In the evening, Lin Sizhi returned to his room and took out the game planning book once again.

It was clear that the first game invitation from Walkway and the newly added rules in the Community were closely linked. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It could be said that the theme of the second phase of Walkway was likely "pain," and it was expected to persist throughout.

The first game might just be a rehearsal.

Lin Sizhi came up with a few different plans, but for now, he couldn’t decide which one was better.

However, upon seeing the prompt on the computer screen, he realized that he might not need to consider this issue anymore.

[The current highest bid price is: 1.19 million minutes of visa time.]

In just one day, an Imitator offered an astronomical price of 1.19 million minutes of visa time, almost killing the competition.

Lin Sizhi tapped the table lightly, lost in thought.

Behind the number 1.19 million, there was actually a lot of information hidden.

From the current situation, it seemed that the second stage of Walkway was likely formed by merging three or more "regions."

Therefore, in other regions, the strongest Imitators would inevitably emerge.

If the game time and number of game sessions in these regions were similar, then the strongest Imitators would accumulate roughly equal visa time.

They should all range between 1 million and 2 million.

However, at the end of the first phase, Walkway updated the "point kill at 1 million" rule, and some Imitators would choose to point kill, while others would not.

Whether an Imitator would spend 1 million visa time to point kill someone depended entirely on whether there was a highly vigilant opponent in their region that they felt must be eliminated.

And now, since this Imitator could bid 1.19 million minutes of visa time, it meant that he either earned a high 2.19 million visa time, or there was no matching opponent in the first phase of his region, so he didn’t use the point kill rule and still ended the game.

Regardless of the situation, it was enough to show that this was a formidable opponent.

Of course, Lin Sizhi did not necessarily think he was stronger than himself.

Because the performance of players and Imitators also depends on the overall strength within the region.

If there were no opponents of the same level in the region, then for a strong Imitator, it would be like fishing in a pond, earning 2 million or even more visa time wouldn’t be difficult.

But in any case, this Imitator directly wagered a million visa time in the first game of the second phase just to bid for the design qualification of the game, proving his determination and highlighting the importance of this game.

Lin Sizhi didn’t have that much visa time now, so he naturally didn’t need to dwell on this issue anymore.

"Then let me see what kind of game the top Imitators from other regions can come up with."

...

...

Two days later.

Lin Sizhi still got up at a fixed time as usual and came to the hall for breakfast.

The atmosphere in the hall had changed a bit compared to before.

Wen Wan was crying on Zhou Wanlin’s shoulder, and Zhou Wanlin was gently patting her, softly comforting.

No one else spoke.

Last night, three more players were selected and experienced severe pain at dawn.

Due to previous adjustments, the list of the last seven players changed, so the selected players this time were Wen Wan, He Qinyun, and Zheng Chunhua.

Wen Wan seemed to be the most tormented; her hair was a mess, her eyes red and swollen from crying, leaning on Zhou Wanlin’s shoulder sobbing uncontrollably, as if the sky had fallen.

Product manager He Qinyun’s condition was slightly better.

Among the many female players in the second Community, He Qinyun was not particularly noticeable in appearance, rarely wore makeup or dressed up, and usually had little presence.

At this moment, her face was very pale, looking like she had endured some torment, but not crying like Wen Wan.

As for the middle school teacher in his forties, Zheng Chunhua, he originally had the image of a timid and unassuming good guy, now showing no apparent change from before.

With a dark complexion and a face full of wrinkles, no change in facial expression could be discerned.

Lu Bingjun had also arrived in the hall.

He saw Wen Wan crying continuously but did not step forward to comfort her, instead quietly picking up breakfast and finding a place to sit down.

Qin Cheng was sitting opposite Zheng Chunhua, slowly drinking porridge as before, and asked: "How do you feel after taking the painkillers?

"If compared to the pain levels of diseases you’ve experienced before, roughly what level would it be?"

Qin Cheng still chose to stay among the last seven people voluntarily, but this time he was not selected, so he couldn’t confirm the effect of the painkiller.

He knew that relying solely on Zheng Chunhua’s description might not be accurate, since everyone’s tolerance to pain differed, but there was no other way in a short time.

Zheng Chunhua said: "It really hurt during the attack, but now thinking back, it’s actually okay.

"I had kidney stones before, and compared to that, kidney stones were more painful, and much more.

"Of course, it might be that the painkiller worked."

Qin Cheng was thoughtful: "Then, the preliminary conclusion is that Ibuprofen should still have some effect."

Lu Bingjun was drawn to their conversation, leaned in slightly: "Hmm? Dr. Qin, did you discover something new?"

Other nearby players also tried not to make any noise, listening intently.

Qin Cheng explained: "For pain grading, the most widely used clinically is NRS, or the numerical rating scale, roughly dividing pain into 0-10 points.

"1-3 is mild pain, 4-6 is moderate pain, and 7-10 is severe pain.

"Inability to sleep, curled up body, profuse sweating, these are all typical features of severe pain.

"From my previous experience, without taking painkillers, the severe pain we encountered was probably severe pain, similar to kidney stone pain.

"Since Uncle Zheng said kidney stones were more painful, it indicates that the painkiller had a certain effect.

"So, this is a relatively optimistic conclusion."

Deng Xiao’s mouth twitched slightly: "Severe pain, yet still optimistic?"

Qin Cheng nodded: "Certainly, because fundamentally, Ibuprofen can only relieve pain related to inflammation, so clinically it is usually used for mild pain ranging from 1-3 points, very limited for severe pain.

"Besides ’Ibuprofen effectively relieves pain,’ there are actually two worse possibilities:

"One is even more extreme pain, such as pancreatitis, bone cancer, liver cancer pain that can even directly cause shock, in which case Ibuprofen as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug might be ineffective, and only strong opioid medication can suppress it, which would be much more troublesome.

"The Community currently doesn’t have those drugs.

"Another possibility is that the pain as a punitive mechanism within the Community is very special, rendering Ibuprofen ineffective.

"Now from Uncle Zheng’s description, being able to suppress severe pain to moderate pain is considered an optimistic result.

"Of course, since everyone’s tolerance to pain is different, further observation is needed.

"After all, if Uncle Zheng had kidney stones, he might naturally have a higher tolerance for pain, causing a shift in pain perception."