God's Imitator

After a brief silence, Lu Bingjun chose not to dwell any further on the topic and moved the agenda forward instead.

”Next, let’s turn to the question of recruiting new members.”

None of the other players said anything, simply listening quietly.

Though only a single motion had passed, it felt as though nothing in the community had changed, and yet, somehow, everything had.

Lu Bingjun paused briefly, then continued. ”We already had a fairly thorough discussion about recruitment right after A Single Word to Settle a Case, and everyone reached a shared understanding of the specific rules and standards involved.

”So there’s no need to repeat that discussion here.

”In simple terms, what we need to settle on soon is: do we rely on the community’s own selection process based on gender and profession, or do we recruit directly from another community during the next game?”

He looked around the group. ”I assume everyone’s earlier preferences on profession haven’t changed?

”If anyone has a new preference, feel free to bring it up and we’ll discuss it.”

During the last recruitment of a male player, Yao Yuan had already summarised the community’s relatively urgent needs: a civil servant, a mathematician, and an athlete. These three categories corresponded respectively to an administrative-type player, responsible mainly for community management and motions, a mathematics-type player, responsible mainly for earning profits through Distribution-type games, and a physically-capable player, meant to handle games with a physical demand.

Ye Lin, meanwhile, had proposed bringing in another doctor.

With Zhang Yan’s arrival, the physically-capable category was already covered, so it no longer needed to be a priority.

If they carried forward the conclusions from that earlier discussion, the top priorities for recruitment would be administrative, mathematics, and medical-type players. And to maintain the community’s gender balance, the new recruit would need to be female.

Though Lu Bingjun’s remarks seemed directed at the group as a whole, Huang Shengjie found his gaze drifting instinctively toward Ye Lin.

Because during the last recruitment discussion, it had been Ye Lin’s persistent insistence that ultimately led to the decision to recruit through in-game headhunting.

And judging from the outcome, Zhang Yan had turned out to be a genuinely solid choice, likely more reliable than a new player pulled straight from community-based recruitment.

This time, though, Ye Lin didn’t seem inclined to speak up.

It might have been some kind of unspoken political understanding: since Ye Lin’s earlier request had already been granted once, whatever the outcome this time, the recruitment process should now be led by Lu Bingjun.

Seeing no one else speak, Yao Yuan thought it over for a moment and spoke up.

”The result of the last game was brutal, but the good news is that the next one shouldn’t be a dangerous Judgment-type or Elimination-type game.

”It’s more likely to be Selection-type or Distribution-type.

”Selection-type is more probable, honestly. Since entering the second stage, only our very first game, the Pain Game, has been Selection-type.

”Compared to Distribution-type, Selection-type carries some risk of death, but it also lets us come into contact with more communities and more players.

”So I think it makes sense to continue with the same recruitment strategy as last time: enter the game first and try to headhunt someone suitable. If a good candidate turns up, that’s obviously more reliable than community-based recruitment. If not, we can always fall back on choosing by profession once we’re back in the community.

”As for exactly which profession, we can decide that when the time comes.

”I’d suggest a full community vote, choosing between administrative, mathematics, and medical roles. We could vote twice: the first round narrows it down to the two most popular options, and the second round settles it as a straight choice between those two.

”As for the specific age range, we can decide that based on whichever profession we end up selecting.”

Everyone nodded, seemingly content with this plan.

After all, Zhang Yan, recruited through the last game, had turned out to be a good result, matching most people’s expectations for a new community member. Success tends to breed a preference for repeating the same approach.

If they could headhunt a suitable player in the next game too, that would clearly be ideal. And if not, falling back on a vote to decide was entirely acceptable as well.

Lu Bingjun let out a long breath, sounding notably relieved. ”Alright. Since everyone’s in agreement, we’ll go with this as our provisional plan.

”If anyone changes their mind over the coming days, feel free to bring it up at any time.

”With that, I think we’ve finally worked through most of the community’s backlog of business.

”Everyone’s worked hard. This stretch has been genuinely difficult for all of us, but life has to go on regardless.

”Get some rest, everyone, and prepare for the next game.”

Everyone dispersed.

Huang Shengjie felt a mild flicker of surprise. He’d assumed there would still be discussion ahead about donating to the community fund and purchasing special items, since the community’s Death Exemption Ticket had just been used in this latest game.

There was also the Discount Voucher among the special items available. If they wanted to bundle a new Death Exemption Ticket purchase with something else, using the voucher then would have been a genuinely good deal.

On second thought, though, there really wasn’t a need to buy anything right now. The Death Exemption Ticket had only just entered its cooldown, so purchasing another one now would be useless anyway, and it would only lower the community fund’s total prematurely, making it harder to reach the threshold for the next tier of items.

If they spent the fund down now, reaching the next tier at 2.1 million would become significantly more difficult. Better to keep saving, and once they knew exactly what special items were available at the 2.1 million tier, use the Discount Voucher then to purchase everything at once.

Huang Shengjie found himself instinctively wanting to ask who exactly had voted in favour, particularly among the players who’d told him during his canvassing that they intended to vote against.

But on second thought, that would be a pointless thing to do. Whether they had lied to him or simply changed their minds at the last moment, voting was every player’s most fundamental political right, and prying into it would itself be a violation of that right.

Honestly, if Huang Shengjie himself had changed his mind at the last minute, he certainly wouldn’t have wanted anyone else pressing him about it either.

So in the end, he let the thought go, and returned to his room feeling somewhat despondent.

The next evening.

Lin Sizhi returned to his room and opened his laptop, finding new information waiting for him.

[Hello, Lin Sizhi.]

[In 4 days, the Gallery will open several different Selection-type games.]

[As before, this game invitation will be awarded through bidding among all Imitators currently active in the New World. Among comparable proposals, the one offering the higher visa time bid will be selected, provided it also passes review.]

[All communities will be required to participate, though the pairing between communities will carry an element of randomness.]

[As the designer, you may use specific rules to select which players participate.]

[The game proposal document has been placed in your desk drawer.]

[The deadline is 8pm, 3 days from now. You have 72 hours to complete the game’s design.]

[Please make your choice.]