CHAPTER 258: CHAPTER 258: THE PUNISHMENT OF PLAYERS WITH NEGATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS, ERADICATION! _1

[Insufficient contribution to this event detected and adverse effects caused. You have been locked into a Penalty Task and selected as a member of the Third Legion.]

Zheng Yuan was busy flaming people on the forum when this sudden alert caught him off guard.

"What kind of garbage is this? A Penalty Task? It’s slowing me down from making money!" Zheng Yuan didn’t care at all. A gold sponsor was paying him to stir up drama and flame those high-level players. The more drama he stirred, the more he earned.

Unfortunately, the forum could only be accessed in-game. Otherwise, he could have used a script for higher efficiency. It was just that the other party paid so much he had to do it manually.

[Log-off function, forum function, friends list function, and other corresponding functions have been shut down.]

Zheng Yuan was stunned. His forum page went black and vanished. He hurriedly checked his other panels, only to find they were gone too.

"This is illegal! I’m going to sue you!" This time, Zheng Yuan was genuinely panicked. He never expected the game to trap him inside.

[Retake Wanxuan City]

[Rewards: Penalty lock removed, game functions restored.]

[You are assigned to the Third Legion for this task. Please obey the orders of the Third Legion commander. No independent actions are allowed; otherwise, corresponding Contribution will be deducted.]

[If the task fails or Contribution is negative at the time of settlement, execution will be carried out.]

Seeing the word "execution," Zheng Yuan’s scalp went numb.

"This is murder! Let me leave! I don’t want to do any Penalty Task!"

Only then did he realize the Game System was serious.

[Your Contribution: -19,610]

Unfortunately, the Game System paid him no heed. Instead, a clear number indicating his Contribution points appeared in his vision.

At first, he thought it was nearly twenty thousand points. But on closer inspection, it was a negative figure. What was he supposed to do now?

[Reminder: Please refrain from slacking off, intentional delays, betraying the Legion, and other such behaviors. Minor offenses will result in Contribution deductions; severe offenses will result in direct execution.]

[Teleportation commencing in three seconds: 3... 2... 1...]

Without giving Zheng Yuan any time to react, the countdown ended quickly. Turning around, he was horrified to find himself on a battlefield.

Besides him, there were many others, all with expressions of despair, cursing the Game System.

However, it had no effect. Their equipment had all been replaced with Legion gear.

The stat boosts were secondary; the truly terrifying part was the control.

If they didn’t obey, the Legion equipment on them would force them to, for example, being forced to charge head-on like puppets. However, such actions wouldn’t earn them any Contribution. Instead, they would be judged as slacking off, and their Contribution would be deducted.

This was a death sentence.

"Well, well, some familiar faces here," a voice suddenly rang out.

Zheng Yuan looked up to see a Player standing on a colossal construct. The Player’s name above their head made his pupils shrink.

Calligraphy Linchi.

This was one of the targets he had been paid to flame. A flicker of schadenfreude sparked in Zheng Yuan. So what if you’re skilled? You still ended up with negative Contribution, about to die with the rest of us!

"I never thought you lot would be assigned to my command. I remember you were all quite aggressive when you were flaming me on the forums. Tsk, the lowest among you has over negative 10,000 Contribution, and the highest actually has negative 70,000! You’re all truly a bunch of Sleeping Dragons and Baby Phoenixes! What on earth did you do to rack up so much negative Contribution?"

"Just you wait. All three thousand of you will be cannon fodder. I guarantee not a single one of you will leave the Third Legion alive. I’ll make sure you’re all executed."

Hearing this, Zheng Yuan’s schadenfreude vanished. He wasn’t on a Penalty Task.

"Don’t worry, even if you die, I can still conscript more. As long as their Contribution is over negative 1,000, they can come."

"Oh, and remember one thing: don’t let your Contribution fall below negative 100,000, or you’ll also be directly executed. Also, try not to die too much. Every time you die and respawn, you’ll lose one point of Contribution."

"One point of Contribution isn’t much, but you’ll be dying a lot."

This time, the voice was filled with sadistic delight.

"That’s right. I set it up this way. I just love seeing that look on your faces—wanting to kill me but being utterly helpless."

Hearing this, Zheng Yuan gritted his teeth. How could such a person exist? These were 3,000 lives!

If I make it out of this alive, I’ll make this Murdering Demon and this killer game pay!!! Zheng Yuan roared inwardly.

"I hope you all manage to complete your Penalty Task alive under my... diligent supervision, rather than dying in it. Hahaha!" The opponent laughed wildly, while Zheng Yuan seethed with uncontrollable fury.

A sliver of regret pricked his heart. If I’d known, I never would’ve taken that job. Now that I think about it, that gold sponsor must have set me up! Otherwise, how could I have gotten dragged into this?

[Legion Quest Issued...]

[Slay Enemies]

[Kill Common Monster ×1 Contribution, Kill Elite Monster ×100 Contribution, Kill BOSS ×1,000 Contribution]

[Notice: Once your Contribution is positive, you may pay 100,000 Contribution to end the Penalty Task prematurely and leave Wanxuan City.]

Looking at these quest rewards, Zheng Yuan’s expression contorted. Can I even do this?

With his strength, he stood no chance against those Demonized Creatures. And killing one only gave 1 Contribution? This was basically a death sentence!

More importantly, to end it early, he’d have to pay 100,000 Contribution. That was simply impossible for anyone to achieve!

[Quest commencing. Please act swiftly to avoid penalties for slacking off, intentional delays, etc.]

This whole Penalty Task, this Legion quest—it was utterly brutal. They weren’t being treated as Players at all, just cannon fodder.

"I don’t believe you actually dare to execute me," a Player next to Zheng Yuan sneered, clearly unconvinced.

The words had barely left his lips when he was judged to be slacking off. His body moved on its own, charging towards a large swarm of Demonized Creatures.

His head was instantly smashed.

"URGH~" Zheng Yuan couldn’t stop himself from dry heaving.

A corpse... a real corpse!!! Terror filled his eyes.

Previously, with the censorship patches, corpses weren’t scary. But now... this was a genuine dead body.

Then, the Player’s corpse vanished, and he respawned beside Zheng Yuan.

"Wait, I don’t want to go! I’ll die!!!"

This time, the other Player was no longer arrogant but filled with horror.

At first, Zheng Yuan didn’t understand why. But when it was his turn, he discovered the truth.

The enemy’s attacks landing on his body were agonizing. Excruciatingly painful.

"Damn it, pain suppression is off!!!" Zheng Yuan had just roared this out when a sharp claw loomed larger and larger before his eyes. The next moment, intense pain engulfed him as his consciousness faded.

When he came to, he had respawned in the same spot. Now, just like that defiant Player from before, his face was a mask of terror.

More importantly, his respawn had cost him another point of Contribution.

Fear spread, uncontrollable. Yet, there was nothing he could do. After ten seconds of immobility, his body moved on its own, charging towards the enemy once more.

Although the Legion equipment could control them, its AI was extremely poor. Given their current strength, this was practically a suicide run.

"Wait! I’ll go myself! I’ll go myself!!!" Zheng Yuan shrieked. However, the Legion equipment had no stop function. Unless you died and respawned, it wouldn’t deactivate. But if you remained inactive for ten seconds after respawning, it would activate again.

SMACK! After landing a single sword strike that dealt -1 damage, Zheng Yuan died again. Then, he revived once more.

This time, he didn’t dare to dither. He obediently gripped his knife and charged. The other Players on Penalty Tasks also surged forward, faces etched with terror and despair, charging into the fray. Willing or not, none of them stopped.

"Damn it! Damn it all!!!" Zheng Yuan roared madly as he was insta-killed again, a truly pathetic sight.

Just give me a chance! I’ll make you all pay! Revived yet again, Zheng Yuan roared this silently, but fear propelled him forward, towards the enemies.

At this rate, the vast majority of Players on this Penalty Task would likely break down from the repeated deaths and mental strain long before they were actually executed.

If Wanxuan City hadn’t fallen, the Penalty Tasks for these Players wouldn’t have been so severe. Unfortunately for them, they got caught up in this mess. They only had themselves to blame. If they hadn’t deliberately tried to hinder progress, how could their Contribution have plummeted to negative tens of thousands? Ninety-nine percent of Players had positive Contribution.

Only those who intentionally caused trouble, trying to sabotage God-given World’s resistance against the Abyss, would end up with such a massive negative balance.