Zheng Jie felt even more anxious.

"What on earth is Lawyer Lin thinking? Checking all this data, isn't he almost out of likes by now?

"It looks like he's trying to find someone, maybe the culprit inciting player killings?

"But with so many people broadcasting, how is this different from looking for a needle in a haystack?

"Is he looking for Gao Jialiang and Fang Wencong from Community 1? Otherwise, why check three pieces of information about Gao Jialiang?

"But there's nothing to see from this.

"Even if it really is Gao Jialiang or Fang Wencong, we probably can't manage to kill them.

"These two must have found a fixed partner in the game somehow.

"Once such a fixed pair appears, no one else can match with them again, no matter how many likes or dislikes they have, it's impossible to kill them.

"Once the final round arrives, they can kill the fixed partner to gain visa time, isn't this a deadlock?"

Zheng Jie scratched his head anxiously, feeling that with his current intellect, he was no longer fit to think about the situation.

He could only do his best to ensure his own survival.

[Players are required to enter the meeting room immediately; failure to do so will result in an instant death penalty.]

Zheng Jie opened the door and quickly walked through the corridor towards the meeting room.

...

"Stop! Stay right there!

"My hand is on the murder button, one step closer and I'll kill you."

The person had just entered the door and was startled by Zheng Jie's voice.

It was a woman he hadn't seen before, but it didn't matter to Zheng Jie, because whether he knew them or not, man or woman, he couldn't trust anyone now.

"Stand against the wall with your back to me, hands on your head.

"I don't want to kill you. As long as you stay put for ten minutes, both of us will be fine."

Zheng Jie lowered his voice, trying to sound fierce and dangerous.

In truth, his body was shaking slightly.

The woman quickly stood facing the corner, hands on her head: "I got it! I'll do as you say, don't be impulsive!"

Zheng Jie nodded: "Good.

"Just so you know, before the end of the game, I'll give you a 'dislike', you don't need to give me anything, and you can't come near the console."

The woman's panicked voice came from the other end of the room: "Okay, okay, whatever you say, just don't kill me.

"What about the room fee?"

Zheng Jie: "Let it deduct the money."

The woman quickly said: "I can pay the full amount."

Zheng Jie shook his head: "No need! Paying it all, or getting 200 deducted each for overtime is the same."

The woman stopped insisting: "Fine, alright."

...

After the meeting ended, Zheng Jie returned to the lounge.

Seeing that the number of reports against him was still 2, unchanged, he took a deep breath.

Survived another round.

As it turned out, this tactic was indeed effective.

According to the game's mechanics, the 'murder' action takes effect within 10 seconds. In other words, if a player has enough 'dislikes' or 'likes', they can counterattack within those 10 seconds before dying.

On the surface, this appears to encourage a mutual destruction rule, but in practice, it actually expands the strategic space for players.

If the 'murder' button instantly killed the opponent, it would turn into a game purely about speed, where the faster press wins.

There would be no space for mutual trust among players.

But allowing 10 seconds means that if one really presses the 'murder' button, the other has enough time to counter, making both sides more rational.

By Zheng Jie being the first to occupy the 'murder' button, as long as he doesn't actually press it, the other party is unlikely to provoke him, allowing both to leave safely.

And Zheng Jie can take the opportunity to use up his 'likes' and 'dislikes', preventing the loss of too much visa time upon leaving.

Giving 'likes' to male players and 'dislikes' to female players, relatively speaking, doesn't harm the current situation much.

Zheng Jie felt cold sweat soaking his back, and his legs were somewhat weak.

This bluffing seemed simple, but in practice, it exerted enormous psychological pressure, more exhausting than a fight.

Yet Zheng Jie had just sat down when he saw on the leaderboard that another three names were crossed out in red.

1 from Community 9, 2 from Community 12, and from the names, all male.

35 players remained alive.

Zheng Jie found it hard to breathe, and just then, a new broadcast appeared.

[Jiao Hongtao from Community 8 broadcasts data to all players.]

[Among the currently deceased players, the proportion that died due to female reports is: '60%.']

It finally began.

Zheng Jie had guessed earlier that when those two female players died, it wasn't because the male players weren't at risk of dying, but simply because not enough reports had accumulated yet.

Now, 6 hours into the game, 6 meetings had taken place after updating the killing rules.

Deaths due to 'reports' began to concentrate.

This data inflicted substantial damage on male players who had already been reported and had enough 'dislikes'.

In fact, employing a bluffing strategy like Zheng Jie's could significantly increase survival chances.

But the problem was, players couldn't communicate, and even with such a strategy, it couldn't be shared.

As for broadcasting, it only allowed ratio data to be shared, nothing else.

The data from Lawyer Lin did remind Zheng Jie, but that was because they were both part of Community 17 and had some mutual trust and understanding.

Other players who hadn't heard of the "bluffing" concept beforehand, or were a bit slower, wouldn't understand.

Of course, if one insists on informing other male players about this 'intimidation' technique, there are two ways, though they are quite limited.

The first way is to inform the meeting player during a random match, and ask them to pass it on to others, slowly spreading it that way.

But the issue is, the meeting player might not help pass it on, and the efficiency would be too low, with not enough time.

The second way is through talent showcases, informing all players on stage.

But the issue is, the game's showcase starts after the 2nd hour, with 3 showcases per hour, totaling only 21 showcases.

With 2 people per showcase, most players can only take the stage once.

And Zheng Jie has already appeared on stage, making it difficult for him to be chosen again.

The remaining players who can participate in the showcase are only those with relatively high likes.

In Community 17, that's Lin Sizhi and Yang Yuting.

Both of them had a lot of likes from the start, so they haven't participated in the showcase yet.

"Now we can only hope Brother Lin manages to spread this method as widely as possible during the showcase, saving more people..."

...

...

Soon, the last meeting of the 6th hour ended.

Zheng Jie watched the other party leave the meeting room and breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as he didn't encounter a mad person, he would likely be safe until the last meeting.

Returning to the lounge, Zheng Jie returned to his seat with mixed feelings, with two hours left until the game ended, and 6 meetings remaining.

He glanced at the large screen, his heart skipping a beat again.

Another three names were crossed out.

[Community 1 - Fang Wencong]

[Community 9 - Xiao Zhiyu]

[Community 12 - Zhao Duo]

Not long after.

[Zhang Shichao from Community 9 broadcasts data to all players.]

[The proportion of all male players who have already been 'reported' is: '65%.']

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