God's Imitator

”Sure, no problem.”

Zhang Yan had no reason to refuse and agreed without hesitation.

Wen Wan was 27, the second youngest woman in the community after Lu Qi, and it was clear she still carried a degree of confidence in her appearance.

Even so, Zhang Yan kept a measured distance throughout and simply helped her work through some basic exercises.

They chatted lightly as they trained, and about an hour passed without either of them noticing.

Wen Wan’s face had gone somewhat flushed, and she looked thoroughly worn out.

”Phew. I’m done, Brother Zhang. I’ll do a bit of cardio and then go rest.”

Zhang Yan gave a nod, ”I’ve got about six more sets, and then I’ll head back too.”

Wen Wan said, with a note of admiration, ”If I remember right, Brother Zhang, you’re 36 this year? To still be in this kind of shape is really impressive.”

Zhang Yan waved it off, ”It’s not that impressive. It was only my work that forced me to keep at it.”Wen Wan hesitated briefly, but pressed on, ”Actually, Brother Zhang, there’s something I wanted to ask. Could you help me with something? I know it’s a lot to ask.”

Zhang Yan wasn’t especially surprised to hear this. He had already had a rough sense, from fairly early on, that Wen Wan’s interest in training together had some other purpose behind it. It wasn’t simply about learning exercises.

He saw no need to point that out, though. He gave a nod, ”Go ahead.”

Wen Wan said, with a slightly awkward manner, ”Brother Zhang, I was wondering if you could help me share the pain count. Take some of mine.”

Zhang Yan looked up, ”Share what? The pain count? Isn’t that drawn randomly by the community? How would sharing it even work?”

Wen Wan explained, ”I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and it actually can work.

”In simple terms: when you’re selected for pain, you tell me first, and don’t tell anyone else.

”Then when the count is recorded, I claim it as mine. That’s it.

”I know this is a strange thing to ask, but I genuinely can’t bear it. Even the painkiller doesn’t help enough. I’m nearly at my limit. Even when the pain isn’t happening, I keep waking up from nightmares. I’ve been anxious all the time and my hair has been falling out.

”Brother Zhang, you’re in good shape. You probably have a high tolerance for pain. Please, just help me out.

”I’ll make it worth your while privately. Visa time, or whatever else you’d find useful. We can work out the details, whether it’s by the count or some other arrangement.

”Please?”

As she spoke, her eyes filled with tears, and she looked genuinely pitiful.

Zhang Yan’s brow drew together slightly. He quickly worked out what she meant.

Her plan was actually feasible.

Under the current rules, pain was only drawn from players in the bottom 7 by visa time ranking, with the top 7 exempt.

The community’s approach was to rotate players who had accumulated more pain counts up into the top 7, and rotate them back down once others had caught up.

This kept the pain counts rising at a roughly similar rate across everyone.

There was always the occasional exception like Lu Qi due to sheer luck, but on the whole the system held together without producing major imbalances.

Plenty of players had probably thought about claiming someone else’s pain count, but so far no one appeared to have actually done it.

The reason was simple. The rule stated that only 3 players were drawn each time. The moment 4 players all claimed to have been selected, someone would clearly be lying. The community would investigate, and getting caught would be a serious problem.

But if two players agreed privately in advance, with one claiming the other’s selection, there would be no inconsistency at all.

Both Wen Wan and Zhang Yan were currently in the bottom 7.

If Wen Wan was selected for pain, she would naturally accumulate a higher count and be rotated into the top 7 sooner. Nothing unusual about that.

If Zhang Yan was selected, the count would normally be his, but if he allowed Wen Wan to claim it instead, her count would increase, and she would move into the top 7 earlier.

Of course, if either of them had already moved into the top 7, the arrangement would break down. But Zhang Yan had only joined the community recently, with just one pain count recorded so far, which meant he would need to accumulate many more before being rotated up.

In short, as long as Zhang Yan was willing, this arrangement could genuinely allow Wen Wan to enter the top 7 more frequently and experience the pain less often.

Once agreed upon, it would likely hold up for a long time.

The scheme was not complicated. Any two players in the community could carry it out as long as they were on the same page.

But the central problem was that no one would voluntarily be the one to take on the extra pain counts unless the other party offered something substantial enough in return.

Wen Wan’s mention of ”visa time or whatever else” carried a fairly strong implication.

Zhang Yan considered for a moment, then shook his head, ”Sorry. I’m afraid of pain too.”

Wen Wan stared at him, ”What?”

His answer was clearly not what she had expected at all.

She had mentally prepared for various ways he might refuse, including concerns about the community dynamics or negotiating for better terms, but the reason being ”I’m afraid of pain” had not crossed her mind.

”Brother Zhang, there’s no rush to decide right now. You can think it over.” Wen Wan was clearly reluctant to give up and wanted to keep the door open.

But Zhang Yan had already returned to his training, ”Sorry. I really am afraid of pain. You’d be better off asking someone else.”

Wen Wan still looked like she wanted to say more, but couldn’t quite bring herself to push further.

”Alright then. Thank you for the guidance today, Brother Zhang. I do hope you’ll keep thinking about it, though. If you change your mind, you can always come find me.”

Seeing no response from Zhang Yan, Wen Wan left the gym looking a little deflated.

That evening, Qin Cheng and Huang Shengjie made their way to an empty room on the third floor.

”Shengjie, I want to ask you something.

”Did you vote against today’s motion?

”Of course, if you’d rather not say, that’s fine too.”

Huang Shengjie looked up, ”Why do you ask?”

Qin Cheng said, with a fairly candid expression, ”I guessed.”

Huang Shengjie wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but after a moment he said, ”Alright, no need to be cagey between the two of us. You’ve always shared your thoughts with me without hesitation. There’s no reason for me to keep something this minor from you.

”Yes, I voted against.”

Qin Cheng gave a nod, ”Do you know how I guessed?

”Lu Bingjun, who holds the First Player Identity Card with its 2 recorded votes, obviously wouldn’t have voted against his own motion. So 6 people voted against.

”I expect Ye Lin was almost certainly one of them, but the number she could reliably bring along was probably three to four at most.

”The remaining two or three votes suggest she likely approached four or five players who were undecided, since she couldn’t guarantee every person she talked to would vote the way she hoped.

”She probably couldn’t even be certain that the players she was closest to would follow her lead completely.”

Huang Shengjie looked mildly surprised, ”You’re saying Ye Lin didn’t approach you? I assumed she must have.”

Qin Cheng shook his head, ”She didn’t. Probably because she judged that my stance was closer to Lu Bingjun’s, and decided not to bother.

”And she wasn’t wrong. I have my own views on this, and I wouldn’t have supported her position.”