era, and there were still many people who didn't learn their lesson, treating the rules so lightly.
Was it because they felt that as long as failure didn't mean death, they relaxed psychologically?
However, the failure consequence of this rule was never being able to tell the truth again, which in his view was extremely terrifying.
Because if you can't tell the truth, you can never show your true feelings again, almost cutting off the possibility of normal communication with others, turning yourself into an isolated island.
Putting away his phone, Guan Tong thought that in a few more hours, he would send part of the hidden rule content to the buyer.
He definitely wouldn't send the complete version; that would make him an accomplice of the Fire Thief, promoting mutual harm between those who trust each other, severely damaging trust between people.
His plan was to only send part of it.
That is, only send the first and third parts of the hidden rule: The two parties who establish the contract do not lie to each other, and after the rule ends, they receive double rewards; Both parties lie to each other, and after the rule ends, they all receive the rule failure punishment.
The second part, "One party lies and the other does not, the lying party can receive triple rewards," would be omitted and not sent.
If possible, he wanted to modify the second part, change it to "If one party lies, then the lying party fails by themselves." But with the rule in place, he couldn't modify it—because doing that would violate the rule, as text also cannot lie on a subjective level.
So he could only omit it and not send it.
This way, those who know the information, as long as they aren't crazy or stupid, would absolutely not lie without visible benefits.
Perhaps situations where one person lies and another tells the truth would still occur. But because rewards are only received after the rule ends, at least the news wouldn't spread before the rule period ends.
As for whether he should find someone to establish a contract with...
Guan Tong felt there was a certain risk for him in this.
Because once betrayed, what he would lose isn't just the reward, but he would also suffer the rule failure punishment.
It must be known that so far, he had passed all twelve previous rules without a single failure. And his goal was to clear all forty-nine rules.
Was it worth taking this kind of risk for a double reward?
Guan Tong felt it wasn't worth it.
His own Mind Power Upper Limit grew naturally very fast; there was no need to take risks.
Moreover, if he were to find someone to establish a contract with, his current list of candidates wasn't large. Shi Jingyi, who had shared life-and-death experiences and knew his identity, could count as one. Xu Xiaotian, who had always had a very good relationship, could also count as one.
The former was relatively reliable, but it wasn't convenient to meet now.
The latter... To be honest, it wasn't that Guan Tong didn't trust Xu Xiaotian, but from the events of the Yunhua kidnapping case, it was clear this kid was a bit naive.
Even if Guan Tong trusted that Xu Xiaotian wouldn't betray him subjectively, he didn't dare establish a contract with him. What if this kid, at some critical moment during the rule period, had a momentary lapse in judgment, accidentally told him a small lie, then everything would be ruined.
It was like playing a single-player game versus a multiplayer team game. In a single-player game, your win or loss depends on your own skill level; if you lose, you can only blame yourself for being less skilled.
In a multiplayer team game, it's possible that your own skills are good, but you get dragged down and lose because of a teammate's lack of skill or carelessness. How frustrating that feels is almost indescribable.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Guan Tong decided not to establish a Truth Oath with others during this rule period. He couldn't base whether he passed the rule or not on whether others would make mistakes.
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