God's imitator

Chapter 85 Accusation and Self-Preservation

After calming all the players in front of the screen, the guy with round-framed glasses started singing.

This is a soothing and melodious song, and his singing skills are also quite good, which made Zheng Jie unable to help but give him a "fun" rating.

"Fortunately, it seems there are still many rational players."

This put Zheng Jie at ease a little.

The second performer was a girl whose face still had tear stains. While waiting for the young man to finish his performance, her body could be vaguely seen trembling slightly.

Zheng Jie noticed that there seemed to be a small wet patch on her chest as well, but he didn't know if it was because she had cried too much or for some other reason.

[Community 12 - Zhao Duo]

Zheng Jie was almost tempted to click the "fun" button for her ahead of time.

However, just as the microphone was switched to performer number 2, a statement that shocked Zheng Jie came from the big screen.

"Don't believe him, he's lying!!"

The second performer's tearful shout completely shattered the somewhat stable atmosphere that had just been established.

Zheng Jie was also stunned.

Lies? What makes you say that?

All this guy did was tell everyone to calm down and exercise restraint. He also said that the killer's resources weren't unlimited.

These are all the truths, there's no lying about them.
Zheng Jie's attention was completely drawn to the talent show on the big screen.

Two players have already died!

"They are all female players who have received a lot of likes! Is this just a coincidence?!"
What does this mean?
"Just like the sister I met with earlier said, many male gamers have already taken action!"

"The performer who just spoke, I don't know if you did it on purpose or by accident, but what you said will seriously mislead all the female players!"
What does it mean that "the killer's 'stepping' is limited"?
"The game is still going on, and we are still meeting. As long as male players click on each other's posts, they can reliably get 3 clicks in the next three hours!"

"If, in the last one or two meetings, these male players who have accumulated five 'steps' together commit murder, it would be enough to kill all the female players, leaving none alive!"
"You've heard some malicious words, so keep your composure and stay rational. But no matter how much you exchange 'thumbs down', you still won't get as many 'thumbs down' as the male players!"
"There will only be one outcome: all the female players will die! All their visa time will be taken by the male players and copycats!"
Even if a fixed partnership has been formed, the other party can still change their mind at the last meeting!
"So now there's only one thing you can do: protect yourselves by using the 'report' mechanism before enough male players exchange and collect 5 'dislikes'!"
"This is the only way to get out of this game alive!"

Zheng Jie's brows furrowed into a knot. He had barely heard the beginning when his hand instinctively reached for the "boring" button.

How could she do this?!

Zheng Jie was furious because the performer's behavior was blatantly inciting conflict, and the harm caused by such remarks was far greater than murder during a meeting.

Because killing someone has a cost, whether it consumes 6 "likes" or 5 "dislikes", it is difficult to kill a second time in the short term.

However, the performer's speech directly incited hatred among all the players. If even a few players believed it, then several more lives would be lost immediately.

Press 'Bored' and once you collect 20, you can immediately stop the talent show performance.

However, before pressing the button, Zheng Jie hesitated briefly, because according to the rules of the second stage of the game, cutting off the talent show performance by being "bored" was equivalent to killing the performer directly.

Zheng Jie was not fully prepared to commit murder.

After hesitating for a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and pressed the button.

"Never mind, my life is hanging by a thread, how can I have the energy to care about so many other things at this time!"

"If other female players listen to what she says and report me, then she is actually trying to murder me. Why can't I fight back?"

However, after pressing the "bored" button, nothing happened.

Even after performer number 2 finished speaking and the audition ended, and the audition results appeared on the big screen, nothing else happened.

Performer #1 received a total of 22 "Interesting" comments and an extra "Like".

Performer #2 received a total of 17 "Interesting" comments and an extra "Like".

Upon seeing this result, Zheng Jie collapsed.

He realized that even if he pressed the "boring" button, it would be pointless, because he simply wouldn't be able to gather 20 people. The players who clicked "interesting" wouldn't be able to, and would absolutely not, click "boring."

There are 40 players in total in this game, 20 male and 20 female.

While male players could potentially reach 20 votes by selecting all "boring" options, the likelihood of that is very low, as some players would inevitably hesitate or not have enough time to select them.

Judging from the 17 votes for "interesting," it's even possible that some male players also voted Zhao Duo as "interesting."

Since both of the deceased players were female, and considering the performer currently in the audition, the female players have a maximum of 17 votes.

There must be some female players who disagreed with or didn't want to click "fun," so the only explanation is that some male players also clicked "fun."

Regardless, Zhao Duo delivered her series of inflammatory remarks in their entirety, and they had an irreversible impact on the course of the game.

After calming down, Zheng Jie realized that from the female player's perspective, her words were incredibly damaging and inflammatory.

By now, almost all players have grasped the basic rules of the game.

According to the matching mechanism, there will be one match between people of the same sex every three or four matches.

Unlike pairing with someone of the opposite sex, which can easily lead to friction, pairing with someone of the same sex is generally easier to discuss and compromise on.

While the exchange of likes and dislikes between people of the same sex may be relatively rare in the first four hours, it will increase significantly in the next four hours.

This means that there is indeed a possibility that male players may exchange points on a large scale.

If these male players have stepped on the button three or four times before, they are very likely to reach five in the subsequent step-by-step step-by-step exchange phase.

What about female players? They get a lot of likes, but likes don't cancel out dislikes, nor do they prevent them from being killed.

You can report a murder, but you need to accumulate three reports before you can do so.

In other words, if the female player does nothing, the worst-case scenario at the final meeting is:

The male player first agreed to exchange likes to ensure he would get an extra 3 minutes of visa time, and then pressed "murder" in the last second before the meeting ended, consuming his last 5 dislikes.

At this point, the female player will be completely powerless to resist, and a counterattack by reporting her will be ineffective.

The only way is to consume the "likes" before most male players have exchanged enough to accumulate 5 dislikes, accumulate three times by reporting them, and kill the male players in advance.

But this is precisely where the problem lies:
If this line of reasoning continues, then both sides will become trapped in a mutually destructive spiral:

Female players indiscriminately report male players, and male players indiscriminately murder female players after being reported.

The final result was rivers of blood.

Due to the game's unique mechanics, players are matched in pairs. Even if everyone is restrained by conscience in the early stages, a massive number of deaths could occur if there is a catastrophic collapse during the final meeting.

Is it possible to protect oneself by liking or disliking posts?
It does exist, but the conditions are very demanding, and the cost-effectiveness is extremely low.

To avoid being killed by male players, female players should try to exchange "steps" with each other as much as possible. As long as the number of "steps" is more than the number of male players who want to kill you, you will be safe.

The problem is that most female players don't "dislike" others much to begin with, so even if they switch, they'll still die if they encounter male players who "dislike" them a lot.

Moreover, whether exchanging "likes" or "dislikes", you can only choose one of the two options each time you meet.

As for meetings between people of the same sex, there was only one out of three or four.

Compared to exchanging "dislikes," it's clearly more cost-effective for female players to exchange "likes," because two likes are enough to "report" someone.

Although it won't kill immediately, if enough female players report it at the same time, the killing speed won't necessarily be slow.

The same applies to male players. Although they can protect themselves by exchanging "likes", exchanging "dislikes" is clearly more cost-effective.

In short, up to now.

The "blind date game" has turned into a "murder contest".

(End of this chapter)