บท 35: Chapter 35、Running Toward Each Other in the Apocalypse
Yi Bai fell into a long silence. He had come to a realization: the apocalypse had only just begun.
No one could escape the calamity, and everyone was at the mercy of fate. This was a threat brought on by humanity itself, far more dangerous than any natural disaster.
"I'm afraid I can't do anything. At least, not right now," he muttered. "All I can do is wait."
He took a deep breath and opened the city's chat channel, one he hadn't accessed in a long time. The once-chaotic space, filled with desperate cries for help and complaints, exploded into a storm of messages the moment he joined.
Every survivor still alive in the city had heard the announcement and learned about the "End of Days War" instance.
"Damn it! I knew it! The military's been disappearing because they were all holed up by that bastard!"
"I've been struggling for a week, drinking my own piss! Eating moldy, rotting food! I've been waiting for the government to save me, and now they tell me they can't? They're going off to fight some damn apocalypse war?"
"Shut up! I've been hoarding gold, jewels, and cash, waiting for the government to restore order so I could make a fortune! And now you're telling me this?"
The despair in the city was palpable, especially among the survivors who had believed the apocalypse would pass quickly.
It wasn't their fault—they were just naive. After all, apocalypses were something to joke about, right?
"The army will come in and handle things in no time, right? What can't we solve? We've survived for five thousand years, we're not going to be defeated by a little disaster."
They thought like this because, historically, they had never seen anything too difficult to overcome. But now, their confidence had shattered.
A mysterious force, almost as if it had read their minds, had taken away their foundation and left them exposed.
"Now you have no cards left to play," the message seemed to say, "Just keep playing the end-of-world game—silently, one after another."
If it were just that, it wouldn't be the end of the world. After all, new heroes could always arise from among the ordinary.
But the mysterious force seemed to have anticipated this. It quickly introduced a dual-world survival mechanism, forcing soldiers to fight in the apocalypse while civilians endured different apocalyptic trials.
"This move is brutal! It's like cutting off the foundation!" shouted one survivor in the chat.
"They're forcing us to fight amongst ourselves! We're supposed to vote on the hardest wars, only for them to take our resources to win! It's a damn setup!"
Others, still confused by the system, began to understand the severity of the situation after reading the explanation. This was not just a case of sowing discord between a few people; the mysterious force was manipulating all of humanity!
It had divided humanity into two factions and forced them to send each other to hell.
"What should we do now? How do we vote?"
"Lowest difficulty, I guess? Don't forget the kill mechanism... if we lose, we all die!"
"Highest difficulty! I believe in our military! I need supplies! I'm about to die of thirst, and if I don't get water soon, I'll never even get to be wiped out!"
"Shit, even the officers are gone! There's no leader, who do we listen to now?"
"Maybe we should compromise and choose a middle difficulty? Honestly, I don't have much water left."
"Stop arguing! We don't even know how many difficulty levels there are! And remember, it's not just us in this city—there are so many places nationwide!"
"I have a bad feeling about this... the war sounds too tough."
"What if this goes on forever? What if they're prioritizing themselves to survive?"
The chat exploded into chaos, with everyone shouting their opinions, while a few tried to restore order—but it was all in vain.
In times like this, only high-ranking officials or soldiers had the authority to calm the chaos. Otherwise, everyone thought their own way was best. Who were they to listen to?
Yi Bai understood this well. He silently observed as the chaos grew, knowing it was exactly what the mysterious force wanted.
"It's just a few words, and look—everyone's already in turmoil, filled with hopelessness for the future."
"The goal isn't just to confuse us; it's to play with us."
He sighed deeply. Like him, many survivors were simply observing, unsure of who to trust. No one knew what was truly going on in the minds of those who had been taken, let alone if the soldiers still held to their principles.
After all, this wasn't a time of peace, nor a war between humans. This was the apocalypse. A cruel game controlled by a mysterious force.
[Voting has now begun!]
[Before voting, please review the national guidance on the end-of-days war.]
[The following is the specific guidance message:]
A special red dialogue box appeared in front of everyone, slowly revealing its message. It was brief, just ten words.
"Choose the highest difficulty! Trust the Army
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