God's Imitator-Chapter 497: Lantern Verification

Sun De waited with some anticipation for Cai Zhiyuan to give him feedback, but Cai Zhiyuan hesitated.

Because he also had to consider the possibility of entering this prison cell himself.

Cai Zhiyuan knew that if there was a ’Super Authority Player’ in this game, then there’s a high probability it would be him.

The ’Hermit identity’ is just like the ’King identity’, a trap. He did consider giving it up, but under Song Xiao’s threat, he ultimately succumbed to instinct at the last moment, forced to take this advantageous identity.

Perhaps all this was within the Imitator who designed the game’s expectations.

By this stage, the situation was already somewhat unfavorable to Cai Zhiyuan, but obtaining the advantageous identity also meant he held greater initiative.

He could actively choose the safest prison cell to enter.

From the result of the verification, Cell No. 1 was safe for ’non-Super Authority Players’ like Sun De.

But for Cai Zhiyuan himself, it wasn’t certain.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at Cui Yifeng from Community 19: "You come over here."

Cui Yifeng was a bit puzzled but still stood in front of Cell No. 1.

Cai Zhiyuan verified him again using the lantern.

According to the game rules, the ’Hermit’s’ staff can force players into prison cells, but it can only be used once, while the lantern has no limitations and can be used unlimited times.

The result of the lantern’s vibration was even more subtle than the last time, almost imperceptible.

According to the rules, the lantern cannot verify the ’Hermit’ itself, and the result automatically excludes the ’Super Authority Player’ identity’s influence.

This means, assuming Sun De and Cui Yifeng are not Super Authority Players, their entry into this prison cell would be safe, with Cui Yifeng being the safest.

If they are Super Authority Players, that’s another matter; the lantern’s result cannot be used as a reference.

As for why Cui Yifeng would be safer, this is also mentioned in the rules.

[Players directly associated with cell content will have a significantly reduced risk when entering the corresponding cell.]

[Conversely, it might greatly increase.]

The game reflected by Cell No. 1 is ’King’s Judgment,’ and Cui Yifeng is the No. 1 Audience of ’King’s Judgment.’

Then, Cai Zhiyuan himself is also a player in ’King’s Judgment.’ Would his entry into Cell No. 1 be safer as well?

If he himself is not a Super Authority Player, the answer is undoubtedly safe according to the game rules.

But the Super Authority Player is a variable that must be considered.

Cai Zhiyuan could choose to take a gamble and enter Cell No. 1 himself, repeating the penalty within ’King’s Judgment.’

However, the consequences of doing so entirely depend on whether the Imitator who designed the game wants to set a trap against him in this cell.

Because in this cell, ’the force required to push the lever’ and ’the intensity of the electric shock’ remain two unknown variables.

Such data is utterly untraceable even in the post-game review stage; this is a privilege granted by the Walkway to the Imitator.

As long as the Imitator who designed the game sets Cai Zhiyuan as a ’Super Authority Player’ and substantially increases these two data points, then Cai Zhiyuan will fall into the trap.

Once, he benefited from this privilege, but now, he has inevitably become a victim of this privilege.

...

In the end, Cai Zhiyuan made a decision: "Sun De, you go in."

He still excluded the possibility of ’entering Cell No. 1 himself’.

Sun De was very pleased, though Cai Zhiyuan took quite a while to make this decision; just as he said before, actions speak louder than words, and from the result alone, he was satisfied.

Sun De entered Cell No. 1 ’struggling to meet deadlines,’ while Cai Zhiyuan personally closed the iron door of the prison cell.

"Click!"

Watching Sun De exert himself to push the mechanism, Cai Zhiyuan felt somewhat dazed.

He seemed to vaguely see himself in ’King’s Judgment.’

Sun De had to keep pushing for 15 minutes. Cai Zhiyuan didn’t watch for long because he had already confirmed safety with the lantern, and the likelihood of Sun De being a Super Authority Player was very low.

If there’s nothing wrong at first, then the probabilities suggest nothing will go wrong later.

Cai Zhiyuan sensed that other players were casting glances at him, with somewhat complex implications.

Because Cai Zhiyuan abandoned a solution explicitly deemed optimal in the rules: having these players directly enter the cell corresponding to the game they experienced.

The rules clearly state that if arranged this way, the risk of the cell would be reduced.

According to the corresponding relation, Sun De should correspond with Cell No. 2 ’All the money is spent.’

Putting Cui Yifeng in Cell No. 1 and Sun De in Cell No. 2 would make them both absolutely safe.

But it’s clear that Cai Zhiyuan had his own ideas and plans.

On the surface, Sun De didn’t want to go into Cell No. 2, so Cai Zhiyuan granted his wish.

He then looked at the other players: "You should choose your cells too.

"I already have a cell in mind that I want to enter, and as long as the cell you choose doesn’t conflict with mine, I will do my best to accommodate you.

"Of course, it’s unlikely to conflict.

If multiple players choose the same cell, I will allocate based on ’first come, first served’ as much as possible."

Seven players, six cells, assuredly one player would not enter any cell.

If one believes they definitely are not a ’Super Authority Player’, then staying out of the cell is safest.

But if more than one player thinks along these lines, there won’t be enough people entering the front cells.

Therefore, Cai Zhiyuan proposed the ’first come, first served’ method, just like with Sun De and Cui Yifeng; two people can safely enter Cell No. 1, but since Sun De expressed his wish first, he got accommodated first.

This way, other players would be more enthusiastic, making it easier to achieve the goal of ’filling up all six cells.’

Fu Yujun clearly had also been contemplating game strategies; among these players, aside from Cai Zhiyuan, he probably had the highest level.

"So, what was your earlier verification result?

"Was Cui Yifeng’s vibration more subtle?"

Cai Zhiyuan hesitated a little but eventually nodded: "Yes."

Clearly, Fu Yujun also noticed that rule.

[Players directly associated with cell content will have a significantly reduced risk when entering the corresponding cell.]

Since Cui Yifeng was the former No. 1 Audience of the ’King’s Game’, then according to the rules, he has a direct association with the content of Cell No. 1, making him safer than Sun De.

Cai Zhiyuan hesitated because he hadn’t quite decided whether or not to be truthful about this point since it involved the mechanism of the ’Hermit’s’ lantern. But after consideration, he concluded that lying about this wouldn’t be very meaningful, so he ended up admitting it.

Moreover, Fu Yujun himself is among the players in this game, relatively close in association with Cai Zhiyuan.

Fu Yujun didn’t know Cai Zhiyuan personally, but as long as he knew Cai Zhiyuan was a member of Community 17, it was enough to establish some goodwill.