Chapter 606: Earnings

In Community 2's hall, Yao Yuan was sitting at the long table with a book, but had not turned a page in a very long time.

His attention was entirely fixed on the game rules displayed on the large screen.

As the holder of the First Player Identity Card, Lu Bingjun had the ability to decline a game invitation once every thirty days. That ability had already finished its cooldown, but could not be used this time.

Because this was a game with a judgment nature, and such games could not be refused.

Even so, communities whose First Player held the Identity Card would see the game's basic rules synchronised on the community's large screen, regardless of whether the First Player was inside the game.

So while the other players could not see what was actually happening in the game, they could still make reasonable inferences from the basic rules.

Before entering the game, Deng Xiao and Lu Bingjun's first instinct had clearly been to have Yao Yuan enter as the audience representative.

But Yao Yuan, after thinking it over, had ultimately chosen to give that opportunity to Lin Sizhi.

Because this game was genuinely too important, and Community 2's immunity voucher had not yet finished its cooldown.

If something went wrong and Lu Bingjun died inside the game, it would be nothing short of catastrophic for Community 2 as a whole.

Yao Yuan had read through the game rules many times. He had tried to identify the loopholes, worked through what strategy he would have taken if he had entered himself, and had not been entirely able to suppress a certain degree of hindsight regret.

Caught between anxiety and waiting, time had passed slowly.

Then suddenly he was on his feet, because Lu Bingjun and Lin Sizhi had returned to the hall.

A shattered bracelet dropped onto the long table with a soft clatter.

The other players who had been waiting anxiously in the hall converged around them immediately.

"Lu Bingjun! Are you alright?"

"You're not injured?"

"Wait, where's Deng Xiao?"

"Yes, where is he?"

Yao Yuan picked the shattered bracelet up from the table. In an instant, everyone understood what had happened.

The hall fell into silence. No one knew what to say.

The result of the game appeared on the large screen.

[The following announces Community 2's final visa time earnings from 'A Single Word to Settle a Case.']

[Player 3 Deng Xiao: Deported]

[Player 5 Lu Bingjun: 417,283]

[Player 12 Lin Sizhi: 166,913]

[Per community rules, 30% of net game earnings will be added to the Community Development Fund. The remaining visa time will be credited to each player's individual account.]

Looking at those numbers, many players were stunned for a moment.

Even with a death having occurred, the earnings were genuinely extraordinary.

Lu Bingjun's expression was not good either. He looked around at everyone, then at Lin Sizhi.

"Lin and I are both a little tired. We're going to rest for a while.

"After lunch, I'll walk everyone through what happened in the game."

The others all nodded.

"Of course. You both worked hard. Please rest."

Whatever else had happened, the fact that Lu Bingjun had returned safely from a Judgment Game was an outcome everyone could live with.

Lu Bingjun looked at Lin Sizhi once more, then turned and made his way toward the stairs.

Lin Sizhi understood immediately and, without saying anything, followed.

On the second floor, Lu Bingjun walked a little further in and then stopped.

"Lawyer Lin. Thank you for your help in the game.

"There are certain things, however, that I hope we can leave unspoken between us.

"You are very important to this community. I am already very clear on that, and I hope you have no doubt about it."

His words were vague and offered little in the way of specific meaning. They had the quality of something deliberately left in a haze.

But Lin Sizhi nodded and said, "I understand what you mean."

Lu Bingjun hesitated for a moment. He appeared to want to explain further, or perhaps to secure something more explicit, such as a clear commitment.

But in the end, he said nothing more, and simply nodded, "Good. Get some rest."

That afternoon.

The players of Community 2 gathered at the long table in the hall and began the debrief for this game.

Lu Bingjun gave a broad account of the full course of events.

Most players in the community had already read through the game's rules and given them some thought beforehand, but hearing the specifics of what had actually happened still left most of them visibly shaken.

It was clear that the process and the outcome had still exceeded many people's expectations.

"That was roughly how the game went.

"I find myself in a complicated state of mind right now, and I'm not sure where to start.

"Does anyone have thoughts or questions?"

Lu Bingjun looked around at everyone.

Huang Shengjie glanced at Qin Cheng and they exchanged a brief look.

This debrief felt somewhat different from the one after the Pain Game.

Both had been run by Lu Bingjun, but the last time he had controlled the pace and direction of the discussion almost entirely from start to finish, with every topic handled in a carefully managed way that had left almost no room for other players to ask questions or discuss things freely.

This time, things were different.

Wen Wan's eyes were faintly red and swollen, as though she had been quietly crying during the lunch break.

"I still don't understand. How did Deng Xiao actually die?

"Wasn't Xu Guangxin the one who endured chest pain at the end? Why did Deng Xiao die?"

Ye Lin gently patted her hand in comfort, "Because Deng Xiao also received Sudden Death Votes.

"Xu Guangxin receiving chest pain only indicated that he had the most votes, not that he received all of them.

"From what can be inferred about the actual situation in the game, Xu Guangxin likely received only two votes.

"Lu Bingjun, who did you vote for?"

Lu Bingjun was quiet for a moment, "Li Hui."

Wen Wan looked puzzled, "Why? Lawyer Lin had already exposed Xu Guangxin as the Impostor. Why not just vote for him directly?"

Yao Yuan looked at her, "Wen Wan, think it through.

"Lu Bingjun's choice was correct. You could even say it was the only choice.

"Let's work through the actual vote distribution.

"Deng Xiao and Li Hui's two votes almost certainly went to Xu Guangxin. That's clear enough.

"Because both of them were in the worst physical condition, already on the edge of death, and there was no room for complicated thinking.

"But here's the problem: could this round's votes have killed Xu Guangxin?

"The answer is no. Even four Sudden Death Votes plus one bout of chest pain would not have been enough to kill him.

"And the moment the next round began, Xu Guangxin as the Impostor would end the game immediately. At that point, all surviving players' hearts would be healed and everyone would leave safely."

Wen Wan paused, "But if everyone's votes had gone to Xu Guangxin, at least no one else would have died."

Yao Yuan explained, "In theory, yes. But Shi Guoliang clearly didn't see it that way.

"Who do you think cast the Sudden Death Vote that went to Deng Xiao? It could only have been Shi Guoliang.

"From Shi Guoliang's perspective, since killing Xu Guangxin was impossible regardless of how the votes fell, his optimal play was to cast that one vote to finish off Deng Xiao.

"Because when Deng Xiao died, three hundred percent of the visa time he was carrying would be distributed among the surviving players as a reward.

"That is a number that is very hard to ignore.

"In other words, the moment Shi Guoliang decided to vote for Deng Xiao, this outcome was already sealed.

"Lu Bingjun had no power to change that.

"The only thing he could do was vote for Li Hui in return, as an equal act of retaliation."