Yang Yuting fell into a long silence, clearly deep in thought.

Regarding the "Five-Person Group," Li Renshu stated that they did not want public discussions to trouble Ding Wenqiang, so they privately "touched base" first, and only made the proposal public for voting and discussion after thorough consideration.

While this explanation seems reasonable, probably only Ding Wenqiang and Su Xiuqin would believe it without any reservations in the community.

Others might believe at most half of it.

Moreover, the selection of members for this five-person group is indeed intriguing.

Wang Yongxin was highly sensitive and was the first to become aware of this; although Yang Yuting did not pay much attention initially, she could recall previous hints once pointed out.

Yang Yuting looked up at Wang Yongxin and asked, "Why did you choose to discuss this with me?"

Wang Yongxin appeared sincere, "Because among the remaining people, I think you're smart, so the cost of communication might be lower, and you're more likely to align with my stance.

"Moreover, there are many things I might only accomplish with your help."

Yang Yuting nodded, "You're right; we indeed share some ideas.

"Also...

"Are you trying to use me to bring together the others as much as possible? After all, most of them are women."

Wang Yongxin seemed surprised that Yang Yuting could understand so quickly, but he soon smiled and nodded, "Absolutely, talking to smart people is so convenient."

The so-called "shared ideas" could more accurately be described as "similar social class."

Before entering the New World, Wang Yongxin was the owner of a start-up, and Yang Yuting was an executive in the company.

Simply put, they were both "wealthy people," or used to be in the "decision-making" or "management" layers of a company.

Therefore, even if they hadn't communicated much before, they naturally confirmed their shared ideas.

—Just like how Ding Wenqiang and Su Xiuqin also felt naturally similar.

Apart from the "Five-Person Group," the remaining individuals are: Jiang He, Wang Yongxin, Qin Yao, Su Xiuqin, Xu Tong, Ding Wenqiang, Yang Yuting.

Since Li Renshu is the only woman in the "Five-Person Group," this leads to the fact that among the remaining 7 people, women are the majority.

The only male, Ding Wenqiang, doesn't get along with Wang Yongxin.

So, if Wang Yongxin wants to unite the remaining 7 people to some extent, he must rely on Yang Yuting to reach out to other women.

Especially Xu Tong, Qin Yao, and Jiang He.

Sorting out these issues is not difficult for Yang Yuting.

She thought for a moment and asked, "What do you want to achieve?

"Overthrow this small five-person group?"

Wang Yongxin shook his head continuously, "No, no, no, I'm not trying to cause division, I'm just seeking 'self-protection.'

"If we 7 people continue to remain like loose atomic individuals, then we'd be like lambs to the slaughter.

"If we can reach some consensus early and organize to some degree, then each of us will be safer.

"At least, when we might be robbed, we can unite immediately to resist."

Yang Yuting nodded, "Understood, you mean for me to get closer to others, especially Xu Tong, Qin Yao, and Jiang He.

"If we can also form a cohesive small group, then we would have some power to contend on major issues and wouldn't suffer losses."

Wang Yongxin nodded, "Exactly. In the short term, we can't and don't need to do anything significant.

"But preparing in advance is always necessary."

Yang Yuting asked again, "Why don't you choose to join that five-person group? With your ability, you could probably have some say there as well.

"And in time, you might even replace someone like... Cai Zhiyuan?"

Wang Yongxin shook his head, "It's difficult, it's a complex issue.

"The composition of an organization doesn't just depend on ability, but also division of labor, mutual trust, and timing.

"From small companies to large countries, does ability alone guarantee a spot in management? Not being included is more likely.

"There're always issues of interest distribution within a group; if you're not at the table, you'll be on the menu. Often it's not that people don't want you at the table, but there's only so much room; who are you going to push out? So, you're left on the menu.

"In short, I'm not suited for that place, nor are they open to me. Otherwise, no one would have cast an olive branch my way.

"Similarly, none of the other six, including you, could join that small group either.

"Because five people are its limit."

Yang Yuting lowered her head and contemplated for an extended period, then finally said, "Okay, we can initially reach a consensus on this issue.

"I'll increase contact with others.

"If there's any progress, we'll discuss it immediately."

Wang Yongxin stood up and opened the door, took a look outside.

"You should head back first, I'll wait a few more minutes to stagger the time."

As Yang Yuting was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and asked, "One last question.

"During the Community Security Fund vote, was it you who voted against it?"

Wang Yongxin seemed a bit resigned, "Am I that predictably stable? No, it wasn't me."

Yang Yuting nodded, "No problem, I was just asking. There's a disruptive element in the community, which makes me a bit uneasy."

Wang Yongxin didn't mind, "Ha, I actually don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

"How do you know he's definitely a troublemaker? Maybe he just didn't like the way the proposal was being pushed, but felt too embarrassed to express it openly.

"Since the community grants each of us an equal voting right, voting against is of course our right.

"This time can be disregarded, but if next time and the time after, every proposal from the five-person group is passed unanimously ... wouldn't that be more terrifying?"

…

Lin Sizhi returned to his room, first turned on his private computer, and checked his remaining visa time.

[297 days-19 hours 25 minutes]

Seeing this time, Lin Sizhi paused for a moment.

Because the time increased by more than a month.

Lin Sizhi's original visa time was 117 days, and this time from "Blood Poker," the visa time earned was approximately 143 days after deducting the Community Security Fund.

Adding it up is around 260 days.

There's only one explanation for the extra 37 days:

A player died in the "Blood Poker" game, and their visa time was transferred to Lin Sizhi, the Game Designer, by the Walkway.

The "Blood Poker" game inherently has a very low fatality rate, as the only way to die is to bet recklessly until one bleeds to death.

However, no matter how safe the game is, there are always some individuals who repeatedly court death.

Although according to Walkway's intentions, the game was meant for visa time distribution and not encouraging excessive casualties, Walkway doesn't care about individual player fatalities like this.

Nonetheless, this also brought Lin Sizhi's remaining visa time to a surprisingly high number.

Of course, having achieved an S rating, Lin Sizhi can freely hide the visa time he earned through his Imitator identity, so he doesn't worry about exposure.

However, he still aims to earn more visa time in the games as much as possible.

On one hand, as a Game Designer, he had long left loopholes for himself to acquire a significant amount of visa time, allowing him to handle other games more flexibly;

On the other hand, this also effectively conceals his identity.

Some might think that after becoming "God's Imitator," one should maintain a low profile and not earn too much visa time in games.

The more conspicuous one is, the more attention they attract, increasing the chance of their identity being discovered.

But Lin Sizhi does not agree with this.

Because during the design of the game, God's Imitator inevitably ends up killing players.

And as the game progresses, the visa time on the players increases, leading to more visa time when they are killed.

If one constantly remains low-key and never earns a significant amount of visa time in games, then using special strategies or lavishly spending visa time during games becomes more likely to expose one's identity.

Not using these hidden visa times at all is equivalent to wasting the advantages of the Imitator identity.

Hence, creating an impression that "he has a lot of visa time from the start" can benefit in disguising identity.

Additionally, the more visa time Lin Sizhi earns, the stronger his presence and higher his status within the community's small groups, benefiting his integration into the core group.

And better protecting himself.

Just like this morning, Lin Sizhi was the only person invited aside from the four-person group, which was obviously directly related to his profession and performance in the game.

After drinking some red wine at lunch, Lin Sizhi felt drowsy and fell into a deep sleep on the bed.

…

Over an hour later, Lin Sizhi woke up.

Pulled open the curtains, and it was now 3:43 in the afternoon.

Upon entering the study, he found new information displayed on the computer screen.

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