God's Imitator

"Of course, no problem."

There was no reason for Zhang Yan to refuse, so he agreed readily.

Wen Wan is 27 years old, making her the second youngest female player in the entire community, only surpassed by Lu Qi. So it’s clear she is quite confident about her appearance.

Nonetheless, Zhang Yan was very restrained in keeping his distance while helping Wen Wan complete some basic workout moves.

The two chatted while training, and soon, about an hour had passed.

Wen Wan’s face was slightly flushed, and she looked thoroughly exhausted.

"Phew... I’m out of energy Brother Zhang, I’m going to do some aerobic exercises and then go home to rest."

Zhang Yan nodded: "Yeah, I have about six sets of exercises to go, and then I’ll be heading back as well."

Wen Wan marveled: "If I remember correctly, aren’t you already 36 years old Brother Zhang? It’s impressive that you can maintain such a good physique."

Zhang Yan waved his hand: "It’s not that good; I’ve just managed to maintain it due to work-related reasons."

Wen Wan hesitated for a moment but then spoke: "Well... Brother Zhang, I actually have a request that’s a bit inappropriate. Can you help me?"

Zhang Yan wasn’t particularly surprised by this, as he roughly guessed earlier that Wen Wan was befriending him for other purposes.

It’s not simply to learn workout moves.

However, Zhang Yan didn’t feel the need to expose her motives and just nodded: "Go ahead."

Wen Wan said somewhat coyly: "Brother Zhang, I’m wondering if you could help me share the pain count?"

Zhang Yan was stunned: "Share what? Pain count? Isn’t that randomly selected by the community? How can it be shared?"

Wen Wan explained: "I’ve thought about it for a long time, and it’s actually possible!

"Simply put, when you experience pain Brother Zhang, tell me first without letting others know.

"Then, during the tallying, I’ll claim this pain instead, and that’s it.

"I know this request is quite sudden, but I really can’t bear that kind of pain. Even taking painkillers doesn’t help... I’m almost driven mad by this issue. Even when the pain hasn’t come, I often wake up from nightmares, feeling anxious, and I keep losing hair...

"Brother Zhang, you’re physically strong, so I assume you have a great tolerance for pain. Please help me!

"I can compensate you privately, whether with visa time or something else. We can discuss whether it’s per occurrence or some other way.

"Is that okay?"

As Wen Wan spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, looking quite pitiful.

Zhang Yan frowned slightly, quickly grasping Wen Wan’s meaning.

Her plan is indeed feasible.

According to the current rules, only the last seven players are drawn for experiencing pain, while the top seven are not affected.

The community’s strategy is to rotate players with more pain occurrences to the top seven, and once those behind catch up, they are rotated back.

This generally ensures that all players will eventually synchronize their increases in pain occurrences.

Although specific anomalies due to luck like Lu Qi may occur, overall, the method manages to sustain without major issues.

Players have certainly considered claiming pain occurrences, but until now, presumably, no one has actually done it.

Because only three players are drawn each time according to the rules. If four players claim they’ve experienced pain, then clearly one is lying.

The community would definitely investigate, and if discovered, it would be troublesome.

But if two players arrange to have one claim pain on behalf of the other, there wouldn’t be any issues.

Currently, both Wen Wan and Zhang Yan are among the last seven players.

If Wen Wan experiences pain, she would be rotated to the top seven earlier, all normal.

If Zhang Yan experiences pain, originally it would be noted for him, but if he lets Wen Wan claim it, it would still be her record and result in her quicker advancement into the top seven.

Of course, if either Wen Wan or Zhang Yan has already moved into the top seven, this plan can’t be executed.

But Zhang Yan is a new member of the community, with pain record only at once, so he must accumulate more before advancing to the top seven.

In summary, if Zhang Yan is willing, he can indeed use this plan to allow Wen Wan to enter the top seven more frequently, effectively reducing her pain occurrences.

Once their cooperation is established, it should remain stable for a long time.

This plan isn’t complex, and can be implemented by any two players in the community as long as they agree.

But the biggest issue is that no one wants to be the unlucky one giving up pain occurrences, unless the other party offers a substantial reward.

The suggestions of "visa time or something else" from Wen Wan carry a strong implication.

After considering for a moment, Zhang Yan shook his head: "Sorry, I really fear pain."

Wen Wan was stunned: "Huh?"

Clearly, Zhang Yan’s response was completely unexpected to her.

She had envisioned possible ways Zhang Yan might refuse, such as concerns about community relations, bargaining, etc., but never thought the reason would be "fear of pain."

"Brother Zhang, could you reconsider? There’s no rush to decide." Wen Wan clearly didn’t want to give up and attempted to persuade further.

But Zhang Yan continued training on his own: "Sorry, I truly fear pain. You should find someone else."

Wen Wan was still somewhat unwilling to accept the refusal but didn’t know how to persist.

"Alright then, thank you Brother Zhang for your guidance today. However, I still hope you can reconsider. If you change your mind, feel free to reach out to me."

Seeing Zhang Yan unmoved, Wen Wan left the gym disheartened.

...

In the evening, Qin Cheng and Huang Shengjie went to the empty room on the third floor.

"Shengjie, I want to ask you a question.

"Did you vote against today’s proposal?

"Of course, if you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to."

Huang Shengjie was taken aback: "Huh? Why are you asking that?"

Qin Cheng appeared quite frank: "I guessed."

Huang Shengjie didn’t know how to respond at first, but after thinking for a while, he said: "Alright, let’s not beat around the bush between us. You’ve always shared your thoughts with me immediately, so there’s no need for me to hide from you on inconsequential matters.

"Indeed, I voted against it."

Qin Cheng nodded: "Do you know how I guessed?

"Lu Bingjun was recorded with 2 votes for sure, meaning he wouldn’t vote against it himself, so 6 people voted against.

"I suspect Ye Lin likely opposed it, but she could reliably control maybe three to four votes.

"So, with an extra two to three votes involved, she likely tried to sway four to five neutral players, considering she couldn’t ensure all would vote according to her wishes.

"Not to mention, she wouldn’t be able to guarantee all players close to her would vote as she desires."

Huang Shengjie was a bit surprised: "Your claim suggests Sister Ye Lin didn’t actually approach you for discussions? I thought she definitely would."

Qin Cheng shook his head: "No, she didn’t. Possibly she judged my stance leaning more towards Lu Bingjun, so she skipped me.

"And frankly, I have my own ideas and indeed would likely not support her proposal."