The countdown on the big screen came to an end.

[The New World will enter the ’next stage.’]

[All communities have been ’fully updated.’]

[Due to Community 17 choosing the third option in the special reward, and players returning to the real world, it will give up all current community achievements and reorganize. ]

[The part of the community fund that can be freely drawn has been refunded to your private visas according to the initial amount.]

[Please, all players remaining, take your personal belongings and leave the current community within an hour, and choose another community to join at will.]

In fact, it had only been less than an hour since everyone left, but to Lin Sizhi, it seemed like a long time had passed.

Lin Sizhi returned to the second floor, preparing to enter his room to quickly tidy up his belongings.

However, before he pushed open the door to his room, he paused for a moment, then turned to look at the doors of the other rooms.

He realized that after entering the ’second stage,’ the community seemed to have undergone some changes: the number of rooms on the second floor had changed from 12 to 14.

The layout of the entire second floor was quite peculiar, somewhat like a maze, with the doors of rooms with different numbers not arranged sequentially, avoiding any door-to-door or shared corridor situations.

This, however, resulted in a shift in the layout as two new rooms were added, which Lin Sizhi immediately noticed.

However, no matter what, after entering the second stage, Community 17 would likely welcome a new batch of players.

After quickly going through the room, Lin Sizhi realized he actually had very little to carry, with the only truly valuable item being the white paper with everyone’s contact information written on it.

The notice board in the room simply stated the points of note:

All daily necessities, clothing, etc., can be self-purchased after entering a new community; all information updated on the original computer will be cleared and transferred to the new computer after moving into a new community.

Of course, players can also choose to take away a small number of personal items, including some clothing and sundries, or valuable items or collectibles purchased in the community.

Lin Sizhi bought a small suitcase from the vending machine and quickly packed up.

At the entrance of the community, he looked back one last time at the small building of Community 17, then scanned his visa to leave.

Outside the community was still a scene reminiscent of a modern bustling city, with neatly trimmed greenery, hardened roads without any dirt or cracks, and a series of small communities along the roadside.

However, compared to the previous situation, the scale of these communities seemed slightly expanded, with comprehensive community buildings appearing more spacious due to the standard number of players changing from 12 to 14.

At this point, Lin Sizhi could also opt to turn back directly, return to Community 17, and become Player No. 1, but he thought it over and decided to leave the choice to fate.

He wandered aimlessly down the road, intending to randomly join a community.

The outsides of these communities did not have any numbers written on them; only upon entering could the specific community number be determined.

However, there was one thing that caught Lin Sizhi’s attention: along the way, he did see a few players, but none of them were familiar faces.

Moreover, these players didn’t know each other either, all maintaining their distance.

Some, like Lin Sizhi, were carrying small suitcases, while others were empty-handed.

Lin Sizhi’s gaze swept over the faces of a few passersby, forming some guesses.

"According to the Walkway’s statement, in the second stage, the borders of the Walkway will expand, allowing new players to be matched, and the numbering of Communities 1 to 20 may change, along with potential changes in the community’s personnel structure.

"This means that the original Community 1 may no longer be Community 1.

"The original ’Communities 1 to 20’ could be viewed as one large region; at the end of the first stage, some stronger communities might maintain a full roster, but the number of players in those edge communities might barely be half, leading to many vacancies.

"Thus, the New World will most likely merge two to three large regions.

"The passersby I see now are probably players originally belonging to other regions.

"As for those ’familiar faces’ from my original region, they might not have left the community either because the structure did not undergo significant changes or because they were deliberately placed by the Walkway in different locations within the same region."

Lin Sizhi made these inferences and associations instinctively, though he didn’t care much about the matching mechanism specifics, since it was entirely controlled by the Walkway, and players did not have a choice.

After walking for a while, Lin Sizhi turned a corner and casually entered a nearby community that was not yet closed.

The notice board at the entrance still displayed prominent information: "Submit visa, process check-in."

Familiar with the process, Lin Sizhi extended his left hand for scanning at the window, and a prompt quickly appeared on the screen.

[Visa reviewed and approved.]

[Lin Sizhi, welcome to Community 2.]

[You are Player No. 12 in Community 2, please move into the corresponding room number and comply with community rules for related activities.]

[Compared to the initial community rules you are familiar with, the new community rules have slight changes, please check them on your own.]

Lin Sizhi stepped towards the hallway entrance; there was no message indicating ’Community is full and automatically closed.’

Someone was already there, waiting to greet.

"Welcome, welcome!"

A middle-aged man who looked to be in his early forties greeted warmly, extending his hand to shake with Lin Sizhi.

His hand was dry and firm, giving a sense of reliability.

"Let me introduce myself; my name is Lu Bingjun, welcome to Community 2!

"Since you have a suitcase, you must be an old player, right?"

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Yes."

Lu Bingjun seemed delighted: "Great, we welcome both new and old players.

"To be honest, we don’t have much of a clue about the second stage yet, but don’t worry, Community 2 was also considered a victor in the previous stage.

"Feel free to sit in the hall or settle into your room; I’ll be waiting for the other new members.

"We’ll provide a detailed situation briefing later on."

Lin Sizhi nodded and followed Lu Bingjun’s guidance to the main hall.

There were already about eight or nine players, both male and female, of varying ages, in the hall. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

After briefly nodding to them, Lin Sizhi headed to the second floor, settling into his Room 12.

The situation in the room had not changed much from before; Lin Sizhi confirmed a few things.

The special functions of the laptop, as an Imitator, were still available.

The visa times queried on the vending machine also remained as previously set, with the portion earned under the Imitator identity in a hidden state.

Though the room’s specific layout had changed slightly, becoming a bit more spacious, it was essentially the same as before.

After a quick tidying up, Lin Sizhi returned to the main hall.

Coincidentally, a prompt appeared on the big screen.

[The visa review for the last player in Community 2 is complete, the community is fully occupied and automatically closed, no new players will be accepted.]