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Rule-Based Anomaly Type: Solo.
Mission: Survive for seven days and wait for Mother to return.
“When I am home alone, everything in the house seems to undergo some sort of eerie transformation. I strictly followed Mother's rules, passing day after day.”
“I waited and waited. Finally, on the last day, Mother returned, and all the problems were resolved.”
“But I realised Mother didn't seem to be Mother anymore, and I wasn't me anymore as well. Everything had changed, yet it also felt like nothing had changed at all...”
…
Inside the room, Jiang Ming slowly opened his eyes on the bed. Feeling the light filtering in through the window, he immediately sat up and scanned his surroundings:
“Where is this? Is this some kind of sick prank?”
Jiang Ming looked somewhat bewildered. Shouldn't he be lying on a hospital bed? How did he end up here?
Right at this moment, Jiang Ming realised he could move his physical body. This sudden, explosive surprise nearly knocked him unconscious.
One had to know that due to ALS, his entire body had been paralysed; only a single finger retained any mobility.
He spent his days doing nothing but sleeping or staring blankly into space. A living soul had been imprisoned within a sealed, fleshy vessel.
Seven years!
A full seven years!
He had yearned to escape that physical prison every waking second, and now, it had finally been realised!
Jiang Ming was delirious with joy, and he immediately began to ponder his situation.
A prank could not possibly restore his body to a pristine state. And modern medicine was certainly not miraculous enough to conquer ALS overnight without leaving a single trace of side effects.
Coupled with the bizarre electronic voice that had just echoed in his mind, he deduced that he had likely transmigrated.
After all, only a logic-shattering phenomenon like transmigration could explain his current predicament.
Jiang Ming organised the chaotic thoughts swirling in his brain.
Just then, an icy, mechanical voice resounded from within his mind:
“Welcome to the world of Rule-Based Anomalies, newborn inheritor. I know you have a multitude of questions, but you need not ask them.”
“When you survive long enough in this world, you will naturally come to understand everything.”
“My advice to you is this: the first forty-eight hours are relatively safe.”
“Always remember the role you are playing!”
“Fight with everything you have to stay alive!”
…
As the final syllable dropped, the mechanical voice vanished into thin air. No matter how Jiang Ming called out to it, there was not a shred of response.
Jiang Ming could only helplessly give up, shifting his gaze to the electronic screen left behind in the wake of the mechanical voice.
It displayed only two blood-red circles, containing the words:
Ability | Difficulty
Jiang Ming pondered for a moment, then placed his finger onto the Ability button. The instant he released his finger, a bizarre roulette wheel materialised before his eyes. It was divided into four zones corresponding to four grades. The S-grade zone was the absolute smallest, while the C-grade zone was the largest.
Watching the needle spin rapidly, absolute clarity dawned in Jiang Ming's heart. These four zones undoubtedly represented the tiers of abilities.
Seeing that the S-grade zone was thinner than a strand of hair, Jiang Ming recalled his lifelong career as an astronomically unlucky bastard and instantly extinguished any delusion of drawing an S-grade ability.
After all, he was an existence destined to hit the hard pity limit in every gacha game he ever played; winning a fifty-fifty soft pity was fundamentally impossible!
Therefore, as long as it was not an absolutely garbage skill, he could accept it.
Soon, the needle began to decelerate, slowly grinding to a halt. It ultimately landed right next to the S-grade ability, squarely on the C-grade ability.
Ding!
Congratulations on acquiring the C-grade Ability [Vending Machine].
Ability Effect: You can buy anything from inside it (Probably).
Jiang Ming: (눈_눈)
Sure enough, how could a gacha-cursed creature like him ever be blessed by good fortune!
But wasn't this ability far too pathetic?
The other C-grade abilities he spotted earlier at least offered some sort of physical enhancement. A vending machine?
What the hell was the use of this thing?
Oh, wait, it did have one use. He could buy something to eat before he died, ensuring he passed on as a well-fed ghost.
At this time, the Difficulty button beside it emitted a faint red glow, seemingly urging Jiang Ming to press it.
Jiang Ming cast a glance at it and immediately pushed the button.
The very next second, the familiar roulette wheel appeared. The C-grade zone once again commanded the largest portion, while the S-grade portion was the absolute smallest. Staring at that infinitesimally microscopic S-grade difficulty zone, Jiang Ming muttered internally:
“I shouldn't be this unlucky, right?”
The needle slowly rotated. Under Jiang Ming's expectant gaze, it ultimately landed right on the microscopically small S-grade difficulty! This was simply heaven-shaking luck!
Ding!
Congratulations, with a one-in-ten-thousand probability, you have drawn the S-grade difficulty for the Rule-Based Anomaly [Solitary Residence]!
Did this system voice sound faintly joyous?
Yet, facing such ‘joyous' news, Jiang Ming's face was completely devoid of expression.
He fell silent!
His silence was absolutely deafening!
This was the miraculous nature of a gacha-cursed creature!
…
Jiang Ming pondered deeply for a moment, and then a simplified screen panel surfaced before his eyes, displaying:
Name: Jiang Ming
Ability: Vending Machine (C-grade)
Sanity: 100
Current Rule-Based Anomaly: Solitary Residence
Difficulty: S-grade
Mission: Survive for seven days and wait for Mother to return!
Hint: Remember who you are; time is extremely important!
Jiang Ming reviewed the screen before ultimately immersing his consciousness into his ability.
Very quickly, he grasped the general mechanics of his ability. While it was called a vending machine, it was actually completely empty inside. It functioned more like a gacha pull. He received one free draw every day, refreshing at midnight.
Once the free attempt was exhausted, subsequent draws would consume Sanity points. Drawing an item cost one point of Sanity, while manifesting the physical vending machine in reality required two points of Sanity.
However, the manifested physical vending machine provided one free draw. This was equivalent to spending two Sanity points to buy a physical vending machine plus one draw.
His initial Sanity was set at one hundred, but it would deplete due to hunger, sleep deprivation, fear, and sheer terror.
When Sanity dropped to a certain threshold, a series of severe complications would arise; auditory and visual hallucinations were merely the mildest of them.
Naturally, Sanity could also be slowly restored through sleeping and eating.
Therefore, this ability of Jiang Ming's was simply a godsend for unlucky players!
Without the slightest hesitation, Jiang Ming fired off a pull:
“Draw!”
Ding!
Following the sound of a coin dropping, the vending machine in his mind began to vibrate faintly. Two seconds later, an object flew out from the dispensing slot, landing squarely into Jiang Ming's hand out of thin air:
Congratulations on obtaining a box of Durex condoms.
Quality: Common.
Description: A product designed and invented by humans, the intelligent lifeforms of a certain planet.
It is primarily utilised as a protective implement during reproductive sexual intercourse between humans of the opposite or same sex.
Using it can slightly prolong your sexual stamina and protect you from venereal diseases.
Note: Perhaps it is not solely limited to use between humans.
“…”
Jiang Ming fell silent yet again, profoundly feeling the deep, bottomless malice this world harboured toward him.
Just what kind of garbage ability was this?!
This was far too abstract!
Expressionless, Jiang Ming flipped his palm, and the condoms vanished. This could be considered one of the few benefits of his ability: he could store the items he drew.
Jiang Ming had already given up on relying on this trash ability. He began to meticulously inspect the room.
It was a very ordinary single male's bedroom. A study desk, a chair, a wardrobe, and crumpled wads of tissue in the trash can…
The sole anomaly was that every single potentially reflective object in the room had been wrapped in black cloth.
Even the floor was covered with a layer of black carpeting, and the windows were completely swathed in black fabric.
If the window was not currently open, Jiang Ming was absolutely certain this room would be pitched in utter, suffocating darkness.
At this moment, Jiang Ming noticed a note pinned beneath the calendar on the bedside table. The handwriting was neat and elegant:
Rule Set One:
1. There is one and only one person in the house, and that is you. If you see anyone else appear, do not respond. Immediately return to the bedroom and lock the bedroom door.
2. Absolutely do not lift the black cloths. Do not let them see you.
3. There is ample food in the refrigerator, enough to last until Mother returns. During this period, please do not step a single foot out of the house.
4. Mother will return at 7:00 AM on the seventh day. If anyone else comes knocking on the door during this time, please do not respond.
5. The clocks in the bedroom and the living room will sometimes stop working. Please ensure they remain synchronised.
6. Be careful not to sleep during the day, and keep constant track of the time.
7. Close the curtains. Do not open them, and do not let them discover you.
8. On the fourth day, Mother's friend will visit. Please entertain her with utmost hospitality. She will help you solve some problems, and she is absolutely trustworthy.
9. Good children must go to bed early and wake up early. Please maintain sleep between 11:00 PM and 8:00 AM, and stay away from them.
10. Eat well, three meals a day, and do not let yourself go hungry.
…
After reading the rules, Jiang Ming furrowed his brows. There were several contradictory points within the rules.
For example, it told him not to respond to anyone else, but then stated that a trustworthy friend would visit on Thursday and that she was trustworthy. Should he respond to her or not?
“Are all Rule-Based Anomalies inherently contradictory? Do they require me to judge and make trade-offs myself?” Jiang Ming pondered internally.
He then reviewed the second and seventh rules.
Who were ‘they'?
After contemplating for a moment, Jiang Ming reached out and turned on the bedroom lights, then drew the heavy black curtains shut. The room immediately grew slightly dimmer.
Reading the rules a few more times carefully, Jiang Ming formulated a preliminary deduction:
“The bedroom should be capable of protecting me. The mechanical voiceover at the very beginning stated that I must wait for Mother to return, the rules repeatedly emphasise time, and the mission hint explicitly declared that time is extremely important.”
And regarding items related to time…
Jiang Ming swept his gaze across the room and discovered a clock hanging on the wall. The time displayed was ten o'clock. Combined with the sunlight he had just witnessed outside, it should currently be 10:00 AM.
The preceding pages of the calendar on the bedside table had all been torn away. Their remains could be found in the trash can, and the current date displayed was July 1st, Monday.
Jiang Ming continued to cast his gaze elsewhere, wanting to see if there were any other clues.
He felt it was impossible for the note containing the set of rules to be the only useful item in the entire room. There had to be clues hidden elsewhere, and he needed to conduct a thorough search.
Thus, Jiang Ming opened the top drawer of the bedside table, but the very first item that entered his vision made him curse out in sheer awe:
It was a cup!
A Holy Grail!
Next to the cup laid a packaging box inscribed with four bold characters: Spring Breeze Elf1Spring Breeze Elf is a popular brand of male masturbators in China. Equivalents are Fleshlights and Onaholes..
And right next to the cup, there was actually a bottle of sleeping pills!
He genuinely could not fathom why these two completely unrelated items would appear in the exact same place!
Jiang Ming silently slid the drawer shut.
Opening the second drawer, it was filled entirely with discs. They bore the names of female leads and Japanese titles.
Looking closely, they were all old acquaintances: Teacher Aoi, Teacher Mikami, Teacher Maria Ozawa2Famous actresses from the Japanese adult film industry.…
Jiang Ming silently closed the second drawer as well.
“Phew~”
Jiang Ming let out a long exhale, instantly feeling his agitated heart calm down considerably.
Tearing his gaze away from this legendary cabinet, he turned to look at the study desk. By all logic, a desk was used for writing; it should have recorded some clues.
Approaching the desk, he found it completely piled with textbooks and supplementary study materials. Pens were scattered haphazardly, and an empty beverage bottle rested to the side.
The original owner was a student? Jiang Ming guessed in his heart.
Jiang Ming believed that the original owner must have inadvertently recorded some clues while doing homework.
Therefore, he picked up the thickest book on top, ‘Thirty Years of Anomaly Exams, Fifty Years of Mock Tests'. Opening it, his eyes instantly widened to their absolute limits as he made a shocking discovery:
“Why is this thing cleaner than my own face?”
Sporting an expression of utter disbelief, Jiang Ming picked up the ‘Golden Exam Papers', ‘Anomaly Exam 38 Mock Sets', and ‘Anomaly Exam 45-Day Final Sprint'. Every single one of them was completely, utterly blank!
But it was not until Jiang Ming picked up another book that he inhaled a sharp breath of cold air. He stared at the book's cover repeatedly with wide eyes, before finally muttering in absolute shock:
“He even kept the actual textbooks flawlessly clean and untouched!”
How the hell was he supposed to find any clues like this!
Filled with complex emotions, Jiang Ming slowly set the book down. Just as he was preparing to step away from the desk, he suddenly noticed a few distinctively different books pressed at the very bottom of the pile.
Jiang Ming's spirits were involuntarily lifted. Were the clues hidden within?
The edges of the books appeared slightly yellowed and somewhat dirty, indicating that the original owner frequently flipped through or utilised them. Seeing such a meticulous detail, Jiang Ming's heart surged with a sliver of confidence.
He pulled the books out. There were three in total, their covers exceptionally exquisite. However, upon reading the titles, Jiang Ming was momentarily dazed, murmuring:
“Just what kind of absolute degenerate was the original owner of this room?”
The titles of the three books were respectively:
Young Housewife Bai Jie: Refined Flawless Edition
Youth Ah Bin: Remastered Extended Edition
Crimson Beauty's Blood: Illustrated Edition
For a moment, Jiang Ming was entirely bewildered, unable to distinguish whether this was genuinely a world of Rule-Based Anomalies. If it was, why did this world contain such an unfathomable degenerate?
But in order to hunt down any potentially existing clues, Jiang Ming adjusted his mindset. He opened the book and rapidly scanned the contents, taking in ten lines at a single glance:
“Everyone harbours their own misfortunes…”
“Bai Jie is 24 years old this year…”
“…Gao Yi stared at Bai Jie…”
…
Jiang Ming felt the flames of lust burning his body. Soon, he discovered that the corners of several pages had been dog-eared. Was there something special about them?
Thus, he flipped the book to that exact page, only to see that the opening sentence was:
“Nngh~ ah…”
“Don't…”
Holy shit!
Jiang Ming instantly slammed the book shut. He couldn't read any more!
If he kept reading, his book would be confiscated!
Jiang Ming bent down and sat on the chair. Only after five full minutes of calming his psychological and physiological agitation did he stand back up.
Afterward, Jiang Ming searched the rest of the room, but the results yielded nothing more than a pile of the teachers' study materials and a mountain of crumpled tissue wads hoarded beneath the bed.
Aside from this, Jiang Ming discovered a metal cabinet in the corner of the room. It was locked, and with a combination lock at that.
But Jiang Ming had not found the password. If this room truly contained any remaining clues, they had to be locked within this cabinet.
No more information could be scavenged from this room. Sporting incredibly complex emotions, Jiang Ming turned around and walked toward the living room.
Notes
Spring Breeze Elf is a popular brand of male masturbators in China. Equivalents are Fleshlights and Onaholes. ↩
Famous actresses from the Japanese adult film industry. ↩