41:02:15
"How are you feeling, Fang Qian?"
Afternoon. Guan Tong looked at Fang Qian sitting on the stool with dull eyes and asked.
"Ah... what?"
Having not slept for over 30 hours, Fang Qian's condition wasn't great, her reactions noticeably becoming somewhat sluggish.
Guan Tong himself was also very tired, but he could still endure.
Fang Qian rubbed her heavy eyelids: "Was I spacing out just now... Guan Tong, how much longer?"
"41 hours remaining."
"That long..." Fang Qian's nose tingled with the urge to cry.
She was extremely, extremely sleepy right now, really wanting to lie down and sleep.
But her survival instinct made her not dare to even close her eyes to rest, let alone lie down.
She was terrified that if she kept her eyes closed, she might accidentally doze off and never wake up again.
"Don't give up." Guan Tong encouraged, "Think about your parents, they're still holding on too."
"...Mm."
Fang Qian's parents were indeed still alive, having called three or four hours ago to confirm their daughter's safety.
"Go breathe some fresh air by the window." Guan Tong suggested.
Fang Qian nodded, stood up and walked to the window.
Compared to yesterday, it was much quieter outside now, with fewer loud noises.
Probably after listening for a full day and night, both ears and minds had been thoroughly tortured.
Even to stay awake, listening to loud music for too long would inevitably cause irritability and emotional agitation, which might be even worse for survival.
So today had become much quieter.
Fang Qian looked at the empty streets outside, struggling desperately against fatigue and sleepiness.
"Ring ring ring!"
Just then, her pocket phone suddenly vibrated. She pulled it out and saw it was her father calling.
She answered somewhat surprised: "Dad?"
"Qianqian, listen, I have something very important to tell you!" Her father's voice sounded extremely anxious over the phone.
"What is it?" Fang Qian asked nervously, "It's not Mom, is she..."
"Your mom's fine, it's about your safety! Listen, is your classmate with you right now? Can he hear me?"
"Him?" Fang Qian turned to look; Guan Tong was sitting on the living room stool reading a book, definitely couldn't hear from this distance.
"He can't hear... Should I go to him?"
"No!" Fang Qian's father said gravely, "Qianqian, listen carefully, the research institute has classified information! It's about a hidden piece of information regarding the Doomsday Rules!"
"What..."
"Don't speak, just listen. Anyone who finds someone and knocks them out can obtain an item called 'Alertness Mint'. Using that item grants 3 hours of absolute wakefulness!"
Fang Qian was momentarily stunned by this.
"Did you hear what I said? Qianqian, no matter who it is, just use something to knock them out—"
Suddenly an unfamiliar male voice interrupted, questioning Fang Qian's father.
"Dr. Fang, who are you talking to?"
"You've already violated confidentiality rules, stop immediately!"
"Qianqian! Remember what I said, use this method if you can't hold on anymore, understand? You must survi—"
"Stop immediately!"
"That's my phone! Give it back you brute..."
Beep beep beep...
The call was forcibly disconnected. Fang Qian froze for a few seconds then tried calling back, but the receiver only played the prompt "The number you dialed is powered off."
Was what Dad said... true?
Knock out... Alertness Mint... 3 hours absolute wakefulness...
"Fang Qian."
"Ah!"
Guan Tong's voice coming from behind suddenly startled her.
She stiffly turned around and saw Guan Tong looking at her with a somewhat strange expression.
"Are you okay?"
"N-no, I'm fine..." Fang Qian forced a smile onto her face, "It was my dad calling, he said... no, it's nothing..."
Guan Tong nodded, his gaze thoughtful.
Although anyone who hadn't slept for over thirty hours would definitely have different emotions than usual, Fang Qian showed a trace of peculiar nervousness.
Fang Qian looked at Guan Tong, remembering what her father said on the phone, and felt a sudden chill.
She knew what her father said was very likely true!
Because her parents had already joined the official expert committee specifically researching the Doomsday Rules.
And as a father, he wouldn't deceive his daughter about such a life-or-death matter...
No no no!
Fang Qian bit her lip and shook her head.
She knew she absolutely shouldn't have such thoughts, even if what her father said was correct?
Knocking someone out would kill that person!
I couldn't possibly be that kind of person, impossible...
Fang Qian felt she had never done anything bad since childhood, how could she hurt someone now?
Especially since Guan Tong had kindly let her come to his home to resist the rules together. She knew if she had stayed alone at home, she would probably have been defeated by the rules by now...
Fang Qian took several deep breaths to control her emotions.
Whether it was because her father's message was too shocking and terrifying, her originally heavy sleepiness had now been scared away, and she felt much clearer-headed.
"This is good..." Fang Qian murmured quietly.
As long as she could maintain her current state, she could definitely hold on until the end.
She absolutely didn't need to use the terrifying method her father mentioned on the phone.
Right, no need...
"Guan Tong, I'll find a new show to watch, want to join?" Fang Qian sat back on her stool; she needed to distract herself from the "Alertness Mint" matter.
"Sure, you choose."
Fang Qian found a thriller TV series she hadn't watched before.
The spine-chilling plot indeed helped maintain wakefulness.
And whether it was because they had stayed up too long and passed the fatigue point, both of their sleepiness had diminished somewhat.
They then watched the show for nearly ten hours straight.
During this time, besides watching the show, they only ate one meal but took several showers.
To enhance stimulation, they both took cold showers, which were indeed quite effective.
Many people online also posted saying they took cold showers periodically to stay awake.
But as time passed, the number of active people online was undoubtedly decreasing.
Many thread starters who posted hourly check-in updates were no longer updating, clearly having failed to hold on.
Moreover, the online atmosphere had become increasingly violent, with many people starting to organize to ignore the ban and go to hospitals to obtain drugs with wakefulness effects.
"Inter's down?"
Both their voices had become somewhat hoarse; not sleeping for so long was starting to show pathological effects.
Guan Tong took out his own phone to check; sure enough, it showed no work service.
Fang Qian guessed: "Did the maintenance people fall asleep..."
"Not necessarily." As soon as Guan Tong finished speaking, they heard loud commotion coming from downstairs.
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