The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 559 The Rules of Sleep
In the Gamma-level, near-out-of-control instance, any monster you randomly find in a house by the roadside has strength approaching the Origin level. Supermarket owners and mobile food vendors are all ruthless Lord-level characters who can kill with a single blow.

In this atmosphere, being alone is an extremely unwise choice.

Although the city hall is very large, in order to ensure everyone's safety, everyone chose to live together in the lobby on the second floor of the city hall, instead of living separately.

Having cleared a place to stay, Tank thought he was safe for the night and could get a good rest, but little did he know that for him, trouble was just beginning.

When his tense nerves relaxed a little, he realized a problem: he was hungry.

He felt hungry when he was near the food truck, and thought it was because of Javier's ability. Now that he was free from Javier and in a safe state, the hunger he felt was not relieved at all, but instead became more intense.

When he first realized he was hungry, he tried to suppress it with willpower. After all, he had just seen Havel's stew pot and it was hard to muster any appetite in a short time. He also dared not eat any food in the dungeon.

He entered into meditation, hoping to distract himself and forget his hunger through spiritual practice.

But after sitting quietly for twenty minutes, not only could he not calm down, his stomach became increasingly rumbling, and the rumbling could be heard throughout the entire hall.

In addition to physical reactions, he felt his limbs become weak and his heart felt heavy and anxious, like symptoms of low blood sugar.

He couldn't hold back any longer and spoke up:

“This copy is strange; it seems to amplify our fatigue and hunger, thus affecting our efficiency.”

"We'll be staying in this instance for a long time, so we need to be careful. There should be some normal food in the town hall, so let's take this opportunity to collect some."

Sword Star was also affected by hunger, but his physical exertion was not as great as Tank's, so he could endure it.

Seeing that Tank had taken the initiative to offer, he breathed a sigh of relief. He first looked at Wu Chang, seeking Wu Chang's opinion.

Seeing the reassuring look in Wu Chang's eyes, he stood up and said:
"That's true. As time goes on, the environment in Jacques deteriorates further, making it more difficult to collect resources. We should seize every opportunity."

Tank's face lit up with joy, but before he could make a move, the male mage and female priest behind him stood up first, eagerly preparing to search for supplies together.

Tank clicked his tongue. As a regular teammate, he was very familiar with the two's personalities. In the past, when doing chores in dungeons, they would only reluctantly start when he urged them. Now that they were being so proactive, there was only one possibility.

That means they were hungry too, but they were more patient and were waiting for him to lose his patience first.

The city hall has its own canteen, which not only stores various frozen vegetarian dishes, but also some fruits and vegetables, including a small number of durable varieties that have not spoiled.

After having a simple dinner in the city hall's kitchen, the group returned to the main hall once their hunger subsided.

After a satisfying meal, drowsiness naturally sets in, especially for Tank, who has just narrowly escaped death; his eyelids become incredibly heavy.

He started yawning constantly after finishing his meal.

Under the influence of the dungeon rules, players' life level reverts to that of ordinary people, and their powerful attributes become unable to restrain their physical instincts.

As we all know, yawning is contagious. Seeing Tank yawning with his mouth wide open, Jianxing and the others also began to feel sleepy.

Seeing that everyone was struggling to keep going, Wu Chang suggested that they rest first.

However, the nights in the instance are dangerous, so someone must be assigned to keep watch.

The night watch is divided into two shifts, with 2:30 a.m. as the dividing line, which is the first half of the night and the second half.

The Tank Trio, being closer to Havel, were more affected by Havel's domain and needed more rest. The Sword Star Trio, being farther away, were less affected and were therefore responsible for guarding the first half of the night.

After 2:30, the two sides will switch shifts, with Jianxing and the others taking a break. As for Wu Chang himself, he is full of energy, and since today is the first day of the most dangerous dungeon, he will stay up all night.

Tank felt grateful when he heard Wu Changxian tell the three of them to rest. Having just experienced hunger, he understood the rules of the dungeon very well.

Under the influence of the rules, their physical abilities temporarily revert to those of ordinary people, and they are unable to rely on their attributes to resist their physical instincts.

In addition to uncovering the secrets of Jacques and completing the main quest, they also have to engage in an urban version of wilderness survival, where elements such as shelter, water, food, and sleep require considerable effort to manage.

They react more strongly to violations of the rules than ordinary people. While ordinary people can go hungry for a day or two, they will be significantly affected by missing even one meal.

Letting them rest first means that Jianxing and the others must persevere for three hours while feeling drowsy, which is a great test of their physical strength and willpower.

But since it involved life and death and being in top condition, Tank couldn't be modest, so he expressed his gratitude and accepted the offer.

The three of them searched the city hall office, dragging out all the blankets and sofas to use as beds in the lobby.

They used the sofa as a bed, covered themselves with blankets, and went straight to sleep.

Listening to Tank's snoring, Jianxing's eyes showed envy, but he had no complaints about Wu Chang's arrangements.

Given Wu Chang's previous performance, if it's just about keeping watch, he wouldn't need the three of them to handle the trouble. Or, if Wu Chang couldn't handle the trouble, adding the three of them wouldn't be of any use.

Even so, Wu Chang still didn't let them rest, and there must have been a reason for making such an arrangement.

He didn't have to wait long; two hours later, he learned the reason.

The three of them sat on the edge of the bed, observing the night in Yake City. They wondered if Wu Chang's mystical array was working, but the area around the city hall was quiet, and no flesh-and-blood monsters were seen.

Just as the three were becoming increasingly drowsy and began nodding off, a shrill roar rang out in the hall, instantly waking them up.

Following the roar, we saw Tank leap up from the sofa. He seemed to be seeing something dangerous in his dream, his eyes bloodshot, and he was violently swinging his arms in all directions, as if he was resisting something.

Because the three tanks were resting close together, in the chaos, the male mage and the female priest were both sent flying by the force of the punches and slammed heavily against the wall.

Tank was consumed by rage and fear. He caught up with the two men who had crashed into the wall and was about to deliver the final blow with his fist.

His fist was halfway through its swing when it suddenly stopped in mid-air. A large hand grabbed his wrist, abruptly interrupting his powerful punch.

Following the fist, it was Wu Chang who grabbed his wrist.

If he were sober, this contact would allow the tank to recognize the difference in strength between the two and stop fighting.

But now, influenced by the dream, he went mad and raised his other hand to punch Wu Chang.

Snapped!
Wu Chang was faster than Tank. Tank had just raised his fist and hadn't even had time to gather his strength when Wu Chang swung a slap long enough to cover Tank's entire face, striking him across the cheek.

With one slap, Tank's entire cheek trembled violently from the impact. His head tilted to the side, and his legs lifted off the ground. If Wu Chang hadn't been holding his wrist with his other hand, the slap would have been enough to send him flying.

When the tank staggered to the ground, his eyes had regained their clarity, and the madness was gone.

He covered his face with one hand and looked blankly at Wu Chang with the other, asking:
"What just happened?"

Wu Chang pointed to the French and Mughal duo who had gotten up from the ground and recounted Tank's madness, but Tank had no recollection of it at all.

Whether it was due to some influence after he fell into a deep sleep, or because he lost his memory after being slapped by Wu Chang, he did not remember attacking his teammates in a frenzy, nor did he remember punching Wu Chang, nor did he remember what happened in his dream.

In his memory, he had just closed his eyes a second ago, and the next second he was inexplicably standing on the ground, with Wu Chang holding his wrist.

Tank didn't know what was wrong with him, but Wu Chang knew very well that he and Raven had been watching the three of them ever since they fell asleep.

According to the message from the raven, Tank's body has been changing ever since he went to sleep.

His energy and physical strength began to deplete, and he became mentally stressed.

When his sleep time reached one hour, exceeding the safe sleep time Dylan had mentioned, his will began to waver, his inspiration became unstable, and he seemed to be drawn to something and saw things he shouldn't have seen.

Tank's inspiration and will reacted intensely, but his body entered a state of tranquility, his mind began to relax, and his energy and physical strength stopped being lost.

According to Raven's observations, sleep is consuming Tank's willpower and imposing certain negative effects on him, but these effects are all under control and will not endanger his life.

But as the second hour of sleep began, Tank's mental state fluctuated violently, as if he were suffering from a mental shock and his will was being challenged.

It was the situation he encountered while asleep that roused him from his dream and caused him to go mad.

Seeing that the tank had regained consciousness, he said:

"Check your properties panel and see if your recent experience has had any impact on you."

Tank opened the attribute panel, glanced at it twice, and exclaimed in shock:
"My Willpower attribute has decreased by 2 points, but my Inspiration attribute has increased by 2 points!"

Wu Chang pressed on, asking:
"What were your original values ​​for willpower and inspiration? Have your other attributes changed?"

The tank replied:
"Other attributes remain unchanged. My inspiration and willpower were originally 25 and 40 respectively." Wu Chang:

"How is your physical condition?"

The tank closed its eyes, focused on itself, and said:
"I feel great, I have more energy than before I went to bed, and apart from my face being a little sore, I have no other physical problems."

Wu Chang nodded slightly and turned to ask the female priest and the male mage.

The two were under less mental stress than the tank, and had great difficulty falling asleep, having only managed to sleep for an hour and a half.

Neither of them remembered what happened in the dream, but their state was different from Tank's.

According to the two men, their inspiration and mental state were only half that of the tank, but they felt extremely tired and their bodies ached. Although their mental state was better than before their nap, their physical strength had deteriorated, and they even felt a slight hunger.

After hearing about the changes in the three people, Raven already knew the rules about slumber in the instance plane.

The sleepless night dungeon rules not only weaken the player's health tier, but also add four restrictions to the player's stats: hunger, stamina, health, and mental state.

Players will experience hunger as they move and consume energy and stamina. They must consume food and water to replenish their hunger. If hunger is left unchecked, it will affect the player's health, making it difficult for them to concentrate, causing dizziness, weakness, or even coma.

At the same time, players will consume energy as long as they stay awake, and energy can only be replenished through sleep.

Forcing yourself to stay awake will affect your health and mental state, potentially leading to mental instability or even sudden death.

Needless to say, dealing with hunger is a challenge in itself, as is finding food in Jacques.

As Dylan said, most of the easily accessible food has already been taken by other survivors. Now, if you want to get food, you can only risk entering the abandoned buildings to open blind boxes. Even if you find something, you still have to kill the flesh monsters inside the buildings to take the supplies.

As for restoring energy, the only way is through sleep.

Sleep is divided into two stages. The first stage is what Dylan calls the one-hour safe period.

During this phase, players can recover some energy, but at the cost of consuming a large amount of stamina. They exchange physical fatigue for mental recovery, which manifests outwardly as male mages and female priests feeling hungry after waking up.

As long as there is enough food and drinking water, such a safe nap will not affect the player's condition.

If a player exceeds the safe sleep stage and enters the dangerous sleep stage, they can not only recover their energy but also their physical fatigue.

Tank, being large and consuming energy quickly, should have been more prone to hunger than the others. However, after waking up, he didn't feel hungry like the other two.

However, the price of restoring both physical and mental strength is the depletion of mental energy, namely, a decrease in willpower and an increase in inspiration.

The longer one remains in a dangerous sleep state, the greater the impact on their mental state. If this continues for an extended period, they may even be attacked while asleep, going berserk like a tank and indiscriminately attacking their companions.

Furthermore, the willpower deducted and inspiration gained from excessive sleep will persist for an entire instance and cannot be recovered through other means.

Just reducing a portion of it can drive a tank berserk. If the difference between will and inspiration reaches a certain value, the player may lose control of their inspiration on the spot and turn into a flesh and blood monster.

Wu Chang looked at the three of them, pretended to think for a while, and then told them the information that Raven had told him, after making some deletions.

He didn't directly state the information about a safe hour of sleep, but instead speculated that if the duration of deep sleep was kept within a certain range, their inspiration and will might not be harmed; exceeding that limit would affect them.

Upon hearing Wu Chang's speculation, Jianxing was slightly surprised, but his reaction remained normal. For Heping, this level of performance was just basic.

But Tank and the others were greatly shocked when they heard this. They were all players who entered the instance at the same time and received the same information.

While they were still lamenting the danger of the Gamma-level instance nearing out of control, not yet recovered from the slumbering danger, Peace had already analyzed even the dormant rules.

If given a safe environment and allowed to repeatedly deduce based on intelligence, they might be able to arrive at similar conclusions.

But peace is in the instance, and within minutes of what happens, it can not only notice all the details, but also make accurate predictions quickly.

Tank covered his face and looked at Wu Chang with disbelief. The difference between the two in conquering the dungeon was even greater than the difference in their combat power.

Compared to peace, he was like a newbie who had just been promoted to the realm of reason.

His combat power was monstrous, and his ability to conquer dungeons was so strong that he found it hard to accept.

After a brief moment of shock, the three of them turned their attention back to the instance.

If Peace's deduction is correct, then surviving in Jacques City for sixty days will be far more difficult than they imagined.

All actions in Jacques must be based on food.

Physical strength and energy both require food to replenish. If there is not enough food, they can only rely on sleeping to regain energy and physical strength, but that comes at the cost of a breakdown in willpower.

If he hadn't followed Peace from the start and instead acted separately, even if he hadn't died at the hands of the flesh monsters, he would have been killed by the dungeon rules.

Tank felt a surge of relief upon thinking about this. He had initially felt a bit resentful and embarrassed by being slapped in the face by Peace, but now he only felt the warmth of Peace's care on his burning cheeks.

While the True Self was causing chaos due to the rules of slumber, Wu Chang's true form was also not at peace.

The building they were in had very poor soundproofing. From the moment they moved in, they could hear faint crying sounds coming from outside. The voice was that of a young woman.

Wu Chang opened the curtains and looked outside. He saw a woman wearing white pajamas with her long hair covering her face standing across the street.

The woman stood under the streetlight, her head bowed, and began to cry.

Perhaps sensing Wu Chang's gaze, it raised its head and looked at Wu Chang. Wu Chang felt a slight itch in his nostrils, as if the other party was trying to influence him with some kind of ability.

He frowned slightly, and first retaliated with a Heart Flame, which burned the other party so badly that he rolled on the ground and screamed in agony.

Later, finding the other party too noisy, he used his spatial domain to throw them far away from a distance.

"Crying, crying, crying! Can't a person get any sleep?"

Having dealt with the monsters outside, Wu Chang lay back down next to Eileen. Just as he was about to ask about her recent progress in teaching Raven, he heard crying again.

Wu Chang rolled his eyes, stood up again. The flesh monster's language was incomprehensible. Since the other party couldn't understand him, he would teleport its head and body to different places this time.

Before he could do anything, he suddenly realized something was wrong. This time, the crying wasn't coming from outside the window, but from next door.

First, a wailing sound came from next door, like a fleshy monster, followed by a silly, chuckling laugh. The crying and laughing alternated, and the sounds became increasingly clear.

Eileen sat up, about to do something, but the raven beside her spoke first:

"It's too late, her willpower barrier has already collapsed."

Eileen sighed and turned to look at Wu Chang.

Just then, Dylan's hurried footsteps came from the corridor. He ran up quickly, opened the door, and rushed inside.

Afterwards, in addition to crying and laughter, gunshots could be heard from next door.

The battle lasted only ten seconds. The gunfire stopped, and although the crying subsided, it remained clear.

Inside the room, Dylan, whose forehead had just made intimate contact with the wall, sat up against the wall.

At this moment, his right hand had become one with the rifle, and countless fine white tendrils were wriggling as he rapidly changed bullets.

Before the bullets were fully loaded, his right arm was opened by a thick white tentacle, and then his entire right arm was pinned to the wall by dozens of hair-thick white tentacles.

He wiped the blood from his eyes with his left hand, and a bitter smile appeared on his face as he watched the guest gradually approaching him.

He hadn't rested for too long, and his reaction time was much slower. If he were full of energy and his biological awareness network was still stable, he would never have lost to a monster that hadn't completely transformed yet.

Looking at the half-crying, half-laughing face opposite him, he pulled a revolver from his waist with his left hand.

His bio-awareness network in his left hand had deteriorated, and he couldn't even hold the gun steady. As he pondered whether to fire the last bullet at the enemy or save it for himself, he saw the fleshy monster in front of him jerk its head and then fall forward to the ground.

The fleshy monster that collapsed in front of him revealed a red fire axe stuck in the back of her head, and a bookish-looking young man who seemed to have just happened to be passing by.

The guy was a newcomer who had just moved in; he remembered the man's name: Sean.

The man named Sean shrugged and said to him:
“Mr. Dylan, I believe you won’t be upset that I left the room without permission.”

(End of this chapter)