God's Imitator

Lu Bingjun shook his head: "No.

"Our community’s Gao Teng, as well as his opponent, Zheng Qingyun, a player from the original Community 6, were forced into the game as sinners.

"However, during the game, their identities weren’t revealed, nor were their specific crimes mentioned.

"We guessed Zheng Qingyun’s sinner identity during our post-game analysis.

"Besides that, there’s another point.

"Our community’s player Gao Teng... is disabled. He had a back injury, his legs have no feeling, and he usually needs a wheelchair."

Lu Bingjun sighed and continued: "Actually, after that, we spent a full three days in the community replaying the game, roughly dissecting the hidden mechanisms of the game, and understanding Gao Teng’s crimes, as well as some unusual behaviors in the game.

"But... I prefer to replay it once more.

"Because several new players who joined the community in the second phase are very talented, I don’t want the conclusions reached before to mislead you.

"If in this replay we can find new doubts and breakthroughs, that would be great.

"Of course, if two replays end up with the exact same conclusion...

"Perhaps we’ll have to admit, whether we want to or not, that that’s the truth."

Everyone nodded without raising any objections.

Qin Cheng, after considering for a moment, volunteered: "Then let us new players complete this replay?

"Sister Bowen, we will be doing the main replay, Shengjie and Lu Qi should try to involve as much as possible.

"As for Lawyer Lin, if you directly replay, then there might not be much suspense, so just make key additions, can you?"

Lin Sizhi nodded: "I will consider speaking at the right time. If necessary."

Several players began their short contemplation.

Although overall, the game rules introduced by Lu Bingjun weren’t exactly complex, since it led to all three players’ deaths in a judgment game, it should not be underestimated. Perhaps there are traps hidden in seemingly mundane places.

About a minute later, Qin Cheng spoke first.

He seemed to consciously control his thinking time, because in the real judgment game, players wouldn’t be left with too much time to think.

"If it were me, I would first advocate cooperation.

"Because the rules are written very clearly, almost explicitly."

Alongside the replay, the players in the Community 2 hall were striving to imagine the specific scenario of the game back then.

...

...

The rules have been introduced, Wei Changfeng thought about rule details and observed the game area.

Since he was completely locked up, his field of vision was limited, so he couldn’t see behind himself.

However, looking at other players’ situations, there should be nothing behind every player.

This was considered a spacious indoor venue, seemingly a deserted underground casino.

A few miscellaneous items were piled up in the corner, and the center of the venue was a very large oval-shaped gambling table.

Along the major axis of the oval, Community 2 and Community 6 players were distributed on either side of the long table, a standard 3V3 scenario.

The player from Community 2 forced into the game, Gao Teng, sat in the middle, with Wei Changfeng to his left, and Xu Yili to his right.

Wei Changfeng noticed Gao Teng was lowering his head, his body trembling slightly.

He knew this should be Gao Teng’s PTSD acting up again. In the first game ’Flower Brick Poker’, Gao Teng had similar symptoms.

Wei Changfeng instinctively wanted to stretch his hand to pat Gao Teng’s body to calm his emotions, but realized the gambling table was very large, their distance quite far, more than an arm’s length.

So he could only resort to verbal comfort.

"It’s okay, Little Gao. Just like in ’Flower Brick Poker’, complete the basic game flow.

"Leave the rest to me."

Gao Teng subtly nodded.

Wei Changfeng bypassed Gao Teng and looked at another player, Xu Yili. They exchanged a gentle yet firm look.

Then he looked at the machine at the center of the gambling table.

Its outermost layer was covered with a rectangular box made of frosted glass material, it looked very sturdy and securely fixed to the table.

Through the frosted glass one can see a very complex mechanical structure inside with vaguely a deck of cards in the center.

But overall the view was very blurry, making it impossible to see suit and number details on the cards.

On the two long sides of the box facing Gao Teng and the player in the center of Community 6, there were special openings.

The design slightly resembled a printer tray, extending from the inside out and presenting a drawer form.

Only the size was much smaller than a printer tray, roughly equivalent to a standard playing card size.

Above this opening was instructional text: ’Card Collection Slot’.

Besides, the machine had six devices similar to miniature slides, connecting the card heap above the frosted glass to each player’s front.

The surface of the miniature slide was very smooth, with side panels, and the width was about the narrow side of a playing card.

Although the rules didn’t explicitly introduce this machine, one can roughly determine its purpose by appearance.

To avoid cheating, all shuffling and dealing operations were completed by the machine.

That is, after shuffling in the box, the cards would be dealt directly to players through the miniature slide.

However, this miniature slide didn’t contain any mechanical structure, so it could only slide down, not ascend; only deal but not collect cards.

From the design of the ’Card Collection Slot’, it’s evident that players need to manually deposit used cards into it.

Wei Changfeng then looked at the three players opposite.

Especially the player sitting in the center, Zheng Qingyun.

He appeared slender and small, with a simple crew cut, also observing the machine before him without extra movements.

The preparation time before the official start of the game was 10 minutes, enough for players to familiarize themselves with the rules and devise a simple strategy.

"I have a cooperative strategy, would you like to hear it?"

After a brief contemplation, Wei Changfeng threw an olive branch to Zheng Qingyun.

Zheng Qingyun nodded: "Please go ahead."

Wei Changfeng spoke leisurely: "From the game rules, if we play normally, inevitably one side’s three players will die, the game can then end.

"Because if played normally, the ’punishment’ doubles in frequency, it’s nearly impossible to last for 30 rounds.

"However, due to extreme simplification of gameplay, there’s not much strategy left, so winning for both sides largely depends on luck.

"One side’s three players all dying means the other side must be in a dire condition too.

"It’s even possible that only one out of six players will survive in the end.

"In a high mortality judgment game, united cooperation and jointly fighting against imitator’s death traps are the correct way.

"Since these two players are willing to accompany you in a dangerous judgment game, it shows you must have deep connections in your community, therefore we all should aim for everyone surviving.

"As for who wins or loses, who loses visa time, none of those matter.

"From the game rules, this method is quite simple.

"As long as none of us draw additional cards."