Shen Bowen was somewhat surprised, but said nothing.

Although the big screen could no longer be used to query the corresponding game rules, as veteran players, everyone surely remembered the first game they participated in and could describe it roughly.

So, if they wished, the three could still compare ’Flower Brick Poker,’ ’Puzzle Poker,’ and ’Blood Poker’ to find similarities and differences, which might provide new information.

However, Lu Bingjun seemed to abandon this plan.

This might be because Lu Bingjun couldn’t fully trust Shen Bowen and Lin Sizhi yet and couldn’t be sure if their described rules were completely accurate.

If there were discrepancies in the wording of some rules, it might mislead others.

Moreover, the experiences from the first stage might not be applicable in this stage.

Lin Sizhi had already asked one question, so Lu Bingjun turned to Shen Bowen.

After brief consideration, Shen Bowen said, "I’d like to ask how many players originally led the teams in the community games, and who they are."

Lu Bingjun raised his hand to point at a female player with a high nose, deep-set eyes, and angular face: "The core players in the community’s games are me and Ye Lin."

Lin Sizhi had some recollection of this player number 8, Ye Lin. Her aura was the strongest among all female players, although she hadn’t spoken much, her distinctive temperament and appearance still made her presence felt.

She introduced herself as a blogger, a profession that doesn’t offer structural advantages in the game. However, it was evident that becoming a game core depended more on personal ability, with the knowledge system merely playing a supporting role.

Lu Bingjun added: "Of course, once we enter the second stage, we may face many new challenges, so the community structure will inevitably change and won’t remain constant.

"If everyone performs well in the games, we can also consider setting up a third core, a fourth core, giving everyone a chance.

"In short, since we’ve entered the second stage, we should look forward and adapt to such changes as much as possible.

"Our community must strive to be the winner of the second stage."

This statement could be understood as a reassurance to the five ’outsiders,’ making promises of ’sharing the pie based on in-game performance.’

However, it might not be an empty promise but rather a possible one to fulfill.

After all, the community has grown, and having a third or fourth core in the game is entirely reasonable.

Huang Shengjie was still observing the surroundings in the community. Among the three players entering the New World for the first time, he seemed the most curious and active.

Unlike the slender and taciturn Qin Cheng, Huang Shengjie, although appearing disheveled and somewhat sleepy at first glance, once energized, seemed like a different person, more fitting the ’energetic young person’ definition.

"When I entered the community and scanned the wristband, I saw on the screen that we must follow the community rules and not violate them.

"Otherwise, visa time might be deducted or we might be deported.

"What are these rules specifically?"

Lu Bingjun looked at the big screen: "Retrieve ’Player Behavior Guidelines.’

Soon, the relevant information appeared on the big screen.

In the previous stage, when players first entered the community, the big screen would automatically announce the corresponding guidelines.

But afterwards, as new players joined, the announcements stopped, and introductions were done by veteran players.

Lin Sizhi reviewed these rules again from start to finish, and they were almost completely identical to before.

They still fell into ’Basic Life Guidelines,’ ’Community Activity Guidelines,’ and ’Walkway Judgment Guidelines’ sections.

Lu Bingjun took the opportunity to explain the specific rules to Qin Cheng, Lu Qi, and Huang Shengjie, the three players entering the New World for the first time.

However, Lin Sizhi noticed that among many rules, there was a supplementary rule never seen before.

[This stage contains a unique ’negative state.’]

[Every three days, three players will be randomly selected from the half with the least personal visa time in the community to endure the ’negative state.’]

[As the game progresses, interval time, selected player numbers, selection rules, etc., may change.]

Qin Cheng also noticed this, asking, "What is the ’negative state’?"

Lu Bingjun shook his head: "I’m not sure, this rule was not present before."

He looked at Lin Sizhi and Shen Bowen and received the same negative answer from them.

It was apparent that this was a new rule appearing only in the second stage.

Everyone fell into brief silence, obviously having no clues, and all believed this vague rule wasn’t a positive sign.

Ye Lin, the community’s other game core, furrowed her brows: "The appearance of this rule might imply that we should consider adjusting the community fund proposal."

She paused slightly, then continued explaining: "Although it’s not clear what the ’negative state’ specifically is, since the community explicitly included it in the rules, it certainly isn’t an irrelevant punishment.

"The rule mandates dividing players based on personal visa time, with the half having more visa time completely unaffected, while the half with less visa time might be randomly selected to receive this ’negative state.’

"If the visa time remains low, one might be continuously selected due to bad luck until the visa time enters the half with more.

"But when one person moves up, another is pushed down, which remains a constant half-and-half process.

"We initially allowed players to gain more voice by paying additional community funds, but this rule’s emergence might severely impact everyone’s willingness to contribute to the community fund."

It was evident that Community 2 had achieved certain community construction results in the previous stage’s games, establishing the system of contributing community funds.

But from Ye Lin’s statement, the confirmed contribution method clearly wasn’t just a fixed proportion but rather a later emergence of a ’strong player’s voluntary extra deposit’ approach seen in Community 17.

Meaning, strong players, after gaining more visa time in the game, donate it to the community in exchange for greater voice power.

Consequently, Community 2 players’ personal visa times might not fully match their in-game performances.

Some players may perform well in the game but have little remaining visa time due to large donations.

The appearance of the new rule might cause those who donate more to ironically fall into a ’negative state’ due to insufficient personal visa time.

Ye Lin showed a keen sensitivity to the rules, aligning with her position as the community game core.

However, Lu Bingjun didn’t directly agree to this plan or consider making immediate changes to the community fund rules.