God's Imitator

In the evening, everyone chatted while eating and returned to their rooms very late.

Several veteran players even felt that the night was too short.

『Remembering Wei Changfeng』 was merely Qin Cheng’s suggestion and wasn’t mandatory, everyone thought it would end quickly.

Yet perhaps due to the effects of alcohol, or maybe due to released suppressed emotions, everyone quickly got into the groove.

Most veteran players kept sharing wonderful past moments of Community 2, while new players listened curiously.

Even Wang Yan, who had just joined the community, felt the same.

Initially uninterested in community discussions, Wang Yan showed significant interest this time, listening intently throughout and even asking questions twice.

Moreover, he expressed curiosity about how Wei Changfeng died and what changes happened in Community 2 afterward.

However, those weren’t the focus of today’s sharing; more inquiries would have to be reserved for future private conversations with veteran community members.

In general, this sharing session was much more successful than expected, with some already hoping for another round in the future.

...

Lin Sizhi originally intended to return to his room, but Qin Cheng called him while he was going upstairs.

"Lawyer Lin, do you have a moment? There’s something I briefly want to explain about the 『Jury Game』."

Lin Sizhi slightly shook his head: "Of course there’s time, but I don’t think you need to explain anything.

"There’s not much malicious intent in 『Jury Game』.

"Although I’m not aware of the Imitator’s mindset when designing the game, I can somewhat sense that not all designs can be executed freely.

"Furthermore, the Imitator couldn’t possibly consider or accommodate every player in the community.

"Moreover, it’s a new game type; you lacked the corresponding experience during design, making it difficult to achieve perfection.

"So, if your concern is that 『Jury Game』 selectively assigning the lawyer identity presents a risk to me, it’s understandable.

"Because I’m always ready to face any potential challenges."

Qin Cheng was a bit surprised but ultimately nodded without saying more.

"Well, that’s precisely what I intended to convey.

"Since Lawyer Lin understands, then repeating an explanation is indeed unnecessary.

"You’ve worked hard during this period; get some rest."

The two returned to their respective rooms.

They both understood that absolute honesty between them wasn’t guaranteed, but as smart individuals, there was no need to delve into such matters.

...

Lin Sizhi returned to his room and found new messages on his laptop.

[Hello, Lin Sizhi.]

[I wonder whether you’ve achieved your goals, and how far you are from the set target?]

[Please remain vigilant, as everything in the Walkway is constantly evolving rapidly.]

[In four days, the Walkway will initiate several different 『role-playing games』, with each game involving 4 to 6 communities based on varying selection rules.]

[Invitations for this game will no longer follow the 『bidding』 format, requiring no additional visa time, and outstanding designs are more likely to be selected.]

[The game proposal is in your desk drawer.]

[The deadline is 8 p.m. in 3 days; you have 72 hours to complete the game design.]

[Make your choice.]

Before considering the new game invitation, Lin Sizhi first reviewed past achievements.

The rating for the 『Endorsed Game』 was B, which wasn’t surprising.

This outcome is due to multiple reasons.

Firstly, Lin Sizhi incorporated the 『Imitator Thought Test』 into this game, providing fewer extra clues compared to the 『Prison Factory』 game, resulting in a more rigid and challenging test.

After all, following 『Prison Factory』, many imitators somewhat realized this: someone is testing us.

Thus, these individuals would certainly be more cautious; ordinary test mechanisms could hardly yield effective results, necessitating the adoption of more covert, extreme, and impactful methods within game mechanics.

This inevitably affects the balance and fairness of the game, as players unaware of special privileges in the Reflection Room would have a poor experience.

Secondly, a player’s performance during the game also influences the rating to some extent.

For instance, in 『Simple Q&A』, due to Wang Weidong and Cai Zhiyuan showcasing the game’s potential, the rating was pushed higher.

In 『Endorsed Game』, even though there were many strong players participating, they mostly opted for conservative strategies due to game mechanics.

Some players perhaps did not want to reveal their imitating identities, while others aimed to avoid risks inherent in the game, and they all cautiously held back.

Thus, although Lin Sizhi’s rules design was comprehensive and successfully selected, the final rating was affected.

Lastly, Lin Sizhi indeed took advantage of flaws in the selection mechanism.

His final condition for candidacy was 『80,000 minutes of visa time』.

This visa time wasn’t insignificant but certainly more economical compared to the previously required bidding amounts.

Currently, games acquired through bidding fall into two main categories: 『selection games』 and 『judgment games』, and while both have had high bidding precedents, selection games generally have higher bids.

After all, the probability of encountering enemies in judgment games is quite low, and unless someone must be eliminated, there’s no need for excessive visa time bidding.

Since cost recovery is challenging.

But selection games differ, involving more players and thus yielding more visa time.

Lin Sizhi managed to obtain the game with relatively low cost and rating due to a special rule in the previous game invitation.

The invitation explicitly stated that [all communities will be forced to participate], without specifying exactly how many different games would be open or how many communities would match per game.

Though seemingly unrestricted, it’s not.

Because the total number of communities in the second phase should be 32, directly determining the specific matching mechanism.

This number is primarily determined using two methods:

First is checking the highest community number matched within the game;

Second is observing the number of communities participating per round in games requiring 『full participation』.

The 『Pain Game』 is a game forcing participation from all communities, a fact known to imitators from game design invitations, albeit not disclosed to players.

In each round of the 『Pain Game』, 8 communities participated.

Thus, the number of communities in the second phase is likely a multiple of 8.

Otherwise, any game round would have unfilled spots, making progression impossible under game mechanics.

The Walkway probably disclosed the information of 『32 total communities』 only after the Imitator succeeded in the bidding, requiring division and allocation of matching rules accordingly.