God's imitator

Chapter 249 First Move Guaranteed to Win
Li Renshu shook her head: "I don't know. The specific order in which the nine-square grid is opened is a hidden rule. We need to observe it further."

This is certainly good news for Community 15, because it was the 'priority development area' they chose, so Community 15 doesn't need to spend any gold coins to bid and can directly become the 'No. 1 developer'.

Neither Jin Cheng, the representative of Community 7, nor Zhang Shichao, the representative of Community 9, chose to abstain.

They came to the A4 nine-square grid and bid using the devices on their wrists.

Perhaps because it was their first time bidding, their bids were relatively restrained.

[Community #7 bids: 5 gold coins.]

[Community #9 bids: 10 gold coins.]

[Community #7 bids: 15 gold coins.]

[Community #9 bids: 20 gold coins.]

[Community #7 bids: 30 gold coins.]

[Community 9 has chosen to abstain.]

[Community 7 has been designated as the 'Second Developer' in the 'A4 Nine-Square Grid' project.]

[Please have Community 15 and Community 7 take turns selecting plots of land in the 'A4 3x3 grid'.]

[To reiterate: If three plots of land within a 3x3 grid can be connected in a straight line (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), then all remaining plots within that grid belong to that community.]

Wang Weidong from the 15th community first came to plot A4, manipulated the signboard, and successfully claimed the plot.

That is, the plot of land at the very top left of the entire 3x3 grid.

Jin Cheng from Community 7, after some consideration, chose the B5 plot in the center.

Then, Wang Weidong selected the C6 plot in the lower right corner, and Jin Cheng selected the adjacent C5 plot.

Seeing this, Wang Weidong clicked his tongue in regret, because it was already certain that the game would end in a draw, and as the player who moved first, he had no way to win by connecting the three pieces in a straight line.

If both sides win, the land will be split 6-3, while a draw will result in a 5-4 split.

For Wang Weidong, who went first, it was still a bit of a pity to lose a piece of land.

But there's no way around it, because the strategy of Tic-Tac-Toe is too simple. As long as the second player doesn't make any mistakes in the first two moves, the game can only end in a draw.

而后，两人又分别选定A5、A6、C4、B4、B6这几个地块，完成了对九宫格的瓜分。

The development of the "A4 nine-square grid" plot of land has been completed.

【第15社区获得的地块为：A4、A5、B6、C4、C6。】

【第7社区获得的地块为：A6、B4、B5、C5。】

Jin Cheng and Wang Weidong each went to check the signs on the plots of land.

According to the game rules, each plot of land can have a shelter built, but the "build shelter" function is not yet available at this time.

Players from various communities gathered together again.

Zheng Jie asked with some curiosity, "Wang Weidong's first subordinate is better in the middle, right? I remember the middle has the highest win rate?"

Fu Chen shook his head: "No, I've seen some board games and various mini-games before. Tic-Tac-Toe is a game where the first player has a huge advantage. Whether the first player places a piece in the corner or the center, they basically won't lose."

"However, if the opponent doesn't know how to play, it's better for the first player to place their piece in the corner, as this will be more deceptive. If the opponent has never played tic-tac-toe before, they are more likely to fall into the trap."

"However, the response of the second player is also simple, with a conventional formula: if the opponent goes to the bottom corner, then the second player must go to the center, otherwise they will lose; the opponent will then try to go to the opposite corner, at which point the second player cannot go to the bottom corner, otherwise they will still lose."

"Simply put, if the first player places their piece in the corner, the second player should place their piece in the middle on the first move and not in the corner on the second move, which is a sure thing." Clearly, the piece selection strategy is similar to Tic-Tac-Toe, and there aren't many variations. For players who have played it before or understand the intricacies, it's a very simple strategy.

Li Renshu pondered: "Strange, this kind of simple chess game shouldn't have any filtering effect. As long as everyone knows how to play, the land will definitely be allocated in a 5:4 ratio in the end."

"What's the point of a copycat designing such a simple game?"

Cao Haichuan thought for a moment and said, "The players selected by this game are, after all, the weakest group of players in all communities. Moreover, the time allotted for thinking in the first stage is very short, only 10 minutes. During this time, they also have to think about the choice of the nine-square grid and other rules, exchange for gold coins, and think about the sins of the sinners."

"There is still a possibility of making a mistake."

"Of course, I am more inclined to believe that the copycat design was not intended to use tic-tac-toe to distribute the benefits between communities."

"Instead, we simply use a simple strategy to get communities that don't play tic-tac-toe much to spend some time figuring out the optimal solution, thus taking up their thinking time."

……

Soon, the second round of the game began.

The developable land in this round of the game is: D1 3x3 grid.

Since no community selected the nine-square grid as a 'priority development area,' both the 'first developer' and 'second developer' were awarded through bidding.

[Communities 7, 15, and 17 are eligible to participate in the bidding.]

[Bidding begins now, time limit 3 minutes.]

Representatives from the three communities each arrived at the D1 nine-square grid.

Li Renshu and Fu Chen represented the 17th community in the bidding.

The 7th and 15th communities were represented by the same two players, Jin Cheng and Wang Weidong, respectively.

Seeing Jin Cheng come to bid again, Wang Weidong was somewhat surprised: "Hmm? Aren't you just going to abstain?"

Jin Cheng frowned: "What are you thinking? Of course I can't abstain."

Wang Weidong shrugged: "Whatever. I'm just reminding you that you spent 30 gold coins in the last round of bidding, while neither we nor Community 17 have spent any gold coins yet."

"You are at a financial disadvantage and your chances of winning are very small."

"Later, the most central nine-square grid D4 may be opened, and all communities will compete for it. The competition for this nine-square grid will inevitably be the most intense."

"What if you've wasted too many gold coins before?
"If you have to choose one of the two, it's definitely more cost-effective to focus your gold coins on bidding for the central D4 3x3 grid."

After a moment's thought, Jin Cheng saw through Wang Weidong's intention: "You want me to withdraw because if I withdraw, you will no longer have any competitors and will inevitably become the 'No. 1 developer' and the 'No. 2 developer'."

"At that time, you can obtain this nine-square grid at the lowest price and with almost no cost."

“If I don’t withdraw, although I’ll likely not be able to win the bid for this nine-square grid, I can at least raise the price and increase the cost for your two communities to acquire the land.”

Wang Weidong said helplessly, "How could that be? Even if you withdraw, our two communities will definitely keep raising the price in the process of vying for the first developer position."

"If you insist on joining in the fun, you'll still have to pay a 5-gold-coin handling fee if you withdraw halfway through."

"If you like to squander your gold coins, I have no objection."

Jin Cheng ignored Wang Weidong; clearly, she wouldn't easily believe what he said.

While it's possible that communities 15 and 17 might raise prices to compete for "first-mover advantage," there's also the possibility that they won't.

If Community 15 and Community 17 reach an agreement and bid for the nine-square grid at the lowest price, it would be an absolutely unacceptable situation for Community 7.

(End of this chapter)