[Hello, Lin Sizhi.]
['Blood Poker' has successfully stood out from all the proposals, you have once again proven your talent.]
[But the real game has just begun.]
[Now, the Gallery extends a new design invitation to you:]
[Three days from now, the Gallery will simultaneously conduct several different trial games, and the game assigned to you is: Case C.]
[In your desk drawer, you will find partial criminal files for the 5 sinners in Case C, along with their corresponding verdicts.]
[In this game, 5 sinners will be forced to participate, and an additional 10 unrelated players will voluntarily participate.]
[If you believe the verdicts for these 5 sinners are generally fair and just, or if you don't care, then do nothing.]
[If you believe that among these 5 sinners, there are heinous individuals who must face the trial of death, then design a game to deliver a more appropriate judgment upon them.]
[The 'Gallery' will evaluate all submitted proposals and adopt the one with the highest score to set up the game venue.]
[Now, the 48-hour countdown begins, please make your choice.]
"5 sinners forced to participate in the game, and 10 unrelated players participating voluntarily?
"I should look at their files first."
Lin Sizhi pulled open the drawer and took out the files and the proposal document.
He hadn't felt any particular emotional fluctuation at first, but upon seeing the names on the files, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Because there were actually three people he knew.
Ding Wenqiang, Cai Zhiyuan, Wang Yongxin.
The other two were names he had never heard of: Zhang Peng, Gao Zhankui.
From the photos, Zhang Peng was a yellow-haired youth with a hairstyle similar to the "Shamate" subculture, his expression naturally carrying a hint of roguishness; Gao Zhankui, on the other hand, was a burly and sturdy middle-aged man with a fleshy face and a fierce look.
After briefly flipping through the files of these individuals, the frown on Lin Sizhi's brow deepened.
Because the second surprising situation had appeared:
For the three people he knew, Ding Wenqiang, Cai Zhiyuan, and Wang Yongxin, the details of their crimes and the verdicts were clearly written; but for the other two he didn't know, there was no relevant information at all.
[Wang Yongxin, male, 36 years old.]
[Occupation: CEO of 'Jisu Delivery'.]
[Through harsh exploitation of crowdsourced delivery drivers using big data algorithms, leading to several serious traffic accidents and one incident of a delivery driver dying from overwork.]
[Verdict: Not tried.]
[Cai Zhiyuan, male, 28 years old.]
[Occupation: Algorithm programmer.]
[Mainly responsible for artificial intelligence, big data, and algorithm development. The 'Baicheng Tong' food delivery system he led the development of has been adopted by multiple delivery companies.]
[Verdict: Not tried.]
[Ding Wenqiang, male, 53 years old.]
[Occupation: Large-item courier.]
[While working as a courier, due to drowsy driving, he struck and severely injured a delivery driver who was running a red light on an electric scooter, who ultimately died.]
[Verdict: Sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison for causing a traffic accident, with a 2-year probation (has compensated the family with 400,000 yuan and obtained their forgiveness).]
[Zhang Peng, male, 26 years old.]
[Occupation: Unemployed.]
[???]
[Verdict: ???]
[Gao Zhankui, male, 45 years old.]
[Occupation: Delivery station manager.]
[???]
[Verdict: ???]
Lin Sizhi fell into deep thought.
The "crimes" of these three people were very different from Wei Xinjian's before.
Needless to say for Wang Yongxin and Cai Zhiyuan, their "crimes" did not violate any laws and could at most be judged from a moral standpoint.
If this alone warranted the punishment of death in a 'Gallery' game, then probably few people in the world would be completely innocent.
As for Ding Wenqiang, his situation was slightly more serious, as he had directly caused a death.
But Lin Sizhi believed the verdict was reasonable, and Ding Wenqiang had already paid a sufficient price.
Ding Wenqiang's drowsy driving was most likely due to the unreasonable work intensity at the courier company, and an important factor in the accident was that the delivery driver on the electric scooter had run a red light.
This was different in nature from Wei Xinjian's malicious hit-and-run accident.
As for the other two, Lin Sizhi didn't know them, nor was he clear on what specific crimes they had committed, so naturally, he couldn't pass judgment.
"From the known verdicts, I can't see too many problems.
"So... should I choose to do nothing and give up on this game?"
According to the Gallery's instructions, if he felt these people didn't need to be judged, then there was no need to design a game or submit a proposal; he could just do nothing.
But that would also mean giving up the right to design this round of the game.
Lin Sizhi sank into contemplation, quickly listing the pros and cons of the two decisions in his mind.
If he didn't participate in designing this trial game, he could naturally stay out of it and enjoy his leisure time without any burden for the next few days.
But in that case, Lin Sizhi also couldn't guess what kind of game the Gallery would ultimately choose.
It might choose a high-risk death game, leading to the deaths of Wang Yongxin, Cai Zhiyuan, and Ding Wenqiang.
Of course, Lin Sizhi didn't have any extra moral burden or meaningless guilt; even if this situation really happened, he wouldn't think it was his "inaction" that caused the deaths of these three people.
But participating in the design of this trial game had other meanings for Lin Sizhi.
On one hand, the deaths of the three could lead to the weakening of the entire Community 17, and if there were future community-versus-community competitive games, Community 17 might be at a disadvantage;
On the other hand, designing this game would also help Lin Sizhi better understand the hidden rules of the 'Gallery'.
To others who didn't know the truth, the 'Gallery' or the 'Imitator of God' were equally dangerous existences that could put them to death.
But Lin Sizhi was very clear that as the game's designer, whether the game could decide the fate of other players depended entirely on whether it was recognized by the Gallery.
In other words, the Imitator of God had to figure out the Gallery's intentions, think clearly about what kind of games would be encouraged, and design them accordingly to ensure their own game was chosen.
Otherwise, this identity, apart from bringing some unexpected dangers, had no other meaning at all.
The reason Lin Sizhi's games were recognized by the Gallery in the first two instances, even receiving high evaluations, wasn't necessarily because his games were perfect, but possibly because they happened to meet the Gallery's deeper requirements.
But the Gallery's intentions were complex, and he was still far from truly understanding them.
So Lin Sizhi thought it was best not to give up this opportunity.
"Design a game with less severe punishments, roughly matching the known crimes.
"If the Gallery chooses my game, then their survival rate can be increased.
"If the Gallery doesn't choose my game, I can at least say I made an effort."
Having made up his mind, Lin Sizhi picked up the game proposal to look it over.
The format was the same as before, but the list of available props had changed compared to the previous two times.
There were two particularly striking changes.
[2. Freely designable sets of mechanisms: 5 sets.]
[8. Case-related videotapes: 5 sets.]
Compared to the previous two cases, the freedom in props this time was extremely high.
"Case-related videotapes?"
Lin Sizhi tried to flip to the subsequent pages, but the materials did not specify the content of these videotapes.
This meant he still couldn't find out the specific crimes of Zhang Peng and Gao Zhankui and could only rely on speculation.
"Since these five people are arranged in the same game, and there are related videotapes, it means...
"The crimes of these five people are likely related to some extent.
"Food delivery, couriers, algorithms, traffic accidents...
"The delivery company Wang Yongxin started used the algorithm program developed by Cai Zhiyuan?
"But the two of them don't know each other and are clearly not in the same company.
"That's reasonable, because Wang Yongxin calls himself a 'startup boss', and this delivery platform isn't a particularly well-known one, it should still be in its early stages. And the algorithm program Cai Zhiyuan developed was probably sold to more than one delivery platform.
"The algorithm exploits delivery drivers, increasing the risks.
"As for Ding Wenqiang, he's a courier, and from the circumstances of the accident, he was likely driving a small truck or a similar vehicle, delivering larger items.
"The only intersection for the three is the delivery driver."
Lin Sizhi gently tapped the desktop, many possibilities flashing through his mind.
After thinking for a long time, Lin Sizhi wrote down the name of the game he was conceiving: 'Line of Life and Death'.