God's imitator

Chapter 36 Invitation to the Trial Game

Hello, Lin Sizhi.

[You've once again proven your talent by successfully standing out from all the other proposals with "Blood Poker".]

But the real game has only just begun.

Now, the gallery extends a new design invitation to you:

Three days later, several different trial games will be held simultaneously in the arcade. You have been assigned to game C.

[In your desk drawer, there are partial criminal files of the five perpetrators in Case C, along with their corresponding sentences.]

In this game, 5 criminals will be forced to participate, and 10 unrelated players will volunteer to participate.

If you believe the sentences for these five criminals were generally fair and just, or if you don't care, then do nothing.

If you believe that among these five sinners are truly heinous and must face the test of death, then devise a game to deliver a more appropriate judgment.

The "Arcade" will evaluate all submitted proposals and adopt the highest-rated design to set up the game area.

[Now, the 48-hour countdown begins. Please make your choice.]

"Five criminals who forced others to participate in the game, and ten unrelated players who voluntarily participated in the game?"

"Let's take a look at these people's files first."

Lin Sizhi opened the drawer and took out the files and proposal.

He didn't have any particular emotional fluctuations at first, but when he saw the name on the file, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Because there were three people among them whom he knew.

Ding Wenqiang, Cai Zhiyuan, Wang Yongxin.

The other two were names I'd never heard of: Zhang Peng and Gao Zhankui.

Judging from the photos, Zhang Peng is a blond young man with a hairstyle similar to the "Shamate" style, and his expression naturally carries a bit of a roguish air; while Gao Zhankui is a burly and strong middle-aged man with some fat on his face and a fierce look.

After quickly flipping through the files of these individuals, Lin Sizhi's brows furrowed even deeper.

Because a second unexpected situation occurred:
The three people he knew, Ding Wenqiang, Cai Zhiyuan, and Wang Yongxin, clearly wrote down the details of the crimes and the resulting sentences; however, there was no relevant information about the other two people he didn't know.

Wang Yongxin, male, 36 years old.

[Occupation: CEO of "Express Delivery"]

The exploitation of crowdsourced delivery workers through big data algorithms has led to several serious traffic accidents and one delivery worker's death from overwork.

[Verdict: No trial held.]

Cai Zhiyuan, male, 28 years old.

Occupation: Algorithm Programmer.

[Primarily responsible for artificial intelligence, big data, and algorithm development. Led the development of the "Baichengtong" food delivery system, which has been adopted by multiple food delivery companies.]

[Verdict: No trial held.]

Ding Wenqiang, male, 53 years old.

Occupation: Large item delivery driver.

[While working as a delivery driver, he was driving while fatigued and struck a food delivery worker who ran a red light on an electric scooter, causing severe injuries that ultimately led to the worker's death.]

[Verdict: Sentenced to 1 year and 3 months imprisonment for causing a traffic accident, suspended for 2 years (he has already compensated the family with 40 yuan and obtained their forgiveness).]

Zhang Peng, male, 26 years old.

Occupation: Unemployed.

【? ? ? 】

[Verdict: ???]

Gao Zhankui, male, 45 years old.

[Occupation: Station manager of a food delivery site.]

【? ? ? 】

[Verdict: ???]

Lin Sizhi fell into deep thought.

The "crimes" of these three people are quite different from those of Wei Xinjian.

As for Wang Yongxin and Cai Zhiyuan, their "crimes" did not violate any laws; at most, they should be judged from a moral perspective.

If one were to face death as punishment in the "Arcade" game simply because of this, then there would probably be very few people in the world who are completely innocent.

As for Ding Wenqiang, his situation was slightly more serious, since he directly caused someone's death by hitting them.

However, Lin Sizhi believes the verdict is reasonable, as Ding Wenqiang has already paid a sufficient price. Ding Wenqiang's fatigue driving was most likely due to the unreasonable workload of the courier company, and a significant contributing factor to the accident was the deliveryman on the electric scooter running a red light.

This is different in nature from the kind of car accident caused by Wei Xinjian with strong malice.

As for the other two people, Lin Sizhi did not know them, nor did he know what crimes they had committed, so he could not make a judgment.

"Based on the known verdicts, there are not many problems."

"So... should we choose to do nothing and give up on this game?"

If we follow the corridor's logic, since these people don't need to be tried, then there's no need to design games or submit proposals; they can just do nothing.

But that would mean giving up the design rights for this round of the game.

Lin Sizhi fell into deep thought, quickly listing the advantages and disadvantages of the two decisions in his mind.

If you don't participate in designing this trial game, you can naturally stay out of it and enjoy your leisure time without any burden in the next few days.

But this also meant Lin Sizhi couldn't guess what game the arcade would ultimately choose.

There is a possibility that a high-risk death game will be chosen, resulting in the deaths of Wang Yongxin, Cai Zhiyuan, and Ding Wenqiang.

Of course, Lin Sizhi did not have any extra moral burden or meaningless guilt. Even if this situation really happened, he did not think that his "inaction" caused the deaths of these three people.

But for Lin Sizhi, participating in the design of this trial game had other meanings.

On the one hand, the deaths of the three may weaken the entire 17th community, and if there are community-to-community battles in the future, the 17th community may be at a disadvantage.

On the other hand, designing this game also helps Lin Sizhi better understand the hidden rules of the "Corridor".

To others who are unaware of the truth, the "Arcade" or the "Imitation of God" are equally dangerous and deadly.

But Lin Sizhi knew very well that as the game's designer, whether the game could determine the fate of other players depended entirely on whether it was recognized by the game arcade.

In other words, a copycat of God must figure out the arcade's intentions, figure out what kind of games will be encouraged, and design them accordingly in order to ensure that his game is selected.

Otherwise, this identity would have no other meaning other than bringing some unexpected dangers to oneself.

In the first two instances, the reason why Lin Sizhi's games were recognized by the game gallery and even received high praise was not necessarily because his games were perfect, but perhaps because they just happened to meet the deeper requirements of the game gallery.

However, the intentions behind the covered walkway are complex and far from being truly understood.

Therefore, Lin Sizhi believed that he should not give up this opportunity.

“Design a game with less severe punishments, roughly matching known crimes.”

"If the arcade selects my game, then the survival rate of the three of them will be improved."

"If the arcade didn't choose my game, I'll still consider it an effort."

After making up her mind, Lin Sizhi took the game design document to review it.

The format is the same as before, except that the list of available items has changed compared to the previous two times.

Two of the most striking changes are among them.

[2. Five sets of freely designable mechanisms.]

8. Case-related videotapes: 5 sets.

Compared to the previous two cases, the props in this case have a much higher degree of freedom.

"Videos related to the case?"

Lin Sizhi tried to flip through the pages, but the information did not explain the specific contents of these videotapes.

In other words, he still couldn't know the specific crimes committed by Zhang Peng and Gao Zhankui, and could only guess.

"Since these five people were arranged to play the same game, and there are related videotapes, it means..."

"The crimes committed by these five individuals are most likely related to some extent."

"Food delivery, express delivery, algorithms, traffic accidents..."

"Did Wang Yong's newly opened food delivery company use the algorithm program developed by Cai Zhiyuan?"

"But the two of them don't know each other and are obviously not in the same company."

"That makes sense, since Wang Yongxin claims to be a 'startup boss,' and this food delivery platform isn't particularly well-known; it's probably still in its early stages. And the algorithm program developed by Cai Zhiyuan was likely sold to more than one food delivery platform."

"Algorithms exploit delivery workers, increasing the risks."

"As for Ding Wenqiang, he is a courier, and judging from the circumstances of the accident, he was probably driving a small truck or similar vehicle, and he was probably delivering relatively large items."

"The only thing the three of them had in common was that they were food delivery drivers."

Lin Sizhi tapped the table lightly, and many possibilities flashed through his mind.

After much deliberation, Lin Sizhi wrote down the name of the game he had conceived: "Life and Death Straight Line".

(End of this chapter)