God's Imitator

”Then let’s leave today’s debrief here for now.

”Everyone get some rest.

”Starting tomorrow, we’ll set aside regular time to work through the specific motions.

”There will likely be a fair number of details to cover, including a review of everyone’s current visa time situation, minor adjustments to existing motions, and new motions concerning the Imitator.

”We’ll aim to get through all of that before the next game begins.

”Of course, as Ye Lin said earlier, the key motion regarding the Imitator should be held over for a vote next week.

”For instance, what exactly do we do once we have grounds to suspect someone? Do we expel them to another community, or do we put it to a vote for a death sentence?

”This motion carries serious weight, and it deserves more time.”

Lu Bingjun paused briefly and looked toward Lin Sizhi, ”On top of all that, I’ve also arranged something special for everyone.

”Lawyer Lin has agreed to share the details of the S-tier Role-Play Game with the group.”As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy. This is also a way of building our strength and preparing to deal with the Imitator.

”So over the next few days we’ll also be setting aside time to hear Lawyer Lin walk us through that game in detail, and to learn from it properly.

”I’d also like to express my sincere thanks to Lawyer Lin for being so generous in sharing this.”

There was a mild note of surprise in the room, since Lin Sizhi had said not long before that this information was not free.

Ye Lin had clearly worked out that this was probably connected to Lu Bingjun publicly revealing the truth of ‘Remorse Poker’, but she said nothing and simply joined the others in thanking Lin Sizhi.

Lu Bingjun continued, ”In any case, there’s no need for anyone to be too anxious. In a place like this, we will always face new challenges, the situation will always shift, and our approach can only shift with it.

”But I believe that as long as we work together, we will find our way to a good outcome.”

Even though this had been a debrief of an earlier game rather than one they had just played, it was noticeably more draining than any of the previous sessions. The group should have felt some relief when it was over, but no one showed it. Instead, they returned to their rooms looking subdued.

”Lawyer Lin, just a moment.”

Huang Shengjie followed Lin Sizhi into the reading area, checked that no one else was nearby, and quickly stepped forward.

Lin Sizhi returned a book he had finished to the shelf and began scanning for his next one.

”Something on your mind?”

Huang Shengjie nodded, ”Yeah, actually, about the debrief today. I have a small question.

”Do you think we’ve uncovered everything there is to find? Is this really the full truth of ‘Remorse Poker’?

”You contributed throughout the discussion, but when it came to the final summary, you didn’t say anything. I keep feeling like something isn’t quite right.”

Lin Sizhi kept his eyes on the shelves, still searching, ”You’re young. You need to do your own homework.

”You can’t run to the answer key every time something gets difficult.”

Huang Shengjie was momentarily thrown, ”Ah?

”So that means there really is information we haven’t uncovered yet?”

Lin Sizhi still didn’t look at him, ”If you’re trying to get me to let something slip, that’s a rather clumsy attempt.

”The fact that you came to ask me tells me you’ve already sensed something is off.

”But beyond just noticing that I said very little, there must be something else that felt unusual to you, something you hesitated to say aloud, or that only exists as a vague feeling in the back of your mind.

”After all, I don’t say much in other debriefs either, and those don’t leave you feeling like something’s been left out.

”So think about the other things that struck you as strange. You might find something there.”

Huang Shengjie’s expression remained uncertain, but he didn’t feel he could press further, ”I’ll give it some more thought on my own then.”

He left the reading area and wandered through the community without any particular direction, eventually finding himself outside.

He sat down wherever seemed convenient, and realised that the debrief had not resolved his earlier questions at all. If anything, it had left him with more.

”Something still feels off.”

He scratched his head in mild frustration.

Part of him wanted to go find Qin Cheng and hear his thoughts, but he hesitated.

One reason was what Lin Sizhi had just said, which made him feel that turning to others every time he had a question was not a habit worth developing.

The other reason was that Qin Cheng had already said a great deal during the debrief and had covered everything substantial. If there was something he hadn’t mentioned, it almost certainly meant Qin Cheng didn’t have a clear answer himself.

Going to him in that situation probably wouldn’t accomplish much.

”Lawyer Lin said to think about the other things that felt unusual.

”But I genuinely can’t think of anything. This is maddening.

”And the fact that Lawyer Lin is deliberately staying silent is strange in itself. It’s not like he’s only keeping it from me specifically, he didn’t say anything to anyone.”

He scratched at his hair again, irritated.

Just then he noticed someone walking in his direction. He looked up and saw it was Ye Lin.

”Got a moment to talk?” Ye Lin sat down across from him.

Huang Shengjie was mildly surprised. Even though they had been in the ‘Pain Game’ and the ‘Jury Game’ together and had talked quite a bit during both, they weren’t especially close, and they had never had a private conversation like this within the community.

For Huang Shengjie, though, this was more than welcome.

He had genuinely been wanting to talk things through with someone, and Ye Lin was one of the community’s core game players, sharp enough that she might well offer something useful.

”Of course, plenty of time.

”Sister Ye Lin, I’ve actually been pretty confused about what we discussed in today’s debrief.

”Everything on the surface has been analysed, but somehow it feels like there are more loose ends than before.

”And I have this nagging sense that something isn’t right.”

Ye Lin considered for a moment, then lowered her voice slightly, ”I’ll tell you what I think. Do you want to hear it?”

Huang Shengjie nodded quickly, ”Absolutely.”

Ye Lin said, ”Then keep it to yourself. Don’t bring it up with anyone else. This is still only my conjecture, and I have no real evidence to back it up.”

Huang Shengjie nodded again, ”Of course.”

After a moment of thought, Ye Lin said, ”My inclination is that there is no such specially hidden Imitator in this community at all.”

Huang Shengjie stared at her, ”What? None at all?

”Then what was all of that we were just discussing?”

Ye Lin explained, ”I know that might be hard to accept, but hear out my reasoning and you might see things differently.

”What we’re doing right now can be summed up simply like this: we’ve noticed that several players have died in games under circumstances that seem suspicious, and we suspect a deeply hidden Imitator is in the community. If we do nothing, this Imitator will keep killing.

”So we have to act.

”And the action we’re taking, broadly speaking, amounts to expanding the scope of authority within the community.

”Do you understand what I mean by that, expanding the scope of authority?”