God's imitator

Chapter 99 The Attitude of the Corridor
Everyone nodded in agreement. They had initially thought that finding the copycat was an exaggerated thing, but now that they thought about it, each step of the reasoning was actually quite plausible.

Especially since Officer Cao is a professional criminal investigator, his guidance is crucial.

Lee In-sook nodded in agreement: "Indeed, the purpose of copycats is often the key to breaking the deadlock. Things may not be as bad as we think."

Cao Haichuan chimed in: "I also agree with this view. Just as I guessed before, copycat murders are not without cost."

"The more clearly the imitator has a specific purpose, the easier it is to get caught in the game."

"If he doesn't have a strong purpose, or doesn't dare to openly use backdoors that most people can't detect in the game, then the fairness of the game can still be guaranteed at the most basic level."

Fu Chen realized a problem: "Wait, I suddenly realized there's still one point I haven't figured out: Do copycats really have to enter their own games?"
"This is very important!"

Everyone fell silent; clearly, there was no clear answer to this question yet.

Li Renshu looked at Lin Sizhi: "Attorney Lin, what do you think? You should be the most qualified to answer this question."

Lin Sizhi shrugged: "I don't know."

"The reason I'm working towards 'finding the copycat' is because the pre-game announcement specifically mentioned the rule of killing the copycat. This rule is likely the arcade's way of hinting to us that there's an opportunity to kill the copycat in this game."

"But the corridor didn't directly address this point, so I can't be completely certain."

Zheng Jie was stunned: "Huh? Actually, you weren't entirely sure? I completely believed your conviction back then!"

Lin Sizhi smiled helplessly: "That's the most likely scenario, and the only way to break the deadlock. Even if it's not entirely certain, that's the only option we can say."

"Otherwise, what am I supposed to say? Tell everyone that 'copycats might not even be in this game'? Did I go through all this trouble to participate in the talent show just to spoil the fun?"
"I have to appear absolutely certain in order to convince the other players to vote to kill. If I show even the slightest hesitation, I might not get enough votes."

"What if the copycat isn't in the game?"
"What else can we do but use our own methods to survive until the game ends?"

"As for the players in Community 1, if they killed the wrong person, they killed the wrong person. They instigated the most conflict and were indirectly responsible for the murders."

Jiang He frowned and said, "I think the copycat should definitely be included in the game, right?"
"If we could avoid entering the game, there might be some really outrageous ways to exploit loopholes!"
"If a copycat turns the community into a black market, revealing all the rules in advance and then only allowing other players in while keeping themselves out, wouldn't they be invincible?"

Lee In-sook nodded: "Yes, that makes sense."

"The arcade may tacitly allow copycats to engage in some high-risk, high-reward behaviors, such as playing their cards openly in the community. Copycats also have to bear the risk of being coerced, controlled, or even killed by community players."

"But opening a black market shop without participating yourself is going too far and will seriously affect the balance between copycats and players."

"The covered walkway should not be left completely unattended."

Fu Chen thought for a moment: "Perhaps, as Attorney Lin said, the fact that the arcade deliberately disclosed the rules about killing copycats before entering the game was a kind of hint."

"but……

"That's not enough, is it? The arcade can't send out this message every time a copycat enters their game, can it?"

Wang Yongxin shrugged: "If the arcade really doesn't care, there's nothing we can do. Anyway, the players are all meat on the chopping block; it's just a matter of who gets cut sooner or later."

Lee In-sook stared at the rules on the big screen and suddenly realized something.

She got up and went to the big screen, pointing to the five rules in the lower right corner.

"Perhaps the arcade has already imposed restrictions on this behavior."

"Don't you find it strange? Why are these five rules written here separately? And why is it specifically noted that they are 'supplementary rules'?"

Lin Sizhi had already noticed these five rules, but since no one had brought them up, he naturally wouldn't bring them up himself. Now, Li Renshu had finally noticed them.

Of these five rules, the first four are the same four rules he had previously submitted to Zhong Yuanyuan.

The fifth rule is:
5. The copycat who designed this game will personally enter the game.

Many people looked surprised; they hadn't noticed this before.

Because there were so many rules in the "dating game," the entire screen was covered with them, which hurt people's eyes. Everyone only roughly understood them after following Zheng Jie's review.

The last five supplementary rules are not obvious.

Xu Tong pondered: "These five points...maybe the copycat wasn't satisfied with his own plan, so he added some patches?"
"That's normal, since we often overlook things when we're making plans and need to make changes."

Li Renshu shook her head slightly: "But in all the games we've seen before, in all the games, there has never been any such post-production deletion or modification."

"What the gallery shows us is the complete set of rules, with the items presented in a strictly sequential and modular manner."

"Even if a copycat wants to modify their own rules, they would definitely do so privately, making all the changes before submitting them, right?"
"The supplementary rules should also be inserted into the corresponding positions before them. How can they just be casually appended to the end like this?"

"Would you dare present a proposal in this format to your boss or supervisor? You'd be lucky not to get yelled at."

"The review standards for the covered walkways should be stricter."

Wang Yongxin nodded: "That makes sense."

Clearly, as a civil servant, Lee In-sook has an extraordinary sensitivity to "formats".

In Li Renshu's eyes, adding rules at the very end was almost like breaking a cardinal rule; it was extremely conspicuous.

She continued, "I believe these rules were added by the arcade itself, in order to balance the difficulty of the game."

"Because a careful analysis will reveal that these rules are indispensable, whether for players' self-protection or for helping players better pinpoint the location of copycats."

Wang Yongxin was taken aback: "Wait, how can you be sure that You Lang added these lines himself?"

"It's also possible that the arcade rejected the original draft, forcing the copycats to make adjustments and additions, which is why Zhong Yuanyuan was forced to add these rules to make the game fairer."

Lee In-sook pointed to the last line: "'The copycat who designed this game will personally enter the game.'"

"Besides the arcade, who has the authority to put this sentence in the rules?"
“Zhong Yuanyuan could certainly write it herself, but would she be that stupid? Even if she wanted to go into the game and see the crime scene herself, there was no need to specifically write it in the rules, right?”

Zheng Jie suddenly realized: "Oh? I see!"

"These rules, at first glance, seem to favor copycats, but upon closer examination, they actually benefit the players."

"Take the third point for example. I thought of it when I was bluffing before. The 10-second death wait time can actually increase the space for strategic play between players."

"but……

"The first two don't seem to have any special function?"
"Take vouchers for example. If I can return them myself, I would consider buying them. After all, I won't be stuck with them. At most, I'll only lose 20% in handling fees."

"But since I can't return it, I haven't been able to make up my mind to buy it."

(End of this chapter)