Chapter 552: Wisdom from Experience

Bai Zhilan explained, "I'm not bluffing, and I'm not trying to trick you.

"If that's what you're thinking, and you consider holding out and pushing through a few more rounds, it won't be good for either of us.

"So let me just lay it out plainly. Here's why I've come to this conclusion."

Bai Zhilan paused briefly and continued, "You met with me in the third, fifth, and seventh rounds.

"In the first round, you most likely went to see the other Sales player.

"In the second round, you probably went to see one of the Doctors.

"The meeting choices in the first three rounds don't tell you much, because no player knows who they'll be meeting before they open the door. There's a certain randomness to it.

"But every meeting after that will reflect your most urgent needs.

"Because in the current room structure, the Reviewer holds the highest position. Whether you want to see the Sales player or the Doctor, as long as you send a request, the other party will almost certainly accept.

"In the fifth round, I deliberately traded you a bottle with swapped-out tablets. There were actually two different purposes behind that.

"First, I needed to confirm whether you had discovered the secret about the tablets themselves.

"You chose to negotiate and buy the bottle at a very low price. That was the wrong reaction.

"If you had no way of verifying whether the tablets were genuine, the right move would have been to refuse the transaction outright.

"So I confirmed that you already know how to identify these tablets.

"Second, I needed to gauge exactly how strong your need for Type M actually was.

"If you had already secured a stable supply of Type M from the other Sales player, there would be no reason for you to keep meeting with me at all.

"Even if you did meet with me, you could simply lay your cards on the table and refuse any negotiation until I voluntarily handed over Type M.

"But you chose to keep pretending you didn't know anything, and that gave you away.

"There's one more thing..."

Bai Zhilan paused briefly and went on, "Something that further confirmed my suspicion.

"According to the game rules, a Sales player must have submitted a large amount of visa time before entering the game.

"Other players might mistakenly assume that because we're under greater sales pressure, we're actually more likely to give in, especially given the rule that Sales players have no way of meeting each other.

"But it's precisely the opposite. Because we've already committed such a large amount of visa time, we cannot afford to walk away with only a small profit.

"We have no choice but to maximise our returns.

"I believe the Imitator who designed this game must have embedded certain conditions into the Selection mechanism to ensure that the players filtered into the 'Sales' role are all the same kind of person.

"And I know very well how that kind of person thinks.

"So even though I've never met the other Sales player, and have no way of communicating with him right now, I can still say with confidence that he will make the same choice I have.

"Which is to refuse to sell Type M under any circumstances."

Bai Zhilan kept her eyes on Zheng Chunhua's expression as she spoke.

"If this reasoning holds, then in the end, we Sales players will certainly win.

"Because as the game progresses, the number of Infected players will keep growing.

"Ordinary medication is simply not enough to suppress the pain.

"Besides Type M, Type O and Type F can also achieve complete pain relief, even though their side effects are considerably more serious.

"Without Type M, you will either watch patients die one by one from the agony, or be forced to buy Type O and Type F.

"And it's not only patients who can become Infected. Reviewers and Doctors are at risk as well.

"You will also need Special Medication.

"Of course, as Sales, I can set aside a small amount of Type M for you, so that you can treat your pain without having to take on too great a risk of side effects.

"All we're doing, really, is earning Medical Points together from the ordinary patients."

Zheng Chunhua swallowed quietly and said nothing.

He now understood completely why his identity in this game was called 'Reviewer.'

From a mechanical standpoint, he did not actually review anything at all.

He was nothing more than a middleman, collecting medication from Sales and passing it to the Doctor. He had no instrument for testing medication and no professional knowledge to assess it with.

And yet the position he occupied was the one in the entire game that could not be bypassed.

Within a given zone, there were two Sales players, two Doctors, and six patients, which meant any one of those identities could theoretically be worked around.

Only the Reviewer existed as a single point.

And only the Reviewer could, through their own choices alone, determine the fate of every player in their zone.

Bai Zhilan's manner was relaxed, "Uncle, I can see you're an upright sort of person. You're probably the dependable, selfless type in your community too. In this game, you must be carrying a heavy moral burden.

"It's natural that you're wrestling with your conscience.

"So I won't push you any further. I wouldn't want to come across as some kind of demon trying to tempt you into corruption.

"I'll just leave you with one thought. An Advantage Identity like this doesn't come along in every game.

"If you spend this game finding every way to protect the ordinary players, and end up with very little to show for it yourself...

"The version of you in the future will regret it. That's something I'm saying from personal experience."

The round was drawing to a close.

Bai Zhilan said nothing more. She stood and prepared to leave.

"Uncle, when you've made up your mind, send me a request.

"I'll be waiting."

...

Ye Lin entered the Review Room where Zone B's Reviewer, Xu Yiheng, was waiting.

Just as the last time they had met, Xu Yiheng was polite as ever, and his handsome features made it easy to feel warmly toward him.

"Have you had a chance to think things over?" Ye Lin sat down across from him.

Xu Yiheng said, "I went to see both Doctors and got a general sense of their thinking.

"But, well, I'm a little sorry about this. I'm not quite sure how to bring it up."

Ye Lin looked at him and said, "It's fine. Just say it directly."

Xu Yiheng hesitated slightly, then continued, "They're only willing to purchase Type M at 1,200 per bottle. And they don't need much to begin with. Four bottles is enough to start with.

"I asked whether there was any room for flexibility on price or quantity, since there are so many links in the chain between Sales, Reviewer, Doctor, and patient, and it makes sense for each link to have some margin.

"But the two of them had surprisingly identical positions. Both said there was absolutely no room."

Ye Lin's brow furrowed slightly. The two Reviewers she had been dealing with, Xu Yiheng and Shen Qingyun, had different knowledge backgrounds and different approaches to the game, yet they had arrived at the same answer.

That was not good news for her.

Even so, Ye Lin had seen enough difficult situations over time that she was not about to give up this easily.

"I'm sorry, but 1,200 was a goodwill price for the first meeting. It can't stay that way going forward.

"I think I've shown considerable goodwill on this, and I'm almost certainly more cooperative than the other Sales player.

"Four bottles of Type M at 1,200, these are conditions I can't accept.

"These two Doctors don't seem to have grasped the situation.

"It's the patients and Doctors who need the medication I'm carrying. I'm not the one begging them to buy it."

Xu Yiheng also looked a little sheepish and said, "Yes, yes, you're right. I understand that."