God's Imitator

Qian Li paused briefly and continued, ”Compared to those players with Advantage Identities, we ’patients’ are nothing but loose sand. It’s very easy for us to get trapped in a prisoner’s dilemma.

”This is a tactic the Imitators have used countless times in the First Stage. It may be old and tired, but it has to be said that under these specific conditions, it works extremely well.

”When this round ends, every one of us will be subjected to pain.

”At that point, the Doctor will certainly come trying to sell us medication.

”If we can’t unite, the Doctor can deliberately restrict the supply of medication and drive up the price.

”We’ll end up squeezing each other in a prisoner’s dilemma and be forced to buy our way out of the pain at inflated prices. In the worst case, we become Infected and have no choice but to top up on the spot or even take out a loan just to buy medication that fully suppresses the pain and keeps us alive.

”Once you end up at someone else’s mercy, there’s nothing left to do but let yourself be cut to pieces.

”On the other hand, if we can unite and coordinate things internally, and the Doctor’s attempt to create a prisoner’s dilemma among us fails, they will have no choice but to make concessions and sell us medication at a lower price, even at a slight loss.

”Because the Doctor is also carrying a heavy sales quota.

”In short, as ’patients,’ we have no access to the ’Sales’ or ’Reviewer’ players, so the one we need to be most wary of is the Doctor.”Huang Shengjie was somewhat surprised. He thought it over carefully and felt that what Qian Li was saying seemed quite sound.

After all, it was all derived from the basic rules and was consistent with how players would naturally behave.

If he tried to imagine himself in one of those Advantage Identity roles, he probably would have done the same thing.

He instinctively wanted to agree, but he held himself back and tried his best not to be the first one to speak up.

He watched the reactions of the others.

Du Peng and Zhou Xiaoying, who had bought medication after him, said nothing, but from their expressions they seemed, like Huang Shengjie, to broadly agree with what Qian Li had said.

Perhaps they could not find anything too seriously wrong with it. Or perhaps they simply did not want to be the first to open their mouths.

Zhang Yuan, the only one who had not managed to buy any medication, was the one who spoke.

”In terms of game mechanics, the ’Doctor’ is under sales pressure, and an ’Infected’ player can pass fatal pain directly to us. Being a little wary makes complete sense.

”On that point, I broadly agree.

”But, your third point, that we should also be wary of any patient who hasn’t shown up in the Lounge during the first two rounds, why is that?

”Surely you’re not just trying to stir things up so we isolate the other VIP Patient and you can secure your dominant position within this little group?”

Zhang Yuan had his arms crossed and was watching Qian Li with an expression full of suspicion. His words carried a clear edge.

Huang Shengjie kept a neutral expression and observed the sudden tension between the two of them, feeling quietly pleased.

”So they’re both experienced veteran players.

”That’s a good thing.

”If Qian Li were the only veteran in the room, and no one else pushed back or made any useful objections, control of the Lounge would fall naturally into her hands, and that would definitely not be a good thing.

”Her opening remarks were really an attempt to seize control of the conversation.

”Zhang Yuan has clearly noticed that too, which is why he’s picking holes and pushing back.

”For someone like me who doesn’t have much to contribute, the harder these two go at each other the better, because if they’re busy undermining each other, neither of them can pull off any real scheming, and I’m far less likely to get played.”

Faced with Zhang Yuan’s challenge, Qian Li was visibly displeased, though she had clearly already prepared a specific response in advance.

”There is a reason I said to be wary of any patient who doesn’t show up in the Lounge during the first two rounds.

”I’m not targeting that particular VIP Patient. I’m saying that any patient who doesn’t appear in the Lounge in the first two rounds may be a problem.

”According to the rules, each player can only open one door per round.

”And players can proactively offer Medical Points to bring about a meeting.

”Isn’t that essentially a bribe for the Doctor?

”For the Doctor, choosing to meet the Reviewer first in round one is clearly the better move.

”They need to keep on good terms with the Reviewer in order to receive Special Medication through them.

”In the first round, the Doctor only has Basic Medication, which isn’t scarce since the Lounge carries it too, and patients haven’t yet been put through any agonising pain. Why would the Doctor choose to see an ordinary patient first?

”The only reason would be that the patient offered a significant incentive right from the start.

”And VIP Patients are the ones with the most Medical Points and the most willingness to spend them.

”So the picture becomes quite clear. A VIP Patient willing to pay a premium to see the Doctor in round one, and a Doctor willing to accept a bribe right at the start. What do you suppose they talk about? What kind of arrangement do they reach?

”Don’t forget, the optimal play for the Doctor is to use the prisoner’s dilemma to break us apart and sell medication at inflated prices.

”But the Doctor can’t come to the Lounge themselves.

”They need another player to help them achieve that goal.

”And a player who is willing to hand the Doctor a generous bribe right from the start is, of course, the perfect candidate.”

Huang Shengjie instinctively glanced over at Zhang Yuan, hoping he might come up with a fresh objection to shift the conversation.

But Zhang Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly, and for the time being he could not come up with anything particularly compelling to counter it.

That was understandable, because the analysis Qian Li had laid out was built entirely on the rules.

She had argued that ’the Doctor choosing to see a patient first must be motivated by self-interest.’

To disprove that, one would need to demonstrate that ’the Doctor choosing to see a patient first could be motivated by goodwill,’ and from there argue that ’the Doctor is someone who can be cooperated with.’

In the context of the Gallery, however, that was nearly impossible to establish, because there was simply no basis for mutual trust between players.

So without any new information to work with, Zhang Yuan could not find a strong enough rebuttal for the time being, and forcing one might backfire, making the other players feel he was not arguing for their collective interest but simply fighting for control.

In the end, Zhang Yuan said nothing more.

The first round did not last long. Accounting for the one minute of waiting at the start and the final two minutes required to return to their rooms, there were only about seven minutes of actual conversation time.

In the Zone C Lounge, Qian Li had largely led the discussion throughout.

Huang Shengjie took one last glance at the VIP Patient room that had remained shut the entire time, and could not help but feel a little sorry for whoever was inside.

If it had been him in that room, the game would barely have started and he would already have been isolated by the other players under Qian Li’s influence. How would anyone come back from that?

Everyone stood and made their way back to their respective rooms.

Qian Li’s VIP Patient room was at the far left, while Zhang Yuan’s room was on the right, between Huang Shengjie’s room and the other VIP Patient room.

After buying her medication from the vending machine, Qian Li had simply pulled up a folding chair and sat down. Now as she returned to her room, she brushed past Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan bumped into her, seemingly by accident but perhaps not entirely, though the contact was nowhere near enough to qualify as a violent act.

The two of them exchanged a brief glare, and the atmosphere between them was sharp enough to cut.

Even so, they each quickly returned to their own rooms.