PTYS Chapter 149

Just after the system announcement, all the zombies froze in place, and Judge No. 005 appeared before them.

“Congratulations on clearing the level early. You can now check your individual points settlement.”

Xiao Muyu slowly let out a sigh of relief and nodded.

“Since this is a perfect clear, the team rating is SSS. Now, we will proceed with individual settlements. Points from this dungeon will not be recalculated; everything will be based on the final remaining points in the dungeon.” Upon hearing this, Chen Kaijie and a few others couldn’t help but frown.

“This amount of points isn’t even enough to buy a pass. We’re basically working for nothing; our wages only cover the travel expenses,” Shen Qingqiu said bluntly, feeling dissatisfied, and directly asked Judge No. 005.

Judge No. 005 smiled faintly, “This is the dungeon rule, and we have no authority to interfere. If you feel the points are insufficient, you can choose to go back and continue farming points.”

Shen Qingqiu held back her anger, “Do you think I wouldn’t dare?”

Xiao Muyu held her back, continuing to look at Judge No. 005, “As part of the game settings, the point intensity for this Judge No. 005 dungeon is already quite challenging. Fighting desperately to complete the task but not having extra points seems very unreasonable.”

“Heh, the system has its reasons for such settings. However, without points, the system will provide a bonus for clearing,” Judge No. 005 said leisurely.

“Having no points is okay; getting money isn’t bad either,” Xiao Muyu whispered, then glanced at Shen Qingqiu with a thoughtful expression. Shen Qingqiu smiled, not hiding as she rested her head on Xiao Muyu’s shoulder. Xiao Muyu glanced aside, poked her head with her finger, and pushed her away, “Stand properly, I’m still mad.”

Shen Qingqiu reluctantly stood straight, glaring at Xiao Muyu. The two were openly fooling around, ignoring Judge No. 005’s individual settlement announcement.

Judge No. 005 glanced at the two of them, like a rule-abiding robot that never gets angry, and continued, “Now announcing individual ratings: Xiao Muyu, rating SSS, 39,999 gold coins.

Shen Qingqiu, rating SSS, 49,999 gold coins.

Zuo Tiantian, rating S, 19,998 gold coins;

Chen Kaijie, rating A, 9,998 gold coins;

Su Jin, rating A, 9,998 gold coins.”

“There are actually SSS ratings!” Zuo Tiantian exclaimed joyfully but then felt discontent, “This system is so stingy. It’s not like a big sale; why mess around with these numbers? Can’t they round it up?”

“But even without points, we got a lot of gold coins this time,” Chen Kaijie said cheerfully, “Especially the vice-captain, 50,000 gold coins.”

“Yeah, that should keep me going for a while. This time, steak, pasta, and red wine can be arranged, right?” Shen Qingqiu smiled, winking at Xiao Muyu.

Xiao Muyu looked at her without enthusiasm, “Probably because someone was acting recklessly and went on a zombie-killing spree, they gave you an extra 10,000 as a reward.”

Xiao Muyu’s words, though light, made Shen Qingqiu stop smiling and close her mouth obediently.

“The gold coins have been settled. You can keep these two cards,” said Judge No. 005, waving her hand. The two cards fell into Xiao Muyu’s hands.

Shen Qingqiu frowned, looking at the “Indestructible Cockroach” title with disdain, “What is this for?”

She knew titles could be useful at critical moments, but the name made her uncomfortable, feeling it was malicious.

Xiao Muyu took it and smiled indifferently, “Being an indestructible cockroach is a good thing.”

Then she looked at the other item card in her hand, “Zombie Guide.”

Zombie Guide, rarity: S or D, non-specific dungeon card, extremely rare drop in zombie dungeons.

“What is this? What does S or D mean? Can the rarity of this card change?”

Su Jin’s face turned pale, feeling anxious, “Captain Xiao, what kind of situation is this? Check it quickly.”

The group hurriedly gathered to look at the next line of description.

Item Description: Zombie Guide, records all zombie types encountered by the holder. Collect seven types of zombies to summon the “Pseudo Zombie King—Xiao Muyu.” Speed and attack power increase by 30%.

“What does this mean? You need to collect seven types of zombies to summon the ‘Pseudo Zombie King.’ How do you collect them? If you don’t collect them, the rarity drops to D?” Chen Kaijie was puzzled.

“Time is tight; you can discuss it later. You can now leave the dungeon,” Judge No. 005 interrupted, reminding them.

Xiao Muyu turned to look at the frozen scene around her, puzzled, “How will this dungeon continue after we leave?”

Judge No. 005, with cold eyes, glanced at the dungeon’s inhabitants, “Once you leave, the players will know you’ve cleared it. In the eyes of NPCs, you will be reasonably dead to maintain the dungeon’s stability. It’s fine.”

With that, she waved her hand, and the five of them were pulled out of the dungeon. Xiao Muyu glanced back as they left, seeing the previously restrained zombies start attacking humans wildly.

This moment was brief. In the blink of an eye, they were back in the familiar card drawing room. Before Judge No. 005 could speak, Shen Qingqiu lazily raised her hand, waving her fingers.

“Anything you need?” Judge No. 005 asked routinely, without much expression.

“You are Judge No. 005, so you should have the authority to determine whether player actions in the dungeon are against the rules and whether the rules are fair and just, right?”

Shen Qingqiu’s tone and manner were casual, but Chen Kaijie and the others watched her with wide eyes, full of surprise and expectation.

Judge No. 005’s expression barely changed, but her gaze paused for a moment before nodding.

“This dungeon did not impose any restrictions on killing zombies, except for the initial prohibition on using functional cards. There were no limitations on using other cards afterward.

But when we were clearing zombies, the system determined we were maliciously farming points. What rule did we break to be flagged for malicious point farming?”

Shen Qingqiu’s words were light but carried an implicit forcefulness, not just asking out of curiosity but questioning.

Judge No. 005 looked at Shen Qingqiu, “If you think there is an issue, you can request arbitration. I will report truthfully, and the entire SkyNet system will handle it impartially. However, if the arbitration fails, you will face penalties. Are you sure you want to try?”

These words made Chen Kaijie and the others’ expressions change slightly, while Shen Qingqiu sneered, “I won’t talk about arbitration yet. Just answer a few questions first. Is it true that this dungeon didn’t restrict card usage?”

“Yes.”

“Every type of zombie and every killing method has fixed points, and there were no cases where points weren’t awarded for kills, correct?”

“Correct,” Judge No. 005 said calmly.

“Good.” Shen Qingqiu smiled coldly, “What penalties would there be if arbitration fails? We wouldn’t have to redo the dungeon, right? Such a penalty seems more like a deterrent to prevent unnecessary arbitration, rather than a way to ensure fairness.”

Judge No. 005 shook her head, “Not redoing the dungeon, but based on your arbitration scenario, you’ll go through the dungeon again without your flagged actions.”

In other words, if the arbitration fails, Su Jin’s method card will be canceled, and they will all have to relive the events they experienced during that time.

“That’s quite harsh,” Shen Qingqiu said, although there was no fear in her eyes. She tilted her head back slightly, still looking at Referee 005, “What does everyone think? Should we arbitrate?”

Su Jin glanced at Zuo Tiantian and the others, his face darkening slightly, “Arbitrate. Otherwise, they’ll get used to it, and then there’ll be more of these incidents. I don’t accept this.”

Xiao Muyu looked at Shen Qingqiu, lowered her eyes with a smile, and finally also looked at Referee 005, “Team Xiao Muyu requests arbitration for Sub-Scenario 005.”

Referee 005 looked at them for a long time, then walked to his desk, took out a pen, and wrote a line of code on a small floral notepad.

Xiao Muyu saw that the flowers on the paper were bellflowers, which was actually a very simple design. However, she recognized it immediately and frowned slightly when she saw the code.

Referee 005 neatly placed the code on the table. After pressing something, the paper disappeared.

Three minutes later, there was a ding, and the system began broadcasting again. But this time, the voice was that of a woman, with the stiffness typical of a machine, yet strangely familiar to Shen Qingqiu.

“The arbitration result has been determined. Sub-Scenario 005 had a system malfunction, causing a bug. Failing to inform players of the card usage limits in advance and punishing them afterward was a significant mistake. This round of the game is over. The system will be overhauled, and the penalized points will be returned: 62.5 points. Since the bug did not cause significant harm, each player will receive a compensation of 50 points.”

As the broadcast ended, everyone cheered. Shen Qingqiu also breathed a sigh of relief and then turned to wink at Xiao Muyu, looking very pleased with herself.

“Congratulations. Now, please take turns drawing cards. Since Sub-Scenario 005 was a team task, there is both a team draw and an individual draw. You achieved a perfect pass, so you can draw twice. Please appoint a representative.”

After Referee 005 finished speaking, everyone looked at Xiao Muyu, who shook her head directly, “Don’t count on me. Take turns.”

Xiao Muyu was almost traumatized by the draws and didn’t want to join in the fun. Shen Qingqiu pointed at Zuo Tiantian.

“Xiao Zuo, you go this time, then Chen Kaijie.” Shen Qingqiu, knowing her own bad luck with draws, quickly made the arrangements.

Zuo Tiantian was very nervous, “I’m afraid I’ll have bad luck.”

Chen Kaijie comforted, “Remember your moment of glory? Maybe you’ll get lucky. Besides, no matter how bad, you can’t be worse than our captain. They’re too nerve-wracking.”

“Chen Kaijie, watch your skin,” Shen Qingqiu snorted coldly, glancing at him. Chen Kaijie immediately shrank his neck back and said nothing.

Su Jin held back a laugh and looked at the speechless Xiao Muyu, “The cards you draw are always practical, it’ll be fine.”

Zuo Tiantian took a deep breath and walked over.

She closed her eyes and randomly picked a card from the grid. After a while, she opened her eyes and scratched her head, “This one seems a bit useless?”

Xiao Muyu took the card and looked at it. It said, “Invisible Spray.”

Invisible Spray, rarity S, very low probability drop in team sub-scenarios.

Item description: When knowledge is needed, regret having so little; when facing fierce enemies, wish to be invisible.

Using the spray on an individual unit will shrink them to ten centimeters regardless of height, weight, life or death. Note that only a single object (including parts) can be affected. Duration: ten minutes, cooldown: 24 hours.

Xiao Muyu shook her head, “There are no useless cards, only unimaginative people. With the right timing, it can be very useful.”

Shen Qingqiu touched her chin and nudged Xiao Muyu with a smile, “Feels like we’re all infected.”

Xiao Muyu understood her meaning, glancing at her, “Who infects who isn’t clear yet.”

Shen Qingqiu laughed, “We share everything, feel free to pass your problems to me, I’ll stick with you.”

Chen Kaijie felt relieved. According to experience, if the first card is S, the second one is usually mediocre.

He quickly drew a card, opened it, and was stunned before showing immense joy.

“Team Leader Xiao, Deputy Leader, it’s an Invisibility Talisman!”

Grade A Invisibility Talisman, low probability drop. Sticking it on the forehead grants invisibility. Duration: ten minutes, six uses.

“Not bad. We just encountered someone invisible in this sub-scenario, now we have one too. It’s a perfect trick for critical moments.”

Shen Qingqiu patted Chen Kaijie and laughed, “Though it looks silly on the forehead, at least no one will see it.”

“Alright, I’m starving and exhausted. Let’s finish the draws and go eat.” Shen Qingqiu always felt relaxed after a sub-scenario, waving for them to hurry up.

“Then I’ll keep drawing.” Chen Kaijie had one more chance. He held his breath, drew a card, and it was Grade A, fire tongs.

“He’ll probably end up as a cook.” Shen Qingqiu shook her head, exchanging a smile with Xiao Muyu.

However, the fire tongs had a special function: once heated, they could grasp both visible and invisible objects, which was quite advantageous in supernatural sub-scenarios.

Su Jin had many powerful cards that weren’t very useful, but this time, she drew something quite eerie.

Bone Whistle, rarity A, an unknown bone (likely human) whistle.

Item description: The sound of the whistle clears the ears and eyes of allies while causing dizziness to enemies. Duration depends on lung capacity, stops upon interruption. Cooldown: 24 hours.

Su Jin looked embarrassed. She had always had poor lung capacity during school health checks, making this card difficult for her to use, but it was undoubtedly a good card.

“Xiao Muyu, you go first, let Xiao Zuo draw last.” Shen Qingqiu’s eyes gleamed with excitement. Xiao Muyu knew her well; she loved watching the draws for the thrill.

There was no choice. Whether she wanted to or not, Xiao Muyu had to draw.

Referee 005 signaled her to get ready and laid out the cards for her.

Xiao Muyu frowned and changed her target at the last moment, then showed the card to Shen Qingqiu after drawing.

Shen Qingqiu eagerly took the card, but her excitement turned into a blank stare.

It read: Brainless Zombie, rarity $, extremely low probability drop in zombie sub-scenarios.

Item description: Brainless Zombie, extremely rare, body as strong as steel, highly collectible, but of no practical use.

The brainless zombie was literal—without a brain, even the virus couldn’t control it.

Shen Qingqiu frowned, “What is this? This useless dollar sign card last appeared in the extinguished lantern. At least then I could find a way to light it, but now, where do I get a brain for this zombie?”

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Author’s Note:

Zombie Illustration, Rarity: S or D, either a Buddha or junk. Guess what this means?