God's Imitator

Time was short, and Zhou Wanlin spoke quickly. It was the first time Huang Shengjie had heard her talk at this pace.

”Don’t panic yet. The rules are complicated, but I think we can ease the burden by splitting responsibilities as much as possible.

”If each of us only has to focus on one part of the rules, it becomes a lot more manageable.

”There are only three of us, and this game happens to have exactly three roles.

”Distributor, Inspector, and Patroller.

”The Distributor sends cargo via the steam train. The Inspector examines the opposing community’s cargo. The Patroller moves freely around the venue and responds to situations as they arise.

”Since the roles are completely fixed, let’s settle on who does what first, and then each of us can slowly work out the details of our own part once the game officially starts. There’ll be time for that.”

Huang Shengjie was surprised, and nodded quickly, ”I agree.”

Zhou Wanlin’s real-world profession was administrative director. She clearly had some experience and instinct when it came to dividing up work and planning, and that might turn out to be an unexpected advantage in this game.

Zhou Wanlin looked at Geng Yuxia, ”We need to decide on the Inspector first.”The rules say that within 10 minutes of each round starting, the Inspector must reach the Inspection Room, and can’t leave until the round ends.

”And since you have to get there via the overhead walkway, travel time has to be factored in.

”Auntie, can you take on that role?”

Geng Yuxia looked a little at a loss, ”But I haven’t figured out what I’m actually supposed to do yet.”

Zhou Wanlin shook her head, ”Don’t worry about the complicated strategies, Auntie. Regardless of what the Contraband is or how they send it, just randomly pick around a third of the materials and run them through the scanning machine.

”The key word is randomly. Don’t pick in a fixed order.

”If nothing comes up, that’s fine. But if you do find something, and there’s still a lot of material left waiting, then go ahead and press ’Full Inspection.’

”That should be the simplest and most reliable strategy to start with.

”Stay in the Inspection Room the whole time. If things change later, we can adjust the strategy during the rest period.”

Geng Yuxia nodded, ”Alright.”

She set off immediately, heading for the Inspection Room on the other side of the venue via the walkway.

Zhou Wanlin turned to Huang Shengjie and continued, ”Shengjie, do you have any thoughts on the cargo delivery rules?

”If not, how about I take on the Distributor role and you take the Patroller role?

”I still don’t fully understand what the Patroller actually does, but I think it’s probably a physically demanding role.

”As long as you keep an eye on the opposing community’s Patroller, it should be manageable.

”What do you think?”

Huang Shengjie thought it over carefully, then said, ”I think the Patroller’s main task is physically carrying raw materials, especially smuggling Contraband.

”In other words, smuggling.

”And of course, also trying to stop the other community’s Patroller from smuggling.”

Zhou Wanlin raised an eyebrow, ”Oh? Really? I don’t think the rules explicitly said that.”

Huang Shengjie explained, ”Take a look, Sister Wanlin. The rules didn’t spell it out, but they listed several ’Minor Violation’ behaviours.

”That itself is a hint.

”You’re not allowed to be touched by an opposing player while carrying Contraband.

”Once one player is standing inside a ’Safe Zone,’ a second player can’t enter.

”These are all Minor Violations that won’t immediately trigger an instant-death penalty. They just add to your violation count.

”In other words, as long as you manage your violation count, these are all actions you can take, and they can yield significant returns.

”The rules also specifically referred to the miniature steam train as the ’official channel,’ which implies there’s at least one unofficial channel, meaning physically carrying materials yourself.

”Look at the floor plan. The main prison structure has six windows, three on each side.

”Those windows must serve some purpose. Either people can come out through them, or things can be passed in.

”I think the second option is more likely.

”If you can push raw materials through the gaps in the window bars, you bypass the opposing community’s inspection entirely.

”Of course, there’s risk involved.

”While you’re smuggling Contraband, the opposing community’s Patroller can try to intercept you. If they catch up and touch you, that counts as a violation on your part.

”At which point you can try to get ahead of them and duck into a Safe Zone first.

”Either way, whether attacking or defending, the most important thing is speed. This is definitely a physically demanding role.”

Zhou Wanlin nodded slowly as things clicked into place, ”Right, I see. But surely you can only choose one of those two, attack or defend?

”The rules say being touched by an opposing player while carrying Contraband counts as a violation. But what if both players are carrying Contraband and they touch each other? How does that work?

”Going strictly by the written rules, it would be a violation for both of them, wouldn’t it?”

Huang Shengjie thought for a moment, ”Yes, I think both sides would each receive one violation. It’s basically mutually assured self-destruction.

”If either player drops the Contraband before the touch, it probably wouldn’t count.”

Zhou Wanlin considered this, ”But Contraband dropped on the ground could also be picked up by the other side.”

Huang Shengjie nodded in agreement, ”Which is why I think Contraband is something you either don’t carry at all, or carry as much of as possible.

”Once the game starts, I’ll test how heavy the materials actually are and then decide.”

Zhou Wanlin nodded, ”That makes sense.”

Huang Shengjie glanced back at the miniature steam train by the warehouse entrance.

”Sister Wanlin, do you have a handle on the cargo delivery side of things?”

Zhou Wanlin nodded, ”I think I’ve come across a similar logic puzzle before. I can’t promise I’ll find the optimal solution, but I’ll do my best.”

Huang Shengjie nodded, ”Alright, let’s go with that. I’ll be the Patroller, you handle the cargo.

”I’ll use some of my Gold Pounds to buy materials for you to start with, since I don’t seem to have much use for money as the Patroller.

”After that, if you need more materials, use your own Gold Pounds.”

Shortly after, the preparation countdown ended, and the broadcast rang out clearly across the entire venue.

[Round One begins.]

[In this round, ’Miscellaneous Goods’ have been designated as Contraband.]

Huang Shengjie felt the Worker Badge on his chest vibrate.

He picked it up and checked the small screen on the back. The same two lines of text had appeared there.

”So the badge also acts as a notification system, making sure players don’t miss important information.”

Huang Shengjie moved quickly to the shelving, swiped his badge, pushed Gold Pounds into the payment slot, and began purchasing materials.

Zhou Wanlin had already moved ahead of him to the steam train’s operations console and was setting up the loading and unloading sequence.

Raw materials began flowing steadily out of the warehouse on the conveyor belt.

Huang Shengjie picked out a unit labelled ’Miscellaneous Goods’ and lifted it by the handle on top.

Despite being barely the size of a brick, the weight in his hand was shocking, like holding a block of high-density metal. The handle dug painfully into his fingers.

”This heavy?!”

Huang Shengjie was taken aback. The weight was genuinely well beyond what he had expected.