God's imitator

Chapter 257 The First Sinner

The other players in Community 7 felt a little relieved.

But soon some people worried: "However, it is not until the sixth round of transactions that shelters can be purchased."

"But shouldn't the sixth round of trials take place before that?"

What if it affects us?

They can only build 4 shelters now, and one player is not protected.

Jin Cheng shook his head and explained, "It should be fine, because we haven't committed any special crimes, so we shouldn't be implicated."

"Moreover, my crimes will certainly not be tried from the beginning."

Others were puzzled; "Why?"

Jin Cheng explained, "Because my crime is most likely concealing the problems with the house before selling it. Didn't I tell you that before?"
"So, the corresponding crime in the game should be selling substandard shelters."

"However, according to the game rules, if you start building a shelter now, it won't be completed until the start of round 6. And if you want to sell a substandard shelter, you'll have to wait until the 'free trade phase' of round 6."

"In other words, before that, there were no other players who had committed the same crimes as me."

"From a game mechanics perspective, shouldn't the crimes that 'have already been committed by players' be judged first? My crimes won't be judged until the 7th round at the earliest."

"By then, we will have at least five shelters, which will save us from death."

The other players nodded in agreement, relieved for the time being.

Jin Cheng's guess makes some sense. If a copycat wanted to kill more people, he would have to make players commit similar crimes before releasing the criminal files, so that more players could be implicated.

Therefore, the first files to be released should be the crimes that players could commit in the first 5 rounds of the game.

Crimes like selling substandard shelters will definitely be "nurturing" until enough players have committed such crimes before being made public.

Of course, players do not yet know the specific order and mechanism of revealing crimes, but since the copycat's goal is to kill more people, he must have fattened them up before killing them, right?
Jin Cheng continued, "Once this is confirmed, things will be much easier."

"After acquiring 5 normal shelters, we absolutely must not sell any substandard shelters. Communities 15 and 12 will definitely be sold."

"In that case, as long as the number of people who sell substandard shelters exceeds 5, even if I am found 'guilty,' it will be 'players with the same crime being punished' rather than 'players from the same community being punished.' This is equivalent to making the 12th and 15th communities our scapegoats."

The other players nodded again. If things really developed as Jin Cheng predicted, it would be a completely acceptable outcome for Community 7.

……

Just then, the seventh round of the game began.

The first list of criminals appeared on the big screen.

Jin Cheng, female, 34 years old.

[As a real estate agent, he deliberately concealed problems and sold substandard properties to homebuyers.]

[Verdict: No trial held.]

[In the game, the act that constitutes the same crime as the sinner is: 'Selling a substandard shelter to spectators for more than 15 gold coins.']

The offender has 10 seconds to choose between 'confessing' or 'appealing'.

Transactions involving shelters will be prohibited during the trial of criminals.

All the players in the arena turned to look in the direction of Community 7.

Jin Cheng himself was clearly more shocked than players from other communities.

"How could this be? How could this happen!!" She had indeed guessed her crime, but she never expected that she would be the first to be announced.

For a moment, he was completely stunned and unable to react.

The other players in Community 7 were also stunned, because they had just talked to Jin Cheng and agreed with his statement.

The huge gap between expectations and reality caused their brains to briefly freeze.

Finally, someone reacted, grabbing Jin Cheng's shoulder and shaking him violently: "Confess! Confess! Otherwise, we'll all be implicated!"

Clearly, no other player has committed the same crime so far.

This means that once Jin Cheng is voted "guilty," only the players in Community 7 will be "jointly punished."

The player without shelter is doomed.

However, 10 seconds passed quickly, and Jin Cheng's expression changed several times, but in the end he still couldn't make the decision to plead guilty.

The player who had been shaking her shoulder let go, staggered back a few steps, and collapsed to the ground.

If the offender chooses "Appeal," they will have one minute to present their case.

A close-up of Jin Cheng's face appeared on the big screen, and at the same time, her words were broadcast to all the players in the venue.

Jin Cheng then hurriedly began to organize his thoughts and defend himself.

"I didn't mean to, I had no choice!"

"If I tell the truth, I won't have any results and I'll lose my job!"
"I'm just an ordinary worker, a salesperson. I just deliberately exaggerated the advantages of the house. Does that mean I deserve to die?"
"Please don't vote 'guilty,' I beg you!"

The 1 minutes passed quickly.

Clearly, Jin Cheng's statements were not prepared beforehand, the logic was flawed, and the reasons were insufficient.

But the rules of the game didn't give her any more time.

The perpetrator's appeal has been completed. Please complete your vote within 3 minutes.

Players cast their votes using the screens on their hands.

At this point, because there was no prior preparation or reliable contingency plan, the 7th community was in complete chaos.

Some people are hesitating between voting "guilty" and "not guilty." Although most people's first reaction is "guilty," forcibly voting "not guilty" might ensure that they get just over half the votes and avoid triggering collective punishment.
But if you vote "not guilty" against your will and still don't get a majority, then it's all over.

As for the votes cast against their will, according to the rules of the game, they cannot be cast for their own community. If they could, they would definitely choose to use them at this time.

The player who hadn't gotten shelter rushed desperately toward Community 15, wanting to use all his gold to buy one.

However, this was ultimately futile, because according to the rules of the game, shelters could only be purchased during the "free trade phase".

He quickly succumbed to despair, pounding on the sign on the plot of land while letting out desperate howls.

Less than a minute later, the final result appeared on the big screen.

[Vote Result: Guilty.]

[In the game, the act that constitutes the same crime as the sinner is: 'Selling a substandard shelter to spectators for more than 15 gold coins.']

Since fewer than five players have committed similar crimes, all players in Community 7 will be held jointly liable.

The above players will suffer instant death in 10 seconds.

(End of this chapter)