Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 315 Discrimination and Despair

The Ascended's Home Forum.

In the casual chat section, a large number of popular posts fill the homepage.

This has nothing to do with the poster's skill level; it's just that too many shocking things have happened recently.

First came the matter of the Yuzawa family in Sakuragi Kingdom. As a large amount of evidence, including the dungeon video filmed by Guan Tong, was exposed, the country's reputation plummeted.

Even though Sakura Inori's official response was quick and she publicly announced that many suspects from the Misawa family had been arrested, people were not convinced and felt that those arrested were just insignificant pawns.

Moreover, after these crimes were exposed, people's opinions on the Shadow Assassination were reversed.

Many netizens posted that this once again confirmed the legendary skill of the Shadow Master, and said that they had known all along that the person who was assassinated must have committed a serious crime.

There are also voices opposing this view, arguing that convicting someone without trial is not in accordance with procedural justice.

However, in this day and age, whether these words are right or wrong, not many people will listen to them.

From the very first day the apocalyptic rules were introduced, and from the moment the hidden information of the first rule was revealed, people no longer believed in so-called procedural justice.

If that procedure were strictly followed, the authorities should have arrested all those with the title of "Disruptor" and interrogated them using lie detectors or other methods.

If someone knowingly knocks out another person while concealing information, they should be convicted of intentional homicide; if someone knocks out another person without knowing the information is being concealed, they should be convicted of intentional injury.

However, the reality is that no country in the world has officially done so. Therefore, people are well aware that in this unprecedented era in human history, procedural justice has become meaningless.

Another major event is the selection of a new ruler for the Kingdom of Sisya.

Many of this year's students were both shocked and delighted after watching the inaugural address and discovering that the new governor was Yelena, whom they had taken classes with.

Even though Yelena only attended classes and didn't socialize during those months, nor did she live in the college dormitory and didn't interact much with other students, it didn't stop some college students from feeling proud to have been classmates with the governor.

Furthermore, many students believe that the reason why lecturer Guan Tong gave Ye Lianka extra tutoring was because of her special status, so they understand.

The buzz surrounding both events didn't last long before they were overshadowed by the "parasite."

After countries released information about the existence of parasites after the rules were finalized, people around the world were somewhat devastated.

Most of the old rules are in the past and that's it; there's no need to worry about any lingering disasters or consequences.

Even if the rules themselves have long-term effects on people, such as the large number of people suffering from claustrophobia after the "elimination of the five senses" rule ended; many people being unable to tell the truth for the rest of their lives after the "self-punishment for lying" rule ended; and the secondary disasters caused by the earthquake rule not yet being completely eliminated after it ended.

However, these impacts are all within a controllable range.

However, the impact of this "parasite from outer space" event after the rules ended was almost uncontrollable.

Everyone was gripped by a fear of the unknown.

People would rather the parasites be incredibly terrifying monsters than have them retain their human appearance.

Like the uncanny valley effect, the more human-like a monster is, the more terrifying it is—while when a monster is exactly the same as a human, it will trigger extreme panic and suspicion.

Who knows if there are hidden parasites among the people around them? Until they can be identified, no one can completely trust others to interact with.

This also prompted netizens to participate in the discussion, asking if there were any "home remedies" to identify parasites before the official solution was provided.

One of the most popular posts was "A Guide to Identifying Parasites: A Discussion at Peking University".

The original poster summarized first: "The official information released so far states that the parasite possesses the host's memories and intelligence, and can disguise itself as a normal human to communicate and live. However, unlike normal humans, the parasite seems to have a 'supreme command,' namely, to spread spores and create more parasites." "So it's just a normal person with 'keywords.' The moment keywords are involved, it immediately turns into a monster," someone replied.

"Since the parasite is restricted by the highest directives and its core objective is to spread spores, I think there's a very simple method. That is, in reality, never discuss spores. Whoever does, is the parasite!"

"Wrong. You should meet someone and make them curse the spores. Whoever doesn't curse them is the parasite."

"...How old are you upstairs? Do you think the parasite is a primary school student?"

"I don't think there's a good solution. Maybe one of the replies in this thread is a parasite."

“I have an idea. Everyone knows about the fall of Black Flag Kingdom, right? We humans can’t distinguish between parasites, but parasites can distinguish between humans and their own kind. That makes things easy. We can just capture some parasites and turn them into our own kind, and then let them distinguish between their own kind.”

Holy crap, that's genius!

"Are you kidding me? A parasitic monster like that can be turned? Do you think this is a spy movie?"

"If we can't turn them to their side, we'll just use props to control them! Will my Good God's hypnosis technique work?"

"Maybe we could really give it a try... Should we all report this to the authorities?"

"I don't think any of what you're saying is useful. The simplest and most practical method is to avoid contact with other people in real life. That way, you're guaranteed not to encounter the parasite. Other people are hell!"

Is hell really other people?

Lu Cheng's eyes turned bloodshot when he saw this.

He spent the whole night alone in the study room yesterday, and then went to a secluded spot outside the school in the morning to continue studying until nine o'clock.

At nine o'clock sharp, the fire thief's voice rang out. Upon hearing the words "Congratulations," he was overjoyed.

This means he succeeded! He overcame the rules without anyone's help after becoming addicted!
Even though he couldn't share it with others, he was still very satisfied with this sense of accomplishment.

However, this excitement lasted only a few hours before turning into an equal level of fear and despair.

Lu Cheng discovered that his "spore addiction" had returned.

This was unbelievable to him. The rules had clearly ended, and he had successfully passed and received the reward, so why were the spores still inside his body?
Shouldn't it be like the Blood Plague Virus back then, automatically eliminated when the rules end?

He couldn't accept the fact that the rules had ended, yet spores still remained in his body.

And an even more desperate situation brought him to the brink of collapse.

The rules have ended; there are no more spores attached in nature.

But his addiction was not eliminated.

What this means is self-evident.

Therefore, when people browse forums, they want to find ways to identify parasites in order to stay away from them.

Lu Cheng's purpose, however, was the opposite.

Although he couldn't see it himself at this moment, the expression on his face was almost distorted, no different from that of a drug addict.

“Spores… After the rules end, spores can only be found inside the host… I need spores… I must find a host…”

(End of this chapter)