God's Imitator

All dust has settled.

Qin Cheng stood up and walked to Yao Yuan’s seat, picking up the wristband and then placing it alongside the First Player Identity Card on the long table.

"I know this kind of thing takes a long time to digest and accept.

"But no matter what, we all took the hardest step together."

"Now, I’ll fulfill the previous promise, so everyone can understand why two S-Class imitators can never coexist."

"Because there is a hidden rule that only S-Class imitators know."

"The visa time of S-Class imitators is protected by a ’special hidden status’, and in public places, no abnormalities can ever be detected."

Ye Lin froze for a moment, then her expression became relieved: "I see..."

The visa time of S-Class imitators always shows no abnormalities, which means it’s nearly impossible to use any conventional means to truly confirm their identity.

S-Class imitators can’t leave obvious evidence;

The probability of S-Class imitators entering their own game and dying is extremely low;

The visa time of S-Class imitators is always free from issues.

Unless it’s some extreme situation: the S-Class imitator has exhausted the apparent visa time they logically can have, but there’s hidden visa time, so they don’t die from visa time depletion.

But such a situation nearly never happens.

Because S-Class imitators won’t be foolish enough to exhaust their apparent visa time.

If other players want to verify, they can only use certain methods to strip away all apparent visa time; if he doesn’t die, then he is an S-Class imitator; if he dies, then he’s not.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

But such a method is evidently unreliable, akin to killing through direct voting with little difference.

Two S-Class imitators are like two gun-slinging cowboys, both possessing the typical ’high attack, low defense’ trait.

Whoever designs the targeted game first gains absolute initiative.

In theory, two gun-slinging cowboys indeed have the possibility to not shoot each other, but once the other decides to fire, it’s too late to counterattack.

Besides taking preemptive action, there’s no other method to protect oneself.

After understanding this, Ye Lin sighed.

"But as of now, we still can’t verify whether Yao Yuan is an S-Class imitator.

"If...

"Forget it."

Ye Lin seemed to want to say something but ultimately gave up in frustration.

Everyone’s face displayed deep exhaustion.

Qin Cheng glanced around at everyone:

"I know there are still many questions, and I will try to provide a detailed explanation and clarification later on; everyone can freely discuss.

The community also has a lot of cleanup work remaining, but haste can lead to failure; we should take it step-by-step.

Everyone must be tired, so my thought is, let’s leave it here for today.

Tomorrow we will continue the cleanup work."

No one objected.

Ye Lin let out a complicated sigh: "Alright."

...

In the evening, Huang Shengjie returned to his room earlier.

Because the atmosphere in the hall was rather oppressive.

During dinner, everyone ate as usual, but no one spoke or discussed what happened during the day.

Some players didn’t even appear in the hall.

The chair Yao Yuan once sat on was avoided by everyone.

Even though Yao Yuan’s body had disappeared, and the room was cleared without leaving any traces, everyone could not forget the scene of him dying in that chair.

The community seemed to have turned into a genuine ’haunted house’ for the first time.

And that chair naturally became something everyone avoided.

Huang Shengjie only barely finished his dinner and had no mood to linger. Back in his room, he sat on the sofa, staring out the window in a daze.

"Why was the final vote 0...

"Why did the person who originally voted ’not guilty’ for Lu Bingjun change their mind?"

This time Qin Cheng’s identification answered many of Huang Shengjie’s questions but also brought him more mysteries.

And the biggest confusion was the voting pattern for the two identifications.

"Now it seems Qin Cheng was targeting Yao Yuan from the start.

"Because Lu Bingjun and Yao Yuan were undoubtedly in a ’mutual protection’ state.

"According to the rules of the game, the player identified first will not die; at most, they will only be expelled from the community.

"Thus, Qin Cheng would definitely leave the target he considers more dangerous for later.

"Overall, this voting result is truly astounding; Qin Cheng definitely did more than what I can see on the surface, perhaps he used special political means or privately connected with other players..."

Huang Shengjie indeed can think in these directions but finds it difficult to continue without additional information.

Only feeling inexplicably irritable.

Ever since ’suspecting an imitator exists in the community’, every decision made aimed to eliminate the threat and allow everyone to sleep soundly again.

On the road to this goal, they’ve done many things.

Including discussing strategies, passing the ’Community Speech Rules’ and ’Community Trial Rules’, ultimately voting for public trials on suspects...

Yet none of these steps achieved the goal.

Huang Shengjie neither felt the threat was eliminated nor could sleep peacefully; instead, he increasingly felt uncertain.

These two public trials were undoubtedly the most significant changes within the community since the second phase began.

Lu Bingjun was expelled from the community, Yao Yuan was given the Instant Death Penalty.

If they were indeed the culprits, the S-Class imitators, the community should be safe, and everyone could sleep soundly again.

Conversely, if they were truly innocent, and the community contained other imitators, this move could only devastate Community 2, leading everything into a worse, irreparable situation.

The community likely wouldn’t give a definitive answer, so nobody knows exactly which situation it is.

"Qin Cheng, oh Qin Cheng, what exactly do you want to do...

"Why do I increasingly not understand you..."

Huang Shengjie thought for a long time but still couldn’t come up with the answer.

He looked at the basic medication on the bedside table; according to previous information, the pain relief effect should have been enhanced.

If encountering pain again, perhaps it could be lessened some more.

Huang Shengjie tossed and turned in bed, not knowing for how long, eventually managing to fall asleep amid worries and confusion.

...

...

The next morning.

Huang Shengjie didn’t sleep well and woke up early.

He habitually went to the hall, preparing to have breakfast.

Several players were already in the hall, but the atmosphere was somewhat subtle.

Huang Shengjie looked in some surprise at the large screen, discovering new information had appeared.

[Due to the emergence of special circumstances, Community 2 will receive a special reward.]

[This information is visible only to the current community and must be claimed by the player who contributed the most to the special circumstances.]

[Reward content: Choose one of two different rewards and display it on the large screen.]

Huang Shengjie was stunned; he initially thought the community would never provide a definitive answer or hint.

Yet unexpectedly, he seemed to have guessed wrong once again.