God's Imitator

The crowd was once again stunned, looking at each other.

They didn’t know exactly what Qin Cheng was doing.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the hall, the crowd watched the Community Management Office, observing Qin Cheng leaving from there and returning to the hall.

Qin Cheng sat down in his seat, once again looking around at everyone.

"I’ve said, you can make the same judgment against me: expel me from the community, or, sentence me to death.

His gaze finally fell on Yao Yuan.

"Let me guess, which method did you choose?

"You must have chosen guilty plea, right?

"You likely admitted to all crimes except being an Imitator? Even though these crimes are insignificant."

Yao Yuan didn’t answer directly, but chose to question Qin Cheng back.

"Your imagination is indeed rich, but just like the situation when accusing Lu Bingjun, you haven’t provided any evidence, not even a solid logical chain. Many critical links haven’t been sufficiently demonstrated, and are mostly subjective speculations.

"You’ve already used this method to expel the leader of the community, do you plan to repeat the trick again? This far exceeds the bottom line of community politics.

"Everyone should calm down, continuous accusations like this will only lead to the complete collapse of our community, perishing due to internal strife.

"If I’m accused of being an imitator just because my game strategy tends to be conservative and steady, and showing some imitator thinking in the game, then what about you?

"The imitator thinking you’ve exhibited is no less than mine, isn’t it?

"If I’m the Imitator, then what are you?"

The crowd turned their eyes to Qin Cheng, clearly, this rhetorical question was indeed difficult to answer.

However, Qin Cheng nodded: "Yes, so I am indeed the Imitator."

...

It was only then that Yao Yuan’s face showed a truly surprised expression for the first time.

It seemed he had previously made sufficient estimations of behaviors and strategies Qin Cheng might adopt, but Qin Cheng still broke the possible framework he had estimated.

This omission might be fatal and irreparable.

Although Yao Yuan could still maintain composure as much as possible, others didn’t have such good composure.

"What?"

"Qin Cheng you..."

"You’re the Imitator? Are you, are you accusing yourself?"

The hall was once again in chaos, forcing Qin Cheng to pause temporarily, and then he banged the table heavily to bring the crowd back to silence.

"Yes, I am the Imitator.

"What’s on the big screen is my self-accusation.

"It’s for fairness.

"So, if anyone wants to kill me, they can be prepared in advance."

Qin Cheng reached into his pocket, took out a few folded pieces of paper, and unfolded them to reveal densely packed words and a few sketches.

"I’ve only designed one game, ’Jury Game,’ these are the design drafts I sorted out after staying up two big nights."

He handed these drafts to Lin Sizhi, who was nearby.

Lin Sizhi reached out and took them, simply flipping through them.

The gazes of some players unconsciously gathered on Lin Sizhi.

Because they were eager to know if the manuscript appeared authentic, which would directly influence the judgment of Qin Cheng’s Imitator identity.

Lin Sizhi quickly finished flipping through, paused silently for a moment, and handed the manuscripts to Ye Lin.

Then, he said: "Pretending to be an Imitator will undoubtedly be exposed, it’s just a matter of time; this manuscript doesn’t seem fabricated afterwards either.

"Therefore, I tend to think this is the truth."

The smarter players in the community immediately understood the meaning behind this statement.

Setting aside the authenticity of the manuscript, the critical point is that the act of ’self-identifying as an Imitator’ holds no significance for ordinary players.

The key is that the Imitator possesses information unknown to regular players, which is almost impossible to fake.

If there’s already another known Imitator in the community, the information of the two Imitators can be cross-verified, making counterfeits unable to conceal themselves;

Even in Community 2, where there’s no known Imitator, the Imitator still has to provide some information, and this information will be verified in subsequent games.

In any case, a fake Imitator doesn’t have this information, and cannot deceive the community players for long, being exposed isn’t worth the risk.

Moreover, counterfeiting an Imitator manuscript isn’t that easy either.

Ye Lin also finished flipping through the manuscript simply, looking at Qin Cheng with even more complex eyes.

"S-Class Imitator..."

The existence of an S-Class Imitator within the community is shocking enough, but his choice to self-expose is even more startling.

Qin Cheng continued: "Let’s recount all the games we’ve experienced currently:

"The Imitator for ’Pain Game’ was Xu Yiheng, already dead;

"For ’Prison Factory’ and ’Endorsed Game,’ the community couldn’t find anyone matching the profile, more likely done by other communities;

"The Imitator of ’Jury Game’ is me;

"The remaining games are ’One Word Breaks the Prison’ and ’Trust Marketplace.’

"Think carefully about who made them in the following time."

He looked at the big screen.

"Once again reminding everyone, I am a genuine Imitator.

"Using this proposal to kill me is entirely justified.

"If you think I’m slandering Lu Bingjun and Yao Yuan, then as an Imitator, my crime is unforgivable, you can cast a ’guilty’ vote directly in the accusation against me, or vote ’not guilty’ in the accusation against Yao Yuan triggering ’false accusation backfire,’ and both would subject me to the deserved punishment."

...

The countdown on the big screen ticked away second by second.

Yao Yuan indeed had more time than Lu Bingjun, but the extra time didn’t seem to provide any advantage.

Some players have already exhibited a state of fidgety anxiety, as they must complete the vote before the countdown ends, but the voting this time is even harder to decide than last time.

Yao Yuan realizes he only has one last chance for a concluding speech before the countdown ends.

Qin Cheng didn’t have the intention to speak first, obviously, as the initiator of the accusation, he would certainly save the opportunity for a subsequent speech for himself.

There will always be players who vote a few minutes ahead, making it difficult for Yao Yuan to forcibly grab the chance for a subsequent speech, as time is not on his side.

Yao Yuan let out a sigh of relief: "I’ve said everything I need to, I’ve always stood from the perspective of Community 2’s overall interests, making the choices I believe are correct.

"I’ve been striving to mend the rift in this community, hoping everyone can live longer, perhaps in this process I inevitably affected some people, but regardless, I still want to stay in Community 2.

"I’ve always been a member of Community 2.

"In this community, I see myself as an adviser, as a strategist, as a manager, as a bonding agent; in any case, an essential choice.

"I believe, regardless of who becomes the community leader subsequently, no matter how the community environment may change, I can assist him well and play an irreplaceable role."

"So, I hope everyone can think carefully and vote wisely."