They Punish the Ones Nobody Loves

“Cousin, I didn’t charge you rent. I’m at a loss.” Su Lai glanced thoughtfully at Bai Ke.

Bai Ke chuckled evasively. “One family. Doesn’t matter.”

Su Lai pointed at Wang Chunying, who was heading upstairs with a broom and mop. “One family. Go lend a hand.”

Bai Ke: “…”
Speechless as he was, he swiftly rolled up his sleeves and went upstairs to help.

Bai Ke was quietly reaping benefits. He had already earned 50 points of resident affection from Wang Chunying and Uncle Wang.
He figured Lai-ge’s numbers must be several times his own. Just leeching goodwill off the old couple was enough; no need to run around outside.

Su Lai didn’t dawdle either. He first edited and printed the rental information, then mounted his little e-bike and headed to the village committee office to register the rental.

By now, his identity as Wang Xiaosi was deeply ingrained. The staff member sneezed repeatedly upon seeing him. Eager to avoid this allergen as quickly as possible, she didn’t make things difficult and let Su Lai register smoothly before sending him on his way.

* * * *

By the time the rental contract was signed, it was almost dinner time.
Aside from the lead on Pervert Xu, the other players hadn’t provided any more suspect lists.

It wasn’t that everyone lacked ability or was slacking off. On the first night of entering the instance to tackle the collective task, almost everyone was taking a wait-and-see approach.

The 7 PM answer announcement was crucial. But what they cared about most was what would happen to the reporter after the results were revealed.

“By the way, are you two really brothers?” While Wang Chunying was busy cooking, Bei Yao lowered her voice and asked.

“Cousins.” Bai Ke corrected with an ambiguous smile. He glanced at Lai-ge, who was busy with needlework, not even looking up.

Su Lai ignored their conversation. He had found two green buttons in Wang Chunying’s room and a sewing kit. Now he was focused on sewing new eyes onto the black cat plushie.

His own black cat had green eyes.

Bei Yao’s gaze shifted between their faces. She shrugged.
“I don’t believe it. You look poles apart.”

Bai Ke, the wordsmith, was speechless. “… Hey, is that how you use ‘poles apart’?”

Waiting for dinner, the two started chatting. Bai Ke and Bei Yao were sort of in the same line of work in the real world—both internet workers. Bai Ke was a media person working overtime serving clients; Bei Yao was a food livestreamer working overtime serving her audience.

Bei Yao was lucky. After entering the instance for the first time, she had activated a personal skill related to her profession: “Audio-Visual Sync.”

“Lucky or unlucky? It’s hard to say.” Bei Yao remarked.
“At first, I thought it was super useless. ‘Audio-Visual Sync’ can’t assist or attack. It has high requirements for usage scenarios—needs playback equipment and an emotionally stable audience. I didn’t know when I’d ever use it.” Bei Yao smiled helplessly.
“Unexpectedly, it came in handy this time.”

“And very timely at that,” Bai Ke said. “In an instance where NPCs outnumber players, the power of discourse is a very important ability.”

Bei Yao smiled. “Thanks to your cousin.”

“Cousin, how did you know that ‘pointing and whispering’ could have the same negative effect on original residents?” Bai Ke asked curiously.

Su Lai: “Don’t forget, you and I are original residents.”

Bai Ke lowered his voice. “… I meant the NPC kind of original residents.”

Su Lai: “Others are hell. Since they’re residents of an urban village, whether NPCs or players, it’s hard not to be influenced by the surrounding environment.”
“Besides, Mom said Pervert Xu’s mother is famously obsessed with face. She can’t stand the neighbors pointing and whispering.”

Bai Ke nodded. “Auntie’s different. If anyone points and whispers about you, she just takes her cleaver to their door and shuts them up.”

Su Lai agreed. “My mom loves me.”

Bei Yao gave Su Lai a strange look but held back.

The sky had completely darkened. Lights came on in the self-built houses.

The old lightbulb flickered, casting dim, shadowy light throughout the room.

The three young people helped Wang Chunying serve the dishes. Dinner was five dishes and two soups, still lavish.

As usual, Uncle Wang stared intently at the TV.

At 7 PM, a melody mixed with crackling current sounded.

The screen flickered. The announcer in burial clothes appeared on the TV again.

“Good evening, dear viewers! Welcome to tonight’s Spring Breeze Live Report-re-re-re-re—”

Whether due to equipment issues or signal problems, the TV froze. The image froze on the host’s eerie smile.

The stuttering “re-re-re-re—” echoed endlessly, its pitch growing sharper. Bai Ke and Bei Yao’s scalps tingled; they instinctively covered their ears.

What was happening?
Bai Ke noticed his mental stability was already being affected.

Wang Chunying and Uncle Wang were completely unaffected by the stuttering noise. They ate their rice and dishes, watching the screen with relish.

Just then, the phone rang.

Wang Chunying put down her bowl and chopsticks expressionlessly. After answering, she looked at the young people at the table.
“It’s the village committee. They have something to announce for Xiao’er and Bei Yao.”

The three exchanged glances. They knew the village committee was announcing the answer.

But why wasn’t Wang Xiaosi notified? Bei Yao and Bai Ke were both puzzled.

After a brief hesitation, Bei Yao picked up the receiver. Bai Ke leaned close to the phone, holding his breath and straining his ears.

“Hello, speaking. Go ahead.” Holding the receiver, Bei Yao’s heart pounded like a drum.

Su Lai couldn’t hear the voice on the other end, but Bei Yao’s shocked and grave expression said it all.

“What? Incorrect?!” Bei Yao’s voice rose. She repeated incredulously.
“Incorrect? How can that be… everyone saw the evidence… Xu Zhiwei admitted it too…”

The staff member on the other end ignored her questioning and continued matter-of-factly.
“Due to your incorrect answer, the original residents will choose one person from among you for punishment.”

“Punishment… how can… Xu Zhiwei is definitely the peeper… open-and-shut case… how can it be incorrect…!” The hand holding the receiver trembled.

Su Lai took the receiver.
“Don’t hang up. I know your employee ID.”

The staff member, about to hang up, choked.
“I have fulfilled my job duties.”

Su Lai: “How is the punished person determined? I’m an original resident. I have the right to know.”

Staff member: “Off work.”

Su Lai: “I’ll pay for three minutes of your overtime.”

Staff member: “Village committee staff do not accept bribes.”

Beep beep beep—
The line went dead. The staff member had clocked out.

The three gathered around the phone fell into silence.

Bei Yao repeated frantically.
“How can it be… Xu Zhiwei is definitely the peeper… how can the answer be wrong…”

At the table, Wang Chunying and Uncle Wang were waiting for them, chopsticks untouched.
“Come eat. The food will get cold.” Wang Chunying urged.

Su Lai walked over as if nothing had happened. Bei Yao stood frozen until Bai Ke patted her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.

As the three sat down, the frozen TV screen suddenly returned to normal.

The smile on the host’s face widened. Wang Chunying and Uncle Wang, holding their rice bowls, wore identical smiles.

“The following is an urgent news report. At 6:30 PM tonight, a resident reported a mentally abnormal person appearing in Jiushi Lane. According to reports, this individual’s behavior is abnormal, displaying various unsociable and weird traits. Their identity is an outside tenant.”

“According to analysis by behavioral and infectious disease experts, the symptoms exhibited by this resident are highly similar to those infected with the social phobia virus. The virus is not highly contagious, but once infected, it is difficult to cure for life.”

“The spread of this virus could seriously impact the physical and mental health of our community residents. Relevant departments have taken emergency action. Let’s connect to the scene.”

The surroundings were extremely quiet. The broadcast, mixed with the sound of current, was particularly jarring.

The punished player had already appeared.

The TV screen cut to a dim, self-built house stairwell.
The camera focused on the upright “Fu” character on the green-painted door. After a brief silence, came the loud sound of forced entry.

BAM—
“What are you breaking my door for? I just went to get you the spare key…” The landlord stood in the stairwell shouting. A group of blurry-faced staff members had already forced their way in.

The room was dark. The shaky footage finally plunged into darkness.
There were no sounds of fighting or fleeing. The quiet rental room gave the illusion of being deserted.

Until the arriving landlord pressed the light switch. In a corner of the cluttered rental room, a young man in a hoodie with green hair sat crouched.
Wearing large red earmuffs, the youth looked up, his gaze confused and puzzled at the staff members breaking in.

More than fear, his face showed bewilderment and drowsiness.
The youth was completely out of sync with the tense atmosphere of the moment, utterly disconnected from it.

Bai Ke and Bei Yao’s eyes widened in front of the TV. They remembered this young man. He was the “late, rude youth” that Director Jia had taken a dislike to earlier.

The staff on site were also momentarily stunned, but quickly fulfilled their duties, stepping forward to subdue and restrain the youth.

Throughout the entire process of being taken away, the youth offered no real resistance. He seemed indifferent, until his red earphones fell to the ground.

“Wait.” This was the first time the youth spoke.

The staff ignored him, violently pushing him to continue out of the rental.

The restrained youth began to struggle violently. He wanted to turn back and pick up his earphones. Without them, he couldn’t live.

“Wait for me!” The youth suddenly erupted with astonishing strength. He briefly broke free from the staff’s control, crouched down as fast as possible, picked up the earphones, and put them back on.

“Let’s go.” The youth returned to calm, as if nothing concerned him, as if it wasn’t him being taken away.

For a moment, both inside and outside the screen fell silent.

The shaky handheld shot vanished. The scene cut back to the studio—

“The tenant suspected of being infected with the social phobia virus has been isolated and controlled. Staff will conduct a comprehensive disinfection of his residence. Residents need not worry.”

The scene shifted abruptly, the camera lingering on a medical record form.

The patient’s photo on the record looked like a mugshot. The rest of the information was mostly blurred out. Su Lai could only see that this player’s name was Huo Lang, identity: outside tenant.

The Spring Breeze broadcast signal cut out. The table laden with five dishes and two soups fell silent again.

“Eat.” Wang Chunying urged.

Having watched the entire process of the green-haired youth being taken away, Bai Ke and Bei Yao were still shaken. They exchanged uneasy glances. As fellow players, they empathized with the youth’s plight. The food in their mouths became tasteless.

Taking advantage of Wang Chunying going to the kitchen for more rice, Bai Ke couldn’t help muttering.
“Social phobia virus? What bullshit!?”

Bei Yao was a bit dazed.
“I didn’t expect the chosen one to be him… That Director Jia this morning really looked down on this guy…”

Mentioning Director Jia, Bei Yao instinctively pursed her lips.

Bai Ke:
“Director Jia’s perspective represents most boring, conventional people. To them, ‘individuality’ is a dangerous quality.”

“Ah, this guy is clearly a severe social phobe. I have friends like this. He was probably chosen because he acted ‘different.'”

After all, Rule 4 clearly stated: Neighbors dislike those who are different. Please do not act in ways that set you apart from the group.

Bai Ke:
“The more traditional and densely populated a residential area, the easier it is to develop prejudice against neighbors who behave differently. Those who detach themselves from the group are easy targets for ostracism.”

“Cousin, what do you think?” Bai Ke turned to Su Lai.

He noticed the boss hadn’t spoken for a while.

“The staff member clearly said the original residents choose the punished person. The village committee has fair and impartial judgment criteria, but not transparent.” Su Lai’s answer seemed off-topic.

Bai Ke was bewildered.
“Huh? You believe them?”

Su Lai:
“No. But Rule 10 also mentioned: Under normal circumstances, please trust the village committee.”

“Oh yeah, the rules can play word games, but they won’t blatantly give false rules…” Bai Ke fell into thought.

“What do you think these so-called fair but non-transparent judgment criteria are?”

Su Lai pondered.

The “social phobia” trait was likely just the surface phenomenon, an indirect cause, but not sufficient.

Social phobes don’t want to waste time on boring social interactions. They’re not adapted to or good at actively participating in community activities. They’re even less willing to proactively and enthusiastically engage with strangers.

This way, unless they force themselves to overcome it, a socially phobic player’s resident affection will be lower than “ordinary people.”

And “resident affection” was the core of this instance’s operation.

Affection could be converted to survival time. In a quantified way, it represented the degree of approval original residents had for outsiders.

“It’s affection.” Su Lai said.
“I guess people with low affection are chosen as the day’s punished ones.”

Bei Yao suddenly understood.
“Although affection values between players aren’t transparent, to the rules and the original residents, it is the most objective. To some extent, it conforms to the principle of fairness!”

The so-called selection didn’t necessarily require a voting ceremony.

Affection was a quantified value of the relationship between original residents and players.

Unpopular people would face punishment first.

Thinking this, Bai Ke got goosebumps. An indescribable sense of terror enveloped him.

Bei Yao:
“I wonder what happens during isolation?”

Bai Ke:
“Not to mention ghosts, just the confined environment is scary enough…”

Bei Yao’s eyelids drooped dejectedly.

She wasn’t an experienced player.

“Remind me tomorrow. I have a very critical question to confirm with the staff member.” Su Lai said seriously.

After dinner, the three began to review and analyze the collective task of finding the peeper.

After thinking over dinner, Bei Yao had calmed down.

“The evidence against Xu Zhiwei peeping is conclusive, but the answer is incorrect. There’s only one possibility—”

“There’s more than one peeper.”

This was a multiple-choice question.

The test-setter deliberately set this trap for players. That’s why the staff member deliberately blurred important information.

“As long as you’re not last, you won’t be punished.” Su Lai said calmly.

“This is how the rat race starts.”

They belatedly realized Su Lai was referring to Bei Yao surviving past 7 PM. That was Qi Mu’s requirement when placing the order: ten thousand delivery fee, keep her alive until 7 PM.

“I’m just a delivery guy.” Su Lai emphasized again.
“Next time there’s a bodyguard gig like this…”
He paused.
“If the money’s good, I’ll take it.”

Bai Ke: “…”
“Cousin, I mean, what do you plan to do next?”

“Oh.” Su Lai turned the TV back on, diverting Uncle Wang’s attention. Then he leaned back in the lounge chair and replied.
“Want to go home.”
“Miss my cat.”

Relaxed vibes were contagious. Bai Ke’s lifted heart settled again. He had been afraid Lai-ge would answer this question with silence.

In the competition for affection, he could never win against Lai-ge, who had a mom and uncle. The best approach was for them not to have to compete at all…
This was the ideal state, but the law of the jungle couldn’t accommodate ideals.

Su Lai, holding the plushie and dozing in the lounge chair, suddenly opened his eyes.
“Something’s off.”
“There’s a problem with the punishment method and the total number of players—”