God's Imitator

Five days later, in the morning.

All the players had gathered in the hall, waiting with a degree of unease.

New information appeared on the large screen right on time.

[Good morning, players!]

[The Gallery will open in 5 minutes.]

[The name of this game is ’A Single Word to Settle a Case.’ The game objective is ’Judging the Guilty.’]

[The players from this community who are required to participate are: Lu Bingjun and Deng Xiao.]

[This game has 1 voluntary participation slot, which will be randomly selected from all players who register. Please consider carefully before deciding.]

[Please make your preparations.]

A five-minute countdown appeared on the large screen.4:59…

4:58…

The words ’Judgment Game’ alone were enough to drain the colour from many players’ faces.

Deng Xiao’s expression went rigid. He instinctively looked toward Lu Bingjun.

Lu Bingjun’s reaction was considerably steadier. He thought quickly for a moment, then looked at Yao Yuan.

”The most pressing thing right now is deciding who takes the one voluntary slot. Yao Yuan, do you feel up to it?”

Yao Yuan fell silent. He did not take very long to think, but in a moment as tense as this, even a short pause felt drawn out.

His gaze swept quickly over the remaining players and came to rest on Lin Sizhi.

”Lawyer Lin, this game could be critically important for our community. Are you willing to enter?”

Lin Sizhi considered briefly, ”I can.”

Lu Bingjun looked between Yao Yuan and Lin Sizhi, and made his decision quickly, ”Good. Then it’s settled.

”No one else should register.

”Lawyer Lin, we’re counting on you.”

The five minutes were short, and by the time the countdown reached zero, the waiting had felt interminable for everyone.

In theory, other players could still have registered, but Lu Bingjun’s words carried enough weight that in the end no one raised a hand other than Lin Sizhi.

Before long, the three players disappeared from the hall.

”Beep.”

A sharp tone rang out, and Lin Sizhi found himself in a pure white space. A circular ring light in the ceiling was the only source of illumination.

The layout was very simple. At the centre of the room was a round tea table with a complete set of tea ware on it.

Three seats were arranged around the table in a triangular formation.

The seats were broad and comfortable, and the players sitting in them were under no restraint of any kind.

On one wall was a large screen displaying the game rules.

Lin Sizhi looked at the name badges on the chests of the other two players.

[Community 11 - Bai Zhilan]

[Community 7 - Tang Qing]

Bai Zhilan had also participated in the previous game. Lin Sizhi had observed her through the Monitor function.

She looked just as she had before: light, simple makeup, hair pulled up in a high ponytail, giving a first impression of someone entirely harmless.

Tang Qing, on the other hand, was a young man in a Chinese tunic suit. He wore his hair long, with most of it loosely tied up using a hairpin and the rest left to drape over his shoulders.

In the new world, that kind of style was unusual enough to stand out.

”Hmm? This game actually comes with tea?

”That’s very much to my taste.”

Tang Qing looked at Lin Sizhi and Bai Zhilan sitting across from him, ”If neither of you mind, shall I brew it?”

With their tacit agreement, he began enthusiastically using a tea pick to carefully separate a portion from a tightly compressed tea cake, selecting the most suitable piece and placing it into the teapot.

His movements were practised and natural. He was clearly well versed in this.

Bai Zhilan gave a small smile and said, ”Thank you! I wasn’t expecting to have a tea expert with us. What a treat.

”Unfortunately, none of the players in our community have much skill for it. The good tea leaves in our vending machine have been going to waste.”

Tang Qing continued working without pausing, ”Oh? In that case, you’re welcome to join us in Community 7.”

Bai Zhilan did not pick up on that thread, and instead looked at Lin Sizhi.

”I recall you also participated in the Pain Game.

”So it seems you’re an important player in Community 2 as well?

”Though I have to say, I’ve never seen a Judgment Game with such a relaxed atmosphere.

”Where are the other players?”

Before Bai Zhilan had even finished speaking, the large screen had begun displaying the game rules.

[Hello, players!]

[You are about to take part in a Judgment Game called ’A Single Word to Settle a Case.’]

[The game takes place across two distinct areas: the ’Audience Room’ and the ’Offender Room.’]

[The area you are currently in is the ’Audience Room.’]

[As voluntarily participating players, when you leave the game you will each receive an additional 40% of the total earnings generated by your community’s players, as personal income.]

[Furthermore, regardless of the game’s outcome, you will face no penalties of any kind.]

[The current phase is the preparation phase. As audience members, you are required to complete a preliminary challenge: extracting additional information from the content displayed on the large screen.]

[Each time, the large screen will display ’one sentence,’ related to a fatal case in the game.]

[When all three of you agree that the information in a sentence has been fully discussed, press the button on your right side simultaneously to move to the next sentence.]

[If you have successfully identified all the information, the sentence will be marked with a ’√’ when it disappears. If key information has been missed, it will be marked with a ’×.’]

[During the preparation phase, your conversation and conclusions will be broadcast simultaneously in both the ’Offender Room’ and the ’Audience Room,’ directly affecting the course of the game. Please choose your words with care.]

[Once all three sentences have been fully analysed, the game will begin in earnest and new rules will be unlocked.]

The rules continued to display on the large screen, accompanied by a brief one-minute countdown.

When the countdown ended, the rules disappeared from the screen and were replaced by a single simple sentence.

[47 minutes. Considerably healthier than you.]

Tang Qing, now in his Chinese tunic suit, had already poured three cups of tea and passed one each to Bai Zhilan and Lin Sizhi.

He then looked at the sentence on the large screen, cup in hand.

”One-sentence reasoning? Interesting.”

Bai Zhilan asked with a trace of curiosity, ”One-sentence reasoning? Does that mean reasoning from a single sentence, in the literal sense?”

Tang Qing looked at her, ”You’ve never come across the concept?”

Bai Zhilan’s expression was one of genuine honesty, ”No, I haven’t.”

Tang Qing gave a casual laugh, ”Well. Since the three of us are all here, that means we are the sole voluntary participants from Communities 2, 7, and 11 respectively.

”The players who secure that slot in their community are certainly the sharpest among them, or at least the most connected to a game with a name like ’A Single Word to Settle a Case.’”

Bai Zhilan spread her hands with apparent candour, ”I won’t deny that. But that doesn’t mean I have to know what the term ’one-sentence reasoning’ specifically refers to.”

Tang Qing let the point go, ”Fair enough. Let me give a brief explanation.

”One-sentence reasoning, as the name suggests, is the process of deriving the details of a mystery or a case from a single sentence that appears simple but contains enough information within it.

”Just like now.

”Perhaps the Imitator who designed this game shares my interest in deduction.”