God's Imitator

Lin Sizhi finished speaking and returned to his seat.

The four suspects each fell into their own quiet thoughts, and a brief silence settled over the room. Only the jury members were still murmuring to one another.

Bai Zhilan thought for a moment, then stood again.

She did not come to the speaking platform this time, but simply stood at her own table and directed a question at Lin Sizhi.

”Is it not a little presumptuous to draw such a conclusion purely from the woman’s expression in the photograph?

”I would not say her expression suggests any particular anxiety.

”Even if it does, marriage is one of the biggest events in a person’s life. Wedding photographs are exhausting to shoot. A momentary lapse in composure is entirely normal.

”In the context of modern society, social and family pressures are not typically so severe that they cannot be escaped with some effort and sacrifice. A newly married couple would not be driven to a mutual suicide simply by such pressures.

”Of course, given the current lack of any particularly compelling evidence, the Lawyer’s suggestion is not without merit as a remote possibility under extreme circumstances.

”I have no intention of dismissing it. I only hope the members of the jury will exercise greater caution in their deliberations.”Wang Yongxin showed no inclination to speak and remained silent.

Chen Yumei, the Jury Representative for Community 18, hesitated briefly before pressing the speaker button at her table, ”I would like to ask: what is the dark marking visible near the husband’s chest in the wedding photograph? Is it some kind of accessory? I couldn’t make it out clearly.”

Tang Qing lifted the frame again for all to see, ”It’s a tattoo.

”Judging from the design, this appears to be a small portion of a larger tattoo.”

Many jury members began zooming in on their screens, examining the evidence more closely.

It was indeed a tattoo.

Chen Yumei nodded, ”I have no further questions.”

Bai Zhilan looked around. Seeing no one else preparing to speak, she said, ”In that case, I propose we call a Recess for now, to search for more evidence and consider further possibilities.

”Before we do, I ask the members of the jury to cast their votes on the Possibility Analysis proposed by Lawyer Lin.”

The eight players at the centre of the chamber each operated their screens to confirm the Recess.

Then a voting prompt appeared on everyone’s small screen.

[Truth Vote]

[Do you believe the ’Possibility Analysis - Mutual Suicide’ proposed by ’Lawyer’ Lin Sizhi represents the truth of this case?]

[Yes]

[No]

[Note: When total votes reach 60, this Possibility Analysis will be recognised as the Case Truth.]

Cheng Wen felt somewhat disoriented. The scene unfolding before him was completely different from what he had imagined.

He had expected Lin Sizhi to take a defensive approach, similar to Doctor Feng Yuguang, going through the motions briefly and then moving quickly toward a Recess.

But Lin Sizhi’s strategy was neither clearly offensive nor defensive. He had simply put forward a Possibility Analysis that implicated none of the suspects currently present.

Cheng Wen tapped both ’Yes’ and ’No’ on his screen, and without pressing ’Confirm and Submit,’ both options seemed freely selectable at this point.

No indication of an insincere vote appeared.

Under the rules, insincere votes were permitted in the Truth Vote, but each one incurred a penalty of 5,000 minutes of visa time, with a limit of three per player.

As long as no insincere vote indicator appeared, it meant either option could be selected freely.

And Cheng Wen genuinely could see it going either way. With no compelling evidence yet, mutual suicide seemed as plausible as anything else.

”What should I vote, Sister Xinyi?

”Why did Brother Lin do this? Did his Character Dossier contain something he couldn’t share openly?”

Cheng Wen had no clear instinct and, seeing the one-minute countdown ticking rapidly, turned for help.

Lu Xinyi had already pressed ’Yes,’ ”He certainly hopes the jury votes ’Yes.’

”As for whether you should, that’s your call.”

Cheng Wen was still hesitating, ”But Wang Yongxin would support Brother Lin, right? Community 4 would listen to Wang Yongxin, so they’d vote ’Yes’ too, wouldn’t they?

”If that’s the case, across three communities, that would be a total of forty votes.

”If it can reach sixty, it gets recognised as the truth, so there’s still a real chance.”

Lu Xinyi gave a slight shake of her head, ”Not necessarily.

”Wang Yongxin is a Community 4 player now. Naturally his community comes first.

”And I suspect Wang Yongxin has been looking forward to facing Brother Lin in a game for quite a while. Now that he has an advantageous role, he may not be willing to give up such a valuable opportunity.”

Cheng Wen’s expression fell, ”What? Come on, this game could actually kill someone.”

Lu Xinyi explained, ”Didn’t you notice that Wang Yongxin said nothing at all?

”Under the game’s rules, Actors can’t freely communicate with their own community members, because they have to stay in character at all times. Breaking character or making the audience feel the fourth wall has been broken isn’t allowed.

”If Wang Yongxin wanted Community 4 to vote with him, he would have to make a public statement supporting Lin Sizhi’s theory.

”But he said nothing. That silence says everything.”

Cheng Wen scratched his head with mild frustration and completed his vote in the last few seconds before the countdown expired.

”Fine, I’m voting ’Yes’ regardless.”

[The Truth Vote results are now announced.]

[Yes: 32 votes]

[No: 68 votes]

[The ’Possibility Analysis - Mutual Suicide’ is not recognised as the Case Truth.]

[A Recess will now begin. The trial will resume in 10 minutes.]

Tang Qing, Feng Yuguang, Lin Sizhi, and Wang Yongxin each rose from their seats and returned to their respective dressing rooms.

Cheng Wen looked pained, ”Only 32 votes? That’s so few.

”Brother Lin and Community 2 definitely voted, that’s 15 votes. Our community all voted, so that’s 10 votes. That leaves 7 more from everyone else.

”Which means Wang Yongxin really didn’t vote.

”Because he has 10 votes, and if he had voted ’Yes,’ it couldn’t have come out to this number.

”What is Brother Lin thinking? He had to have known the chance of this vote passing was almost nonexistent.”

Lu Xinyi nodded, ”He would certainly have known. But he still had to try.

”I think what he said was more directed at the other three suspects than at the jury.

”As long as the suspects commit their votes and express a clear inclination in their statements, their community players will follow suit. After all, they’re mostly core game players.

”Under the rules, the 4 suspects each hold 10 votes, and their respective communities each hold 5.

”Added together, that’s already 60 votes.

”Even if one suspect community doesn’t vote, a community like ours could make up the difference. There’s still some margin for error.

”If this approach works, the game can end immediately. None of the four suspects would face any death threat.

”Because all their characters would be considered ’Not Guilty,’ and it would count as ’Perfect Portrayal’ since no Actor would have behaved inconsistently with their character.

”The earlier the vote goes through, the easier it is to achieve this.

”As more rounds pass and new evidence emerges, some characters may be shown to be guilty, which would put the Actors who play them at risk.”

Cheng Wen looked worried, ”Wait, what if Brother Lin’s Character Dossier says he’s the murderer?

”Otherwise why would he be in such a hurry to clear everyone’s name?”

Lu Xinyi gave a slight shake of her head, ”Not necessarily.

”It looks more like a habit of his. Offering the best terms first.

”In other words, starting by putting forward a proposal where no one loses too much, and trying to end the game with minimal overall losses. Even if it doesn’t pass, it’s fine. At the very least, the process lets him gauge certain players’ attitudes.

”But it’s fairly clear that most people who came to this game came here to earn a large amount of visa time. They won’t accept a conclusion this inconclusive.”