God's imitator

Chapter 409 The Reflection of Crime

The voice of audience member number 9 came through the loudspeaker.

"I believe most viewers have noticed that although the game does not directly explain the crimes of these players outside the game, it has already provided enough 'hints'."

"The six rooms correspond to the 'exclusive punishments,' and the five different devices correspond to the professions and crimes of the players in the outer area."

"Liu Jie's special punishment is 'information.' After entering the room, players will know a secret rule about the game, but they not only cannot reveal it, they must also deliberately deceive and mislead players who have not entered the room."

"And this message itself is related to the equipment 'modification workshop' in the game."

"As for what 'modification shop' and 'car pen' represent, it's actually quite clear."

"When the players in the outer area take turns acting as 'sharers,' the system rewards them with six different sentences. When these six sentences are combined and their order is slightly adjusted, they form a short fable."

Yang Yuting noticed this as well. Although the order of these sentences was out of order, it was not difficult to rearrange them as long as one could remember the general meaning.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

In a world where there are only drivers and cars, drivers don't need training or driving tests; they are all self-taught.

Many drivers drive recklessly, and because their cars are inherently high-performing, they are unaffected by multiple collisions or rollovers.

Sometimes, the car suddenly becomes unresponsive, stalls, loses its brakes, or doesn't accelerate when you press the gas pedal.

The driver took a hammer and tapped it himself; sometimes it worked, and sometimes it broke even more completely.

Some drivers say that once they take their cars to a modification shop, all the problems disappear.

On an ordinary day, a driver drove his car away, the car exploded, and the driver died.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Audience member #9 continued, "Simply put, the 'out of control' of the car and pen means that the child is behaving in ways that do not meet the parents' expectations."

"The five types of equipment used to modify the pen should each correspond to a different method."

“The ‘modification shop’ can cause the most damage to the car pen, and may even directly lead to its breakage. Based on the allegory, I guess it symbolizes a place like an ‘internet addiction treatment center’.”

"So, among the five devices, the one corresponding to the punishment of 'information' should be the 'television station.' Its function is to provide a boost or discount to another device, encouraging players in the inner circle to use it more."

"Therefore, I believe that Liu Mingxin's real-world profession is related to the media. When reporting on 'internet addiction treatment centers' or similar institutions, she knew the truth but still deliberately made false reports, which seriously misled the outside world."

After audience member number 9 finished speaking, the dressing room where Yang Yuting was located fell silent for a while.

As the first player to make an accusation, audience member number 9 was a pioneer, since no one knows exactly how accurate the information needs to be to be considered a "founded accusation".

But one thing is certain: his remarks were somewhat intended to incite conflict.

According to the rules of the game, he only needs to state the crime; he doesn't need to provide a full explanation or reasoning.

But he still said it was clearly to provide additional information to viewers who would later make accusations, so that those who were hesitant could cross-verify the information and make a decision.

The allegations made by audience member number 9 are valid.

Now, we invite all viewers to participate in a public vote to determine whether he is "guilty" or "not guilty."

The criteria for determining "guilt" are "conclusive guilt and clear intent," while the criteria for determining "innocence" are "being unable to act against one's will and having extenuating circumstances."

Voting beyond the allotted time or casting a vote against one's will result in a deduction of 2 minutes of visa time.

Hearing that the punishment for voting against one's will was the deduction of visa time, Yang Yuting breathed a slight sigh of relief.

This means that even if Zhou Guifen and Fu Yujun are successfully charged, she and Li Renshu can at least force a vote of 'not guilty'.

After all the players in the outer area have been judged, the two players with the most "guilty" votes will suffer an instant death penalty. One less vote could mean the difference between life and death.

After a moment's consideration, Yang Yuting pressed the "guilty" button.

[Voting has ended. Liu Mingxin received 15 votes for "guilty."] [The second player to undergo a "public trial" is Zhou Guifen.]

"As expected, the public trial was conducted in the order in which the players in the inner field completed the 'track in the painting' from back to front."

"In other words, the 'race track in the painting' symbolizes the child's achievements in reality? And the results on this race track mean the success or failure of the parents' 'lifting up the child'."

"Failed parents will be publicly tried first."

Yang Yuting certainly wouldn't accuse Zhou Guifen; she hoped no one would accuse her, so nothing would happen.

But her expectations were dashed.

Even as the countdown was about to end, some players still chose to file charges.

Audience member number 2 filed charges against Zhou Guifen.

"Shen Xing's exclusive punishment is 'lockdown,' which means he is prohibited from using a certain type of equipment."

"However, this punishment is not severe."

"I once met Zhou Guifen in another game. She was probably in a profession similar to an art teacher."

"Moreover, when she was a 'sharer,' she mentioned that Shen Xing once wanted to study music with her and become an art student. But she refused very firmly."

"So I guess Zhou Guifen's crime was that she did not support, or even stifled, the children's interests and forced them to continue to follow the traditional exam and school entrance route."

"If you treat your own children this way, you must treat other children at school the same way."

"As for whether this constitutes a crime, that's up to everyone to vote on."

A moment later, the broadcast started again.

The allegations made by audience member number 2 are valid.

Now, we invite all viewers to participate in a public vote to determine whether he is "guilty" or "not guilty."

Yang Yuting pressed "Innocent" without hesitation, and the punishment for acting against her conscience was not triggered.

Because she knew very well that Zhou Guifen was just an ordinary teacher in a small county town and had no resources to cultivate Shen Xing's musical learning.

Moreover, given their family circumstances and environment, the prospects for music students were indeed much narrower than those of traditional exam-based college admissions.

Although Zhou Guifen often felt regret, Yang Yuting believed that this met the criteria of "being unable to control one's own situation and having extenuating circumstances".

[The voting has ended, and Zhou Guifen received 7 votes for "guilty".]

[The third player to be "publicly tried" is Fu Yujun.]

Seeing this result, Yang Yuting breathed a sigh of relief.

With relatively few votes, it's considered relatively safe.

However, absolute safety cannot be guaranteed. If none of the players outside the venue are charged, Zhou Guifen will still face immediate death.

Yang Yuting also hoped that no player would accuse Fu Yujun, but unfortunately, the light effect lit up on more than one audience member's small screen.

[Viewer number 11 filed charges against Fu Yujun.]

A moment later, the broadcast started again.

[Viewer number 17 filed charges against Fu Yujun.]

[Viewer number 4 filed charges against Fu Yujun.]

Yang Yuting was stunned for a moment: "So many people are making accusations? Wait, audience member number 17, isn't that Li Renshu? I remember she bet on Fu Chen and Shen Xing a long time ago, just like me. Why is she accusing Fu Yujun?"
"Or am I mistaken? Is audience member number 17 someone else?"

(End of this chapter)