God's Imitator

”Community 8. The Community 8 from our original region wasn’t a particularly strong one. They almost certainly couldn’t have kept their original group together, and I haven’t heard of this player either.

”He probably comes from a different region, or only joined in the Second Stage.”

Ye Lin was still thinking as she took her seat.

”Hello.”

Xu Yiheng greeted her with a smile. He seemed quite polite, which stood in sharp contrast to the cold manner of the other Reviewer, Shen Qingyun.

Ye Lin was well aware that in a game, a person’s attitude meant very little. Players who were outwardly courteous while scheming behind the scenes were common enough. But regardless, a good-looking player with a friendly manner did tend to make a positive first impression.

Ye Lin was still working out how to broach the subject of medication when Xu Yiheng continued, ”In the last round, I went to meet with a Doctor first.

”The Doctor had the most basic Type I Painkiller. I bought two bottles.

”Do you need any? If so, I can sell it to you at the same price I paid. It might come in handy.”

Ye Lin was caught slightly off guard. That was not quite what she had expected.He had already taken a small white bottle from his pocket and set it on the table.

Ye Lin picked it up and examined it carefully. It was identical in shape to the four types of medication she had, only with a label reading ’Type I Painkiller.’

She unscrewed the cap and checked inside. The bottle was still sealed.

This sample was important to Ye Lin.

The rules had stated that the Doctor carried one type of Basic Medication while the Sales player carried four types of Special Medication, but what exactly the Basic Medication was and what effect it had were both unknowns from the Sales player’s perspective.

Sales had to sell medication to the Doctor, but the reverse was not necessarily true.

Without concrete information about the Doctor’s medication, Sales might have no way to adopt a targeted strategy when selling.

All of which suggested that Xu Yiheng was a fairly cooperative sort of player, one whose approach was to maintain good relations with both the Doctor and the Sales player simultaneously, acting as the connecting link and seeking mutual benefit throughout the game.

With that in mind, Ye Lin took out all four of her own medications and laid them on the table as well.

The rules had already made clear that the Sales player carried four types of medication. If Ye Lin deliberately held some back, she would be sending an unfriendly signal in itself.

Given that the other party had taken the initiative to show goodwill, that would not have been a wise move.

Xu Yiheng picked up each of the four bottles in turn and examined them carefully.

”Completely identical. You can’t tell a thing from looking at them.”

He unscrewed the caps for a look. These were all still sealed as well.

Ye Lin asked, ”I also have some opened ones. Want to see those?”

Xu Yiheng nodded and said, ”Sure, let’s have a look, though there’s probably not much to see either.”

Ye Lin took out the bottle of Type M Painkiller she had already taken one tablet from and handed it over, watching Xu Yiheng’s movements closely as she did.

Xu Yiheng carefully tipped one tablet out onto his palm and studied it.

After staring at it for a long time, he gave up with a slightly helpless expression and put the tablet back, blinking his eyes a few times after having kept them fixed for so long.

”They’re all tiny white tablets. You really can’t tell any difference between them.

”Forget it. That kind of thing is better left to the Doctor to worry about.

”The Doctor I met with last round seemed to have some professional knowledge. They might be able to distinguish what’s different about these medications.

”And if they can’t, that’s not my problem.”

Xu Yiheng passed the opened bottle of Type M Painkiller back to Ye Lin and continued, ”For now, let me take one bottle of each of the four types you have.

”I’ll see how things develop, and if it seems right, I’ll buy more from you later. When that happens, try to give me some discount if you can.”

Ye Lin nodded and said, ”That works.

”Since this is our first time working together, I’ll sell to you at the minimum price. All four types together come to 2,000 Medical Points.

”Type M is the most expensive at 1,200 a bottle. The other three are cheaper, at 500, 200, and 100 respectively.

”How much did the Type I Painkiller cost?”

Xu Yiheng said, ”The Doctor sold it to me for 600. I’m not sure if that’s the minimum price.”

Ye Lin was mildly surprised. In theory, the Doctor’s medication should be the most basic type, and yet it was not cheap at all.

It was also possible that the Doctor he had met had simply taken advantage of him and charged a higher price.

Ye Lin said nothing about it though. The Type I Painkiller might not have much medical value or practical utility, but the information it contained was still worth something.

Both parties completed the transaction on those terms.

The deal had been made smoothly and without any back-and-forth, so there was still time before they needed to return to their rooms for the pain.

Xu Yiheng carefully put the medications away and asked, ”Is there anything else we can share with each other?”

Ye Lin thought about it and said, ”Make sure you always keep at least one tablet for yourself. Come find me if you ever need more.”

Xu Yiheng was not quite sure what to make of that, but nodded all the same and said, ”Alright.”

The two waited a little longer, and when the meeting time for the round came to an end, Ye Lin stood and returned to her room.

Huang Shengjie pushed open the door and entered the Lounge.

The doors to the other patient rooms opened one after another, though Huang Shengjie noticed that the rightmost VIP Patient room door remained firmly shut.

”Strange. Has that VIP player been meeting with the Doctor the whole time? Is that why the Doctor wouldn’t see me no matter what price I offered?

”That doesn’t quite add up either. Surely the Doctor should at least see a few patients in the first couple of rounds and compare what different prices are being offered?

”Unless the Doctor and this VIP Patient happen to be from the same community, and after meeting once they’ve already formed an alliance?”

Huang Shengjie was puzzled. There were too many strange things about the Lounge situation for him to sort through quickly.

Just then, Zhang Yuan, who had come out of the room next to Huang Shengjie’s, strode quickly over to one of the vending machines and started making a purchase.

In the previous round, Zhang Yuan had been the only one of the group who had failed to buy any medication, so this time he reacted immediately, making straight for the closest vending machine to him to get there first.

Everyone else snapped out of it at once and rushed to the other machine.

Zhou Xiaoying had been closest and should have made it first, but Qian Li, emerging from the VIP Patient room, came from behind and shoved her aside, forcing her out of the way and inserting her own Medical Card into the machine first.

”You, what the—”

Zhou Xiaoying stumbled from the impact and stood there in confusion, waiting for some kind of penalty to be announced. But none came.

A collision of this nature, roughly on the level of jostling for a seat, caused no actual harm or threat to life, and as such did not meet the threshold for what the system would classify as a clear violent act warranting a lethal penalty.

It was evident that Qian Li, as a veteran player, had a very precise sense of exactly where that line was.

New players would inevitably end up on the losing side of small moments like this.