The Punishment

Yu Weimin finally explained, "Well, here's the thing. I don't know. That day, I was cooking when I was taken here with a pan in my hand full of food. I was already here by the time I blinked."

Qi Jingguo finally couldn't hold it in as a strong of laughter rolled out of his throat, uncontrollably, as he said, "It was so funny. He actually swung the pan right onto my junior's face! He's still wandering around with a burnt cheek here."

"Yeah, and you were simply standing there, crossing your arms on your chest, watching in amusement." Yu Weimin's eyes filled with anger as he glanced upon his lover. "We're not sleeping together tonight."

"Whatttt?!" The blond guy's eyes widened. "NOOOOO!!!!"

Xie Ai rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "I wish I could separate the two of you so that you guys can FOCUS!!!"

The three of them again went silent as Yu Weimin opened his mouth and continued to explain, "It was probably two months ago. We passed through five instances already, and got to know a few things.

"First, don't ever follow the NPC rules, especially if we are in a prison or a mental asylum. Second, our mission in these worlds or instances is to find the exit window, but only the key NPC in every world knows about its location. We have to find that key NPC first.

"Third, the person who passes all the instances will get a wishing ticket, Also, only the players who can pass through all the worlds can get to return to the original world.

"But there's a rumor I heard from the seniors that the wishing ticket is practically useless, and the wish is always predetermined. So far, no one has been able to reach the top." He paused and said, "And don't ask about what will happen and how much time it will take if we ever win."

Xie Ai's head was full of question marks. "There's a list here? Top? This isn't a game, is it?"

"Um… you can consider it similar to a VRMMORPG game because you also get props. The list updates every week."

Qi Jingguo grinned as he hugged his lover from behind, asking with a face full of pride, "You know who's at the top right now?"

Xie Ai didn't have to think twice about it. He already knew the answer. "It's Yu Weimin, isn't it?" He shook his head and changed the topic. "Now, what should we do? What happens after we find that window? And how do you determine the top? Is there a point system?"

The other two went silent as they exchanged a glance. Yu Weimin pursed his lips, muttering, "You'll find out what happens after we get to that window. As for your second question, it's random based on how the players perform."

Xie Ai mentally noted how the man called everyone players.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed into the background. The sky had cleared up as sun rays filtered through the clouds, brightening up the entire ground. Even though it was morning, the scorching sun rays made it clear that it would burn the ground to death because of heat.

This kind of day sent a chill down everyone's spines. It seemed like if the nights were full of darkness, the days would be so bright that it was enough to turn you into ash.

But even in that terrible atmosphere, the guards walked without any umbrellas, nor did they wear hoods on their heads. As a result, thin streaks of smoke lifted from their skulls, evaporating in the air. It seemed as if their skin was burning as they all walked beneath the sun.

A few more people who had arrived outside saw this scene, and the newbie woman was included among them. She screamed at the top of her lungs. "W-what's that…? How are they not hurting?!"

"Eh…. These guards don't seem to be human." Qi Jingguo's eyes narrowed. "Be careful, everyone."

His hands automatically tightened around his lover.

The guards walked and entered into the corridor of the west wing, stopping right in front of Xie Ai and others. Their faces were ice cold and twisted with anger as they stared at the people around them.

Finally, the frontmost guard opened his mouth and said in a cold voice, "You all wandered outside, didn't you? I hate the prisoners who don't follow the rules."

The newbie woman's mind finally snapped as she walked forward and glared at the guard, spitting on the ground. "Who do you think you guys are?! Let me go already! Didn't you say we are professionals? How come we turned into criminals today?"

"Oh?" The guard's eyes brightened up as he grinned. His grin revealed his yellowish teeth as his facial muscles twisted and stretched unnaturally such that it looked like a stiff and broken smile.

His face looked extremely horrible from the other's point of view. That single smile seemed to have made even the experienced tremble from head to toe.

The guard tilted his head and said, "Didn't you kill that girl last night?"

Everyone shut their mouths as they stared toward the man with a terrified expression on their faces. Only a few people remained as calm as possible, including Yu Weimin and Qi Jingguo.

Xie Ai was also calm, or so he seemed. His entire face had turned pale as he stared at the guards standing in front of him. Some of them had their hair burnt off, while the bald guards were worse: their heads scorched so much that their scalp turned red and black.

Coupled with that twisted smile on their faces, they did seem like they had just stepped out from a horror movie. The newbie woman was so scared that her eyes rolled back as she fainted right on the ground.

Soon, they heard the guard with a scar right across his face opening his mouth, "The rules have changed. Since you guys have committed a crime right under our noses, we have the authority to lock up and punish you guys. Is that clear?"

No one dared to utter a single word at the moment as they all stayed silent, staring at the guards in vigilance.

The guard at the front smiled in satisfaction. "Good. I like obedient prisoners better. Now, all of you will be punished for the charge of murder. If, tomorrow, another murder occurs, the punishment time will double."

One of the women, who was standing close to the fainted newbie, opened her mouth and asked tremblingly, "What's the punishment?"

"Of course," the guard said and smiled, "you have to stand beneath the sun for two minutes."