[Hello, Lin Sizhi.]
[Congratulations on receiving the invitation. You are about to become a player in the New World.]
[Before you officially enter the New World, there is a simple test here to determine your special identity in the New World.]
[In another room not far from you, there is a criminal currently in a comatose state.]
[The document on your left contains this criminal's crime file and the corresponding verdict.]
[If you believe this verdict is fair and just, or if you don't care either way, please do nothing and wait quietly in this room for 2 hours.]
[After 2 hours, the New World will automatically issue player visas for both you and this criminal.]
[If you believe this verdict is not fair and just enough, then please look to your right, where there is a game planning document.]
[Please design a game to render a more appropriate judgment on this criminal.]
[The 'Gallery' will review your planning document. Once it passes review, this criminal will be forced to participate in this game and accept your judgment.]
[Now, the 2-hour countdown begins. Please make your choice.]
1:59:59...
1:59:58...
Looking at the constantly jumping countdown on the large screen, Lin Sizhi, who had just awakened from unconsciousness, felt a dull ache in his temples.
He gently pressed his thumb against the space between his eyebrows while looking around.
This was a pure white, simple room with only a long table, a chair, a huge screen, and a red door.
The overly minimalist arrangement made it feel very unreal.
"Where is this..."
Lin Sizhi struggled to sort through his chaotic thoughts, recalling what had happened before arriving here.
A car accident, perhaps?
Lin Sizhi was a criminal defense lawyer. In his last memory, he only remembered driving late at night to meet with a client, suddenly being enveloped by blinding white light from an oncoming vehicle, and then his memory was completely cut off.
"Am I already dead?"
Lin Sizhi looked down to check his physical condition and found that he was still wearing the standard suit he usually wore for work. His body was also healthy, with no wounds whatsoever.
The only thing that caught his attention was that there was now a black bracelet about two fingers wide on his left wrist. The material was unknown, seamless and smooth, fitting perfectly and impossible to remove.
Lin Sizhi stood up and walked a few steps around the room, trying to open the red door, but quickly discovered it was firmly locked.
Lin Sizhi could only return to sit at the long table, where the relevant materials were indeed laid out:
On the left side were the crime file and verdict, while on the right side was a standard planning form with fields for game name, number of participants, specific rules, and so on.
Lin Sizhi first picked up the game planning document on the right to examine it.
It had a specific format.
For example, game name, number of participants, rule introduction for players, actual game rules, and so on, all had to be filled in their corresponding fields according to requirements.
Some fields even had supplementary explanations, such as:
[Rule Introduction for Players: You may cleverly conceal some game rules, but you cannot mix obviously false information in the rule introduction to deceive players.]
[Actual Game Rules: Please write out all game rules as comprehensively as possible to avoid logical loopholes.]
The top section of the planning document was rather special because it already had pre-filled information.
[Available Props List (use as needed):]
[1. Firearms: 4 guns, plus unlimited ammunition of various types.]
[2. Cold weapons: 6 pieces.]
[3. Display devices: 3 units.]
[4. Timers: 5 pieces.]
[5. Prop placement platform: 1 unit.]
[6. Chairs: 3 pieces.]
[7. Restraint devices: 2 units.]
[8. Any complete set of casino gambling equipment: 2 sets.]
[9. Freely designable special mechanism: 1 unit.]
[10. Other scene props unrelated to game content: unlimited.]
[Note 1: Unless otherwise specified, the designer may freely decide the model and appearance of props used.]
[Note 2: No props may be taken out of the game venue, or they will disappear into thin air.]
"Firearms, and freely designable special mechanisms?
"Doesn't this mean I have complete power over life and death?"
Lin Sizhi naturally thought of this point.
If taken to extremes, Lin Sizhi could completely set up such a game:
The unconscious criminal would be restrained, while his wrist would be connected to a mechanism through a thin wire.
Once the criminal awakened and his wrist moved, the wire would trigger the mechanism, pulling the gun's trigger and killing him.
Of course, there were some restrictions in the planning document, such as not being able to mix obviously false information in the rule introduction to deceive players, and certainly not being able to design a game with absolutely no chance of completion.
However, Lin Sizhi could also design an extremely harsh completion rule for this game:
If the criminal, after awakening, produced no wrist movement greater than 3cm and persisted for 10 hours, the mechanism would automatically disengage and the game would end.
This game rule completely conformed to the format of the game planning document.
But in reality, it was an almost certain death trap.
"From the format of the planning document, I could indeed design such a game.
"But it might not pass review.
"Moreover, according to the requirements on the big screen, I should render a 'fair and just' and 'more appropriate' judgment on this criminal, not torture and kill him with a cruel game.
"But how should one define what is 'fair and just' and what is 'more appropriate'?
"For a criminal who has already been judged by modern society's legal system, could there really be room for 'private punishment' to correct things?"
Lin Sizhi fell into deep thought.
After a moment, he picked up the crime file and punishment result on his left.
[Wei Xinjian, male, 37 years old.]
[Due to business failure, he raced on a downtown road with a 40km/h speed limit, killing a couple on the roadside on the spot.]
[Punishment result: Sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for traffic accident crime. Has completed sentence and been released.]
Lin Sizhi carefully read this simple text many times over.
Then he quietly picked up his pen and began writing on the game planning document.
"Swish swish swish swish——"
More than an hour later, Lin Sizhi put down his pen and reviewed the game rules he had written from beginning to end.
He ultimately only used some of the available props.
[1. Silver revolver 1 piece, impossible to determine live round position through cylinder, with 1 live round.]
[2. CRT television 1 unit.]
[3. LED electronic timer 1 piece.]
[4. Square wooden table 1 piece.]
[5. Iron chairs 2 pieces, with automatic locks at arm, leg, waist, and neck positions, welded to the ground, and capable of disciplinary high-voltage electric current.]
[6. Freely designed special mechanism 1 unit.]
[7. Decorative scene props: old incandescent lamp 1 piece, old shelves 2 pieces, corner waste wooden box 1 piece...]
After confirming everything was correct, Lin Sizhi wrote the four characters "Design Complete" in the lower right corner of the last page.
The information on the big screen changed.
[The Gallery is reviewing your submitted planning document...]
[Review complete, approved.]
[The Gallery is setting up the game venue according to the planning document content...]
[Setup complete. Please proceed to the game venue and complete the game within the remaining time.]
These information changes happened very quickly, taking only a few seconds.
This also made Lin Sizhi more certain that this should not be in reality. Perhaps he was already dead, or had come to some kind of supernatural space.
After all, in reality, even with a team on standby, it would be impossible to complete such complex rule reviews in just a few seconds and strictly arrange the game venue according to the rule requirements.
"Beep."
A notification sound rang, and the red door in the room opened.
Lin Sizhi left the room, walked along the pure white corridor to the end, where he faced a heavily rusted, heavy security door.
Behind the door was an old warehouse that gave off a musty smell.
Everything inside had already been arranged according to Lin Sizhi's design in the game, including the unconscious criminal fixed to an iron chair by the mechanism.
Lin Sizhi sat down on another iron chair, picked up a cloth strip nearby and bit it with his mouth, tying a knot behind his head.
Then, he sat up in standard posture and closed his eyes.
"Click" sounds continued to ring out as mechanisms popped out from Lin Sizhi's arms, legs, waist, neck and other positions, locking him to the iron chair.
[The game begins.]