Chapter 564: Chapter 564: Powerless Accusation

Previously, Huang Shengjie had also experienced something like phantom pain: obviously the pain had been completely suppressed, yet it still felt as if there was some faint, elusive ache lingering.

But if he carefully distinguished it, he could still tell the difference.

Huang Shengjie originally thought this was phantom pain again, but after feeling it out in detail, he realized the pain really hadn’t disappeared completely; it still vaguely existed, though very mild.

Time was limited, and the time left for Huang Shengjie to make a choice was running out.

Because the pain only lasted 1 minute, if it wasn’t fully suppressed within that one minute, the rule of "curing the special pain after three consecutive rounds of complete analgesia" would fail to trigger.

That could very likely lead to catastrophic consequences.

Huang Shengjie had no choice. After a brief moment of thought, he still could only pour out another O-type pill and shove it into his mouth while the pain was still in effect.

This time, the pain finally vanished completely.

Huang Shengjie let out a long breath. Although he had taken two O-type pills in a row, at least he had achieved complete analgesia this round; endure two more rounds and it would be cured.

But right after that, as the system’s pain duration ended, that "withdrawal pain" like ants crawling all over his body reappeared.

And it was even more intense than before.

"Fuck, is this shit never going to end..."

Feeling a bit irritable, Huang Shengjie tightened his grip on the pill bottle. He really wanted to swallow another O-type pill, but in the end he forced himself to hold back.

At the same time, he also realized his situation was getting worse and worse.

The "withdrawal pain" triggered by the side effects of this drug would also gradually intensify.

Continuing to take O-type pills could indeed erase this pain, but it would also very likely mean that the interval to the next wave of withdrawal pain would grow shorter, and its intensity stronger.

"Right now I already need two O-type pills to completely suppress the pain. If I keep taking them without Temperance, maybe very soon it’ll become three pills, four pills to fully kill the pain.

"If it keeps increasing like this, it’s basically a bottomless pit.

"If Qian Li decides to raise the price and gouge me, the Medical Points I’ll have to pay later might turn into some astronomical figure I can’t possibly afford.

"Endure it, yeah, endure it...

"I can only take pills when I’m suffering special pain from the game rules."

But even though reason told him he had to endure, actually doing it was still very hard.

This wasn’t much about willpower; no matter how strong a person’s will is, they fundamentally can’t fight against physiological instinct.

Just then, the broadcast sounded.

After hearing the contents of the broadcast, Huang Shengjie was first a little surprised, then wildly ecstatic.

[A player has chosen to consume all remaining visa time to identify the Imitator.]

...

Although at the very beginning of the game, the method for "identifying the Imitator" had been clearly written in the rules, up to this point no player had ever used it, and many had even forgotten this rule existed.

Because after getting a basic understanding of the game mechanics, the vast majority of players could see that this was close to impossible.

The 40 players were divided into four different Zones, and even within the same Zone they might not necessarily meet.

Each player could only meet the players adjacent to them.

Patients could meet the most players, but even then it was only 6 people.

There were "Monitor" and "Call" functions, but the conditions for using them were quite harsh.

Trying to find the Imitator under these circumstances, the odds were vanishingly small. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Yet at this moment, the appearance of this broadcast still fired Huang Shengjie up.

Because the game was already close to a dead end; in this last hour or so, things would only get worse and worse.

And now there was only one way left to break the stalemate: find and kill the Imitator.

"No matter what, this player gave up all his Medical Points to identify the Imitator; he must have found some concrete evidence, right?

"As long as more than 20 players put in 2000 points each for ’identification’, the system can verify and execute the Imitator.

"And the payoff for killing the Imitator will definitely far exceed that figure."

Clenching his teeth against the withdrawal pain, Huang Shengjie listened intently.

...

[Because this is the first attempt to identify the Imitator in this game, the rules for "identifying the Imitator" will once again be emphasized to all players.]

[The initial identification window is 1 minute. Other players can at any time swipe their Medical Card on any device in any room to vote, choosing "Verify" or "Do Not Verify".]

[Choosing "Verify" will automatically deduct 2000 Medical Points.]

[For every 5 players who choose "Verify", the identification window will be extended by 1 minute, up to a maximum of 5 minutes.]

[Once a total of 20 players choose "Verify", the system will automatically verify the Imitator’s identity.]

[If the verification is accurate, the Imitator will receive the death penalty.]

[If the verification is inaccurate, the Medical Points already deducted will not be refunded.]

[Identification begins.]

The relevant rules had been broadcast at the very start of the game, and the function pages of various machines also showed the detailed rules, but many players hadn’t paid much attention, so the system emphasized them again.

Soon, a voice came through.

The so-called identification came with no corresponding video, and even the voice itself had been specially processed.

Other players could swipe their Medical Card on any device, deduct 2000 Medical Points, and vote to "Verify".

The initial identification window was only 1 minute; only if enough other players voted would the time be extended accordingly.

Even through the special processing, the voice in the broadcast still faintly carried a kind of desperate, all-or-nothing determination.

"I want to identify Sales Chen Guangming as the Imitator in this game!

"From the very beginning, he practically knew every game mechanic inside out, he even understood the exact effects and details of these drugs!

"He used this to manipulate the Auditors in Zone C and Zone D, flooding both Zones with special highly addictive drugs!

"If he wasn’t in possession of some special inside information, how could Zone C have been overrun without any serious resistance? How could Zone D have been taken from the inside by the patients?

"His real job is Sales; he has absolutely no relevant professional background. There’s no way he could have distinguished the differences between these drugs in such a short time!

"So please, everyone, believe me—check Chen Guangming!

"In this game, many players have fallen for people like him, just like I did. Addicted to drugs, with their Medical Points and even their visa time almost completely cheated away!

"Only by identifying and killing the Imitator can we safely get out of this ga—"

However, before he could finish, the broadcast was cut off.

The one-minute window had already passed.

The player’s speech had been a bit incoherent and broken, which actually wasted quite a bit of time, making that one minute feel especially short under these conditions.

Fewer than 5 players had cast a "Verify" vote for him, so the time wasn’t extended, let alone triggering the "verification" game mechanic.

Whether or not Chen Guangming was the Imitator, he would emerge unscathed.