The two contestants on the big screen were visibly more panicked than Zheng Jie.

Initially, participating in the showcase was supposed to be a chance to earn extra likes, something everyone was eager to do. But unexpectedly, when it was finally their turn, it turned into a blatant murder game.

What's worse, killing in the showcase was easier than killing in a meeting.

Because in a meeting, you first need to match or invite the other party into the same meeting room, ensure your 'likes' or 'dislikes' surpass theirs, and also expend additional 'likes' or 'dislikes' to launch an attack.

But the showcase is different. As long as 20 players press 'bored', death is immediate.

From previous showcases, getting 20 'bored' points was not uncommon.

The showcase had just begun, and the first performer, a seemingly honest-looking middle-aged man, was already in tears.

"I have no talent, and not much visa time. I just want to survive the game safely, I beg everyone, please don't kill me!"

He started kneeling on the ground, knocking his head 'thump thump thump'.

According to the game rules, during the showcase, players must perform for at least 1 minute and at most 5 minutes.

So even if you wanted to end the showcase performance immediately, it was impossible.

Zheng Jie sat in his chair, watching the number one performer kneeling and knocking his head repeatedly, causing Zheng Jie's heart to tighten.

Finally, the minute that felt like an eternity passed, and the man with a big red mark on his forehead hurriedly got up from the ground and pressed the button beside the showcase stage.

A prompt sounded, and the audio switched to the second performer.

At this moment, the man seemed to have narrowly escaped disaster, continuously bowing and clasping his hands in front of the camera.

Others had previously used this button to end the showcase early, but none as urgently or sincerely as this man.

The second performer was also panicked, a woman in her thirties with a relatively well-prepared makeup. A small patch of moisture stained her shoulder, as she cried into the camera, completely ignoring her makeup.

Fortunately, no incidents occurred as the minute passed.

[Contestant 1 received a total of 7 'interesting', and gained 0 extra 'likes'.]

[Contestant 2 received a total of 2 'interesting', and gained 0 extra 'likes'.]

Not only were there hardly any 'bored' votes, even those voting 'interesting' became sparse.

This might be because players were too busy brainstorming survival strategies to care about the showcase;

Or because players couldn't describe their feelings watching the showcase as 'interesting';

Or perhaps, they were terrified of the possibility that "the showcase could lead to death", instinctively avoiding pressing any buttons.

Seeing that the two players this time were unharmed, Zheng Jie couldn't help but sigh in relief.

Clearly, though the killing condition appeared easy, it wasn't quickly achievable.

Most players were not new to the game and would seriously consider the rules.

Killing through the showcase requires at least 20 players to participate, meaning the 1/10 visa time gained from killing a player would be split among 20 people.

Divided like that, there isn't much left.

Most players have innate compassion, sympathy, empathizing with others, making it difficult to resolve to execute a performer for a trivial amount of visa time, even if they are strangers.

Moreover, not being sure if the other party poses a threat, having more players alive decreases the odds of encountering a murderer in future meetings.

Therefore, most players couldn't press 'bored' to kill without a mental burden.

Even if some ruthless players indiscriminately pressed 'bored', or some had grudges with the player, it's unlikely to reach 20 people.

This slightly reassured Zheng Jie; it seems stepping on the showcase stage doesn't necessarily mean immediate death.

Moreover, having already been on stage once, he now felt relatively safe.

Based on the current game mechanism, the showcase would prioritize players who hadn't been on stage yet.

Otherwise, if a player never receives a like, wouldn't they always go up for the showcase? That wouldn't make sense either.

Not receiving likes and going up early on the showcase turned into a good thing for Zheng Jie.

"But... if I remember correctly, Brother Lin and Yang Yuting haven't been on the showcase yet, right?"

Zheng Jie couldn't help worrying about the two of them.

Based on the showcase mechanism, Lin Sizhi and Yang Yuting probably got many likes, bringing their showcase rankings down.

But now, as time passes, the later the showcase, the more dangerous it seems.

"Damn it, had I known, failing to get 'likes', getting more 'dislikes' would be better!"

Zheng Jie realized that dislikes were a resource.

The first stage deliberately concealed relevant rules, so everyone instinctively avoided dislikes.

Come the second stage, they turned out to be the worst off: lacking both likes and dislikes, they had zero defenses against either reporting or murdering attempts.

Because reporting and murdering both required having more 'likes' or 'dislikes' than the other to proceed with killing operations.

In other words, those with more 'dislikes' had more initiative.

He could kill whomever he wanted, but others couldn't kill him at all.

Just then, a new broadcast message appeared on the big screen.

[Lin Sizhi from Community 17 broadcasts a piece of data to all players.]

[In the last meeting, the percentage of players who actively invited those with more likes than themselves: '15%'.]

Zheng Jie was puzzled: "Oh? What's this mean?"

He was confused since 15% seemed not to convey much specific information.

But as it was data from Lin Sizhi, Zheng Jie thought it must have deeper meaning, so he spent more time pondering it.

Suddenly, inspiration struck his mind.

"If the data doesn't provide extra information, doesn't that mean the information is hidden in how the data was selected?

"The exact number of those behaving this way is irrelevant, but the act itself is significant!

"In other words, Brother Lin is reminding us that actively meeting with players having more likes ensures better safety and improves survival odds!

"Yep, that's it!"

Zheng Jie found it increasingly logical as he thought.

According to the game mechanism, the riskiest players now were those who accumulated 5 dislikes and were filled with resentment.

Since players with more likes often had fewer dislikes, matching with them seemed safer.

Among players he had met, who had more likes?

Though not searchable, it was conceivable that players getting on the showcase later had more likes.

Of course, matching with them wasn't without risk because they might report. But since it took three reports for death, compared to murder, there was some margin for error.

Choose the lesser of two evils.

Zheng Jie was revitalized and hurriedly went to the meeting room entrance, using the small screen to send Zhou Rong from Community 12 a meeting invitation.

Zheng Jie considered this the safest meeting option currently.

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