A Test

[Hello, Lin Sizhi.]

[Congratulations on receiving an invitation. You are about to become a player in the New World.]

[Before you officially enter the New World, there is a simple test to determine your special identity within it.]

[In another room not far from you, a criminal is currently unconscious.]

[The documents on your left are this criminal's case file and corresponding sentence.]

[If you believe the sentence is fair and just, or simply do not care, then do nothing and wait quietly in this room for two hours.]

[After two hours, the New World will automatically issue player visas to you and this criminal.]

[If you believe the sentence is not fair or just enough, then look to your right, where you will find a game design proposal.]

[Please design a game to deliver a more appropriate judgment upon this criminal.]

[You likewise have two hours to complete the game's design and judgment.]

["Gallery" will review your proposal. Once it passes review, this criminal will be forced to participate in the game and accept your judgment.]

[The two-hour countdown begins now. Please make your choice.]

1:59:59

1:59:58

Watching the countdown continuously tick away on the enormous screen, Lin Sizhi, who had just awakened from unconsciousness, felt a dull ache in his temples.

He gently pressed his thumb against the spot between his brows while looking around.

It was a simple, completely white room containing only a long table, a chair, an enormous screen, and a red door.

The overly minimal furnishings made it feel even more unreal.

"Where is this...?"

Lin Sizhi tried to sort through his chaotic thoughts and recall what had happened before he arrived here.

A car accident, perhaps?

Lin Sizhi was a criminal defense lawyer. In his final memory, he had been driving late at night to meet a client when he was suddenly engulfed by dazzling white light from an oncoming vehicle. After that, his memory had cut off entirely.

"Am I already dead?"

Lin Sizhi lowered his head to check his condition. He was still wearing the standard suit he often wore to work, and his body was healthy, without a single wound.

The only notable thing was the black wristband around his left wrist, roughly two fingers wide. Its material was unknown; it had no seams and was smooth and rounded. It fit perfectly snugly, impossible to remove.

Lin Sizhi stood and paced around the room, trying to open the red door, only to quickly find that it was locked tight.

He could only return to the long table and sit down. As expected, the relevant materials had been placed there.

On his left were the case file and sentencing result, while on his right was a standardized planning form with fields for the game title, number of participants, specific rules, and more.

Lin Sizhi first picked up the game proposal on his right and examined it.

It followed a fixed format.

For instance, the game title, number of participants, rules presented to players, actual game rules, and so on all had to be entered separately in their corresponding fields as required.

Some fields also came with supplementary instructions, such as:

[Rules presented to players: You may cleverly conceal some game rules, but you may not include obviously false information in the rules to deceive players.]

[Actual game rules: Please describe all game rules in as much detail as possible to avoid logical loopholes.]

The field at the very top of the proposal was rather unusual, because it had already been filled in with information.

[Available item list (use as needed):]

[1. Firearms: 4, with an unlimited quantity of various bullets.]

[2. Cold weapons: 6.]

[3. Display devices: 3.]

[4. Timers: 5.]

[5. Item placement platform: 1.]

[6. Seats: 3.]

[7. Restraint devices: 2.]

[8. Any complete set of gambling equipment found in a casino: 2 sets.]

[9. Freely designed special mechanism: 1.]

[10. Other environmental props unrelated to the game content: unlimited.]

[Note 1: Unless otherwise specified, the designer may decide the model and appearance of the items used.]

[Note 2: No item may be taken out of the game venue. Otherwise, it will vanish into thin air.]

"Firearms, and even a freely designed special mechanism?

"Doesn't that mean I have complete power over life and death?"

Lin Sizhi naturally thought of that possibility.

If he wanted to be extreme, he could design a game like this:

The unconscious criminal would be restrained, with his wrist connected to a mechanism by a thin thread.

The moment the criminal woke up and moved his wrist, the thread would trigger the mechanism, pull a gun's trigger, and shoot him dead.

Of course, the proposal contained certain restrictions. For example, he could not include obviously false information in the rules presented to players in order to deceive them, much less design a game with no possible chance of clearing it.

However, Lin Sizhi could also design an extremely demanding victory condition for the game:

If, after waking up, the criminal made no movement of his wrist greater than three centimeters and maintained that for ten hours, the mechanism would automatically disengage and the game would end.

Those rules fully complied with the format of the game proposal.

Yet in practice, it was an almost certain death trap.

"Judging from the proposal's format, I really can design a game like this.

"But that doesn't mean it will pass review.

"Besides, according to the requirements on the large screen, I should deliver a 'fair and just' and 'more appropriate' judgment upon this criminal, not cruelly torture him to death through a game.

"But how should 'fair and just' be defined? And what counts as 'more appropriate'?

"Does a criminal who has already been judged under modern law still leave room for correction through 'private punishment'?"

Lin Sizhi sank into thought.

After a moment, he picked up the file and sentencing result on his left.

[Wei Xinjian, male, 37 years old.]

[After his business failed, he raced on a city-center road with a speed limit of 40 km/h and killed a husband and wife by the roadside on the spot.]

[Sentencing result: Sentenced to three years' fixed-term imprisonment for causing a traffic accident. He has completed his sentence and been released.]

Lin Sizhi read the brief passage over and over again, carefully studying it many times.

Then, silently, he picked up a pen and began writing on the game proposal.

"Scratch, scratch, scratch—"

Over an hour later, Lin Sizhi put down his pen and read through the rules he had written from beginning to end.

In the end, he used only some of the available items.

[1. One silver revolver whose live round position cannot be determined by spinning the cylinder, and one live round.]

[2. One CRT television.]

[3. One LED electronic timer.]

[4. One square wooden table.]

[5. Two iron chairs welded to the floor, equipped with automatic locks at the arms, legs, waist, and neck, and capable of administering punishment through high-voltage electricity.]

[6. One freely designed special mechanism.]

[7. Decorative environmental props: one old incandescent bulb, two worn shelves, one discarded wooden crate in the corner...]

After confirming that there were no mistakes, Lin Sizhi wrote the words "Design Complete" in the lower-right corner of the final page.

The information on the enormous screen changed.

[Gallery is reviewing the proposal you submitted.]

[Review complete. Approved.]

[Gallery is arranging the game venue according to the proposal's contents.]

[Arrangement complete. Please proceed to the game venue and complete the game within the remaining time.]

The information changed very quickly, taking only a few seconds.

That made Lin Sizhi even more certain that this was not reality. Perhaps he had already died, or perhaps he had entered some kind of supernatural space.

After all, in reality, even if an entire team were standing by, it would be impossible to review such complex rules and arrange a game venue in strict accordance with them within a mere few seconds.

"Beep."

A notification sounded, and the red door in the room opened.

Lin Sizhi left the room and walked down the white corridor to its end, where a rusted, heavy security door stood before him.

Beyond it was an old warehouse reeking of mold.

Everything inside had been arranged according to Lin Sizhi's game design, including the unconscious criminal, who had been secured to an iron chair by the mechanism.

Lin Sizhi sat down in the other iron chair, picked up a strip of cloth beside him, bit down on it, and tied it behind his head.

Then he settled into a standard posture and closed his eyes.

Clicking sounds rang out continuously as mechanisms sprang from the iron chair around Lin Sizhi's arms, legs, waist, neck, and other areas, locking him in place.

[The game begins.]