[Xue Qi from Community 9 has broadcast a piece of data to all players.]
[As of the current time, the percentage of players who have proactively brought items into the meeting room is: 『55%』.]
This number had indeed gone up again.
[Zhao Duo from Community 12 has broadcast a piece of data to all players.]
[In the last meeting, the percentage of male players who did not press the 『I'll Pay』 button was: 『20%』.]
Zheng Jie lamented that there were still guys as stubborn as him, though their numbers were dwindling.
[Zhang Shichao from Community 9 has broadcast a piece of data to all players.]
[As of the current time, the percentage of male players who proactively pressed 『I'll Pay』 during a single meeting but did not receive a 'Like' from the other party is: 『75%』.]
Finally, a counter-attack broadcast from a male player appeared.
But for now, it seemed to have little effect.
In this mechanism, female players found it easier to get 'Likes', and sending broadcasts could promote this positive cycle, so they were very enthusiastic, given that the first broadcast was free.
On the other hand, it was already difficult for male players to get 'Likes', and even if they used their first free broadcast, it would hardly make a difference.
Take the data Zhang Shichao broadcasted, for example. Even if you knew that "male players who proactively pay the room fee will most likely not get a 'Like'," what could you do about it?
'Likes' were already very rare. If you stopped paying the room fee because of this, then even the small possibility of getting a 'Like' would be completely gone.
...
There was still a little time before the next meeting began. Zheng Jie went to the vending machine again and re-examined the item list for the vouchers.
"Although I don't want to get into this meaningless rat race, for the sake of visa time, I have no choice but to compete.
"Voucher... does this mean I spend 1200 minutes of visa time to buy a voucher, then gift it to the other person, and they can redeem 1000 minutes of visa time at the vending machine?
"This achieves the transfer of visa time, but the Arcade takes a 20% service fee.
"Hmm..."
Zheng Jie was caught in a dilemma.
He instinctively resisted this kind of behavior, but after calming down and thinking about it, what the long-haired woman said did make some sense.
This 'Matchmaking Game' involved 20 men and 20 women.
Although the numbers suggested a 1:1 male-to-female matching ratio, theoretically, everyone should be able to get the 30,000 minutes of visa time from the final pairing.
But that was only in theory.
In the actual game process, the number of meetings was limited, and it was possible to have meetings between players of the same gender or repeat meetings.
Assuming some players had already formed fixed pairs and kept choosing to continue meeting, other players might be forced to match with players they had already met, or players with whom they had had fierce arguments before.
In this situation, it was highly likely that they would fail to reach an agreement in the 'Final Vote' of the last meeting. As long as one party was unwilling to give a 'Like', neither of them would get the visa time.
The probability of this wasn't high, but what if? That would be a huge loss.
If one wanted to ensure they could reliably find a female player willing to exchange 'Likes' with them in the end, then making concessions early on could indeed greatly enhance one's competitiveness.
After all, the 30,000 minutes of visa time obtained upon leaving the game was available to every male player, clearly written in the game rules.
If one was a complete cheapskate, it would probably be difficult to leave a good impression on the female players.
The broadcasts that scrolled across the big screen from time to time were also constantly raising the standard for male players to get a 'Like'.
Zheng Jie couldn't play those gameplay styles that were heavily dependent on character models, so he could only obediently stick his neck out and get fleeced.
After a brief internal struggle, he made up his mind. He still only bought a bottle of water from the vending machine and did not purchase a voucher.
"I'll use the mineral water first, as a simple test.
"If the other person is like that long-haired woman, who rolls her eyes at me upon seeing the mineral water, then there's no need to think twice, just pass on them directly.
"If the other person is happy after accepting the water and shows basic gratitude, then I can try to have a deeper conversation and see if we can exchange 'Likes'.
"If the 'Like' exchange is successful, it means the other person is relatively trustworthy. In the next meeting, I'll use a 10,000-minute visa time voucher to make a deal with her for a mutual 'Like' in the final meeting."
Zheng Jie didn't know if this plan was solid enough, but with his intellect, he couldn't think of a better strategy for the time being.
...
While Zheng Jie was continuously having meetings, other players were also starting their own different meetings.
Ten minutes ago.
Lin Sizhi's third meeting.
He came to the table empty-handed and sat down.
"Hello."
A questioning voice came from the other side. A female player who looked a bit petite with a slight smile on her face pushed the door open and sat down in the opposite seat.
[Community 12 - Zhao Duo].
She looked Lin Sizhi up and down, but her brow furrowed unconsciously when she noticed he was empty-handed and hadn't brought anything.
It was only because Lin Sizhi's appearance was quite good that she didn't lose her temper on the spot.
However, in the next second, Lin Sizhi politely raised his finger and pointed to the payment button on the table.
"Hello, to show your sincerity, could you pay the room fee first?"
Zhao Duo was shocked, even wondering if she had misheard.
"What did you say?
"Me, pay??
"You're making me laugh out of anger. How can someone who looks so decent be so shameless.
"What do you mean, to show my sincerity? Then where is your sincerity?"
Apparently, in her previous two meetings, Zhao Duo had already encountered those "more polite" male players, so she had begun to take things like them proactively paying the room fee and bringing drinks and snacks for granted.
She was already a bit unhappy seeing Lin Sizhi hadn't brought anything, and now he was even asking her to pay the bill. It was simply outrageous.
However, Lin Sizhi didn't get angry. He just reached into his pocket and took out a stack of vouchers.
"My sincerity is right here."
Seeing the thick stack of vouchers in Lin Sizhi's hand, Zhao Duo was stunned.
The vouchers came in three different denominations: 1000, 5000, and 10,000. These three types of vouchers were easy to distinguish by their appearance.
What Lin Sizhi held were vouchers for 1000 minutes each. Although the individual denomination wasn't high, such a thick stack, conservatively estimated to be over a dozen, still had a strong visual impact.
Zhao Duo asked tentatively, "Is this... for me?"
Lin Sizhi shook his head, "It can be, or it can not be. As I said, it depends on your sincerity."
Zhao Duo frowned, "Are you trying to trick me into paying the room fee with a bunch of empty promises?"
Lin Sizhi put the vouchers away again, "You should know, it's written clearly on the vending machine that these vouchers have special usage rules. The purchaser cannot redeem them for visa time again.
"They can only be transferred to someone else.
"I will definitely give these vouchers away, I can't use them as empty promises to trick people.
"But I can't just give them to anyone. I will only give them to people I can trust, and naturally, I expect some 'Likes' in return.
"So, for this meeting, I need you to pay the room fee to show your sincerity. Afterward, I will give you a voucher for 1000 minutes of visa time in exchange for one of your 'Likes'."
Zhao Duo looked at Lin Sizhi, and after a moment's hesitation, her expression relaxed, and she pressed [I'll Pay].
Lin Sizhi also pressed [You Pay], "Not bad, you're a smart person. Why weren't you worried I would trick you?"
Zhao Duo shook her head, "The fact that you're willing to redeem so many non-refundable vouchers at once shows that you're not short on visa time. There's no need to trick me for a mere 200-minute room fee."