God's Imitator

Zhou Xiaoying hesitated slightly. Clearly, this counted as divulging community information, which seemed somewhat inappropriate.

However, both she and Huang Shengjie were new players and had gone through hardships together in the ’Pain Game,’ so the foundation of trust between them wasn’t bad—even better than some bystander players in Community 23 with whom they had no connections.

With Huang Shengjie showing sincerity first, Zhou Xiaoying’s attitude also noticeably softened.

"Our community... did indeed buy out all the drugs.

"All distributed by our community leader based on in-game performance.

"Those who perform well get a bit more and can sell them freely, those who perform poorly get a bit less, but not completely without.

"If used sparingly, it’s barely enough.

"Some players, if they can’t endure severe pain in the community, will occasionally take one or two pills."

Huang Shengjie asked seriously, "What’s your community leader’s name?"

Zhou Xiaoying lowered her head, "Zhao Heng."

Huang Shengjie was angry, "Can’t you see? This Zhao Heng is clearly trying to control you with these drugs!

"All drugs are purchased and distributed by him, meaning you don’t dare to defy him.

"What’s worse: he even indulges players, not addicted to drugs, to use special drugs to deal with midnight pains—this is utterly malicious!

"Because our community has tested it, even the most basic painkillers can help endure, regardless of gender and age.

"And once you’re addicted to drugs, I know that feeling well, it’s definitely more frequent and terrifying than the community pain!

"After all, the community’s pain is just a random draw every three days for players, and it’s just pure pain, no aftereffects discovered so far.

"But the pain from drug addiction is relentless, endless!

"Those persuaded to use special drugs to solve community pain will definitely regret it!"

Zhou Xiaoying was silent, "I know, but... what can we do?"

Huang Shengjie paused, "Hm?"

Zhou Xiaoying smiled bitterly, "Is this something hard to guess?

"I also know he keeps raising drug prices, like a blunt knife slowly slicing away our time, then using proposals to allocate this time in other ways, ultimately making everyone in the community his slaves.

"He might even intentionally cut off drugs, making us endure that pain again, leaving us no choice but to obey him completely.

"But what can we do? Our community’s environment is special; he’s almost completely in control of the whole community, and we can’t fight back!

"If there were a way, who would willingly let themselves be slaughtered?

"But I can’t do it, really can’t..."

Huang Shengjie was stunned; he realized the ecological differences of each community were immense, sometimes even greater than those between human society and animal society.

From Zhou Xiaoying’s description, Community 23 was more like a one-man-dominated community, with the leader holding absolute authority and control.

Huang Shengjie asked, "Is your community reformed in the second stage?"

Zhou Xiaoying shook her head, "No, the six old players, including Zhao Heng, were the first-stage core team, only after entering the second stage were forced to reorganize with a changed community number.

"The rest of us either joined in the second stage as new players or were marginalized players from weak communities in the first stage.

"We can’t trust each other or organize organized resistance."

Huang Shengjie frowned, "No wonder...

"Zhao Heng has his core team and controls almost all of the community’s resources; without a strong enough player among the new players to organize, there’s indeed no hope for successful resistance.

"So, have you considered coming to our community?"

Zhou Xiaoying was momentarily stunned, "Ah?"

Huang Shengjie explained, "Our community happens to have a vacancy now; we can recruit a player from the game.

"Of course, I must be honest: I still have to discuss with other players in the community. Also, we need a male player, and you don’t fully meet our community’s recruitment criteria.

"But I believe, under certain conditions, I can convince them."

Zhou Xiaoying was puzzled, "What do you mean by certain conditions?"

Huang Shengjie said seriously, "Help us win this game.

"Excluding the two players in prison, we’re effectively in a 3V3 state, slot-in roles, with distributor, examiner, and inspector, which can’t be shared.

"This means, as an inspector, as long as you work with me to smuggle contraband to our community’s prison, you can get extremely exaggerated benefits.

"Imagine if we each brought back a hundred thousand or more visa time to community, and you played a critical role, then what reason would our community have not to accept you?

"When in our community, in a different environment, I believe you can also, like me, completely get rid of the withdrawal pain from drug addiction.

"How about it, consider it?"

Zhou Xiaoying seemed moved but quickly shook her head, "But I can’t easily trust you.

"What if I help you and you change your mind?

"If eventually, I’m forced to return to Community 23, how do I explain to others? They won’t tolerate a traitor."

Huang Shengjie quickly said, "You can rest assured about this; the foundational rules of the Walkway have long foreseen such situations.

"I specifically looked into it before; the poaching rule is like this:

"The whole process will be completely concealed: I first get the agreement of the other players from Community 2 in this game, then invite you; their verbal confirmation is all it takes to be effective.

"At this point, the promise to accept a member will be locked by the game’s mechanism, meaning our community can’t back out."

He paused slightly, then continued, "I know this means a lot to you and requires careful consideration, you don’t need to rush because I also need time to convince others.

"Fortunately, this game lasts long, and there’s nothing special during downtime.

"I’ll first touch base with other players and try to persuade them; once I’m ready, I’ll invite you.

"Once you’re 100% sure you can enter our community, cooperate with me to transport contraband.

"Before the game’s end, you still hold your identity as a player from Community 23, so you can continue wearing the Community 23 Inspector’s Sleeve Badge, moving freely through the fog.

"In short, once we agree, we can directly kill this game; it’s a perfectly certain winning strategy!"

Zhou Xiaoying looked conflicted, as if caught in deep hesitation.

But she couldn’t make up her mind immediately. Finally, she looked at Huang Shengjie and said, "I’ll... I’ll think about it. You try to persuade other players in your community first, right? Because it can’t be done unless everyone agrees. If even one person disagrees, it won’t work."

Huang Shengjie nodded, "Right, don’t worry, I’ll do my best!"