Cai Zhiyuan struggled to push the bar, gritting his teeth, his face twisted with effort.

Wang Yongxin's condition was even worse. During the second "Hang the Lantern" judgment game, the game time would increase by 5 minutes.

Although this time doesn't seem long, it's added directly at the end. Extending it by 5 minutes when already exhausted drastically increases the danger level.

If Wang Yongxin's body suddenly gives out completely, his entire weight will hang on his neck. In just a short time, he would pass out from asphyxiation, beyond saving.

The only good news is that they both have had enough rest time, so they can still hold on.

Ding Wenqiang's expression was a bit complicated. He couldn't imagine how he would face the two of them once back in the community.

There's no choice; such are the rules of the game. I'm just doing what most players would do.

The other people in the community... they should be able to understand, right?

Just then, the broadcast sounded again.

[Audience 1 rewards Ding Wenqiang with 5,000 minutes of visa time, message attached: Kill them all, a hundred thousand.]

...

The simple five words exploded in Ding Wenqiang's mind like a thunderclap.

Kill them all, a hundred thousand!

A hundred thousand minutes of visa time is about 70 days, an enormous sum that Ding Wenqiang had never seen since entering the New World.

But if he had to kill Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin, how could he face the others upon returning to the community?

In the "King's Judgment" game, there were audience members from Community 17 watching the entire time.

Even without an audience, players in Community 17 would inevitably check the relevant game information. By then, Ding Wenqiang's every move would be laid bare.

It's impossible to hide it.

Then... if not hide?

If he said it was the game mechanism that killed them, or it was the game designers, would that work?

After Cai Zhiyuan and Wang Yongxin complete this judgment game, only two rounds remain in the ten-round judgment game.

All three have already gone through two judgment games, with a high risk of death in the third.

In other words, two people would likely die.

Picking one unfortunate sap from Cai Zhiyuan or Wang Yongxin to die in the judgment game would also be hard to explain to others back in the community.

Moreover, given their current injuries, it's uncertain if they could hold on after returning to the community.

If that's the case, why not just do it once and for all?

Ding Wenqiang's hands were already stained with Zhang Peng's life, and he somewhat had a whatever-it-takes attitude at this point.

But he quickly shook his head again.

No, no, there's a difference between one death and two. One death from Cai Zhiyuan or Wang Yongxin could still be plausibly argued as a game mechanism issue, but two deaths are indefensible.

For a hundred thousand minutes of visa time, it's not worth becoming socially dead in Community 17, eternally isolated by other players.

There might be similar group-style games in the future, where the survival probability of a lone wolf player will be infinitely reduced.

However, just as Ding Wenqiang finished his inner struggle and decided to reject the offer from Player 1, more broadcasts sounded.

[Audience 1 rewards Ding Wenqiang with 5,000 minutes of visa time, message attached: Kill them all, a hundred thousand.]

[Audience 7 rewards Ding Wenqiang with 5,000 minutes of visa time, message attached: Kill them all, a hundred thousand.]

[Audience 2 rewards Ding Wenqiang with 5,000 minutes of visa time, message attached: Kill them all, a hundred thousand.]

[Audience 8 rewards Ding Wenqiang with 5,000 minutes of visa time, message attached: Kill them all, a hundred thousand.]

[Audience 3 rewards Ding Wenqiang with 2,000 minutes of visa time, message attached: Calm down!]

[Audience 9 rewards Ding Wenqiang with 4,000 minutes of visa time, message attached: They're lying!]

Various rewards and messages started to flood in, and Ding Wenqiang's mind once again fell into chaos.

If five audience members made the same promise, it would mean five hundred thousand minutes of visa time.

Nearing one year!

From the current situation, it seems that the games in Walkway only force participation when judging sinners; others are voluntary sign-ups.

During this year, Ding Wenqiang could comfortably avoid participating in any dangerous Walkway games, enjoying life safely in the community.

Buy whatever he wants.

Living indulgently in the safe zone, surrounded by bright lights and vibrant colors, watching others struggle in death games—a unique sense of security.

This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if missed, such a chance might never come again.

If he truly could obtain a whole year's worth of visa time, even being completely isolated by the community would be insignificant.

Given the frequency of Walkway's opening judgment games, can people in Community 17 really survive a year?

If they all gradually die over the year, who would even know what he did?

Ding Wenqiang was indeed tempted.

But then he thought again and realized something was amiss.

Because these viewers' promises of a hundred thousand minutes of visa time were just empty promises.

According to the game's rules, these viewers could freely reward Ding Wenqiang and attach messages, but these promises were not enforceable by the rules.

Which means they could easily go back on their word.

Promised a hundred thousand minutes of visas but not delivered, Ding Wenqiang would have no recourse.

Though so far, the viewers have been quite trustworthy, fulfilling many previous promises of ten thousand visa minutes. But who can guarantee they wouldn't back out this time?

After all, that's a hundred thousand minutes of visas.

Ding Wenqiang vaguely guessed there might be some special game mechanism for the viewers that allowed them to accumulate a lot of visa time, and a significant part of that profit came from the collective death of prisoners.

That's why the viewers are so willing to spend so lavishly.

Like vultures hovering in the sky, waiting for the bloody battle to end to feast on the fresh corpses.

But the problem is, Ding Wenqiang doesn't know exactly how much profit these viewers could gain, so he naturally can't gauge the credibility of their empty promises.

If viewers could earn two hundred thousand, a bounty of one hundred thousand would be reasonable.

If viewers could only earn fifty thousand, then a bounty of one hundred thousand would purely be a scam.

Although Audience 9 sent a message saying "They're lying," is that information necessarily true?

These viewers are numbered from 1 to 10, and Ding Wenqiang has no way of knowing who they are, much less determining who is more trustworthy.

Moreover, does it even matter whether to listen to the audience or not? He's the King; ultimately, he must make the decision himself.

When working as an employee, you could only listen to the boss. Now, as a King, should he still listen to the audience? Must he be someone else's puppet his entire life?

Should he take the gamble?

If just two or three of these audience members kept their promise, the offer would be incredibly tempting.

...

Seeing Ding Wenqiang fall into deep thought, his face occasionally flashing with conflicting expressions, Wang Yongxin's heart sank quickly.

If possible, he wished he could shout to transfer all the visa time he earned from the previous game to Ding Wenqiang, to buy his life.

But unfortunately, he neither could transfer the visa time nor shout.

As his strength ebbed away, he felt his body growing heavier, the noose around his neck gradually tightening.

He couldn't make any sound and could only pray in despair.

...

In Lin Sizhi's room, new broadcasts sounded in succession.

[Please cast a justice vote on the King's actions.]

[Voting result: ××××√×√×××]

[Audience 5 was deducted 10,000 minutes of visa time.]

[Final justice rating: -60]

[Thank you for your evaluation!]

[Please cast a justice vote on the King's actions.]

[Voting result: √×××××√×××]

[Audience 1 was deducted 10,000 minutes of visa time.]

[Final justice rating: -60]

[Thank you for your evaluation!]

Looking at the voting patterns, more and more viewers are inclined to cast opposing votes.

This is causing the justice rating to plummet further.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.