God's Imitator

Chapter 587: Chapter 586: The Pain Returns

Huang Shengjie nodded with realization.

"Thinking back now, when I first entered the Community, I did have a vague feeling that something was odd.

"It seemed like something was missing, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

"Now I understand!

"But for us, this is a good thing!

"Qin Cheng, since you’ve figured this out, you can totally use this conflict to become one of the key members of the Community.

"Looking at the current situation, Lu Bingjun, Ye Lin, and Lawyer Lin are pretty much confirmed to be the core of the game.

"But now there are 14 people in the Community, so we can definitely have a fourth core member.

"As long as you don’t push yourself out on purpose and cooperate a little, you’ll be the one chosen.

"Then you can lead me to fly high!"

Qin Cheng’s expression was somewhat serious: "I’m not very concerned about these; what I’m mainly worried about is that if the Community’s stability collapses, for instance, if the conflict between Lu Bingjun and Ye Lin suddenly intensifies, or even leads to an internal struggle, will it affect us?

"Looking at it now, that’s not impossible."

Huang Shengjie paused for a moment: "Huh? How would that affect us? We could just stay on the sidelines, being fence-sitters, right?"

Qin Cheng shook his head: "If there really is an internal struggle, it won’t happen within the Community.

"Because within the Community, it could only be considered some kind of political struggle and can’t destroy the opponent entirely. In other words, it’s hard to have a decisive outcome.

"If there’s going to be an internal struggle, it will definitely happen in the game, directly scheming the opponent to death.

"But the issue is, it’s impossible for only those two to enter the game; some other Community players might also join the game.

"If an opportunity arises in the game where one can kill the opponent at the cost of also killing some fellow Community players, do you think they’d hesitate?

"Or, if Lu Bingjun were to die, do you think Ye Lin would spare his staunch supporters?"

Huang Shengjie was stunned: "They would... right?"

Qin Cheng shook his head: "If Lu Bingjun died on his own, of course, it’d be fine.

"But what if during the internal struggle, Ye Lin uses the game mechanics to personally kill him?"

Huang Shengjie furrowed his brows, finally letting out a silent sigh.

"Okay, that’s indeed... a bit hard to imagine.

"Although your thinking is a bit extreme, in this devilish place, indeed anything could happen.

"We can’t consider things with a usual mindset anymore.

"So, what do you mean by telling me all this?"

Qin Cheng explained: "Self-protection.

"I’m telling you this, on one hand, to make you aware of the Community’s current situation and the potential dangers, and on the other hand, hoping to unite more players to protect ourselves.

"If there’s only one player, it’ll be easy to become cannon fodder in the upcoming conflicts.

"But if we can gather more people, we can become a force that cannot be ignored, much safer comparatively.

"I’ve roughly looked at the Community’s composition.

"Currently, most of the old players in the Community stand on either Lu Bingjun’s or Ye Lin’s side.

"Yao Yuan, Deng Xiao, Wen Wan, these three should pretty clearly support Lu Bingjun.

"Geng Yuxia, He Qinyun, Zheng Chunhua seem to lean more towards Ye Lin.

"As for Zhou Wanlin, I’m not sure; she might have a neutral or wavering stance. However, players like Wen Wan, Zheng Chunhua, and Geng Yuxia probably don’t have firm positions either.

"But no matter what, there’s not much point in trying to win over these old players.

"So, we have to start with the new players.

"The two of us, plus Lu Qi, are entering the New World for the first time, we’re natural allies, that’s self-evident.

"I’m thinking of focusing on persuading Shen Bowen. I believe she’s the most crucial piece.

"Firstly, Shen Bowen stayed in a weak Community during the entire first phase, yet survived until now, she must have her unique strengths; her capabilities are unquestionable.

"Secondly, her current position in the Community is rather awkward; as an old player, she’s not trusted by Lu Bingjun, and due to various conditions, it’s almost impossible for her to become a game core.

"If we can find a suitable position for her within our group, she should be happy to accept."

Huang Shengjie quickly asked: "What about Lawyer Lin? He’s definitely strong enough."

Qin Cheng lowered his head in thought for a moment: "Hmm... if we could bring Lawyer Lin in, that would be best, but the issue is, I can’t figure out what he’s thinking at all.

"Many of his actions and thoughts can’t be understood from a normal person’s perspective.

"Moreover, if we have to choose between Lawyer Lin and Shen Bowen, Lu Bingjun would most likely choose Lawyer Lin, so for Lawyer Lin, joining our small group might not be attractive enough.

"Anyway, I will definitely try to contact him, but we can’t rely on him to fully stand by our side.

"But the good news is, he probably doesn’t have any particular reason to stand firmly with either Lu Bingjun or Ye Lin."

Huang Shengjie let out a breath of relief: "Hmm... that’s indeed the case.

"Ah, my scalp itches, feels like I’m growing a brain.

"Without your reminder, I probably wouldn’t understand these things at all."

Qin Cheng shook his head: "Shengjie, actually, you’re very smart, just a bit lazy.

"Just like in this game: you’re just not sensitive to some information, lacking the initiative to think, but once given sufficient hints and information, you can immediately restore the truth.

"So, we two can make something of ourselves here.

"We definitely can."

Huang Shengjie nodded: "Hmm... hope so."

After sitting for a while, the two got up and returned to the hall.

The gathering was nearing its end, and the players who remained in the hall were quickly cleaning up the battlefield, tidying up before returning to their rooms to rest.

...

Late night.

In room 14, Huang Shengjie awakened from a nightmare.

It felt like countless ants were crawling all over him, every bone, every muscle aching dully, making him feel extremely distressed.

Moreover, he felt a fog enveloping his brain, wanting to struggle on the bed yet completely unable to rise, only capable of curling up tightly. freewēbnoveℓ.com

Tears, snot, and sweat flowed out uncontrollably.

"Here it comes again...

"No, no, what’s happening?

"This isn’t the pain within the Community, it’s withdrawal pain...

"But haven’t I already exited the game?"

Huang Shengjie struggled hard against the pain, gradually finding himself left with only one thought in his mind.

"Why hasn’t it ended yet... why hasn’t it ended!"

Finally, as the pain throughout his body slowly eased, Huang Shengjie relaxed somewhat, lying spread-eagle on the bed, his entire body soaked in cold sweat.

But the issue is, the pain has merely diminished, not vanished completely.

Moreover, Huang Shengjie felt his hands and feet somewhat disobedient, continuing to tremble.

Like last time, Huang Shengjie couldn’t record the specific time of the pain, but the experience felt incredibly long, very likely over half an hour.

"This is clearly longer than the pain duration in the game...

"Previously in the game, Lawyer Lin mentioned that the game rules didn’t state that withdrawal pain would necessarily disappear after leaving the game.

"Damn it, it really hasn’t disappeared..."