God's Imitator-Chapter 456: Refusal

For He Xiaojun, there would be certain differences between the three approaches.

If he used the third method, telling '↑The Lovers' the information and letting the other party handle everything, then He Xiaojun himself would have the least trouble, but would also have the worst control over the situation. At that point, he would most likely no longer have any bargaining chips for negotiation.

If he used the second method, where He Xiaojun himself deceived others, prioritizing having other players concentrate Wealth Vouchers on himself, then He Xiaojun could maintain autonomy over specifically when to transfer Wealth Vouchers to '↑The Lovers,' which would be relatively more secure.

The first method was naturally the best, where He Xiaojun would openly and honestly tell other players from Community 14 about this matter and obtain their consent, then transfer Wealth Vouchers to '↑The Lovers' depending on the situation after concentrating them, stopping promptly if something seemed wrong.

But this method also had the highest difficulty to implement and might exceed He Xiaojun's current capabilities.

Very obviously, '↑The Lovers' still hoped more that he would adopt the third method, which was to betray Community 14's information.

After considering for a moment, He Xiaojun said, "Setting aside the issue that our community still loses more overall.

"The most critical point is that in the process of transferring Wealth Vouchers to you, if you ultimately go back on your word, I also have no countermeasures.

"If I forcibly follow you to your community, I'd still be at the mercy of others, so I could only choose to go to another Exit Area, another Core Community.

"This strategy itself has no binding force on you whatsoever."

'↑The Lovers' was silent for a moment. "I understand very well that you would worry about this.

"But there's no free lunch in this world. As a Peripheral Community, you either choose to be self-reliant and earn more Wealth Vouchers, or you depend on a Core Community, conceding some Wealth Vouchers, bearing some risks, and safely ensuring everyone's survival.

"These are two different choices. You can't possibly hope that the Core Community would both guarantee your safety and concede benefits to you, right? That's impossible, after all, Core Communities also have survival pressure."

He Xiaojun didn't give a definite answer. "I may still need more time before I can be certain."

'↑The Lovers' didn't directly express dissatisfaction, but very obviously he didn't want progress to continue being this slow.

Because the two of them didn't have much conversation time left.

"I need to remind you that the thoughts of other players in your community are actually completely irrelevant.

"If this plan comes to fruition, you were originally going to come to our community anyway, so what does it matter whether other players agree or not?

"I can give you time to continue considering, but I can't guarantee I'll always reserve a position for you.

"You need to understand, our community actually only has three slots, which means I'll only accept three players from Peripheral Communities.

"Your luck is pretty good, encountering me relatively early in the game, but if you refuse, I won't necessarily encounter players from your community again afterward.

"If in the end, no player from your community can enter an 'Exit Area,' it'll be too late for regrets."

At this moment, He Xiaojun finally understood the other party's complete plan.

Very obviously, this wasn't a strategy aimed at him alone.

But rather a strategy aimed at all Peripheral Community players.

This predicament was very familiar to him. He had already encountered it more than once in previous games.

It was the 'Prisoner's Dilemma.'

Now, '↑The Lovers,' as a core player from a Core Community, was attempting to create a prisoner's dilemma among Peripheral Communities, among players from the same Peripheral Community.

Of course, this dilemma stemmed from the game mechanics and already existed. '↑The Lovers' was just trying to exploit or intensify this dilemma.

The four Core Communities were very strong. What could be confirmed was that players like '↑The Magician,' '↑Wheel of Fortune,' and '↓Hermit' all came from Core Communities. They could earn large amounts of Wealth Vouchers in the process of battling other communities, and could set rules and lead the trends of the game.

At the same time, these core players also found ordinary players from the same community through various methods and completed the transfer and exchange of Wealth Vouchers, ensuring players from the same community didn't fall behind.

In this situation, the number of players the 'Exit Areas' could actually accommodate would be very limited.

All Peripheral Communities had to ensure as much as possible that one player established a wealth advantage and entered an 'Exit Area.'

Therefore, '↑The Lovers' was using the advantage of their community having three slots to win over these Peripheral Communities and ensure their safety.

However, four Peripheral Communities only had three slots, and only one person from each Peripheral Community would be taken in.

The player who was taken in would have the opportunity to go to a stronger community and could earn more visa time than other players. Overall, it was very attractive.

If He Xiaojun didn't agree, other players from the same community might also agree.

If players from Community 14 all didn't agree, players from the other three communities would also most likely agree.

And once other players, other communities agreed, then the communities and players who didn't agree would very likely become cannon fodder in this game.

At best, their returns would drastically shrink. At worst, they would suffer instant death punishment.

Since it was a prisoner's dilemma, the final result would be a Nash equilibrium, with both prisoners choosing to betray.

At least in the current situation, players who betrayed first could still place their hopes on '↑The Lovers' keeping their promise.

For He Xiaojun, this was a very difficult decision.

He considered for a long time, and finally shook his head. "Your proposal looks very good. But I'm sorry, I refuse."

'↑The Lovers' was stunned. Very obviously, in his view, '↓Justice' had made a choice that didn't match his expectations.

In his view, a relatively weak and desperate player like '↓Justice' would only have an extremely small probability of choosing to try to break through when facing a prisoner's dilemma. They would most likely succumb to rhetoric and wishful thinking.

However, even so, '↑The Lovers' didn't plan to give up just like that.

"There's still time. You can seriously consider it again.

"Because other people from your community, as well as players from other Peripheral Communities, will most likely accept this proposal.

"When that time comes..."

He Xiaojun shook his head. "No need to explain. I've already thought through all these issues.

"But fundamentally, this kind of cooperation is unequal. Once I agree, there's no room to go back on it.

"If afterward you use 'ensuring we don't bottom out' as a reason to continuously demand I extract Wealth Vouchers from other players in the same community to transfer to you, or demand I give out the community's secret codes to make it convenient for you to deceive players from our community, I also won't be able to refuse anymore. It'll just be a slippery slope, step by step.

"I know there's also the possibility of 'you consistently keeping your promise,' but I've already learned not to pin my hopes on others' mercy.

"Whether I live or die, I want to control my own fate myself.

"Even if I lose miserably."