God's Imitator

Deng Xiao had not said much, because he understood that more words meant more exposed information, which meant more potential weaknesses for other players to exploit.

But saying too little was equally dangerous. That was suspicious in its own right.

After weighing everything, Deng Xiao concluded this was the best available option for this round.

The player to his left was given the floor next.

[Community 7 - Shi Guoliang.]

Shi Guoliang appeared to be around the same age as Lu Bingjun, mid-forties, with a well-maintained physique.

Unlike Lu Bingjun, though, Shi Guoliang had noticeably darker skin and gave off a somewhat confrontational energy.

He was from the same community as the blonde-streaked Li Hui.

[I have a dedicated medical team. (Black)]

Shi Guoliang’s voice was deep and carried authority.”I take my health very seriously. No bad habits whatsoever.

”The recommendations I receive from my medical team, I follow in the vast majority of cases.”

His statement was very brief, so there was a pause before his restraint clicked shut again.

Lu Bingjun was the last player to speak.

[I often drink alcohol. (Black)]

”Because of the nature of my work, I do have a fair number of social obligations and drink fairly often.

”That said, my alcohol tolerance isn’t particularly high, which has inadvertently meant I never drink too much.

”Outside of professional obligations, I don’t smoke, drink, stay up late, or dwell on things.

”And since I’m at a managerial level in my company, there are plenty of benefits like regular health check-ups, and I can always take a rest in my own office when I need to.

”I’ll also say that I agree with Xu Guangxin’s point.

”For people who generally have weaker self-discipline, having a job actually promotes a more regular lifestyle, since there are fixed hours for coming in and leaving.

”Being unemployed can be healthier for those with strong self-discipline, because they can maintain a regular schedule while getting adequate rest.

”But for those with weak self-discipline, it tends to lead to a disordered lifestyle, a lack of moderation, and greater health risks.”

The blonde-streaked Li Hui stared at Lu Bingjun with wide eyes, his expression caught somewhere between shock and fury.

If he had been surprised to be targeted first by the ordinary-looking office worker Xu Guangxin, being targeted again by Lu Bingjun left him both bewildered and furious.

The players each voted by pressing the corresponding name button on their boards.

Li Hui was growing increasingly agitated. He desperately wanted to defend himself, but the restraint held his mouth shut and he could not make a sound.

He agonised for a long time between Xu Guangxin and Lu Bingjun, and finally, with deep resentment, chose Xu Guangxin.

He believed that Xu Guangxin, as someone who regularly stayed up late for work, had the highest risk of sudden death.

This was a choice that could pass the lie detection mechanism.

Before long, all the inner room players had finished voting.

On the central platform, one blade plunged rapidly downward, driving deep into the sector corresponding to Li Hui.

At the same moment, Li Hui’s expression changed dramatically, as though his heart had been truly struck. Both hands flew to press against his chest, and then instinctively clutched at his clothing.

His face drained to white in an instant, cold sweat rolling down his forehead.

His body tried to curl in on itself from reflex, but the restraints held him immobile.

He remained locked in that silent, rigid state for nearly ten seconds before his condition finally began to ease. He slumped back in his chair as though every last bit of strength had been pulled out of him, his chest heaving violently.

Because the mouth restraint kept him sealed shut, he could not even gasp for breath, which added another layer to the agony.

Watching Li Hui’s reaction, several players instinctively swallowed.

It was a genuinely frightening sight.

Clearly, the falling blade was some kind of indicator, signalling that Li Hui had received the most Sudden Death Votes in this round.

And the penalty was a severe episode of chest pain.

This was entirely consistent with the ’sudden death’ theme of the game.

In the Audience Room, Tang Qing let out a somewhat resigned sigh, ”Given his intelligence, I’m not the least bit surprised he did something this foolish.”

The blonde-streaked Li Hui and Tang Qing were both from Community 7 and knew each other.

All three players in the Audience Room had understood from the very beginning that turning in a blank board was absolutely not an option.

While both sentences on the board carried risks, a player could at least choose the relatively safer one and try to talk their way past the damage.

All the other players had done exactly that.

Li Hui’s self-styled clever excuse about being out of practice with handwriting was obvious self-deception that convinced no one.

The other players spotted the opening immediately and moved in without hesitation.

Since he had written nothing, there was no lie-detection-verified result to stand behind. Other players were free to come up with any number of reasons to attack him, and could vote around the lie detection mechanism however they saw fit.

Round two began.

Unlike the previous round, however, a line of information appeared in the section of the central platform corresponding to Xu Guangxin.

[You have been selected as moderator. Please determine the speaking order for all players before writing time ends, or the order will be randomised.]

Xu Guangxin’s expression showed genuine surprise.

The other players also immediately noticed that this was information the rules had not explicitly mentioned.

The rules had only stated that from the second round onward, a player would serve as moderator and determine the speaking order. They said nothing about how the moderator would be selected.

From what had just happened, two possibilities presented themselves.

The first was random selection.

The second was that the moderator role defaulted to the player who had made the first attack in the previous round.

The specifics would need to be confirmed through subsequent rounds, but by general reasoning, the second possibility seemed far more likely.

Xu Guangxin thought for a moment, then made a few quick adjustments on his board to set the speaking order for all players.

Deng Xiao was becoming increasingly uncertain, but writing time was ticking away second by second and he had to decide quickly.

Two choices were still available on the board.

[1. I have recommended rapid progress training programmes to overworked office workers.]

[2. To improve training results, I regularly consume large quantities of coffee and energy drinks.]

Writing time ended.

Shi Guoliang’s mouth restraint unlocked. This meant Xu Guangxin had placed him first in the speaking order.

Deng Xiao let out a quiet breath of relief. Going first was never a good thing.

Each round, a player only had one speaking turn. Players who spoke later could attack anyone who had spoken before them at will, while those who spoke earlier had no opportunity to defend or respond within the same round.

Shi Guoliang, however, appeared unconcerned. He flipped his board and displayed his chosen sentence.

[I eat healthy vegetables from my own farm every day. (Black)]

”As I said before, I take my health very seriously.

”That extends to my diet as well, which I’ve arranged specifically with that in mind.”

As with the previous round, Shi Guoliang’s statement was extremely brief.

This was clearly the strategy he had thought through and judged to be the safest and most prudent.