God's Imitator

Chapter 509: Weak Player Protection

Wei Yinzhang explained, "Because in the 'Tarot Game,' how much Wealth Vouchers a player can obtain does not entirely depend on their ability."During the first half, ability and luck are roughly split evenly: even if you are very strong, if your opponents, the 'Thief' or the 'Sage,' refuse to cooperate and adopt an extremely defensive strategy, your earnings will be very limited.

"And in the second half of the game, earnings depend entirely on the group's strategy for distributing the 'blood packs.'

"Although that segment involved Lawyer Lin, myself, Cai Zhiyuan, and Boss Wang together, Boss Wang participated the least of all of us.

"There is certainly an element of luck involved, but..."

Lin Sizhi added, "But Cai Zhiyuan did make the corresponding arrangements."

He looked toward Dai Yifan. "This point, Little Dai should know very clearly."

Suddenly called out, Dai Yifan panicked a little. "Brother Lin, I..."

Lin Sizhi shook his head gently. "You don't need to explain anything. We are not here right now to hold you accountable for following Cai Zhiyuan's orders.

"If we were to hold anyone accountable, there are probably very few people in the entire community who are completely clean.

"You just need to tell us the specific things Cai Zhiyuan asked you to do.

"This is a confession session. Let everyone be open and honest.

"Of course, we also have no need to hold anyone accountable afterward."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Dai Yifan felt deeply uncomfortable. He said reluctantly, "Brother Cai told me that after entering the game, I should not wait and should go straight for the 'Emperor' mask."

This surprised quite a few people.

It was obvious that, although others had also come into contact with Cai Zhiyuan's maneuvering to some degree, they had each only seen a part of it, making it difficult for any of them to see the full picture.

Zheng Jie asked in confusion, "But what was the point of doing that?"

Wei Yinzhang explained, "Let us rewind to just before the 'Tarot Game' began.

"We can now confirm that the second and third parts of the game were designed by myself and Cai Zhiyuan, respectively.

"In other words, Cai Zhiyuan directly determined the final reward and punishment rules and the exit rules of the game, and it was precisely through this mechanism that he schemed against Boss Wang.

"Before the 'Tarot Game,' after Yuting and everyone played that small practice game, Cai Zhiyuan specifically raised the possibility that 'masks might repeat.'

"He also brought up the idea of 'grabbing the same mask.'

"After that, he further proposed that Boss Wang's 'Emperor' should be the top priority, rather than Lawyer Lin.

"Strictly speaking, this strategy would actually have very limited effect within the game itself.

"Cai Zhiyuan raised this point not to discuss strategy or optimize the game plan, but simply to make Dai Yifan's later act of grabbing the 'King' mask in the game appear natural and unremarkable.

"In other words, it was to conceal the true intent behind that action: to steal the attention of their fellow community players away from Boss Wang during the 'Tarot Game.'"

Wei Yinzhang let out a light sigh. "To be honest, I only figured this out myself afterward.

"I do not have that kind of quick wit, and I am always behind on many things.

"There were a few possible outcomes when Dai Yifan immediately went for the 'Emperor' mask:

"The first possibility: he and Boss Wang were on the same side, but his hand was not fast enough, and he failed to grab the 'Emperor' mask. In that case, it would be as though nothing had happened.

"The second possibility: he and Boss Wang were on opposing sides. In that case, the two of them would most likely each end up with one 'Emperor' mask, and Dai Yifan's act of grabbing a mask without waiting would not be exposed.

"The third possibility: he and Boss Wang were on the same side, and he grabbed Boss Wang's mask. On the surface, this would seem difficult to conceal during a later review, but even then, it could still be brushed off with explanations like 'nerves,' 'not paying attention to the timing,' 'a failure to coordinate,' or 'Boss Wang hesitated on his own.'

"In any case, no matter which situation occurred, the risk was actually fairly controllable.

"But the benefit of doing so was very clear:

"Because Dai Yifan had performed exceptionally well from early on, many people at first mistook him for Wang Yongxin."

Zheng Jie suddenly thought of something and looked toward Dai Yifan. "Wait!

"Then how did Cai Zhiyuan make sure that Dai Yifan would definitely perform well right from the start?

"Was it because of the practice from Yuting's little game beforehand? But that wasn't a sure thing, was it?"

Dai Yifan hesitated for a moment, but in the end he said, "Actually, before the 'Tarot Game' began, Brother Cai already leaked the questions to me.

"He told me a portion of the game's rules and arranged a corresponding strategy for me."

Many people wore expressions of surprise once again.

"Leaked the questions? Aren't Imitators not allowed to leak questions?"

Wei Yinzhang explained, "The Gallery's red lines are dynamic, not fixed and unchanging.

"The severity of leaking questions is also divided into several different levels.

"Leaking to the entire community is definitely not allowed, but leaking to only one or two people is fine.

"Revealing every detail of the rules is not allowed, but revealing only a portion is fine.

"Moreover, the Gallery always has various kinds of preferential treatment for outstanding Imitators. Many behaviors that are forbidden for other players and Imitators alike, even if an S-rank Imitator commits them, the Gallery will simply turn a blind eye.

"In short, through such arrangements, Cai Zhiyuan ensured, as much as possible, that Dai Yifan would obtain the 'Emperor' mask in the game and stand out early on, drawing attention.

"And we would instinctively take him to be Boss Wang.

"That way, during the initial matching phase, it would be easier to confirm each other's identities, and cooperation could be established to a certain degree, boosting earnings.

"Even if, upon meeting, we discovered the other person was not Boss Wang but Dai Yifan, it would not cause us to change our cooperation strategy."

Qin Yao furrowed her brow. "But wouldn't everyone eventually find out?

"Little Dai can't keep pretending to be Boss Wang forever. As soon as any of our community's players asked, he would have to tell the truth, or else it would expose the fact that he had ulterior motives, wouldn't it?"

Wei Yinzhang nodded. "Yes. In fact, once we matched with Dai Yifan, we already confirmed that he was not Boss Wang.

"But at this stage, Cai Zhiyuan actually exploited another mechanism and a certain psychology.

"That is, the unwritten community norm of 'weak player protection.'"

Li Renshu lowered her head in thought for a moment. "I understand now.

"Because even after confirming that the 'Emperor' was Little Dai and not Boss Wang, no one would withdraw their concern for Little Dai and redirect it toward Boss Wang instead.

"After all, Boss Wang is a 'strong player,' and Little Dai is a 'weak player,' so it is still Little Dai who needs more looking after, while Boss Wang does not.

"By the same logic, Auntie Zhou and Shen Xing are also weak players, and they are the ones we are obligated to bring back to the community, so when arranging the transfer of Wealth Vouchers, they must be prioritized.

"As for the 'strong players' themselves, such as Cai Zhiyuan and Boss Wang, no one would go out of their way to look after them. In some rounds, there may not even have been a fixed matching partner arranged for Boss Wang.

"Boss Wang could certainly choose to match with other players and earn Wealth Vouchers through the game in a straightforward manner, but the players willing to match at that point were not weak players either, and no matter how much he earned, it would be impossible to exceed the upper limit on Wealth Voucher transfers."