God's Imitator

”Type M Painkiller, I want five bottles, no, make it three.

”And one bottle of each of the other types.

”What are the prices?”

Shen Qingyun appeared to have already thought it through and put forward a very specific request to Ye Lin.

Ye Lin was caught off guard for a moment, because the Type M medication Shen Qingyun had singled out happened to be the one with both the highest base purchase price and the highest recommended retail price of the four.

For most players, memorising all of the recommended retail ranges in a short space of time would be no easy task.

Ye Lin, however, had undergone dedicated training in speed memorisation.

Speed memorisation was not actually anything especially mysterious. The so-called memory palace was a specific method, in essence a personally defined system of associations between numbers and objects, drilled until second nature, so that whenever a number was encountered it could be converted into a concrete image and then committed to memory through visuals, actions, and sensations.

It was purely short-term memory, capable of helping a player retain specific information within a matter of minutes, though it would essentially be completely forgotten by the following day.

In everyday life this technique was not particularly practical, but it happened to be an extremely good fit for the nature of Gallery games.This ability to memorise quickly had given Ye Lin a rapid advantage in many games.

On top of that, while going through the process of memorising the prices, Ye Lin had also taken the opportunity to sort the medications into a particular order.

That is to say, under a certain sorting rule, she had arranged the letter designations of the four medications into sequences.

For instance, sorted by base purchase price from the vending machine in ascending order: O, F, C, M. Sorted by maximum recommended retail price in ascending order: M, C, O, F.

If you subtracted the base purchase price from the maximum recommended retail price, the result could be taken as the medication’s ’profit margin,’ and sorted in ascending order that sequence was also M, C, O, F.

Ye Lin used these specific orderings as memory aids. Beyond that, she also grouped them into two pairs, C and M on one side, O and F on the other.

The C and M types could be thought of as high purchase price, low profit margin, while O and F were low purchase price, high profit margin.

Among them, the Type M Painkiller happened to be the most expensive of the four. Its purchase price was 1,000, and yet the maximum permitted retail price was only 1,500.

One bottle of Type M cost as much as ten bottles of Type O.

Why had Shen Qingyun picked out Type M with such precision? She should not have known the specific prices of these medications before now.

Ye Lin considered briefly. Rather than simply stating the prices, she asked, ”Can you tell these medications apart? What’s special about Type M? Why is it the only one you want more of?”

Shen Qingyun gave a small shake of her head and said, ”I do have a way to distinguish them. Though of course, this is still only my hypothesis, and it hasn’t been fully confirmed.

”That’s why I was thinking of taking one bottle of each type and running some tests afterwards.

”But I’m sorry, I can’t share that information with you.

”And to be clear, I won’t be sharing it with anyone.

”If a player with ulterior motives got hold of this information, it could have an irreversible negative impact on the game, and I’m not willing to take that risk.”

Ye Lin was a little surprised. Shen Qingyun’s manner was quite candid, but at the same time utterly resolute.

She could easily have brushed the question aside with some excuse, for instance, that she had not been able to tell them apart and was simply buying more of one type at random to try it out.

In that case, Ye Lin would have had her suspicions, but no real way to prove it was a lie.

Shen Qingyun was unwilling to lie on this point, but it was equally clear she had no intention of giving any ground.

Ye Lin did not press further. She let out a quiet sigh and said, ”Alright. Since you’ve chosen to be straightforward with me, I’ll be straightforward in return.

”These medications do have different purchase prices on my end.

”The Type M you’ve selected happens to be the most expensive to stock, at 1,000 Medical Points per bottle.

”The other three are 300, 100, and 200 respectively.

”Type O is the cheapest at only 100.

”They also each have their own ’recommended retail price range,’ and I cannot sell to you below the minimum.

”Type M costs 1,000 to stock and has a minimum retail price of 1,200 and a maximum of 1,500.

”The other medications each have their own set of values, all different.

”The rules also state that all transactions involving these medications at any stage must comply with the recommended price range, or each violation will result in a deduction from your earnings upon leaving the game.

”With all that said, do you still want to prioritise Type M?”

Ye Lin watched Shen Qingyun’s reaction carefully.

Everything she had said was true. She had not lied. But that did not mean the other person would believe her.

The detail about Type M having a purchase price of 1,000 and a minimum retail price of 1,200 looked particularly suspicious on its face.

After all, some medications had purchase prices equal to their minimum retail prices, and the Type O Painkiller even allowed for a loss, with a purchase price of 100 but a permitted selling price as low as 50.

Only the Sales player could see these specific figures, so if Shen Qingyun was the cautious sort, she might well suspect Ye Lin of deliberately misrepresenting the Type M figures to mislead her.

But after considering it, Shen Qingyun appeared to have set that possibility aside, at least for now.

”That’s fine. You’re entitled to a small margin of profit.

”I have no way to verify whether the figures you’ve given me are accurate, but until I come across information that contradicts them, I’ll choose to take you at your word.

”Let’s settle it the way I said before.”

Ye Lin did not say anything further, ”Three bottles of Type M and one of each of the others.

”The three bottles of Type M come to 3,600 Medical Points, and the other three together are 750.

”I should mention that one of the Type M bottles has already been opened. I only brought three with me in total, so if that bothers you, just take two and I’ll bring the third next round.

”I’ve priced everything at the minimum end of the recommended retail range. There’s a small margin built in within the rules, but not much.

”We’re both fairly straightforward people, and our approaches to the game seem fairly similar. If possible, I’d hope we can work together more going forward.

”I don’t mind giving up a bit more margin, as long as it benefits us both.”

Shen Qingyun said nothing further. She simply took out her ’Medical Card’ and gestured for Ye Lin to swipe hers at the designated machine on the table.

The machine had two screens, allowing both parties to confirm the transaction details. Once both were satisfied, they each swiped their cards and the transaction was complete.

The machine, however, did not indicate whether a transaction fell within the ’recommended retail range.’ Players had to determine that for themselves.

With the transaction done, Ye Lin stood and prepared to return to her room.

But just before she left, something came to mind, and she asked, ”We’re all going to be subjected to pain at some point. Which medication would you recommend I take?”

Shen Qingyun did not hesitate at all, ”Type M, or Type C.

”Though Type C may be considerably less effective.

”That said, this is only my guess and may not be accurate, so it doesn’t constitute medical advice for the time being.”

Ye Lin nodded and said, ”Thank you.”