Wang Yongxin nodded. "That's right, that exact sentence!
"Actually, it already hinted at something: the goal of this game was not 'judgment,' but 'allocation.' According to certain game rules, it collectively allocated Visa Time to us."
Qin Yao looked puzzled. "Visa Time... wasn't that already allocated? We each had about a month."
Wang Yongxin shook his head slightly. "Clearly, under the rules of the New World, the Visa Time we initially received was not 'allocated.' It was merely the most basic thing.
"An 'allocation' could only happen after it had been earned through a game.
"According to the rules of the New World, not everyone was qualified to keep surviving here. That was why there was the Corridor, this 'Clearing and Judgment Agency.'
"But judgment could only judge a specific person's specific crimes.
"Blood Poker was a game open to everyone. There was no specific crime that every single person had committed.
"Some people analyzed the game as punishment for the 'Sin of Greed.' That was just path dependence, completely wrong."
Jiang He lowered her head again. She had been hit once more.
At the time, that really had been what she thought.
Lu Xinyi had reached a similar conclusion, which had greatly improved Jiang He's impression of her. But thinking back on it now, Lu Xinyi had merely tailored her words to her audience. She probably had not agreed with that view at all.
Wang Yongxin continued, "Overall, this game was essentially a screening process.
"If you analyzed it carefully, you would find that the game had two completely different approaches to solving it, with many traps buried within.
"When your approach was correct, the more traps you saw through, the more Visa Time you received.
"That was the meaning of 'screening.'"
Ding Wenqiang clearly disagreed. "Even if it was screening, what exactly did it screen for?
"Under the Corridor's rules, were gambling addicts the people most qualified to survive in the New World?"
Wang Yongxin was somewhat speechless. Clearly, the divide between him and Ding Wenqiang had reached a considerable extent. Their conflict was not entirely personal; it was more a difference in ideals.
In Ding Wenqiang's eyes, diligence and kindness were unquestionably virtues. Therefore, when the New World screened people and allocated Visa Time, it should naturally take such qualities into account.
But in reality, the Corridor conducted its screening through gambling.
Those who did not gamble gained nothing, while those who gambled wildly seemed to have everything.
This obviously ran completely counter to his simple view of good and evil, so naturally, he could not accept the claim that this was "screening."
However, Wang Yongxin did not get angry. He was in a good mood now, so he was willing to explain a little more.
"Of course this game did not screen for gambling addicts, nor did it rely on luck.
"If you thought back carefully, many parts of the game had special meanings."
Wang Yongxin walked over to the large screen and pointed at the rules displayed on it.
"It stated very clearly that the Chip Exchange Area and the Multiplayer Game Area differed greatly in their environmental design.
"The Chip Exchange Area consisted of tiny booths. The cramped, oppressive, dim environment, along with iron chairs fitted with restraint mechanisms and blood-drawing devices that made one's skin crawl, created an extremely dangerous atmosphere.
"The rapid blood draw and the lack of oxygen in the enclosed space would make people feel lightheaded, further intensifying that sense of danger.
"Therefore, driven by the instinct for self-preservation, the vast majority would choose to draw only the minimum 200 milliliters of blood and leave as quickly as possible.
"By contrast, the Multiplayer Game Area was spacious and brightly lit, giving people a strong sense of safety. Not only that, you could meet three other teammates there.
"Under such circumstances, the four people would naturally band together. That sense of safety would make them sink into the group environment and not want to leave.
"Even if one person wanted to leave, the other three would dissuade them.
"Because one person leaving would, in turn, affect the interests of the other three. It was not merely about winning or losing at the gambling table; it also meant being deprived of a sense of safety.
"Logically speaking, quite a few players should have returned to the booths and the Chip Exchange Machines out of curiosity to gamble against them.
"But judging by what happened afterward, very few players did so.
"That was the result of multiple factors: the environment, the sense of safety, and the constraints imposed by the other teammates.
"In multiplayer games, encountering players from the same community might give people an even stronger sense of safety, but that sense of safety was itself a tremendous temptation.
"To a certain extent, it interfered with your rational judgment—in other words, your ability to weigh risks against rewards.
"Moreover, after leaving the booths, everyone held nearly twenty thousand chips. Converted into Visa Time, that was around two weeks.
"For people whose default Visa Time was only one month, that was also a powerful temptation.
"Many people's first reaction would be to minimize their losses as much as possible and preserve those twenty thousand chips. Then they would 'happen' to discover that they could safely leave by cooperating with another community and taking turns as the banker.
"They felt as if they had found a loophole in the game and the optimal solution, so they spent the following time earnestly putting it into practice.
"Once the plan was carried out smoothly, they would immerse themselves in the joy of 'finishing the game early' and being 'completely safe,' giving up any further thought.
"Players of this type were like those people in society who followed the usual routine. They lived by the rules on the surface, chose to go with the flow, and were unwilling to take risks. Naturally, they could only receive the lowest returns in this game."
Many players who had been called out felt rather embarrassed.
That really was what they had thought. They had believed they had completely solved the game, only to discover after leaving that the number of chips they received was in the lowest bracket.
"However—"
Wang Yongxin changed tack. "I don't think this choice can be called wrong, because some people are extremely risk-averse.
"Although this game's death rate was low, it was not zero. It was also possible that some players truly got carried away gambling and drew so much blood that they died.
"Compared to dying in the game, coming back alive was always better.
"But once you had considered that level, if you thought a little deeper, you could reach the next level:
"Just like Cai Zhiyuan's group: since there was such a guaranteed way to win, why not draw more blood?
"Based on the exchange rate, one hundred milliliters of blood could be traded for ten thousand minutes of Visa Time. It was simply an incredibly worthwhile deal.
"If you could think to that level, that was already quite good. Because it meant you had broken free of the fixed mindset of 'Life is Priceless' and were willing to calculate the value of life."
Jiang He still did not understand. "But life is priceless. Isn't that inherently correct?"
Wang Yongxin chuckled and looked at Lin Sizhi. "Lawyer Lin, how about you explain this? I think your profession should be the most convincing."
Lin Sizhi was somewhat surprised to be suddenly called upon.
However, he really was better suited to answer this question.
"No matter how much we emphasize that 'life is priceless,' we cannot deny a reality: under certain circumstances, life can—and must—be assigned a price.
"That may sound inhumane and politically incorrect, but it is a fact that has always existed in our real lives.
"For example, death compensation is generally determined according to the previous year's per capita disposable income of urban residents or per capita net income of rural residents in the location of the court hearing the case, calculated over twenty years.
"For those under sixty, it is uniformly calculated as twenty years. For those over sixty, one year is deducted for every additional year of age. For those over seventy-five, it is calculated as five years.
"As for the exact amount, it generally ranges from five hundred thousand to one million.
"So from a moral standpoint, life was certainly priceless. But from the reality of society, assigning a value to life was inevitable.
"Apart from malicious incidents such as premeditated murder, most workplace accidents, traffic accidents, or medical accidents in our society resulted in corresponding compensation when victims died. That was probably the value society assigned to life."
Wang Yongxin nodded. "Exactly! So I believe this is precisely the concept the Corridor is trying to instill in us.
"To survive in the Corridor, we must cast aside the fixed mindset of 'Life is Priceless' and learn to quantify the value of our own lives."
Before you continue