Earlier.

Huang Shengjie from Zone C couldn’t wait for the ’Consultation Room’ door to open and could only head somewhat disappointedly towards the ’Rest Area’.

The layout of the rest area was even simpler than a regular patient’s room, with only six extremely basic folding chairs placed randomly in the room.

On one side of the rest area’s wall were six different doors, with the two at the farthest ends looking distinctly more elaborately decorated, marked ’VIP Patients’, while the four middle doors looked ordinary.

The other three walls had nothing at all. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Additionally, in the corner of the room were four special machines of two different kinds, two of each type.

Huang Shengjie immediately stepped forward to examine them briefly.

Two of them were vending machines, selling only one product.

[Type I Painkillers]

[2 pills per bottle.]

[Price: 800 Medical Points.]

[During each game round, each machine is limited to selling 2 bottles, and each player is limited to purchasing 1 bottle.]

The other type of machine also had two units, each with two screens and two zones for swiping Medical Cards. The screens displayed transaction amount dialogs, indicating their involvement in transactional behavior.

There were also such machines in the Consultation Room, but as Huang Shengjie hadn’t entered yet, it was his first time seeing them.

Soon, including Huang Shengjie, four players gradually entered the rest area.

They kept a wary social distance from one another, and each checked out the functions of the two types of machines from a distance or up close.

For the time being, no one sat on the folding chairs in the room; everyone was thinking.

Huang Shengjie knew they were most likely pondering the same question as him:

To buy the medicine or not?

"The game rules clearly indicated that players could buy ’basic medicines’ identical to those used by doctors in the rest area, although much pricier than from the doctor.

"According to the community pricing, 800 medical points were equivalent to 800 minutes of visa time, and the actual purchasing power of 1 minute of visa time was roughly comparable to 1 yuan. Considering that visa time equals life, it’s even more precious than 1 yuan in reality.

"In other words, I would spend 800 yuan to buy two painkillers, and it’s very likely I could get them from the doctor at a much lower price!

"If doctors maliciously hike up prices or refuse to sell it to me, then I can only buy from the rest area, by which time there might be no other choice;

"But if doctors are willing to sell at a not-so-exorbitant price, buying now would certainly be a loss.

"Moreover, the game rule mentioned that sharing any equipment with an ’Infected’ might lead to infection."

Huang Shengjie’s mind whirled rapidly as he stood in front of the vending machine, increasingly feeling the scorching gazes of other players.

At that moment, a female player stepped up to another vending machine and purchased a bottle of painkillers.

Huang Shengjie rapidly made a decision, swiping his Medical Card at his vending machine to purchase a bottle of ’Type I Painkillers’ as well.

Then, the two players positioned behind them quickly completed their purchases too.

The remaining four-bottle inventory in the two vending machines was instantly emptied.

The player who had entered the room last and stood the furthest back couldn’t buy any medicine.

Huang Shengjie carefully stored the medication and quickly glanced at the name tags worn by these players.

The female player who decided to buy the painkillers earlier than him was [Community 11 - Qian Li].

The two players queuing behind him were a man and a woman, [Community 8 - Du Peng] and [Community 23 - Zhou Xiaoying] respectively.

The player who was unable to buy any medicine was [Community 14 - Zhang Yuan].

As the only player who couldn’t get any medicine, Zhang Yuan should have felt very regretful at this moment, but from his expression, he didn’t seem too flustered and his psychological resilience seemed decent.

After all, violence was prohibited in the game, so there was nothing he could do at the moment other than accept the situation calmly.

Looking on the bright side, patients had multiple ways to obtain medication. Buying medicine directly from the rest area in the first round of the game might be an advantage, or it could just make one a complete fool.

So no one said more, just sat in the folding chairs to pass the time, waiting for the game round to end.

Everyone was observing each other’s name tags on their chests, but it was clear they all came from different communities and didn’t know each other, so no one spoke, keeping a polite social distance.

Someone even subconsciously moved their folding chair a bit back.

Huang Shengjie looked at the white medicine bottle in his hand, feeling somewhat relieved.

"Luckily, I secured a bottle of medicine in hand, albeit overpriced, but at least it’s a safety net.

"According to the game rules, ’Infected’ will randomly appear every hour. Similarly, ordinary pain that cannot be effectively relieved over time may develop into ’special pain’, transforming into an ’Infected’.

"From this rule, it can be inferred that only during the first round of the game can one be certain there are no Infected players, making it absolutely safe to buy medicine.

"So ultimately, buying medicine now might not be a financial loss."

After a period of silence, a player spoke up.

Huang Shengjie looked at her name tag on her chest: [Community 11 - Qian Li].

In Huang Shengjie’s memory, she had come out from the ’VIP Patients’ room on the far left, while no one had emerged from the ’VIP Patients’ room on the far right.

She was also the first female player to purchase medicine from a vending machine.

"The Imitator who designed this game deliberately arranged a ’Rest Area’ that all patients can enter, clearly hoping for us to discuss something.

"If no one else has any good ideas, I’ll say a few words first to get the ball rolling.

"Veteran players in Walkway all know that game rules directly determine the optimal game strategy.

"And looking at this game’s rules, there are three types of players we must be wary of:

"The first type is "Doctors".

"The second type is "Infected".

"The third type is players who didn’t appear in the Rest Area in the first few rounds.

"Besides these three types, the rest of the patients, namely those of us currently meeting in the Rest Area, form a natural community of shared interests. Only by banding together and cooperating can we achieve the optimal solution in this game."

Huang Shengjie didn’t quite grasp it, unsure how Qian Li arrived at this conclusion.

He instinctively wanted to ask why but held back because no one else spoke.

Asking rashly might expose himself as a newcomer who knew nothing.

So, like the others, he stayed silent and listened.

Qian Li continued, "I’m not sure if anyone here is a new player who just entered in the second phase. But I’m a veteran who fully experienced the first phase, so I have some guesses about the Imitator’s intentions.

"Let me explain why these three types of players need to be watched and not trusted.

"Firstly, the advantageous roles in this game are bought; in other words, the more visa time you donate before entering, the better your role, and the further inside your assigned room is.

"Those who donate the most, without a doubt, are the Sales, Auditors, and Doctors.

"Then VIP Patients, and finally regular patients.

"I’d guess everyone here donated between 5000-10000 minutes of visa time, right?"

Others said nothing, but most had already tacitly agreed with their attitude.

Qian Li seemed quite forthcoming, "I donated 15,000 minutes of visa time and was placed in the VIP Patients room.

"That’s how I figured you all donated less than 10,000.

"Similarly, it can be inferred that Doctors, Auditors, and Sales in these advantageous roles donated even more, possibly 20,000 or even 30,000."

She paused slightly and continued, "The game rules state that the visa time donated by players before entering the game can only be converted into basic Medical Points.

"After the game ends, it would directly vanish, unable to be converted into visa time.

"It must be converted into special Medical Points through trading in the game, such as buying and selling medicine, and then it can be exchanged for visa time on a 1:1 basis when the game ends.

"In other words, all players with advantageous roles essentially carry ’performance pressure’.

"They must find ways to sell medicine to recover their losses.

"Suppose a player, having contributed 30,000 minutes before the game, then they must sell at least 30,000 worth of medicine in-game. Sell 10,000 less, and they lose 10,000 visa time upon exiting the game.

"The problem is, where does the money they make come from?

"It can only come from us ’patients’."