Chapter 2: Now everyone in the world has been forced to become a chatterbox.
"Game Update Announcement!"
"The new Blue Star version 4.1 will start its non-stop update at 00:00 on May 1st, and the main content and adjustments of this update are as follows."
"1. Fixed a bug where some players wouldn't die from high falls, now it's forcibly set that without any protective measures, falls from a height of 18 meters or more will result in certain death."
"2. Fixed a bug where some players could die from a simple fall, now it's forcibly set that falls from a height below 18 meters will not result in death."
"3. Added daily rule task rewards, completing the daily rule tasks will grant certain rewards."
"4. Added the monthly rule 'Calm and Cool': players cannot have specific images of ghosts appear in their minds for more than three seconds or they will instantly die, this rule will be removed after two months."
"5. Added 'Skill Fragment' gameplay."
"When a player dies, a Skill Fragment will drop next to their body, which any player can pick up freely. Five identical Fragments will combine into a complete Skill."
"The Snow Sea Project Team wishes all players a pleasant gaming experience in version 4.1."
"PS: Preview of the next update: The project team has decided to add monthly rules about the 'life' element, players please look forward to it."
-
The moment this voice sounded.
The global population began to plummet at an extremely fast rate.
Normally, if there are no hints, people seldom think about ghosts.
These hints include——
suggestions from related movies and TV programs, folk tales, self-psychological suggestions born from walking alone on a night road due to fear, enforced suggestions from relevant keywords, and unintentional dreaming at night.
Put bluntly.
You can't have ghosts appear in your mind; as soon as they do, death is your fate.
Simple and brutal.
And the instant this game announcement was heard, virtually everyone involuntarily conjured up images of ghouls and other horrifying supernatural entities in their minds.
Human imagination has always been a point of pride for mankind.
But at that moment, no one was proud.
Most people exerted all their strength to redirect their attention, forcibly emptying their minds.
Having gone through the incident last month, no one doubted the authenticity of this game announcement anymore.
But... there were still many people who couldn't control their minds, and the more they feared, the images in their minds exploded like a rapidly playing slideshow!
"Bang, bang, bang!"
When ghosts persisted in these peoples' minds for three seconds, death became an inevitability.
"Ghosts cannot appear in your mind."
It sounds somewhat vague.
But in reality, it's not about the word 'ghost' not appearing in the mind, but rather the images of ghosts.
If the word 'ghost' just flickers through your mind, it's of no great concern. However, if you start unconsciously constructing the figure and images of ghosts in your mind,
That... is not good at all.
Actually, many people lack the ability to construct images in their minds, except for those with rich imaginations, like web novel authors, who were the first to go.
And today, it's already the 18th of May.
It's been 18 days since this update announcement.
In this period, apart from the higher death rate on the first day, humanity also quickly found solutions.
Solution one: keep busy.
For example, the rule that prohibits throwing trash into bins, aimed at increasing the workload for cleaners, keeps people busy and reduces wandering thoughts.
Solution two: Immediately remove all forms of video and film from all platforms.
Initially, just horror videos and movies were removed, but it was soon discovered that even a slightly eerie tune, under the current tense circumstances, could easily trigger the most primal fear in people.
Thus, music and videos across the web were simply and crudely taken down, along with imposing strict control over most communication forums.
The associated censorship keywords totalled at several hundred thousand.
Solution three: Eradicate the roots of anything that might bring ghosts to mind.
Dolls, figurines, mannequin displays were all uniformly destroyed.
Anything that could evoke the uncanny valley effect was destroyed.
Morgues and crematoriums were all closed down.
The entire city's lighting facilities, including those in every household and street lights, were on day and night, to prevent darkness from shrouding any place as much as possible.
Strategy four, divert attention.
Distract oneself by focusing on sexual thoughts, filling one's mind with such trash to avert thinking about those fears.
That's why Chen Yi had been standing on the street whistling at women passing by on the sidewalk, and why these women responded with abnormal enthusiasm.
It was like a large movie studio.
Everyone was on the verge of a mental breakdown, forcefully suppressing the fear inside and letting their inner desires surface to suppress things that shouldn't arise, playing their own roles.
As for the odd conversations heard from the pedestrians on the street.
They were all for the sake of completing the daily task of speaking a thousand words with people.
Talking to oneself did not count; it had to be a conversation with another person.
That's why the cleaner had been staring at him so eagerly, because only if Chen Yi responded would the cleaner's previous words count towards the daily task—otherwise, it was indeed just idle talk.
As for which sentence could be counted towards the daily task.
The progress bar for daily tasks on the panel served as the standard.
...
Chen Yi flicked the spent cigarette from his fingers nonchalantly in front of a man in a suit nearby, then glanced at his personal panel in the upper left corner.
"Player Name": Chen Yi.
"Player Equipment": None.
"Player Skill": D-grade Skill "Calm and Composed".
"Player Title": None.
"Points Balance": 1038.
"Monthly Rule":
1: "Active Talent" task progress: 782/1000.
2: "Calm and Cool" task progress: 0/0.
He had already spoken 782 sentences today and still needed to speak 218 more to complete today's daily task.
As for the points.
Starting from May 1st, for each day the "Active Talent" daily rule task was completed, a reward of 1 point was given, amounting to a total of 18 points to date.
The remaining 1020 points were obtained from the Yancheng Law Enforcement Bureau.
And at that moment—
A young man came racing toward him on a motorcycle, screeching to a stop in front of Chen Yi, whistled long, grinned and said, "Yi, I'm not late, am I?"
"Right, Yi, do you remember that counter boy we met last time we went to buy medical gloves?"
"That guy's dead. I went to get supplies today and he wasn't there, so I asked around."
"Hey, guess what."
"That guy's wife, to keep herself and the men from thinking about that thing, wore a red sexy nightgown, hung red lanterns all over the bedroom, and lit lots of candles all while her husband was off from work and not home."
"She planned to give her man a little romantic surprise."
"As a result, when the guy opened the door and saw this thing in the bedroom, his mind uncontrollably brought up that thing and he died on the spot."
"Sigh, what a pity, huh? What was that woman thinking?"
"She's really doing more harm than good to her man."
"If you ask me..."
"..."
Chen Yi, who had just raised his hand to greet him, could not help but twitch the corners of his mouth slightly as he saw that with the mere lift of his hand, the man before him started babbling endlessly like a babbling brook, making him feel a throbbing pain in his temples.
If the daily rule task "Active Talent", which tortures everyone by forcing all players to speak a thousand words with people every day, were to favor anyone.
It would be this person right in front of him.
A severe chatterbox.
Someone who was despised wherever he went, but now, the whole world was forced to become chatterboxes just like him.
"Hold on a second..."
Stopping him with a somewhat tired voice, Chen Yi said, "If I'm not mistaken, you must have completed your daily task shortly after you got up and opened your eyes, right? You really don't need to talk so much now."