God's Imitator

The next moment, everyone found themselves back in the community hall.

The final settlement results for the game appeared simultaneously on the large screen.

[The following announces Community 2’s final visa time earnings from ’Jury Game.’]

[Player 1, Qin Cheng: 94,286]

[Player 3, Zhang Yan: 78,286]

[Player 8, Ye Lin: 94,786]

[Player 12, Lin Sizhi: 163,704]

[Player 13, Lu Qi: 76,786]

[Player 14, Huang Shengjie: 76,286]

[Per community rules, 30% of net game earnings will be added to the Community Development Fund. The remaining visa time will be credited to each player’s individual account.]Wen Wan checked the numbers again in disbelief, her expression visibly stunned, ”A Role-Play Game can earn this much?

”That’s almost as much as a distribution-type game.”

Her tone carried a faint hint of regret.

After all, replacing Lu Qi’s slot with almost any other community member would likely have produced similar results.

Yao Yuan was thoughtful, ”This means every bet was right, and they also claimed visa time from other players.

”A complete victory.”

Veteran players in the Gallery all understood the standard: most games produced average earnings somewhere in the 40,000 to 50,000 minute range. This was not only an empirical observation but also reflected the underlying logic of how the Gallery and the Imitators structured their rules.

Because the visa time required to sustain one month’s stay was approximately 43,200 minutes.

Within the community, the roster of players participating in games rotated continuously. Aside from a small number of the strongest players, most ordinary players participated in roughly one to two games per month.

Participating in one game per month and earning the average return, combined with the additional income from distribution-type games and community benefits, was just enough for most ordinary players to scrape by and cover their basic ongoing costs.

40,000 minutes per game was the survival line in the new world.

From the final settlement figures on the community hall screen, it was therefore possible to make rough inferences about how a game had gone.

If multiple players had all exceeded the average earnings, the game must have been won with a decisive advantage.

Zhang Yan, Lu Qi, and Huang Shengjie all came in slightly above average. Ye Lin and Qin Cheng appeared to have earned something additional on top of that.

As for Lin Sizhi, who had been compulsorily selected as an Actor, reaching a total of 163,000 minutes was already higher than what a distribution-type game would typically produce.

Thanks to the First Player Identity Card’s function, the community players had been able to see the game’s basic rules in advance.

A player like Yao Yuan could therefore look at these settlement figures and reverse-engineer the breakdown of earnings, piecing together more of the game’s specific details as a result.

Lu Bingjun was clearly pleased with the outcome.

”The results look excellent. I always said that with two of our core players leading the team, taking this game should be within reach.

”Those of us who stayed in the community were watching the basic rules as they appeared, and honestly, there were moments we were genuinely worried.

”I suspect this game had more than one hidden rule, am I right?

”Everyone worked hard. Would you like to rest first?”

Huang Shengjie was still buzzing from the game, visibly energised, ”I don’t want to rest right now. My brain is still running hot.”

Qin Cheng also nodded, ”Agreed. As audience members, the intensity for us was honestly quite low. And at the end of the game, there were still 30 minutes set aside just to sit with the performance.

”So I’d say the five of us are in pretty good shape.

”It really depends on whether Lawyer Lin and Lu Qi need rest.

”As an Actor, Lawyer Lin faced far higher intensity than any of us as audience members. The mental cost must have been substantial.

”And Lu Qi has only been in two games. This one was more demanding than ’Prison Factory,’ so as a newer player she might also need some time to process and recover.”

Lin Sizhi returned from the vending machine with a cup of coffee, ”I’m fine. I wouldn’t say I’m tired.”

Lu Qi quickly added, ”I’m not tired either. Actually, if anything, I only half understood what was happening when you all started explaining the hidden mechanics.

”But I made it to the vote in time at the end.

”There are still so many things I haven’t worked out yet.

”Honestly, I just want to understand what actually happened as soon as possible.”

Lu Bingjun made the call immediately, ”Good. Since the game went smoothly and everyone is this eager, let’s go straight into the debrief.”

Everyone stopped by the vending machine to get a snack or a drink, then settled into their seats at the long table.

Lu Bingjun began, ”Let me start by roughly guessing how this game’s earnings broke down.

”With the exception of Lawyer Lin, all the audience members’ totals end in the same last digits. That suggests you all cast Oppose votes for the same Actor in the Curtain Call Vote, successfully claiming the full visa time of every player who had cast a Support vote for that Actor.

”Beyond that, Zhang Yan, Lu Qi, and Huang Shengjie all show similar totals, which tells me you three executed the same bet during the game.

”The small differences between them come down to how many times you used the verification function, since each verification costs 500 minutes per player and only requires ten participants.

”Qin Cheng and Ye Lin, your totals are each about 20,000 more than the others. I’m guessing you both placed a larger bet.

”And as for Lawyer Lin, that volume of visa time clearly came from other Actors. The only question is whether he claimed from two Actors or all three.

”My guess is two, given the specific number. Besides, from a purely mechanical standpoint, the ’Lawyer,’ which is a structurally weaker role, winning against all three opponents simultaneously would have been almost impossible unless all three were weak.”

Ye Lin nodded, ”We all bet together. The only difference was that those three bet 30,000 each, while Qin Cheng and I each bet 40,000. That’s what accounts for the extra roughly 17,000 minutes of visa time.”

Huang Shengjie looked mildly impressed, ”Wait, Brother Lu, you guessed it all right?”

Lu Bingjun smiled slightly, ”Nothing special. I’m sure quite a few people here could have done the same.

”Now then, let’s go back over the game’s rules, and then walk through what actually happened.

”Bring up the detailed rules for ’Jury Game.’”

The earnings information on the large screen disappeared, replaced by the detailed rules for ’Jury Game.’

The players who had stayed in the community had already seen the basic rules and should have been quite familiar with them.

But after reading one particular entry, everyone’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.

”S-tier?

”That’s a rating that exists?”

Huang Shengjie looked between Lu Bingjun and Shen Bowen in mild shock.

Lu Bingjun shook his head in silence, ”Not in the First Stage games.”

Shen Bowen also shook her head, ”I haven’t seen it either.”

Lin Sizhi looked at Ye Lin and the other veteran Community 2 members, reading their expressions and reactions. Lu Bingjun didn’t appear to be lying.

Most of them were showing unmistakeable signs of genuine surprise. This really did seem to be a first encounter with an S-tier game.

If the only ratings they had ever seen throughout the entire First Stage were A and B, it would be completely natural to assume those were the only two that existed.

People tend to take what they’re accustomed to for granted, treating it as a fixed rule of the world.

And when that assumption is broken, a brief flash of shock and disorientation is very difficult to completely conceal.

Perhaps this meant the game that had led to Wei Changfeng’s death was not S-tier?

Lin Sizhi couldn’t say for certain yet, but he believed that as more information came in, the truth would eventually surface.

Lu Qi looked surprised and asked, ”Is this a new rule that only appeared in the Second Stage? S-tier games can exist now? What’s the difference from A-tier? I honestly couldn’t feel any distinction.”

Qin Cheng asked, ”Have you seen one before, Lawyer Lin? An S-tier game?”

Lin Sizhi nodded, ”Yes.”