Chapter 562: Earnings

The next moment, Huang Shengjie found himself back in the hall."Huh?

"Is it over?"

He had not quite come back to himself yet.

He had still been working through the final stages of the accusation, trying to bring his reasoning to a perfect close, when the sudden broadcast and change of scene had cut his thinking short. His mind had ground to a halt for a moment.

He even felt a vaguely unreal quality to it all.

The players waiting in the hall were also visibly caught off guard.

Lu Bingjun had been sitting by the window, deep in thought. He quickly stood and came over, "Why did the game end early?"

Because of the 'First Player Identity Card,' the players who had remained in the community were able to receive real-time updates on the game's basic rules.

The rules had clearly stated that the 'Pain Game' would last four hours, but it was obvious that roughly half an hour still remained.

The players who had stayed in the community had no way of knowing the specifics of what had happened inside.

But the players who had participated in the game all understood that the early ending was due to the Imitator's death.

Even for them, it was abrupt and almost impossible to believe.

Ye Lin glanced at Lin Sizhi and then at Huang Shengjie and asked, "The player who made the final accusation, was that you?"

Huang Shengjie also looked at Lin Sizhi. He had been about to give a fuller explanation, but saw Lin Sizhi give a faint shake of his head.

So Huang Shengjie hesitated briefly, and in the end said nothing more, simply nodding and saying, "Yes."

Ye Lin gave him a long, thoughtful look, then said to Lu Bingjun, "The Imitator died, which is why the game ended early."

The moment the words were out, the hall erupted.

"The Imitator died?!"

For these players, an Imitator dying was such an extreme rarity that it barely registered as something to plan for.

Lu Bingjun also looked somewhat taken aback. He recalled the game rules he had seen and said, "So a player used the game's 'Identify the Imitator' rule to confirm the Imitator's identity, and then all the players voted together to successfully kill them?

"And you're saying the player who made the successful accusation was Huang Shengjie?"

Ye Lin nodded, "The details are a little complicated. We can explain everything slowly later."

She looked at the other four players who had been in the game, "Everyone worked hard. Per our usual practice, those who participated in the game should rest first.

"You can go to your rooms or rest in the hall's lounge area.

"Once you're rested, come back to the hall and we'll give a brief rundown of how the game went."

Huang Shengjie let out a long breath. His mind had been stretched to its limit throughout the game, and now that he had finally relaxed, he felt hollowed out, exhausted and starving.

In the game he had eaten a great deal, but had vomited most of it back up, so he was not only hungry but also suffering from a persistently sour stomach.

Wen Wan had already prepared hot tea and handed cups to each of the players who had been in the game.

Huang Shengjie drank two sips and felt his stomach settle somewhat, then said his goodbyes to everyone and went back to his room to rest.

Lin Sizhi also stood and headed upstairs.

As for Ye Lin, Qin Cheng, and Zheng Chunhua, they did not look particularly tired, so they simply sat in the lounge area with their tea and waited.

The other players stared at the information appearing on the large screen, each falling into their own thoughts, trying to imagine what had happened inside the game.

[The following announces Community 2's final visa time earnings from the 'Pain Game.']

[Player 1 Qin Cheng: 31,589]

[Player 8 Ye Lin: 65,836]

[Player 10 Zheng Chunhua: 61,136]

[Player 12 Lin Sizhi: 17,436]

[Player 14 Huang Shengjie: 22,436]

[Per community rules, 30% of net game earnings will be added to the Community Development Fund. The remaining visa time will be credited to each player's individual account.]

Seeing that Lin Sizhi had also followed him upstairs, Huang Shengjie quickly asked, "Lawyer Lin! What did that head shake mean earlier?

"Were you telling me not to bring you into it?"

Lin Sizhi nodded, "Yes. Including during the debrief in the community afterwards.

"Remember, the person who caught the Imitator was you.

"I only helped you find some leads through the Monitor and the Call functions."

Huang Shengjie paused and said, "But..."

Lin Sizhi gave a slight shake of his head, "No buts. That's the objective fact.

"Your reasoning was very good."

Huang Shengjie was lost for words for a moment.

Although the final accusation had been his to make, and he had genuinely managed to connect most of the clues and suspicious points himself, the prerequisite was that all of those clues and suspicious points had been laid out plainly by Lin Sizhi beforehand.

Huang Shengjie had completed his reasoning with access to a huge amount of information, almost from a God's-eye view.

Without the information Lin Sizhi had provided, he would not even have known who Xu Yiheng was, let alone been able to identify the suspicious points and make an accusation.

And conversely, even if Huang Shengjie had not worked it out and had not made the accusation, Lin Sizhi could have wrapped things up himself at any time.

From Huang Shengjie's perspective, what he had done felt more like picking a fruit that Lin Sizhi had deliberately handed to him.

Why would he do that?

Huang Shengjie could only think of one explanation: Lin Sizhi was deliberately keeping a low profile and reducing his own visibility.

But was there any need for that in the Gallery?

In the end, Huang Shengjie decided not to dwell on it, "Alright then. I'll do it your way.

"When the game details come up, I'll talk myself up a bit."

Lin Sizhi gave a satisfied nod, "That's right. Exactly like that.

"You worked hard in there. Get some rest."

The two of them each returned to their own rooms.

An hour later, Huang Shengjie woke naturally, feeling even hungrier than before.

His overall state, though, was considerably improved.

He went back downstairs to the hall and immediately went to the vending machine to buy some food.

"Sorry, Lu, I'm starving. Would it be alright if I eat something first?" Huang Shengjie said to Lu Bingjun.

Lu Bingjun gave a hearty laugh and said, "Of course! Eat as much as you like. We'll wait for you."

Huang Shengjie could clearly sense that over the hour he had been resting, Lu Bingjun's attitude toward him had shifted considerably.

Previously, of the three new players, Lu Bingjun had shown an obvious preference for Qin Cheng. But now, that preference seemed to have been duplicated and extended to Huang Shengjie as well.

It was evidently connected to Huang Shengjie's performance in the game.

In that hour, while there had been no formal debrief, Lu Bingjun had certainly been talking privately with Ye Lin and had a rough sense of what had happened.

Huang Shengjie's strong showing had caused Lu Bingjun to significantly revise his opinion of him, and the change in attitude was unmistakable.

Huang Shengjie ate quickly. Once he had finished and rested for a short while, everyone gathered at the long table in the hall.