Episode 2

"Game Update Announcement!"

"The new version Earth 4.1 will not undergo system maintenance and will begin updating at 12:00 am on May 1st. The main contents and adjustments of this update are as follows:

"1. Fixed the bug where some players would not die from falling from a high place. This is now set to be mandatory: without any protective measures, falling from a height of 18 meters or more will result in death."

"2. Fixed the bug where some players would die from a small fall. This is now set to be mandatory: falling from a height below 18 meters will not result in death."

"3. Added new rule tasks with rewards. After completing daily rule tasks, players will receive certain rewards."

"4. Added the monthly rule "Calm Mind, Cool Nature": if a player imagines a ghost in their mind for more than three seconds, they will die instantly. This rule will be removed after two months."

"5. Added the gameplay of "Skill Drops."

"When a player dies, a skill fragment will drop beside their body. Any player can pick up these skill fragments, and when five identical fragments are collected, they will form a complete skill."

"The Snow Sea Project team wishes all players a pleasant game experience in version 4.1."

"P.S. Next update preview: the project team has decided to add the element of "life" into the monthly rule. Please stay tuned, players."

At the moment the voice sounded.

The global population began to decrease rapidly.

Ordinary people usually do not think of ghosts if they have not seen any relevant hints.

These hints include----

Hints from film and television works, folk stories, self-implied hints from walking alone at night, strong hints from related keywords, and unintentional actions in dreams at night.

Simply put.

If you imagine ghosts in your mind, you will die.

It's straightforward.

As soon as the announcement was made for the game, almost everyone's minds subconsciously conjured up images of ghosts and supernatural horrors.

Imagination has always been a point of pride for humans, but at this moment, no one felt proud.

But at this moment, no one is proud.

Most people did everything in their power to distract themselves and empty their minds.

After experiencing what happened last month, no one doubted the truthfulness of the game's announcement.

However, there were still many people who couldn't control their minds. The more fearful they were, the more the images in their minds multiplied like a slideshow on fast-forward.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

When the image of ghosts appeared in their minds and lasted for three seconds, death was inevitable.

Today is already May 18th.

And 18 days have passed since the update announcement.

During this time, except for the first day when the death rate was high, humans quickly found solutions.

Solution one was to keep busy.

For example, by not throwing garbage into trash cans, this encouraged the cleaners to have more work, distracting the brain from random thoughts.

Solution two was to immediately remove all videos, movies, and other video content.

Initially, only supernatural videos and movies were removed, but it was quickly discovered that even a melody with a slightly eerie tune could easily evoke the most straightforward fear in everyone's hearts in this tense situation.

Thus, a drastic approach was taken: all music and videos across the internet were simply taken down and strict control was implemented over most communication forums.

The number of keyword checks during content reviews was in the tens of thousands.

Solution three involved eliminating certain things from the foundation in order to prevent association with anything demonic.

Dolls, mannequins, and all other similarly disturbing objects were to be destroyed.

Anything that could potentially trigger the uncanny valley effect would be destroyed.

All mortuaries and crematoriums were to be closed as well.

The entire city would remain bright and illuminated, with household and street lighting kept on at all hours to ensure that no dark spaces were left for shadows to lurk.

Solution four.

Was diverting attention to sex. One should fill their mind with promiscuous and obscene materials to prevent frightening thoughts from resurfacing.

That was why Seo had catcalled a woman in the street earlier and why she had responded so out of character by flirting back.

It was like a larger production.

Everyone was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, suppressing their fears, while allowing their desires to bubble up within them. It was like living in a movie set.

All the strange conversations that took place between passersby.

Were simply to meet the daily task of speaking to 1000 people a day.

It didn't count if one spoke to oneself, it had to be with someone else.

That was why the maintenance worker had eagerly watched him, hoping he would reply so that he could tick off his quota of daily interaction.

The specific criteria for counting which conversation could be a part of the daily interaction rules were nuanced but important to the overall structure of society.

Using the daily rule task progress bar on the panel as a standard...

...

Seo flicked the cigarette butt he just finished onto the ground in front of a man in a suit nearby, then glanced at the personal panel in the upper left corner.

"Player Name": Seo.

"Player Equipment": None.

"Player Skill": D-level skill "Calm Mind".

"Player Title": None.

"QP Balance": 1038.

"Monthly Rules":

1: "Active Expert" task progress: 782/1000.

2: "Peaceful Mind" task progress: 0/0.

He had talked to people 782 times today and needed to speak to 218 more people to complete the daily task.

As for the QP balance...

Starting from May 1st, completing the "Active Expert" rule task every day would award 1 QP. Until today, a total of 18 QP had been awarded.

The remaining 1020 QP was obtained from the Jakarta Enforcement Bureau.

Just as he was thinking that...

A young man on a motorcycle came quickly towards him from the distance and skidded to a stop in front of Seo. Blowing a whistle, he smiled and said: "Hey, bro, I'm not too late, am I?"

"Oh, by the way, do you remember the guy we met at the counter when we bought medical gloves last time?"

"That guy is dead. When I went to buy supplies today, I found out that he wasn't there and asked about him."

"Hey, guess what?"

"That guy's wife wore red lingerie and hung red lanterns with lots of candles in the bedroom to avoid thinking about that thing when he didn't come home after work."

"Preparing to give her man a romantic surprise."

"As a result, when the young man pushed open the door and saw the thing in the bedroom, he couldn't help but think of that thing and fainted on the spot."

"It's a pity, I wonder what that woman was thinking."

"She's just hurting her own man."

"Anyway, what I was going to say..."

"..."

Just as Seo was about to say hello, the man in front of her started babbling and wouldn't stop. She felt a twitch in the corner of her mouth and a dull headache behind her temples after raising her hand to greet him.

If the daily rule task "Active Person" forced all players to talk to others 1000 times a day, it would torture everyone.

But there would always be someone who enjoyed it.

It was the person in front of him.

The person is a heavy talker.

They were always disliked wherever they went, but now the whole world had become a talker.

"Wait a minute…"

Seo tried to stop him weakly: "If I'm not mistaken, you've already completed your daily rule task shortly after waking up, right? You don't have to say so much now."

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