The Death Row Inmate's Contribution

Although he had anticipated it, Ash's heart still skipped a beat when he heard that the Blood Moon Judgment was indeed a death sentence.

In truth, he had harbored a sliver of fantasy—perhaps the people here could identify that he wasn't the Heretic Leader, perhaps he would have to undergo a lengthy trial process, or perhaps there was a two-year suspended death sentence...

This fantasy reached its peak after he entered the prison, because in Ash's view, how could death row inmates possibly have such nice rooms with private bathrooms?

How could death row inmates possibly move freely within the prison?

How could death row inmates possibly receive so many perks from the prison?

Lang Na's words completely shattered all his naive expectations—it was precisely because they were going to die that the prison treated them so well.

"The prison keeps us in captivity just to make our deaths more miserable?" Ash asked with difficulty. "Isn't that a waste of resources?"

"Would you complain that fireworks aren't brilliant enough when they explode?" Lang Na laughed. "I'm surprised; you really don't seem to know much about the Blood Moon Judgment. It's a live broadcast program available in every city. Most citizens stay home at 8:00 PM on the 1st and 15th of every month, turn on their Light Screens, and watch the final moments of every sinner together. The viewership is nearly 70%."

"By the way, compared to the advertising revenue brought in by the Blood Moon Judgment program, the cost for the prison to keep us fed is simply not worth mentioning."

"Watching executions" was actually a popular program in this world...

Ash twitched his lips. "That's just absurd. How can 70% of people watch entertainment programs at 8:00 PM? Don't they have to work overtime? I think their workload just isn't saturated enough..."

Lang Na was not at all surprised by Ash's impotent rage.

He had seen too many death row inmates act out as the Blood Moon Judgment approached, ranging from railing against the social system to cursing the ignorance of the world. If you stayed in this prison long enough, you would naturally see it all.

"But if you want to escape the Blood Moon Judgment, it's not impossible."

Ash immediately perked up. "What way?"

Lang Na didn't toy with him and spoke bluntly, "Although one person must die in every Blood Moon Judgment, eight people go, and the spots for these eight are not fixed; they are ranked according to 'Contribution Points'."

"Every death row inmate starts with 50 Contribution Points, and 10 points are deducted each month. It doesn't matter if it drops to 0, though; the prison won't do anything to the inmate because of that."

"However, the higher one's Contribution Points, the later one's position in the Judgment Sequence, while those with low points are placed earlier. Theoretically, the first eight people in the sequence are the participants of the Blood Moon Judgment."

"There are many ways to earn Contribution Points, the simplest being to create value. Although Memory Weavers extracted all our memories before we entered the prison and our intelligence is worthless, we still have many ways to create contributions:"

"Some came in for dereliction of duty or corruption; they can provide systemic improvement plans to reduce the possibility of future corruption;"

"Some came in for illegal experiments; they can continue to conduct legal experiments in prison and write papers;"

"Some possess various talents; there are even people who write books in prison that become bestsellers, which naturally counts as creating value."

"But in this prison, most are those who came in for murder and have no other special creative talents—like me."

Lang Na pointed at Ash. "Like you."

"So how do we earn Contribution Points? The Deathmatch Club is our answer."

Ash realized something. "You said earlier that participating in a deathmatch requires a price..."

"Aside from death and pain, the greatest price of a deathmatch is the transfer of Contribution Points," Lang Na said. "In every deathmatch, both sides must wager a certain amount of Contribution Points. The winner escapes the Blood Moon, and the loser accepts the judgment."

"If the Blood Moon Judgment is the end of the road, then the Deathmatch Club is the sea of blood along the way—almost all death row inmates eventually participate in deathmatches, betting their last point, draining their last drop of blood, and then ascending to the broadcast room watched by the masses in the most desperate state."

"This is how we make our contributions—we eliminate the weak and maintain the bloodthirst!"

"This is also why the prison allows the Deathmatch Club to exist." Lang Na's voice was as calm as if he were discussing someone else's affairs. "Before going on stage, actors must always put on makeup."

Actors must always put on makeup, otherwise, the audience won't enjoy watching.

Even if he had never watched the Blood Moon Judgment, Ash understood what Lang Na meant.

Just like how they would make exquisite character art for mobile games, the so-called "deathmatch" was the process of turning a death row inmate into a piece of character art: gambling, fighting, despair, fear, pain... Nothing could stimulate a person's bloodthirst more than a "battle where life is on the line."

When a death row inmate became hysterical from pain after multiple failed deathmatches, or desperate and insane from fear, he became a "main course" that could be served on the table. What was presented to the audience then was a "beast" full of bloodthirst, fighting spirit, despair, and fear.

Compared to a numb, withered, and dull "person," a "beast" that still seemed to dare to resist was naturally more entertaining to watch being killed.

This was an open conspiracy, an open conspiracy that death row inmates could not refuse.

Not only would the loser become the product the prison needed and sell for a "good price" on the broadcast, but the winner was merely drinking poison to quench their thirst; one day, they too would appear on the broadcast and walk the same path to their end.

From the very beginning, they, the death row inmates, had only one outcome: to be squeezed of all value by the prison and then die. The dormitories with private bathrooms, the good food, and the comprehensive facilities were all just to fatten them up.

The so-called Judgment Sequence was actually an involution mechanism; everyone was in a zero-sum game. Either you go to accept the judgment, or I am sentenced to death.

However, this was actually reasonable and fair; who told them to break the law and become death row inmates?

Besides, if a death row inmate didn't want to be exploited, he could just lie flat and wait for death. Only those who wanted to live would get caught up in the involution.

If Ash were outside the prison, he would certainly applaud this mechanism and watch the show from the sidelines.

It was a pity that Hiss, this guy, was not only a Heretic Leader but also such a weak one, dragging him into the prison and leaving him with no choice but to find another way to survive.

"Having heard this, do you still want to join the Deathmatch Club?"

"Of course!"

Lang Na was not surprised; he finished his milk and let out a burp. "Then come with me. If you're lucky, you might be able to see a fresh, steaming corpse if we go now."

"Are people deathmatching early in the morning?" Ash asked curiously.

"Although deathmatches require wagering Contribution Points, you don't have to wager a lot at the start. The first match only requires a bet of 1 point, and every subsequent deathmatch must be at least one point higher than the previous one. The second match is 2 points, the third is 3 points, and so on."

"Although the bets become quite substantial as they accumulate, even if you lose all of the first five matches, you still have a chance to turn things around. Therefore, everyone tries their best to use the first five deathmatches to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of others and judge their own standing in the prison."

"Thus, the frequency of deathmatches is quite high; one a day is normal. There are only a few days left until the 15th, and those at the end of the sequence definitely want to escape the judgment through deathmatches. I estimate the blood on the Deathmatch Arena won't dry these next few days."

"Speaking of which, do you want to buy some meat?"

Ash blinked. "Meat? What meat?"

"The meat that falls on the arena. This is one of the few ways we can spend our Contribution Points. The meat that falls on the arena already belongs to the prison, and we can buy that meat back from the prison."

Lang Na turned his head to look at Ash, revealing two rows of pale, neat teeth. "If you're lucky, you can buy thigh meat. Whether you make sashimi or cook it, the texture is excellent. Highly recommended."