Chapter 7: Punishment for Failure

“Looks like something will happen only after all tasks are done,” Jacob said. His entire body was aching and his nose was red after repeated kissing the ground. He didn’t have it in him to complete the rest. So he simply stood up, lay on his bed, and switched off the lights.

“I’ll try to complete the tasks tomorrow.” He decided this despite hating the entire process. This was because his predecessor had never exercised, which kept his body weak. But he felt it was worth giving a chance to this new system. Jacob soon fell asleep.

The clock soon struck 11:59 pm. Seconds passed by and the hour hand moved. 12 am arrived.

[You’ve failed to complete the Daily Quest. You’ll be transferred to the ‘Penalty Zone’ for a set period of time.]

***

A feeling of weightlessness suddenly assaulted Jacob. Wind blew his hair upward while his clothes fluttered. Scorching heat assaulted his face robbing him of his beautiful dream. He opened his eyes. It took a moment for him to understand his situation.

“Ahhhhhh!”

He waved his limbs strongly as his body approached the ground. A second before the impact, his body stopped as if held up by some magical power. Golden grains of sand filled his vision. He kept his body still as he faced the desert. The power holding him in place disappeared and his face kissed the desert.

Jacob instantly shot up and removed the hot sand from his face. He even spat out some sand. He was dumbfounded. Endless desert appeared in his sight while the scorching sun hung above.

“Whose messing with me!?” he screamed. “What is this place?” he held back his tears. “Why do I have to go through this?” he was questioning the unfairness of life.

As if some heavenly being had heard his prayer, he got a notice.

[Penalty Zone is now Active]

Goal: Survive for 4 hours

Remaining time: 4 hours

The blue box that felt fascinating a while ago now seemed to attract his rage. But he tried to calm down. His transmigration was unbelievable and his system was also of unknown origin. He tried to recall and understood the cause of this penalty.

“So is it that daily quest?” he asked himself. “But why are you telling me to survive? I’m not so weak that I’ll dry up like a shrimp in 4 hours.”

As if to answer his doubts, the sand underneath him began sinking. He ran away in panic and looked back at the 5 meter deep pit that was formed within seconds. Something seemed to wriggle in that pit. He wiped his eyes and got a closer look.

“Dammit!” he spat. The bad feeling in his heart grew as he heard a roar.

Woosh!

A giant head erupted from the pit. It was a desert scorpion towering over him. Its 2 storey tall frame sent his heart in despair and he noticed an abnormality.

“Is that a name tag?”

Above its menacing head, he saw its name.

[Poison Fanged Desert Scorpion Youngling]

He confirmed its two fangs that jutted below its mandible that dripped with green fluid. Jacob saw that fluid drop on the golden sand. It made sizzling sounds followed by the disappearance of a lot of sand.

“O-one drop is enough to end me. And this is just a youngling?” he panicked. “How can I ever defeat this thing?” his mind could not think of a way.

He looked at his quest and remembered.

“Right! Time to run!”

The scorpion’s body slammed into his direction, making him fly forward from the impact. He hurriedly swiped the sand off his face and got up. Just then, the sand underneath his feet sank.

“Are you kidding me?”

He ran forward while looking back at an angry scorpion chasing him. From his previous position, another head emerged and began chasing him. He ran like his life depended on it, and it did.

“What mana poisoned body, what weakness? If I don’t outrun them, it’s game over!”

But he soon realized he couldn’t outrun them. They were just a few meters away from him. Just as one of them jumped at him, he hurriedly changed direction and sprinted away.

As he smiled at the thought of a new strategy to survive this quest, the sand in front of him began to sink. It sank together with his heart. He quickly changed direction once again and looked behind him. Jacob saw the third scorpion emerge.

“Dammit! You’re not leaving me a chance here!” he cursed, but didn’t stop for a second.

For every hour that he survived, a new scorpion was added to his kill squad. By the end, his limbs were aching, his face was dried up and his clothes were filled with sand. He didn’t know how he survived. He even felt the scorpions didn’t do their best to hunt him down. But he wasn’t complaining.

[You have cleared the Penalty Zone]

The scary blue box felt so beautiful at the moment. Before he notice anything else, a black portal opened in front of him. His running momentum carried him forward into his hospital room. But… he was running too fast. As he tried to stop, his face approached the white walls of his room. He closed his eyes with tears. He knew what would happen and didn’t resist.

“Aaah!” his miserable scream alarmed the nurses on duty. They rushed into his room and saw his face kissing the wall. He slid to the ground and fell unconscious.

“Doctor! The patient has suicidal tendencies!” The nurse screamed, then lifted him up to the bed. The doctor on duty quickly arrived and saw Jacob’s condition. His nose and limbs were bleeding, his clothes were torn and filled with sand.

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“Just what the hell happened here?” It was the doctor’s turn to freak out. “How did all this sand get it? Why does he look like he’s been raped by a monster for days? Get him some iv and quickly do a general check up!”

***

“Argh!” Jacob groaned. He tried to move, but his limbs were supported with a cast which stopped him. Jacob opened his eyes and looked at the familiar white room. He once again felt déjà vu, then felt something was wrong.

“I don’t want to get used to this!”

After getting a closer look at his condition, he realized his nose was bandaged. They kept his limbs in a cast, and he was tied to the bed to make it impossible for him to move. He looked at the time and realized it was 4 am. It was impossible for him to move in this condition. So he did the only thing he could do. He slept.

***

“Looks like his condition is much better than yesterday. He doesn’t seem to have suicidal tendencies anymore, so remove his bindings and cast,” said the doctor.

While they were following his orders, Jacob woke up to the now familiar ceiling. He calmly watched as they did their work while checking his system. It was to check if the daily quest had refreshed.

‘Open daily quest,’ he thought.

Ting!

[Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong]

Press-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Sit-up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Squat, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)

Running, 10 km: Incomplete (0/10)

※Warning: Incompletion of Daily Quests will result in appropriate levels of punishment.

‘Argh, it’s the same thing,’ Jacob groaned. But this was preferable to some unclear goal. Today he had a clear motivation for completing his daily quest. ‘I am not going back there to see their ugly mugs every again!’ he swore to himself.

After the doctor and nurses left, he was left all alone. It was the perfect time to get started.

Jacob once again started the press-ups. This time, he paid attention to the progress. A few press-ups later, he concluded that cheating was not possible.

‘If I don’t go down the entire way, it’s not counted. Looks like I’m in for a sore body today,’ Jacob thought.

He opened his notifications while being grateful that each press up was not met with a Ting!

It was only when he opened his notifications that he began hearing the sound. It seemed like his system could identify what notifications were important. So it didn’t bother him with unnecessary pings.

Ting!

[You’ve completed one press-up.]

[Press-up 100 times: Incomplete (7/100)]

Ting!

[You’ve completed one press-up.]

[Press-up 100 times: Incomplete (8/100)]

Every few seconds, the numbers changed. Soon, he was done with them.

“Time for sit-ups.”

He took plenty of breaks while reaching 100.

“Time for squats.”

An hour later, his legs were wobbly. He still wasn’t discharged and wasn’t allowed to leave the Trathe General Hospital. So all he could do was run in his room. Jacob felt dumb, but the increasing progress of his quest kept him sane and on track.

By the evening, the torture was over. Jacob was spent, and he collapsed on his bed while ignoring his sweat drenched clothes. He eagerly wanted a bath, but was even more eager to hear the familiar notification.

Ting!

[You’ve completed ‘Daily Quest: Preparations to become strong’.]

[Completion rewards have arrived.]

[Would you like to receive them?] (Y/N)

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