God's Imitator

According to their original plan, as long as Zhao Chong could successfully become the highest-ranking ’drug category’ spokesperson, they wouldn’t have to worry about elimination.

But Hu Yingxu from Community 17 suddenly came out of nowhere, snatching the top spot, and to make matters worse, the elimination rule this time just happened to be ’Standard Two,’ eliminating half of the top-ranked spokespersons, so Zhao Chong was eliminated as well.

It was truly a moment between heaven and hell.

Zhao Chong was stunned on stage, unsure of what to do, as this situation was completely beyond his expectations.

The players from Community 24 in the audience also hadn’t had time to prepare a contingency plan for such an unexpected situation.

At this moment, a voice said, "Who is the player serving as the agent for your community?"

"I’m a player from Community 2, and I want to discuss a cooperation matter with you."

The players from Community 24 looked at each other, and then a female player said, "It’s me."

Yao Yuan looked her up and down before asking, "Are you Dr. Shen?"

The other party did not give a clear answer, and since Yao Yuan had not participated in the ’Pain Game’ before, he couldn’t recognize her by voice.

But considering her status in the community, it was very likely Shen Qingyun.

The game was still ongoing, and time was limited, so Yao Yuan could only explain as quickly as possible.

"I apologize for being abrupt, but it seems like you haven’t fully grasped the real gameplay of this game.

"I can tell just from your actions to compete for the spokesperson position.

"Don’t tell me you think the choice of elimination methods is random?"

He paused for a moment, then continued, "To show my sincerity, let me give you a hint: there will soon be an inquiry stage.

"Most likely before the next round of the game starts."

...

The ’elimination time’ is only 5 minutes, so while Yao Yuan and Shen Qingyun were talking, the game was also continuing.

The liquor and tobacco spokespersons were down to one person each, unaffected.

The luxury goods spokespersons had 2 remaining, namely Gao Jialiang and an undisclosed player from Community 22.

In the last elimination, the higher-ranked player from Community 18, also a ’luxury goods spokesperson,’ was eliminated, while this player from Community 22 escaped elimination and has persisted until now.

Of course, he wasn’t doing nothing.

His heat value has been slowly increasing, indicating that the agent player from Community 22 was actively working on his behalf, trying to gather as much heat for him as possible.

As long as he wasn’t eliminated, anything was possible.

The ’drug category’ spokesperson had 3 players left on stage.

Shen Qingyun seemed about to ask how Yao Yuan had guessed this, but just then, the audience erupted in screams and applause, forcing them to pause their conversation.

Hu Yingxu from Community 17 also chose to discard his mask. He had some stubble, but it was clearly deliberately trimmed, and unlike Jiang Chenyan, Gao Jialiang, and Qin Cheng, his appearance was striking.

Then, the screen didn’t show the notice for the next round of the game or any new endorsement products, but a brand-new notification message.

[!!! Inquiry Stage !!!]

[Other category top-ranked spokespersons will take turns to initiate inquiries against the ’drug spokespersons.’]

[Each ’drug spokesperson’ will be inquired once.]

[Please follow the spotlight’s guidance, conducting ’inquires’ and ’responses’ in descending order of heat.]

[Special Attention! After the inquiry ends, the entire audience will decide on the elimination result once again through ’stares,’ but at this time the stares will ’consume audience visa time’ and deduct ’heat values’ from the spokespersons (only affecting the questioned players).]

[Staring for 1 second = consuming 1 minute of visa time = deducting 1 heat value.]

[If the questioned player’s heat value is reduced to 0, they will be eliminated.]

The game process on stage was still continuing, but the players from Community 24 were already looking at Yao Yuan with some astonishment.

The game had indeed brought about the inquiry stage, just as he had said, appearing for the first time.

This didn’t seem like a lucky guess, but rather an understanding of some special mechanism that others didn’t know.

Shen Qingyun thought for a moment: "Qin Cheng is on stage, then are you Lin Sizhi?"

Yao Yuan shook his head: "No, you don’t need to guess who I am, that’s not important, I wasn’t in the ’Pain Game’ either.

"In any case, we don’t have much time, so I can only briefly explain to you, and thereafter you should try your best to coordinate with me.

"You should already understand why Hu Yingxu’s heat value is number one, right?"

Shen Qingyun nodded: "Because the players who ’don’t wish to change the drug situation,’ both in numbers and in their enthusiasm for creating heat, exceed those ’wanting to change the drug situation.’

"Actually, before Zhao Chong took the stage, I vaguely realized there was this possibility, but I was somewhat hoping against hope, unwilling to accept it.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Now, with the clear reality in front of me, it’s foolish not to understand."

Clearly, Hu Yingxu adopted a somewhat risky strategy; had there been any deviation, it would be him getting eliminated instead of Zhao Chong.

But what Hu Yingxu did wasn’t merely gambling; it was based on his judgment of the ecology of most communities in the Walkway.

Communities like Community 24 and Community 2, which regulate drugs, have become the minority in the Walkway.

Moreover, these types of communities would not contribute heat to the ’drug category’ spokespersons but rather to other categories.

They aren’t eager for drug reform, you might even say they don’t need it much.

However, communities where drugs are rampant are entirely different—they have a much higher enthusiasm for the ’drug category spokespersons.’

And the leaders of these communities may not genuinely want M-class drugs to appear in the community, nor do they truly want to lessen the side effects of O-class and F-class drugs.

Because it doesn’t align with their interests.

For the leaders of these communities, community players’ drug addiction is a foregone conclusion, and introducing a drug that could aid in withdrawal isn’t beneficial; reducing drug efficacy can bring them greater profits.

The remarks Hu Yingxu made on stage were intended to convey this meaning.

Thus, not only are these people greater in number, but their motivation for change is stronger, eventually ensuring that Hu Yingxu’s heat surpassed Zhao Chong’s, making him the number one ’drug category’ spokesperson.

Yao Yuan continued: "I know you might have had a slim hope before, because according to the first or third elimination method, Zhao Chong wouldn’t have been eliminated even if he ranked second.

"But clearly you were entirely wrong.

"The choices in the game’s elimination methods, and when the inquiry stage appears, are actually controlled by the players.

"So don’t be too upset about this competition for the ’drug category’ spokesperson, because from the beginning, you never had any chance of winning."