God's Imitator

Meanwhile, in Community 3’s audience section.

Cheng Wen leaned forward from her front-row seat, pressing slightly closer, ”Sister Xinyi! Is what they’re saying reliable?

”I’m a bit confused about what we’re actually supposed to be doing right now.”

Lu Xinyi kept most of her attention on the Actors speaking at the platform, while sparing enough focus to offer a brief explanation.

”Think of this as a film set, a live stage performance, or a murder mystery venue. We’re both the audience and the extras.

”The story takes place in a parallel world with an entirely different legal system.

”In this world, there are no judges or prosecutors to determine guilt. Instead, there’s a ’Special Jury/Temporary Citizens’ Tribunal System’ as the fundamental legal framework.

”This is probably a reimagining of the jury system used in certain Western legal traditions, adapted and modified for the purposes of the game.

”The four suspects and the four Jury Representatives together drive the trial forward.

”The suspects have to prove their own innocence, while the Jury Representatives challenge them like prosecutors or public advocates.”Cheng Wen muttered softly, ”Suspects judging themselves? That doesn’t seem very impartial.”

Lu Xinyi smiled without concern, ”It’s probably a deliberate choice to make the game more dramatic and strategic.

”This kind of ’self-exoneration’ scenario appears in a lot of crime fiction and is a very effective way to build suspense.

”All four suspects will inevitably have self-interested motivations and will do whatever they can to escape blame.

”That’s exactly why a jury, or in this case, a citizens’ tribunal, is necessary.

”Whether they manage to clear their names depends largely on whether we arrive at the correct verdict.

”This round of statements and evidence probably doesn’t need verification.

”Because none of these four are foolish. No one would risk giving false information at the very start when the potential loss so clearly outweighs any possible gain.

”They don’t know what the other players’ Character Dossiers say, so they’ll need this first round to probe and assess. They’ll almost certainly play defensively.

”Even if someone does intend to mislead or misdirect, that would come after the first Recess, not before.”

Cheng Wen asked curiously, ”So what counts as defending, and what counts as attacking?”

Lu Xinyi explained, ”Keeping the conversation focused on yourself, working to distance yourself from suspicion, that’s defending.

”Steering the topic toward others, using evidence or rhetoric to imply that someone else is the culprit, that’s attacking.

”In this game, Actors have only one way to earn visa time: to bring about the death of another Actor and claim a share of their visa time.

”To do that, they need to prove that another Actor’s character was ’guilty’ in this case.

”But launching an attack without a clear chain of evidence carries real risks. It could easily backfire.

”So they’ll probably probe first, and then work from the existing evidence to gradually steer the narrative in a direction that favours them.”

Cheng Wen nodded, ”Oh, I see.

”Based on the rules, only the ’Detective’ and ’Wealthy Merchant’ can present evidence. The ’Lawyer’ and ’Doctor’ can’t produce evidence, only offer professional explanations based on their expertise.

”So the initiative is actually in the hands of the ’Detective’ and ’Wealthy Merchant.’

”The evidence they’ve brought out so far doesn’t prove anything, and there’s nothing relating to law or medicine yet, which is probably why Doctor Feng Yuguang chose to say a few words and quickly step down.

”Like a murder mystery player whose dossier gives them very little to work with. When saying more means risking more, the safest approach is to say as little as possible.

”Lawyer Lin is probably going to do the same. It’s the most sensible option.

”Actually, now that I think about it, why is Lawyer Lin in Community 2? I’ve been wanting to ask since the beginning.”

Lu Xinyi shook her head, ”How would I know.

”Didn’t you notice? Even Wang Yongxin is confused. He’s been staring at Lin Sizhi since the start.

”He clearly wants to say something directly, but he can’t.

”Because the Actors have to stay fully in character. Any behaviour that seems like breaking the fourth wall isn’t allowed, and they certainly can’t start discussing things unrelated to the performance.

”So, there probably won’t be an answer to that question in this game.”

Lu Xinyi and the others were aware that Wang Yongxin had left Community 17.

At the end of the Tarot Game, Zone A had been the first to leave, and Lu Xinyi had clearly seen the ’Emperor’ card left on the field.

But Lin Sizhi had at that point also departed through Zone A and returned to Community 17. That much was beyond doubt.

Why he was now participating as a Community 2 player was something she genuinely didn’t know.

Lin Sizhi came to the speaking platform and gave a slight bow to the room.

”Esteemed members of the jury, I believe this newlywed couple may have died by mutual consent, choosing to end their lives together.

”This is a ’Possibility Analysis’ based on the information currently available. I ask that you each consider this possibility carefully.”

The moment the words were spoken, a faint ripple of reaction passed through the otherwise extremely quiet courtroom. Many jury members involuntarily made sounds of surprise.

In a film or television production, a judge would likely have brought down a gavel at this moment and called for silence. But there was no judge in this performance.

Lin Sizhi paid no attention to the reactions around him and continued, ”Although common sense would suggest that a newly married couple should be at the happiest moment of their lives with no reason to take their own lives, based on the available information, the possibility of a third-party perpetrator is not particularly high.

”If we assume the two of them did not mutually agree to end their lives, then there are essentially two possibilities.

”The first is that one of them deliberately killed the other. In that case, only one person would have fallen into the water and died.

”The second is that someone on board deliberately killed both of them together. But under those circumstances, it would be very difficult to do so without anyone noticing. Any one of them crying out would have been enough to alert others on the vessel, and the likelihood of finding absolutely no witnesses would be very low.

”Both of these are inconsistent with what we know.

”Looking at the photograph, the wife’s gaze seems somewhat unfocused. Though she is smiling, there appears to be something like anxiety or sadness behind that smile.

”If either member of the couple had been diagnosed with a serious illness, or was struggling with a severe mental health condition, or if the two of them had been facing overwhelming pressure from family or society, any of these could have contributed to this tragedy.

”This is my assessment based on the information currently available. Of course, I cannot say with certainty whether this represents the actual truth of the case. That determination must be made collectively by the esteemed members of this jury.”