Two days later, in the morning.

"Morning."

"Morning."

Fu Chen was, as usual, among the earliest risers.

Cai Zhiyuan seemed somewhat sleep-deprived. As a programmer, his body was perpetually in suboptimal health, making him one of the frailer players.

At this moment, he ordered some buns and soy milk, and sat opposite Fu Chen, eating slowly.

He seemed to be pondering something, and after a while, he asked Fu Chen, "Do you think there's a possibility of another game like the previous 'Team Battle'?"

"Team Battle?"

Fu Chen pondered for a moment, "Your suggestion does wake me up a bit. It's indeed possible."

In the previous game, the 12 players from Community 17 were divided into three different groups, each participating in three distinct games.

Looking at the results, each player's gains were highly correlated with the group's collective decisions.

So, if everyone were prepared and reached some consensus before entering the game, they could collaborate better within the limited game time or gain an edge when playing life-and-death games against players from other communities.

Community 3 did just that, indeed making them a formidable opponent.

Cai Zhiyuan nodded, "Exactly, I thought of this from the situation with Lawyer Lin's group.

"The four players from Community 3 apparently reached a consensus within their community from the start. So, even if Lu Xinyi's on-the-spot decision seemed to severely harm the interests of the other three players, it still received support.

"This was a key factor in fooling Jiang He.

"And Wang Yongxin's group, due to a lack of mutual trust, couldn't reach a consensus, leading to a split.

"Although, result-wise, Wang Yongxin was a beneficiary of the split, and Jiang He's losses were compensated by Lawyer Lin, what if the next game is one where 'Lone Wolves Have No Way Out'?

"We need to prepare in advance for such a situation."

Fu Chen nodded seriously, "Makes sense."

Jiang He being deceived was partly because she didn't consider this layer of complexity, but also because she subconsciously assumed players from Community 3, like those from Community 17, had just arrived in the New World and couldn't have formed particularly strong mutual trust, which is why she participated in the game.

If she had realized from the start that "Community 3 might be a trap," the outcome might have been different.

"However, our situation is quite different from Community 3.

"Community 3 might have proposed stricter measures than we did, like evenly distributing all chips earned by players after each game.

"But our community players wouldn't accept such a proposal.

"At most, we can verbally encourage everyone to cooperate as much as possible with people from the same community when grouped in the next game.

"But even if we don't encourage this, everyone would know. After all, who wouldn't want to collaborate with familiar faces from the community rather than strangers?

"As for establishing one or several absolute cores like Community 3, where others must unconditionally obey in the game...

"I feel that we don't have the environment for that in our community right now."

Fu Chen raised a new question.

Cai Zhiyuan finished his breakfast, wiped his mouth with a napkin, "I understand.

"Without knowing the specific content and rules of the next game, it is indeed challenging to make detailed plans now.

"But I feel there's at least one point we can discuss with everyone as a precaution.

"It's about 'voluntary participation'."

Fu Chen paused, "You mean, encourage everyone to voluntarily participate in the game? That might be difficult."

According to Walkway's published rules, the game has two mechanisms for selecting players: one is mandatory participation, and the other is voluntary participation.

Cai Zhiyuan explained, "So far, we haven't encountered a situation of voluntary participation, but since this mechanism is explicitly present in Walkway's rules, there will inevitably be an issue: what if the number of volunteers exceeds the players the game can accommodate?

"I predict that Walkway might filter according to certain rules.

"But no matter what rules it's based on, two things might remain constant:

"First, the earlier you sign up, the more likely you are to be selected;

"Second, the more people sign up, the more likely it is to be selected.

"So, assuming a future group game has already compelled some players from our community to participate, other players should immediately volunteer to occupy the remaining slots."

Fu Chen immediately understood, "You're suggesting something akin to 'illegal teaming' in games?"

Illegal teaming refers to situations where in certain games like battle royale, the game doesn't allow teaming, but many players queue up to enter the same game and spontaneously form teams to target other players, thus increasing their chances of winning.

"Sounds feasible.

"If, in a multiplayer game, we make up the majority, we could easily dominate and push out players from other communities.

"But would Walkway allow such an obvious loophole?"

Cai Zhiyuan slightly shook his head, "I don't think it's necessary to overly mystify Walkway. Although Walkway seems to control everything, the game rules are ultimately set by humans.

"Since they're set by humans, there may be loopholes.

"Even the game designers might intentionally leave backdoors in the game."

Fu Chen thought seriously for a moment, "That's true.

"The earlier players integrate and realize the importance of team cooperation, the greater their advantage in upcoming games.

"But here's another issue:

"If the game itself is brutal with a high elimination rate, wouldn't all the players from the same community be wiped out if they went in together?

"In such a case, it might even be better to participate separately."

Cai Zhiyuan said helplessly, "But thinking like that becomes a never-ending layer of considerations, and it's hard to reach a definite conclusion.

"If our community opts for separate participation while other communities choose group participation, we would always be at a disadvantage, given fixed elimination rates in each game."

Fu Chen thought seriously again for a moment, "Yes, you're right. Overall, having more people participate seems safer.

"I'll tell everyone later, but, of course, it can only be a suggestion, nothing mandatory."

...

Meanwhile, Wang Yongxin also came downstairs, ordered a burger and a coffee at the vending machine.

Just as he sat in a single seat by the window, placing his burger and coffee on the coffee table, he saw Ding Wenqiang walking towards him.

Wang Yongxin instinctively felt wary.

However, the next second, Ding Wenqiang arrived before him and awkwardly said, "I'm here to apologize to you."

Wang Yongxin was taken aback, "Huh?"

Ding Wenqiang said, "I might have had some prejudice against you before, my attitude wasn't good, don't take it to heart."

Wang Yongxin quickly stood up, "No, no, Uncle Ding, you're too serious. As the elder, if anyone should apologize, it's me to you.

"I think we just have some differences in philosophy, but we share the same concern for the community.

"As men, we usually don't fuss over small matters like this, don't you think?"

Ding Wenqiang nodded, "Yes, I think so too.

"...Well, enjoy your breakfast."

He seemed to want to say more but couldn't think of a topic, so he awkwardly raised his hand in greeting and ended the conversation.

Wang Yongxin sat back down to continue his breakfast.

Clearly, Ding Wenqiang's change in attitude was largely due to the Community Security Fund.

Wang Yongxin supported the Community Security Fund and indeed contributed 5% of his earned chips.

Ding Wenqiang benefited directly from this fund, naturally improving his view of Wang Yongxin.

"Money can eliminate conflicts, and of course, it can also buy friendship.

"Ha, this place isn't much different from the real world."

Wang Yongxin looked out the floor-to-ceiling window and stretched comfortably.

But just then, a new message appeared on the big screen.

[Good morning, players!]

[The 'Walkway' will open in 5 minutes.]

[The game title is 'King's Judgment,' and the game's objective is to 'judge the sinners.']

[The mandatory participants from this community are: Wang Yongxin, Ding Wenqiang, Cai Zhiyuan.]

[There are a few open slots for voluntary participation in this game, which will be randomly selected from all registered players.]

[Please be prepared.]

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