God's imitator

Chapter 469 Garbage Time
Huang Ming lowered his head and pondered for a moment before asking, "Then... what do we do next?"
"You didn't expose '↑Priestess,' did you?"

He Xiaojun nodded: "Hmm. I think... we could actually apply to match with him again."

If it were based on He Xiaojun's previous personality, he might have subconsciously chosen to directly expose the "↑Priestess," questioning who she was, where she got this information from, and who the traitor in the community was.

But clearly, this is meaningless.

Because the other party won't be like the villain in the movie, letting out their signature laugh and revealing their hand, explaining the whole story. Instead, they will simply end the game in silence and refuse any further matchmaking invitations, adjusting their game strategy based on the premise that their "deception has been exposed."

Therefore, He Xiaojun did not expose the other party, but instead used the trick to his advantage and cheated the other party out of the profits of one round.

Because the "↑Priestess" was unaware that he had been exposed, he was still hoping that He Xiaojun and Huang Ming would continue to persuade other players in the 14th community to send wealth vouchers. He would try his best to meet He Xiaojun's requests.

At this point, He Xiaojun had two choices.

One option is to match with Huang Ming in the same community's '↓World' and '↓Pope' respectively. After entering the free matchmaking phase, players in the same faction can also freely match without restrictions.

This allows them to request the two individuals to transfer their wealth vouchers and to roughly determine who the traitor is based on their words and actions.

Another option is to continue matching with the '↑Priestess' and try to exploit this reverse trap to extract more Wealth Vouchers.

The former is a behavior that weaker players might subconsciously take, since curiosity about the identity of the traitor, disgust for the traitor, and rejection of a powerful enemy will all contribute to this tendency.

But clearly, the second strategy is the more correct one.

Huang Ming nodded: "Okay, then I'll try to match '↓World' and '↓Pope' and subtly inquire about their intentions, asking them to transfer some wealth vouchers to me."

"Go and see that '↑priestess' again."

"If you have any further ideas, feel free to send me an invitation, and I will accept it as soon as possible."

……

Huang Ming transferred all the wealth vouchers to He Xiaojun as previously agreed.

After returning to the lounge, He Xiaojun immediately extended another invitation to the '↑Priestess'.

After waiting for a while, the '↑Priestess' accepted the invitation.

He Xiaojun entered the game as the "thief".

The priestess asked, "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

He Xiaojun nodded, pretending to subconsciously want to call the other person by their surname but then stopped: "Um, sh... well, I already met with '↑Moon' in the last game, and he agreed to our plan. In the next two games, he will be matched with '↓World' and '↓Pope' respectively, which is a second confirmation of this strategy."

"Our community will definitely reach a consensus smoothly."

"I'm here to continue discussing follow-up strategies."

"Now that we've decided to cooperate with them..."

He Xiaojun pointed to the wooden box number 15, "Demon," and continued, "Then our people will definitely be matched with their people in the subsequent games, right?"

"Just like you said before, distribute the wealth vouchers in the wooden box in an 8:14 ratio. We take 8, they take 14, and when the game ends, I will go to their departure area."

"Both '↑Moon' and I think this is an acceptable condition."

"So, we need to determine exactly who is matched with whom, right? We need to know their specific list."

The priestess remained silent for a while, without saying a word.

Suddenly, she relaxed, leaned back in her chair, and looked He Xiaojun up and down again, who was wearing the "↓ Justice" mask.

When was I exposed?

Let me think...

"There must have been some kind of trap in the question you asked me near the end of the last game, right?"
"Phew... I never expected to be defeated by a player like you. I gave you a lot of wealth vouchers in the last game."

The priestess's reaction surprised He Xiaojun. Clearly, she was much smarter than He Xiaojun had imagined; she wasn't fooled by his tricks and quickly realized she had been exposed, bringing them back to square one.

He Xiaojun asked, "So when did you realize something was wrong?"

The priestess remained silent.

He Xiaojun thought about it seriously for a moment: "Hmm... I don't think I should be so proactive."

"If I patiently wait until you invite me again before hesitating and reluctantly accepting your proposal, perhaps you will just give me the list directly, right?"
"so……

"The traitor in our community not only betrayed the community's code words, but he also roughly revealed some of our character traits."

"It's a pity that, perhaps due to time constraints, he couldn't describe it in great detail, which is why you gave yourself away when you were impersonating him."

"However, this is still a new piece of information for me."

The priestess was somewhat surprised: "This has certainly impressed me."

"Clearly, that traitorous player in your community underestimated you, and I underestimated you too."

"You are much better able to adapt to this game than I imagined."

"So, although this result is a low-probability event for me and it is a bit of a pity, it is not unacceptable."

Both of them fell into a brief silence.

Since both sides have already laid their cards on the table and neither got what they wanted from the other, further communication seems somewhat superfluous.

"I choose the first strategy."

He Xiaojun randomly selected 10 boxes from the 22 wooden boxes and took the wealth vouchers inside, thus ending the game without any suspense.

However, in the final moments, the '↑Priestess' suddenly spoke again.

"This game is actually over, you should understand, right?"

He Xiaojun paused for a moment, but did not make any extra movements.

The priestess continued, "The entire second half was really just 'garbage time,' so whether you were fooled or not doesn't really affect the overall situation."

"However, I do have a newfound respect for you."

"Among ordinary players, your progress is quite fast. When the game ends, you will definitely be able to join any main community. I can assure you that our community will welcome players like you."

"You're welcome to come find me then."

"This is not a sales pitch or a scam; it is a sincere invitation."

He Xiaojun didn't say anything more, but silently waited for the game time to end before getting up and leaving.

……

"The game... is over?"

"Are you trying to scare me or are you serious?"

Back in his lounge, He Xiaojun pondered the words of the '↑Priestess'.

Then he suddenly froze.

He realized that this was most likely true, and that his original understanding of the game rules was wrong.

In terms of playtime, "Tarot Game" is only halfway through.

But in reality, it was already nearing its end, the fate of all players was already decided, and what remained was just wasted time.

(End of this chapter)