Chapter 552: The Unspoken Understanding Between Community Members

Lin Sizhi had a name badge on his chest too, with the characters '2nd Community — Lin Sizhi' written clearly on it. He looked to be in reasonable shape, apparently untroubled by pain, and was simply taking in the scene in the Lounge.

Huang Shengjie was already very surprised, but he noticed that there seemed to be someone in the Lounge far more surprised than him.

Qian Li's eyes had gone wide, as though she had seen a ghost.

She looked at Lin Sizhi's name badge again and again, then asked in a slightly trembling voice, "You, why are you in the 2nd Community?"

Huang Shengjie found this a little strange.

Because what Qian Li had asked was not 'why are you only coming out now,' but 'why are you in the 2nd Community.'

Combined with her earlier reaction, Huang Shengjie immediately realised there was only one explanation: Qian Li had known Lin Sizhi before.

Even so, her reaction still seemed slightly exaggerated.

Lin Sizhi picked a seat at random and sat down. He glanced at the name badge on Qian Li's chest and said, "You ended up in the 11th Community too, didn't you?"

Qian Li was briefly lost for words, "Isn't that a bit of a strange thing to ask?

"Our 1st Community was on the weaker side, so we got broken up and reassigned. What happened to you? Did the 17th Community get broken up too? Or did the 17th Community kick you out?

"Which am I supposed to believe?"

Lin Sizhi spread his hands and said, "Believe whichever you like.

"This is the Gallery. Unexpected things happen.

"In any case, my identity now is an ordinary player in the 2nd Community."

Qian Li's mouth twitched slightly. She clearly could not accept what Lin Sizhi was saying and could not work out what had actually happened.

Huang Shengjie had the distinct sense that with Lin Sizhi's arrival, the whole Lounge had been enveloped in a peculiar and somehow unsettling atmosphere.

Lin Sizhi had already settled into a folding chair, and after a brief silence, Qian Li chose to sit down as well, though she instinctively picked the seat furthest from Lin Sizhi and edged it back slightly.

Zhang Yuan also sat down quietly.

Then came Zhou Xiaoying, Du Peng, and Huang Shengjie.

Lin Sizhi looked at Huang Shengjie and said, "You look like you're in bad shape. What's the current situation in this Lounge? Would anyone like to fill me in?"

Huang Shengjie fell quiet. It would be untrue to say he had no grievances against Lin Sizhi.

After all, Lin Sizhi had entered the game in the role of a 'core player,' and the core player's responsibility was to lead the other players from the community.

When community members were in the same game, they were supposed to cooperate, and when disagreements arose, the core player's judgment was meant to take precedence. But by the same token, the core player had to be clear about their responsibilities, proactively seek out fellow community members, and offer help and build cooperation.

Instead, Lin Sizhi had known full well that he was the community's core player, and yet he could at least have come to the Lounge to see which other patients from the same zone were there, couldn't he?

If Lin Sizhi had appeared earlier, perhaps the two of them could have worked things out together, and Huang Shengjie would not be in the state he was in now.

Even so, Huang Shengjie said nothing further. He understood clearly that this was the Gallery, and even among players from the same community, one could not truly expect everything of the other person.

In the end, each person could only be responsible for themselves.

So Huang Shengjie gave a brief account of what had happened to him.

But as he spoke, he suddenly noticed that the look Lin Sizhi was directing at Qian Li had become rather meaningful, while Qian Li's own expression had become one of someone sitting on pins and needles.

"So, Lawyer Lin, what should we do now?

"If we keep taking these medications, will the addiction get even worse? But without them, there's no other option."

Lin Sizhi reached into his pocket and took out a bottle of medication, "Take this."

Huang Shengjie paused. He looked carefully at what Lin Sizhi was holding, and found it was the same kind of small white bottle, but with a label that clearly read 'Type M Medication.'

Lin Sizhi added, "No matter what happens, even when the fatal pain hits, take only one tablet per round.

"With this medication, as long as the dosage is not exceeded, the side effects and addiction risk are the lowest of all the options.

"As for the withdrawal pain triggered by the other medications, there's no other way. You'll just have to endure it."

At the sight of the Type M medication, Qian Li's expression shifted slightly.

She clearly knew of this medication's existence, and seeing Lin Sizhi produce it came as something of a surprise at first.

But on reflection, this was Lin Sizhi. With him, almost anything was possible.

So in the end, Qian Li said nothing.

Zhou Xiaoying hesitated, then asked, "How much are you planning to sell it to us for?"

It was not that she did not want it. The issue was that a scene like this had already played out twice before.

Qian Li had Type O. Zhang Yuan had Type F. Lin Sizhi had Type M.

The three medications looked exactly the same aside from their labels. The only thing that had been verified so far was that Type O was addictive and lost effectiveness over time, but that did not mean Type F or Type M were necessarily safe.

Du Peng, on the other hand, asked nothing at all and simply said, "I'll take a bottle. Thank you!"

He was in a terrible state as well. Since that first bottle of Type O he had bought at the very beginning, he had not purchased any further Special Medication.

From what could be observed, he had been extraordinarily lucky, having gone the entire game without once being selected by the system as an Infected player and apparently not being passed the infection by any other player either.

But Standard Pain continuing to worsen had certainly been grinding him down the whole time.

While it was possible to use Type O to clear the pain entirely, he had also seemed concerned about addiction, and had held back from taking more.

As a result, his Standard Pain had very likely accumulated to the point where it was becoming almost unbearable, with a real risk of it tipping into Special Pain going forward.

Either way, Du Peng had been luckier than Huang Shengjie and Zhou Xiaoying. In the end, he had waited for a third option instead of being forced to choose between Type O and Type F.

Huang Shengjie also said, "I'll take a bottle too."

Being from the same community, Lin Sizhi was certainly trustworthy.

After all, 'deceiving a fellow community member' was something that was very hard to walk back after the game ended, with no way to explain it to the other players in the community.

Lin Sizhi did not answer directly. He put the medication back for the time being.

"You'll all have the Type M before this round ends, but not yet.

"First, let's have a round of honest confessions."

He looked at Qian Li and Zhang Yuan, "You two, set the games aside.

"Squeezing that small amount of Medical Points out of new players is not worth your time. Why not do something more worthwhile with me instead?"

Qian Li, caught out, looked mildly awkward for a moment, but she recovered quickly and accepted the situation, asking, "What would that be?"