God's Imitator

The rules remained displayed on the large screen for players to review and refer to.

Huang Shengjie reached up and touched the restraint over his mouth. There was still no sign of it unlocking.

As stated in the rules: during the preparation period, players could move around freely to examine the venue, read and consider the game rules displayed on the large screen or on notice boards, but speaking was not permitted under any circumstances.

In other words, each player could only think through their strategy alone.

The preparation time was a full 30 minutes, which seemed long at first glance.

In previous games, Imitators had generally given players somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes to think, and some Imitators had deliberately compressed it to as little as 5 minutes.

But a moment’s reflection made clear that the venue this time was large, and the notice boards detailing the specific rules were spread across different rooms.

The time needed to travel between different areas had to be factored in as well.

Huang Shengjie made a few simple gestures toward Zhou Wanlin and Geng Yuxia, then stood in front of the venue floor plan and pointed out several areas in sequence.

First was the Raw Materials Warehouse, which adjoined their lounge directly.Next was the area between the Raw Materials Warehouse and the Inspection Room, marked with two double-headed arrows. Based on the description in the game rules, this would be the miniature steam train track used to transport materials.

Finally, he pointed to the main structure at the centre of the venue, the Prison Factory itself, which contained the cells for both communities as well as special rooms such as the Medical Room and Solitary Confinement.

Huang Shengjie’s suggestion was that the three of them move through these areas in that order.

Geng Yuxia nodded to indicate she agreed.

Zhou Wanlin thought for a moment, then extended her hand, tracing her finger along the overhead walkway to the left side of the lounge, all the way to the Inspection Room at the far end, and tapped it pointedly.

Huang Shengjie understood immediately. He revised the order.

He pointed in sequence to the Raw Materials Warehouse, the miniature train, the Inspection Room, and then the main prison structure.

According to the floor plan, Community 2’s Inspection Room sat between Community 23’s Raw Materials Warehouse and Community 23’s cells, meaning each side would be inspecting the other’s shipments for Contraband.

Before the game officially began, they would not be able to enter the opposing community’s Inspection Room, and their own Inspection Room was at the far end of the venue, reachable only via the overhead walkway.

It was therefore worth making the trip to check the specific rules posted there and also to gauge the actual distance and time required to get there.

The three of them reached a shared understanding and passed through the door that had just opened in front of them, heading first to the Raw Materials Warehouse.

At a prominent position near the warehouse entrance, three ’Worker Badges’ had been laid out alongside a special armband.

The three Worker Badges could be worn on the chest. They displayed the player’s community name and personal name, and could also be used to activate specific functions by swiping at designated points on certain equipment.

In addition, the back of each Worker Badge had a small display screen that appeared to be capable of showing specific information.

Alongside the badges were three bundles of Gold Pounds.

These were standard paper notes, each with a face value of ’100.’

Huang Shengjie counted roughly and estimated the thickness. It appeared to be a total of 30,000 Gold Pounds, 10,000 per person.

All three of them were mildly surprised, because under the game rules, all Gold Pounds could be converted at a rate of 1:2 into visa time upon leaving the game.

This meant the starting sum handed to each player for free was already worth 20,000 minutes of visa time, which was quite generous.

Of course, there were many places within the game that would require spending Gold Pounds, so how much could actually be taken home remained to be seen.

Each of them took a Worker Badge and pinned it to their chest, then picked up their bundle of Gold Pounds and tucked it carefully into a pocket.

Huang Shengjie looked at the armband resting beside the badges. Three characters were printed on it, reading ’Inspector.’

A line of smaller text inside the armband provided a further explanation.

[Players who move through or remain in outdoor areas without a roof will suffer severe pain. Wearing this armband prevents that effect.]

He pointed the armband out to Zhou Wanlin and Geng Yuxia. Zhou Wanlin gestured for him to keep it himself.

The three of them turned their attention to the shelving.

The shelves held three categories of raw materials, each clearly labelled: ’Food,’ ’Medications,’ and ’Miscellaneous Goods.’

All the materials looked identical, each a brick-sized package in a sealed wrapper with a small handle on top.

The only difference was the category label printed on the packaging.

Every material was priced the same: 500 Gold Pounds per unit.

Swiping a Worker Badge at the designated point on the shelving and paying the required Gold Pounds would cause the item to be automatically dispensed and sent via conveyor belt to the miniature steam train platform outside.

Since the game had not yet officially begun, materials could not yet be purchased. The three of them moved to the warehouse entrance.

The sky outside was dark, and the outdoor areas without rooftops were shrouded in grey, drifting mist.

Based on the description of the Inspector Armband, entering the mist would cause severe pain.

The enclosed corridor connecting the Raw Materials Warehouse to the Inspection Room, however, was treated as an indoor area and was unaffected.

Inside the corridor, a track ran alongside a miniature double-headed steam train.

The entire setting, from the drifting mist to the prison’s architectural style to the miniature steam train, had a distinctly Victorian, nineteenth-century European feel.

”The Imitator behind this one has real aesthetic sensibility. Like an artist,” Huang Shengjie thought to himself as he stepped closer to examine the miniature steam train.

Its design was somewhat unusual. Both the front and the rear were fitted with steam engine heads, and between them sat two rows of rectangular cargo cars arranged side by side.

Off to one side, three additional standalone cargo cars were parked, along with a specialised loading and unloading apparatus.

All five cargo cars shared the same external dimensions, but their internal carrying capacities differed.

Numbers were printed prominently on the sides of each car: ’1,’ ’2,’ ’6,’ ’7,’ and ’12.’

The loading apparatus was connected to the Raw Materials Warehouse by a conveyor belt, meaning that materials purchased by players would be delivered directly via the belt, and the apparatus would automatically sort, load, and swap out the cargo cars.

Beside the track stood an operations console with a display screen, accompanied by a prominent notice board.

[The number on each cargo car represents its ’carrying capacity’ and ’travel speed.’]

[If the number is 6, the cargo car can hold 6 units of material and will travel from the Raw Materials Warehouse to the Inspection Room in 6 minutes.]

[The train may carry a maximum of 2 cargo cars per trip. The train travels at the speed of whichever car is slowest.]

[For the train to operate, the following conditions must be met:]

[1. A player from the owning community must be present in the transport area.]

[2. The train must not run empty. All attached cargo cars must be fully loaded, and the train must have at least one cargo car attached.]

[If either condition is not met, the transport run will be terminated immediately, and the train will be locked for the remainder of that round with no further operations possible.]

[Before each round begins, the train will return to its starting position and follow the transport procedure according to the schedule below:]

[Loading Time (2 minutes): Set a fixed loading and unloading sequence for the train.]

[Transport Time (26 minutes): The train automatically completes the transport run.]

[Inspection Time (2 minutes): Delivered materials enter the Inspection Room for review.]

[If, before the Transport Time ends, all 5 cargo cars have not arrived simultaneously at the platform outside the Inspection Room, the system will select the odd-numbered materials from those that have arrived for inspection, and the even-numbered materials will be returned.]

[Loading and unloading will always follow a fixed order from the smallest-numbered cargo car to the largest. The loading order and the inspection order are identical.]

[Once cargo has entered the inspection process, players from the owning community must be present and cooperate for the inspection to be completed. If they are not, all cargo will be destroyed.]