God's Imitator

Zhou Xiaoying paused, then quickly realised this was indeed the case.

Because after she and Huang Shengjie had been infected by Zhang Yuan, Qian Li had chosen to sell them medication, which meant an actual transaction had taken place, so she would certainly have been infected too. That much was guaranteed by the game’s rules.

And to cure herself, Qian Li would also need to take Special Medication.

Huang Shengjie and Zhou Xiaoying had been on the verge of questioning Qian Li, but now they found themselves with nothing to say.

Instead, Qian Li was the one who furrowed her brow and turned the question back on them, ”What exactly are you trying to say? That I deliberately sold you medication with side effects to harm you?

”Honestly, the ingratitude of some people.

”You were already Infected. Without Special Medication you would have died.

”I saved you.

”Every medication has side effects. The game rules said so right at the start. How was I supposed to know what the specific side effects were? I’m not a fortune teller. And besides, I took it myself, didn’t I?

”You should be down on your knees thanking your lucky stars you’re still alive. The side effects are nothing more than a bit of physical discomfort. Whether you keep taking the medication or tough it out, your life is not in danger either way.”And now you’re turning around and blaming me for it?

”Ha. Textbook ingratitude.

”You new players who just entered this game, are you all this helpless? If you’d been through a few more games, you’d know that players like me, who hold even the most basic goodwill toward strangers in a game, are an absolute rarity.

”If you don’t trust me, that’s fine too.

”Find a way to get your own medication then.

”This garbage medication with its side effects, I’ll take it myself. You’d better not touch it, since apparently it only gets you into trouble.”

Qian Li’s expression was dark. She was clearly furious.

Zhou Xiaoying froze, then looked between Huang Shengjie and Qian Li and quickly stepped forward and said, ”Qian Li, please don’t be angry. I believe you meant well.

”We weren’t blaming you either. Even if this medication has side effects, the only one to blame is the Imitator who designed this game with bad intentions.

”You have nothing to worry about. I’m still on your side.”

At that moment, Zhang Yuan gave a cold laugh from nearby.

Everyone turned to look at him, brows furrowed.

Zhang Yuan shrugged with a somewhat indifferent air, ”Honestly, it’s laughably stupid.

”Has it not occurred to any of you to ask why my Type F medication needs two tablets to achieve complete pain relief, while Type O only needs one?

”And Type O is also cheaper?

”Does that really seem right to you? When the Imitator was designing this game, would they really have allowed one medication to be the cheapest, the most effective, and the one with the fewest side effects all at once?

”Obviously not. Type O has the strongest effect and the lowest price, which naturally means it also has the most severe side effects.

”And if you keep taking it, those side effects will only keep getting worse.”

He paused briefly and continued, ”To be honest, my Type F does also have some side effects.

”But clearly, they’re far less severe than Type O’s.”

Qian Li frowned and said, ”Save it. No one here is going to believe anything you say.”

Even as the words left her mouth, Huang Shengjie and Zhou Xiaoying looked at each other, and each could see the hesitation in the other’s eyes.

Huang Shengjie had already confirmed the side effect of Type O: drug addiction. Stop taking it, and you would find yourself in low spirits accompanied by that crawling, all-over ache.

And the effect grew stronger with every round.

This was not pain imposed by the game’s mechanics. In terms of pure intensity it was not severe, but it was just as difficult to endure.

And Zhang Yuan’s argument was not without logic.

When an Imitator designed different medications, they would very likely implement a deliberate balance across dimensions such as price, effectiveness, and side effects.

If one medication were cheaper, more effective, and had fewer side effects than all the others, the remaining medications would lose any reason to exist, which would damage the game’s ecosystem and its capacity to evolve, potentially causing it to fail its review or receive a lower rating.

If Zhang Yuan was telling the truth and switching to Type F could reduce the side effects, then spending a few more Medical Points might well be worth it.

The problem was that Zhang Yuan’s credibility was by now extremely low. If he was lying, then taking Type F might trigger consequences that were even more serious.

So Huang Shengjie filed the possibility away for consideration but stopped well short of actually buying medication from Zhang Yuan.

Back in his room once more, Huang Shengjie did as he had done before, took out the last Type I tablet, and waited quietly.

This time, however, almost the very moment he sat down on the sofa, a wave of agonising pain struck.

According to the game rules, players would experience pain for one randomly selected minute within the final two minutes of each round. The timing could be early or late, with a high degree of randomness.

This was specifically to prevent players from fully anticipating the timing and steeling themselves in advance.

This time, the pain not only came earlier than usual, but hit with greater force, catching Huang Shengjie completely off guard.

His body curled up again in response to the agony, and the last Type I tablet he had been holding ready naturally became useless.

All he could do on pure instinct was put the Type I tablet back into its bottle, then frantically fumble for the Type O bottle, shake out a tablet with trembling hands, and swallow it whole.

Fortunately the medication still took effect quickly. The pain receded like a tide, and that familiar extraordinary sensation returned.

Huang Shengjie could feel his heart still hammering. He took a moment to settle himself and tried to think clearly.

”Something’s wrong. Why Special Pain?

”I’ve become ’Infected’ again.

”Was I passed it? No. I didn’t make any transactions with other players last round.

”Which means the system selected me.

”The game is into the third hour now. According to the rules, one player will be designated ’Infected.’ My luck ran out and I got picked.”

Confirming that he had not been infected through transmission did not make Huang Shengjie feel any better.

Because regardless of how you became ’Infected,’ the effect on his current situation was the same, and it only made things worse.

And then he also realised something even more troubling.

”This time I genuinely wasn’t passed it by another player. But what about next time?

”As the game goes on, many players’ Standard Pain will reach the tipping point and convert to Special Pain en masse, and the increased demand for medication will lead to even larger waves of cross-infection.

”And as I analysed before, since everyone now has Special Medication on hand, it will be impossible to judge from expressions or behaviour whether someone is Infected.

”So the further into the game we go, the more dangerous things become.

”Should I stockpile more medication now and reduce my trading activity from this point on?

”Even when I’m cured, I could still be reinfected by another player at any time.”

Huang Shengjie’s thoughts were in turmoil, and he could not come to a clear decision.

The one piece of good news was that the Type O seemed to genuinely be speeding up his thinking. His mind had not seized up even while working through all of these problems.

But at that very moment, Huang Shengjie suddenly noticed something else was wrong.

It was immediately the most pressing issue he had encountered, pushing everything else he had been considering to the back of his mind.

”Why is the pain not fully gone?

”How is that possible?

”Is it phantom pain?

”No. No, it’s not phantom pain. This is real.

”Why isn’t Type O achieving complete pain relief anymore? Has the pain grown stronger? Or has the medication lost its effect?

”Can there be ’drug tolerance’ in this game?”