God's Imitator

Lin Sizhi came to the second floor, where rooms 1 to 12 were located.

Each room’s entrance was cleverly separated, with no door-to-door situations or shared corridors.

The order of the room numbers was also random.

This made the entire second floor somewhat like a maze, but it could better protect everyone’s privacy.

Lin Sizhi quickly found room 12. Like the community entrance, it also required swiping his visa to enter.

The room was quite spacious. This was a very luxurious suite with a spacious living room, a private study, a cozy-looking bedroom, and a clean, bright bathroom.

The room had all the necessary daily necessities. In a prominent position in the living room was a huge whiteboard with an eye-catching poster displaying ”Community Basic Rules Guidelines.”

Lin Sizhi briefly glanced at it. It was consistent with the rules introduced earlier in the lobby.

On the desk in the study was also a laptop computer.

Unfortunately, this computer wasn’t connected to the external network, and there were very few usable software programs on it.On the computer browser’s homepage was a list of all games in the Gallery and their detailed rules.

This was consistent with what everyone had seen on the large screen in the lobby.

Besides this, the computer could also check remaining visa time, view supply prices, and so on.

In other words, all the functions available in the lobby, including the large screen, vending machines, etc., could be operated on the personal laptop with better privacy.

Lin Sizhi moved the mouse and looked at the rules of several other games.

Suddenly, a new pop-up window appeared on the computer screen.

[Hello, Lin Sizhi.]

[”Redemption Roulette” received an S rating. It seems your understanding of the ”God’s Imitator” identity is temporarily superior to other game designers. Hopefully this isn’t a coincidence.]

[Now, the Gallery extends a new design invitation to you:]

[Please design a game for ”all players” to ”complete the first visa time allocation.”]

[The game planning document is in your desk drawer.]

[The deadline is 8 AM tomorrow morning. You have 12 hours to complete the game design.]

[The ”Gallery” will evaluate all submitted planning documents and adopt the highest-scoring proposal to set up the game venue.]

[All players will be forced to participate.]

[Now, the 12-hour countdown begins. Please make your choice.]

Lin Sizhi raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat surprised.

It wasn’t because of the sudden game design invitation that he was surprised. Since he had already accepted his special identity, the Gallery’s game design invitations could appear at any time.

He was already mentally prepared for this.

What truly surprised him was that this game design invitation was different from the last time.

It wasn’t directed at a specific criminal with relevant case details, but at ”all players.”

The purpose was also not ”punishing criminals,” but ”completing the first visa time allocation.”

This game design invitation was sent to all players with the ”God’s Imitator” identity, which also meant that merely passing the review was completely insufficient.

Lin Sizhi’s game proposal had to be better than everyone else’s proposals to possibly be selected by the Gallery.

So the question was:

What kind of proposal would be ”the best” and receive the highest score in the Gallery’s evaluation system?

Obviously, depending on individual understanding, each designer would have completely different answers.

Lin Sizhi took out the game planning document from the drawer to examine it.

It was consistent with the format of the planning document he had seen before, only differing in some pre-filled details.

What particularly caught Lin Sizhi’s attention was the list of available props for this game.

[1. Display devices: 4 units.]

[2. Timers: 8 units.]

[3. Simple speakers: 8 units.]

[4. Desktop platforms with freely designable functions: 4 units.]

[5. Chairs: unlimited.]

[6. Restraint devices: 8 units.]

[7. Standard playing cards: unlimited.]

[8. Various chips exchangeable for visa time: unlimited.]

[9. Freely designable special mechanisms: 8 sets.]

[10. Other scene props unrelated to game content: unlimited.]

[Note 1: Unless otherwise specified, designers can freely decide the model and appearance of props used.]

[Note 2: No props may be taken out of the game venue, or they will disappear into thin air.]

[Note 3: All props are the quantities needed for ”one game.” The Gallery will automatically match players for multiple games, and the required props will be expanded according to the number of matches.]

”The degree of freedom has actually decreased?”

Lin Sizhi looked at the prop list thoughtfully.

When designing ”Redemption Roulette,” the available props were obviously more numerous than this time, with higher degrees of freedom.

For example, the previous prop list included firearms and cold weapons that could directly harm players, but this time there were none.

The previous gambling tools weren’t limited by type and could use any complete set of casino gambling tools, but this time the gambling tools were strictly limited to playing cards.

”This indicates that the Gallery’s game requirements this time have very clear tendencies.

”No firearms or cold weapons means the Gallery doesn’t want large-scale deaths in this game.

”After all, this game’s goal isn’t judgment, but merely completing the first visa time allocation.

”Among all gambling tools, playing cards are the most popular, which means the Gallery wants to lower the game’s threshold.

”So, try not to choose overly complex playing card gameplay.

”The prop quantities come in three types: 4, 8, unlimited. This means the Gallery encourages matching 4 to 8 people.”

Although it was just a simple prop list, Lin Sizhi still analyzed much content from it.

Obviously, each of the Gallery’s game invitations had underlying requirements, but they wouldn’t be explicitly written out.

Designers had to figure them out themselves.

”Low danger” and ”simple playing card rules” were the two basic points of this game.

But these two points alone weren’t enough.

Lin Sizhi pondered for a moment, ”Since the purpose is ’completing the first visa time allocation,’ there must be ’selectivity.’”

The New World was certainly not some paradise.

This was a cruel jungle world, just wearing false disguises.

Just as stated when reading the rules: the Gallery is the New World’s purging and judgment institution.

Judge sinners, eliminate waste.

Distributing visa time equally to everyone seemed fairest, but absolutely didn’t meet the Gallery’s requirements.

But how to select?

After serious consideration, Lin Sizhi began writing the game rules in the planning document.

Although the design time allocated this time was relatively sufficient, Lin Sizhi didn’t plan to spend too much time repeatedly considering the game’s details. Doing so wouldn’t be very meaningful.

The game content he designed wasn’t complex, so actually it only took him a little over an hour to complete everything.

Lin Sizhi finally read through the proposal from beginning to end. After confirming there were no errors, he wrote ”Design Complete” in the bottom right corner of the last page.

New information popped up on the computer screen.

[The Gallery is reviewing your submitted planning document...]

[Review complete, approved.]

[Waiting for other designers to submit planning documents...]

Lin Sizhi closed the page on the computer.

He certainly couldn’t be sure whether his proposal would actually be selected by the ”Gallery,” but things had come to this point, and any worry was superfluous.

Lin Sizhi felt somewhat tired. After washing up, he lay on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

......

......

The next morning, just after 7 AM, Lin Sizhi naturally woke up.

”It wasn’t a dream.”

The unfamiliar scene before his eyes reminded him this wasn’t a dream. He had indeed come to this place called the ”New World,” and might have to stay here for a long time in the future.

Would he be able to return to the original world in his lifetime?

No one could give an accurate answer right now.

However, Lin Sizhi was also someone who adapted to circumstances and didn’t become too anxious about it.

After simple washing up, he went downstairs to the lobby.

Unexpectedly, most people had already gotten up. Lin Sizhi roughly scanned around and there were at least seven or eight people in the lobby.

”Morning, Lawyer Lin.”

Fu Chen raised his hand to greet Lin Sizhi.

Lin Sizhi nodded in acknowledgment, then went to the vending machine and ordered a breakfast sandwich and a cup of hot milk, spending a total of 25 minutes of visa time.

Fu Chen ate the last fried egg from his plate, ”By the way, Lawyer Lin, if you want to use the kitchen, you can use it directly.

”This morning Uncle Ding and Aunt Su already used the kitchen. There are many utensils inside, enough for over ten people to use, and they come in different colors and styles so they can be distinguished.

”Their utensils are placed in the rightmost corner of the sideboard. If you want to use them, you’d better put your own utensils in a designated spot too, so they’re easy to distinguish.

”Also, they bought some ingredients and put them in the refrigerator. If you want to buy ingredients, you’d better put them in different areas for easy distinction.”

Lin Sizhi looked toward the kitchen, ”Got it. I won’t need it for now.”

Just as he had guessed, Ding Wenqiang and Su Xiucen would eventually choose to use the kitchen to cook for themselves.

They had gotten up early this morning, possibly to avoid other people and embarrassment. Of course, it was also possible that people their age were already used to getting up early.

Not long after, Wang Yongxin, who had gotten up latest, also came to the lobby.

He looked to be in good condition, probably having slept until he naturally woke up.

Overall, after a night’s rest, most people had relaxed considerably.

There was no need to work here, and there weren’t too many things to worry about for now.

Besides going to the window to bask in the sun, drink coffee, or read books, there really weren’t many other things to do.

Lin Sizhi went to the library reading area and briefly browsed through the books there.

There were common bestsellers as well as some complex and profound specialized works. The variety was quite rich.

It had to be said, this was a good place to empty one’s mind.

However, just as Lin Sizhi found a book and was about to sit down to read, prompt information appeared again on the large screen in the lobby.

[Good morning, players!]

[The ”Gallery” will open in 1 hour.]

[This game is called ”Blood Poker.” The game objective is to ”complete the first visa time allocation.” All players in the New World are forced to participate, with random matching for 8-player games.]

[Please prepare yourselves, players.]

Then, a one-hour countdown appeared on the large screen.

59:59...

59:58...