God's Imitator

Back in his room, Huang Shengjie wasted no time peeling off the seal at the mouth of the bottle and took out the medication to examine it.

It was the same small white tablet as the Type I Painkiller, completely indistinguishable to the eye.

There were five tablets inside. He tipped one out and held it in his hand.

Then he began to wait, feeling a little on edge.

The agonising pain came again.

Almost entirely on instinct, Huang Shengjie threw the tablet in his hand into his mouth and swallowed it.

Almost immediately, a strange warmth seemed to spread through his entire body, and every part of him relaxed at once. He even felt a faint sense of bliss, as though he were floating.

It was like the whole world had suddenly become clear to him, as though he had grasped the underlying order of things, a feeling not unlike deep meditation or a state of perfect flow.

In that instant, Huang Shengjie felt as though he had forgotten entirely that he was in the Gallery’s life-or-death game. A sense of hope about everything ahead washed over him, and every problem ceased to feel like a problem, every worry ceased to feel like a worry.

All the pain had vanished completely.Of course, perhaps because the pain had disappeared so thoroughly, Huang Shengjie noticed what seemed like a faint phantom ache lingering at the edges, and a sensation almost as though his hands and feet no longer quite belonged to him.

But these minor imperfections were quickly swept away by the extraordinary feeling.

”Right, so as long as this keeps up for three more rounds, I’m safe.

”I was worried it might be harder than that. Looking at it now, it doesn’t seem so bad after all.

”Five tablets per bottle, after all.

”I was thinking that if one tablet didn’t fully suppress the pain, I might have to take a second, in which case five might just barely not be enough.

”I was clearly overthinking it.”

The game rules had stated that a player needed to achieve ’complete pain relief’ for three consecutive rounds to be fully cured, not just any three rounds within an hour.

In other words, any interruption, or any round in which pain relief was not complete, would mean failure, and the difference could be life or death.

As for whether complete pain relief had actually been achieved, the game provided no such indication. Players could only judge by how they felt.

The faint phantom ache might lead some players to feel as though the pain had not fully gone, and out of caution they might take a second tablet.

That was perhaps also why Zhang Yuan had claimed it required two tablets to achieve full suppression.

Then again, it was also possible that the medication Zhang Yuan was carrying was genuinely somewhat less effective, which would mean two tablets were actually needed.

Either way, Huang Shengjie put the thought aside. Going by how his body felt, a second tablet was not necessary.

Even if he very much wanted to take one.

”This is Special Medication. It’s precious. I can’t take more than I need.

”If it keeps at this price, I might consider buying another bottle as a reserve.

”Using it for Standard Pain should be fine too, and it’s still cheaper than what’s available in the Lounge vending machines.”

Being, for the time being, out of immediate danger put Huang Shengjie considerably more at ease, and the painkiller itself had a calming effect of its own.

Even so, another thought was starting to take shape in his mind.

”So this game really has left ordinary players with no way to earn visa time at all.

”Right now I have absolutely no channel for earning Medical Points. It’s pure outflow with nothing coming in.

”Maybe the Sales players, the Doctors, and patient representatives like Qian Li can profit from the drug supply chain, but that’s not an option for me.

”Thinking back now, I should have thrown Medical Points at getting a meeting with the Doctor much sooner.

”If I’d been able to get medication from the Doctor, I might have been able to play the same role Qian Li is playing now. Even selling Special Painkillers to other players at a relatively low price would have earned something, at the very least enough to recoup the 5,000 Medical Points I put in at the start.”

Huang Shengjie felt the sting of it, recognising how slow he had been to see what was needed.

But there was nothing to be done about it. He was a new player participating in a Selection-type game for the first time. His lack of familiarity with the rules made it easy for veteran players to pull ahead, and once you fell behind, you kept falling behind.

As long as he made it safely back to the community, that was already a good result.

In the Review Room, Zheng Chunhua was waiting.

Before long, three of the four doors lit up with indicators. Everyone except Qin Cheng, whom he had met in the previous round, had sent him requests.

Zheng Chunhua deliberately waited a moment, then accepted the request from the Sales room on his left.

That was the Sales player other than Chen Guangming.

He did not know much about Chen Guangming, but from their earlier meeting, the person had struck him as someone who would not be easy to deal with.

Getting Chen Guangming to give up the specific price of every medication would likely be very difficult.

Hence Qin Cheng’s suggestion to see the other Sales player first.

Cross-referencing what both Sales players said against each other would significantly improve the reliability of the information.

Shortly after, the other Sales player entered the Review Room, the one positioned in the upper-left corner of the layout diagram, facing Zones A and D.

Zheng Chunhua immediately looked at her name badge. [Community 11 - Bai Zhilan.]

She was a young-looking girl with light, simple makeup and her hair pulled back in a plain ponytail. If she had been wearing a school uniform, one might easily have mistaken her for a high school student.

She even looked slightly younger than the community’s new player Lu Qi.

Bai Zhilan gave a polite bow and said, ”Hello, uncle!”

Zheng Chunhua asked, ”Did you bring all the Special Medications?”

Bai Zhilan nodded quickly and said, ”Yes, I brought all of them.”

She laid the four different types of Special Medication out on the table one by one.

Zheng Chunhua had already learned the details of these medications beforehand, so he gave the labels and seals a brief check to confirm they were intact, then asked directly, ”What are the specific prices for each of these four types?”

But the question seemed to catch Bai Zhilan off guard.

”Ah, the specific price of each one? I, I didn’t manage to memorise them all completely.”

Seeing Zheng Chunhua’s brow furrow, she quickly added, ”It’s not that I have nothing at all, please let me explain. I’m not deliberately keeping it from you.

”The thing is, there are four medications here, and they all look exactly the same, just different labels.

”In the vending machine, each medication has a purchase price, and a ’recommended retail range’ with a maximum and minimum, which are two very different numbers from each other.

”That means I need to memorise twelve different numbers in total.

”My memory isn’t great, and if I mix any of them up or get them crossed, I’ll be docked money when I leave the game.

”So for each medication I just memorised one number that falls within the recommended retail range, gives a small profit, and is easy to remember.

”I’m sorry, uncle. I didn’t think you’d ask in this much detail.

”If there’s a particular medication you’re especially interested in, I can go back and check, and give you the exact figures next time we meet. Would that work?”

Bai Zhilan’s manner was very sincere, and she sounded genuinely apologetic as she spoke.

Zheng Chunhua asked, frowning slightly, ”Is there no paper or pen in the room?”

Bai Zhilan shook her head quickly and said, ”No, there’s nothing in the room to help with memory at all. It’s entirely by rote.

”If you don’t believe me, you can ask the other Sales player. I’m telling you the truth.”

Zheng Chunhua was mildly surprised. This small complication had thrown a slight wrench into his plans.

But he could hardly reproach her for it. Everyone’s memory was different, and it was not reasonable to expect every player to have memorised that many numbers in such a short time.

”Tell me the prices you do remember, then.” Zheng Chunhua kept his expression as neutral as he could.

Bai Zhilan nodded and said, ”Alright, uncle. Give me a moment.”

She picked up each of the four bottles from the table in turn, frowning slightly as she worked to recall the figures.