God's Imitator

Another way to say ’breaking expectations’ is ’not playing by the rules.’

And to a certain extent, this was also equivalent to ’being unreasonable’ and ’lacking logic.’

Lin Sizhi wasn’t surprised by this, ”We discussed this long ago, didn’t we? The Gallery has subjective will. It’s not some objective, unchanging existence.

”Figuring out the Gallery’s intentions is also part of a God’s Imitator’s capabilities.

”Actually, regarding how Cai Zhiyuan reached this point, was there or wasn’t there a factor of ’the Gallery’s meddling’?

”This is hard to say definitively, but I’m inclined to believe there was.”

Dai Yifan hesitated but still asked, ”Brother Lin, you said before that ’some questions need to be explained in conjunction with what kind of person Brother Cai really was.’ That might be content for subsequent discussion.

”Now that we’ve reviewed all the games Brother Cai created, what do you think, Brother Lin? What kind of person was Brother Cai really?

”’An ambitious schemer disguised as a hermit’... does this encompass all of him?”

Lin Sizhi didn’t answer directly but looked at Zheng Jie, ”I said before that in the New World, most players don’t possess growth potential.”No matter how much they review or study, the improvement they can gain is very limited.

”Don’t blame yourself. This is the norm.

”There’s also a small portion of players who possess growth potential, but this growth potential isn’t necessarily steady improvement.

”It might be very slow for a long time, then suddenly transform at a certain point. Or it might be rapid growth in the first few games, then permanently set in form.

”That is, ’rapid adaptive evolution.’

”Cai Zhiyuan was this type of player.”

Lin Sizhi paused slightly and continued, ”In ’Blood Poker,’ Cai Zhiyuan didn’t realize the hidden mechanisms that might exist in the game, so his earnings weren’t high.

”This was also an important reason why many people looked down on him.

”I don’t think this was him deliberately hiding his abilities. It’s more likely he truly didn’t realize this point.

”Fundamentally, it was because his thinking hadn’t completely transformed at that time.

”Like me, Cai Zhiyuan should have been directly selected as a God’s Imitator upon entering the New World. So when reviewing ’Redemption Roulette,’ he wasn’t very convinced about this game receiving an S rating. More or less, this was reflected in his words.

”But after ’King’s Judgment’ ended, when he reviewed games again, his comments became much more cautious. Even when evaluating some rules that weren’t actually profound or complex, he no longer casually gave his own assessments.

”If he hadn’t come to the New World, perhaps he would have just been a diligent programmer who wrote good code.

”But the life-and-death crisis of ’King’s Judgment’ completely activated his potential, allowing him to rapidly absorb experience and grow in subsequent games, and quickly find his true goal and meaning of existence in the New World.

”In the early stage, around ’King’s Judgment,’ the Gallery was screening God’s Imitators.

”Afterward, sending different invitations to different types of God’s Imitators and updating elimination-type games was the Gallery inducing and cultivating God’s Imitators.

”And finally, when his strategy was complete and he and I needed a match, the Gallery updated the rules at just the right time. This was responding to the God’s Imitator’s demands.

”You could say the Gallery was inducing us to find our true selves.

”You could also say the Gallery was trying to push us into desperate situations.

”So...”

Lin Sizhi paused and said, ”Since the Gallery has some kind of subjective will, after seeing our two ’spectacular performances,’ it’s not strange at all for it to magnanimously give some seemingly generous rewards to the performers on this stage.”

Everyone fell into silence again.

Finally, Li Renshu looked around at everyone and said, ”In any case, we have 7 days to fully consider.

”Whether to leave or stay is a personal decision.

”I just hope everyone can consider as carefully as possible. No matter what you choose, ultimately don’t have regrets.”

...

Afternoon.

Everyone gathered in the hall to bid farewell to Zhou Guifen and Shen Xing, mother and daughter.

Zheng Jie said with some regret, ”You really won’t stay for dinner before leaving? We’re having a big feast tonight. We’ve almost finished buying everything.”

He himself was of course also determined to leave, but he hadn’t expected Zhou Guifen and her daughter to leave so quickly.

After all, they could use 7 days to slowly consider. During this time, the Gallery wouldn’t open, they wouldn’t have to experience life-and-death games, and the existing visa time simply couldn’t be taken away. Not spending it would be a waste.

It would be better to use this time to eat, drink, and have fun in the community without any burden, rest, and spend the visa time before leaving.

Zhou Guifen shook her head, ”No thanks. There’s an old saying: even a golden nest or silver nest isn’t as good as one’s own doghouse.

”The food and lodging here are better than in reality, but I really can’t stay even one more minute.”

Li Renshu nodded, ”Yes, understandable.

”By the way, Auntie Zhou, how about each of us writes down our contact information in the real world?

”That way, after we leave, we can still stay in touch.

”Although it’s hard to say right now what will happen to us after returning to the real world, and it’s not easy to confirm whether we’re all from the same reality, after all, many science fiction movies have the concept of parallel worlds. But regardless, leaving contact information is a must.”

Zheng Jie quickly nodded, ”Right, right, we definitely have to leave this.”

He quickly brought paper and pen and distributed them to everyone.

Everyone wrote their own phone numbers and addresses, then exchanged and filled them in until these white papers were filled with everyone’s information.

Zhou Guifen and Shen Xing each took one sheet and carefully put them away.

”I won’t say much more. Auntie Zhou, I wish you and Shen Xing peace and happiness.”

After Li Renshu finished speaking, she hugged Zhou Guifen and Shen Xing. The others also hugged them one by one.

Everyone came to the community entrance.

Originally, this entrance had always been completely sealed, only allowing entry but not exit. But now, Zhou Guifen and Shen Xing each swiped their player visas on the machine. When they withdrew their hands, the visa bracelets had naturally fallen off.

The community entrance also reopened.

”Goodbye!”

Zhou Guifen and Shen Xing waved farewell to everyone for the last time and left the community.

And the community gate closed again.

Li Renshu stepped forward and retrieved Zhou Guifen and Shen Xing’s bracelets. Like Fu Chen’s bracelet back then, they were complete, smooth, and undamaged.

Wei Yinzhang seemed to see Li Renshu’s unnecessary worry and comforted her, ”Don’t worry. The New World and the Gallery have always kept their word. As long as it’s a clearly stated rule, it will definitely hold.”