God's Imitator

Han Mengying looked back at the door she had just come out of. It had a prominent 'Rabbit' symbol, used to distinguish the different players' resting rooms.

The doors of other players also had corresponding mask symbols.

These doors were evenly distributed along the walls surrounding the hall, forming a complete circle.

Han Mengying glanced at the area beside her door and indeed found a special voting machine.

Its structure was simple, with a column at the bottom, topped with a control panel displaying various numbers, symbols, and the animal avatars of all the players present.

These buttons were strictly divided into different sections to differentiate various functions.

Additionally, the control panel was surrounded by something akin to an ATM's numerical keypad cover to protect privacy.

Nearby there were also rules and instructions explaining its specific use, which were not difficult to understand.

Han Mengying then observed the other players.

They had just arrived at the game hall, each donning different oxygen masks as they assessed the situation and contemplated strategies.

At that moment, an announcement played over the loudspeakers.

[The first round of the 'Guess the Number' game begins. As a reminder, the range for guessing numbers is 0-100.]

[All players need to enter their guessed number on the device next to their respective rest room doors before the first round ends. Late entries or guesses beyond the range will automatically default to the maximum value.]

[Emphasis again, take into account that this number may be reduced due to human factors.]

Once the announcement ended, there was silence again.

The hall soon became noisy once more.

Many players couldn't wait and rushed toward the battle stage.

This hall also housed many battle stages, identical in design to those seen in previous one-on-one battles.

The additional benefit rule of 'low security' still remained in effect.

However, the difference between the second and first stages was that limitations on specific betting chips had been completely lifted.

Players could freely choose the amount of chips to bet and could agree to matches with unequal chip amounts.

For instance, Han Mengying could choose to bet 3000 while her opponent bet 1000.

This is because, after the battles in the first stage, nearly all players realized that the 'Wise Man Card Set' held a significant advantage against the 'Fool's Card Set'. If the betting chips were the same, no fool would be willing to play against the wise.

The freedom to bet chips allowed players to negotiate among themselves, adjusting the 'odds' based on their and their card set's strengths, thus promoting battles to occur.

However, without either side putting down the 1000 minimum, the 'low security' extra benefits rule would disappear.

While contemplating the rules of the 'Guess the Number' game, Han Mengying wandered the hall, randomly scouting players who seemed like 'prey'.

Especially those players wearing fierce masks, who were often surprisingly simple-minded.

"The initial window period of the game is crucial; it's also the time to earn the most chips."

Han Mengying always valued the concepts of the 'window period' and 'timing.'

The second stage of the game had just begun, and most players were still pondering the new rules, their minds occupied.

Having secured one of the only 10 'Wise Identities', Han Mengying could continuously receive the Wise Man Card Set, making this the best time to win games.

As time passed, everyone would gradually understand the rules, and the identities of the 'Wise Players' would inevitably be revealed, alerting the 'Foolish Players'.

By then, she might have to offer very high odds just to get someone to play.

During this valuable window period, she aimed to deceive as many as possible.

The 'Rabbit' Han Mengying quickly identified a few potential 'prey' players and extended game invitations to them.

However, to Han Mengying's surprise, after glancing at her, they all declined.

Initially, Han Mengying paid it no mind; after all, the game had just started, and it was normal for these players to be wary of those approaching them.

But soon, she realized something different was happening.

Because the players who had turned down her invitation soon accepted game offers from other players.

"Strange, could they somehow tell that I have the 'Wise Man Card Set'?

"Impossible, the backs of both card sets are completely the same, and my cards are still in my pocket, never taken out.

"Well, if these people are unwilling to play cards, I can shift my strategy to find other 'Wise Players' or players from the same community."

...

Meanwhile, at the other end of the hall.

Wearing the 'Gray Wolf' mask, He Xiaojun clutched the chips in his pocket, unsure while looking at the vast number of players in the hall.

Many players had already started free battles, and the atmosphere between winners and losers was distinctly different.

Some players seemed to have won large sums of chips at once and were shouting in excitement.

Others gripped their heads in frustration after losing, seemingly having lost all hope.

Still, other players were constantly negotiating, probing each other, hoping to make the other bet more chips while they bet fewer.

Some players deliberately hid in corners, whispering with other players, presumably attempting to collaborate and adopt a safe strategy.

He Xiaojun originally intended to find players from the same community or reliable partners to work with, but he couldn't identify who was who among the masked players.

This was indeed groping in the dark.

Continue playing? But he didn't know how to choose an opponent.

Everyone wore masks, making it impossible to gauge strength or weakness.

Should he continue the random card strategy?

It seemed it would only limit his losses, not guarantee victories.

The note clearly stated that this strategy was primarily suitable for the first stage.

The second stage wasn't impossible to use, but its effectiveness would be greatly diminished.

Of course, He Xiaojun also thought of the game's cooperative win-win method. If he could find a trustworthy player, they could take turns winning and earn stable 1000 chips using the 'low security' rule.

If it were a fool player and a wise player, they could fill all five hands, whereas two fool players would be less effective.

The problem was that he couldn't find a trustworthy partner.

Community 14 had other players who joined in this game, but with everyone wearing masks, finding them was like searching for a needle in a haystack; He Xiaojun couldn't distinguish who was who.

If he chose someone at random for collaboration and they backed out, He Xiaojun couldn't bear such a loss.

But to actively deceive others? He found it hard to make that decision.

If he deceived others, and then other players refused to play with him afterward, affecting his ability to team up, what then?

For someone not accustomed to deceit, even if the thought crosses their mind, putting it into action was difficult.

Yet, he needed at least 20,000 chips to leave the game without a loss, a significant problem to solve.

He Xiaojun wandered aimlessly around the field until suddenly, he was taken aback by the sight of a player he had encountered in the first stage, the 'Rabbit'.