God's Imitator

Every player read through all the notice boards carefully, each falling into their own quiet deliberation.

Zeng Yiming thought for a moment, then said, ”The rules stated that when we return to the community, all damage inflicted in the Production Rooms will be removed.

”So while the five rooms each carry different penalties, in the end they’re all physical suffering with no lasting consequences after the game.

”The difference between the rooms can be summarised roughly like this.

”The first Production Room is probably the most dangerous. It involves severe pain, and toxins accumulate in the body.

”Those toxins will be cleared when we return to the community, but if they build up too heavily before the game ends, death within the game is a real possibility.

”The notice board doesn’t spell that out explicitly, but it’s a risk worth keeping in mind.

”The second Production Room is probably the most expensive. On top of the visa time spent inserting coins, there’s an additional cost for purchasing the special cleaning solution.

”The third and fourth rooms are somewhat similar to each other, both involving exposure to extreme cold or heat, and together they determine the processing time available and the medication’s yield rate.

”The fifth Production Room involves electric shocks.”All of these can be understood as forms of physical punishment. It’s hard to say at this point exactly how severe they’ll be, but based on what we’ve seen in previous Judgment Games, none of them will be easy.

”So the question now is how to assign the five rooms.

”Does anyone have thoughts on this?”

He Qing, the installer, gave a dismissive curl of his lip, ”You’re the Production Director. You assign however you like. If you’re asking me to choose, I’d obviously pick the easiest one. Would you let me?

”No need to go through the motions of asking our opinion.”

Liang Guicheng, the fruit farmer, hesitated for a moment before speaking carefully, ”You already used up a Death Exemption Ticket for us. You should pick whichever room is easiest for you. That seems fair.”

Liang Guicheng hadn’t said much in the earlier phase of the game, and this remark gave him the air of someone trying to be agreeable.

Zhao Xiuying, the stall owner, agreed immediately, ”Yes, you should choose first.”

Zeng Yiming didn’t accept the offer right away. He kept frowning, still thinking.

Wen Wan suddenly realised something and said quickly, ”Wait, shouldn’t these rooms correspond to our crimes?

”Manager Zeng, you run a sushi restaurant and your crime was not cleaning the plates properly, right?

”The second Production Room is specifically about Washing.

”And if I remember correctly, in the waiting room the five machines used for guessing the crime numbers were also in sequence, with you in second place.

”Following that order, I’m in e-commerce, which puts me fifth.

”E-commerce is essentially a sales channel, and the fifth room’s Sorting stage determines the specific sale price of the medication, which seems to line up.

”And the electric shock penalty does have at least some loose connection to e-commerce.”

That last observation was a bit of a stretch, but the logic leading up to it was clearly sound.

Zeng Yiming paused, then gave a slow nod, ”Yes, that does make sense.

”In previous Judgment Games, it was quite common for the offenders’ punishments to be directly connected to their crimes.

”In that case, He Qing, your occupation is installer. You’re probably an air conditioner or refrigerator installer, which would line up neatly with the third Production Room.”

He Qing looked at him with a wary expression but said nothing.

Zeng Yiming considered for another moment, ”Then I have a clear enough picture.

”I’ll make the assignments directly.

”He Qing, Zhao Xiuying, Wen Wan, the three of you will enter Production Rooms 3, 4, and 5 respectively. That matches your order in the sequence and corresponds to your crimes.

”None of those three rooms require extra visa time or carry additional risks, and they happen to align with your crimes. No objections?

”As for Rooms 1 and 2, Brother Liang, I’ll take Room 1.”

Liang Guicheng blinked, ”Me in Room 2? That doesn’t feel right.”

Zeng Yiming asked, ”Is it because you don’t have enough visa time? In that case, I’m perfectly happy to take Room 2 instead.”

Liang Guicheng shook his head quickly, ”No, no, nothing like that. The board says it’s 1,000 minutes per use. Even ten times is only 10,000 minutes. No matter how short I am on visa time, I can manage that.

”What I mean is, it doesn’t feel right for me.

”Going by the crimes, Room 2 should be yours and Room 1 should be mine.

”Room 1 is the most dangerous one.

”You’ve already given up a Death Exemption Ticket for us. Sending you into the most dangerous room on top of that seems a bit much.”

Zeng Yiming shook his head, ”There’s no need to worry about details like that.

”This is a dangerous Elimination-type game. All that matters is getting through it together. A few more or fewer hardships is beside the point.

”Since I’ve already used a Death Exemption Ticket, I might as well see this through properly. If everyone genuinely accepts my arrangement, there’s no need for courtesy. I’d rather see it reflected in your actual effort.

”Let’s all work together and try to produce as much Type M medication as possible.”

Liang Guicheng looked genuinely moved, ”Alright. Thank you, truly. I’ll do my very best.”

The five players each entered their assigned Production Rooms.

Huang Shengjie watched the large screen and said, with a note of admiration, ”This Zeng Yiming really is a sharp one.

”He could have assigned rooms entirely based on crime correspondence, but that might have created problems.

”Because Liang Guicheng, that man doesn’t strike me as nearly as honest as he looks.

”He said he felt bad about it, but in the end that was just a token protest.

”The moment Zeng Yiming held firm, he gave in, which tells you he wanted Room 2 for himself all along.

”If he’d actually been put in Room 1, he might have tried to cut corners and disrupt the whole production process.

”Now that Zeng Yiming has voluntarily taken on the hardest stage himself, as long as the other four carry out their own tasks properly, things should be fine.”

Ye Lin gave a nod, ”Liang Guicheng is a fruit farmer. The punishment in Room 1 is soaking.

”So his actual crime, most likely, involved treating his produce with pesticides and selling it to consumers who had no idea.

”He’s been working hard since entering the game to project the image of a simple, honest farmer, but given what his crime probably is, that image almost certainly isn’t genuine.

”Zeng Yiming’s distrust of him is well-founded.

”What it comes down to is that Zeng Yiming has taken on almost all of the burden in this game himself, but it’s also the only way to ensure the medication production actually proceeds properly.”

Neither of them said anything more. They simply turned back to the large screen.

Whatever the difficulties ahead, for an Elimination-type game, the situation had reached a reasonably hopeful point.