[I. Basic Living Guidelines] ["Community" is the daily living area for all players.] ["Visa Time" is the only currency within the community.] [Players may use "Visa Time" to purchase essential daily necessities within the community, including basic ingredients, clothing, medicine, and more.] [When visas are issued, the community conducts a comprehensive assessment based on each player's circumstances and determines their initial "Visa Time."] [Specific "Visa Time" balances can be checked at any "Visa Machine," "Vending Machine," or "Personal Computer."] [Players are prohibited from engaging in any direct or indirect transactions involving "Visa Time" within the community. Disguised transactions, such as using Visa Time to purchase supplies and then gifting those supplies to others, are also forbidden.] [Completing Judgment Games in the "Gallery" is the only way to earn "Visa Time." For details, refer to "III. Gallery Trial Guidelines."] [II. Community Activity Guidelines] [All players within the community hold equal status.] [It is strictly forbidden to commit any dangerous acts against other players outside the rules, including but not limited to murder, kidnapping, coercion, poisoning, and so on.] [Every community player has equal voting rights.] [Any community player may submit a proposal to the "Community Management Office." Once the community approves it, all community players may vote on it.] [When more than half of all community players vote in favor, the proposal will be established as a new community rule.] [III. Gallery Trial Guidelines] [The "Gallery" is an institution for eradication and judgment in the New World.] [The "Gallery" may open at any time, summoning players to complete Judgment Games through either "mandatory" or "voluntary" means.] [Upon completing a game, players may receive corresponding "Visa Time" based on the game's content.] [Hidden among all players is a special class of dangerous individuals: "God's Imitators." They design games for the Gallery and carry out judgments upon players.] [When a player dies in the Gallery, the designer of the corresponding game will receive all of that player's remaining Visa Time.] [The rules for the "Gallery's" games will be updated in real time on the homepage of players' Personal Computer websites.] [The above are the basic rules of the New World. More hidden rules await every player to discover and create.] [Tonight is a peaceful night. We wish everyone a pleasant evening in the New World.]
The image on the large screen disappeared, replaced by the simple words, "Sweet dreams," against a warm city backdrop.
"Oh God, I really have come to heaven.
"This is the eternal dwelling place of souls, the final destination of the kind-hearted..."
A plainly dressed middle-aged woman kept making the sign of the cross over her chest. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she was visibly overwhelmed.
As for everyone else, their reactions varied.
Some wore delighted expressions, while others were filled with anxiety.
Fu Chen looked over the group. He seemed to hesitate, but in the end, he cleared his throat and said loudly,
"Everyone... could you please quiet down for a moment and let me say a few words?
"Most of us probably still have no idea what exactly is going on. We still have countless questions about how we got here and what this so-called New World even is.
"But judging from the current situation, we'll all be living together in this community for some time to come.
"So I suggest we each give a brief introduction, get to know one another a little better, and then discuss the community rules we already know about.
"That might help us get along later.
"Of course, this is only a suggestion. There's nothing mandatory about it.
"What do you all think?"
Fu Chen looked at everyone. The previously noisy atmosphere quieted down again, and quite a few people nodded in agreement.
No one stepped forward to object.
Fu Chen adjusted his rimless glasses and said, "All right, then I'll start.
"I'm No. 1, Fu Chen."
As he spoke, he showed everyone the visa pattern on his wristband, proving that he had not lied about his name.
"I'm twenty-five this year, and as you can see, I'm male.
"I used to work as an online streamer, mainly doing outdoor broadcasts.
"As for how I got here, I don't remember anything at all.
"My last memory was doing a forty-eight-hour no-streaming-break challenge. I seemed to have fallen asleep because I was too tired. When I woke up, I was in a completely white room.
"After waiting two hours, the door finally opened.
"I followed the path all the way to this building and checked in."
Fu Chen seemed to be trying his best to make his tone sound relaxed and humorous, especially when he said, "as you can see, I'm male," as though he had expected some response from the group.
Unfortunately, everyone present was clearly still tense and wary, so no one gave him much of a reaction.
"Then why don't we introduce ourselves one by one in player-number order?"
As Fu Chen spoke, he looked at a slightly plump woman seated diagonally across from him, her cheeks tinged red.
The slightly plump woman nodded and took over. "Hello, everyone. I'm No. 2. My name is Jiang He, and I used to work as a newspaper editor..."
Lin Sizhi listened carefully to everyone's remarks. Before long, they had all finished introducing themselves.
Some were talkative, while others were reserved. They revealed varying amounts of information, but at least the basic details, such as their ages and occupations, had all been fully explained.
No. 1, Fu Chen, male, twenty-five, online streamer.
No. 2, Jiang He, female, thirty-one, newspaper editor.
No. 3, Li Renshu, female, twenty-nine, civil servant.
No. 4, Cao Haichuan, male, thirty-nine, criminal investigator.
No. 5, Cai Zhiyuan, male, twenty-eight, algorithm programmer.
No. 6, Wang Yongxin, male, thirty-six, startup company owner.
No. 7, Qin Yao, female, twenty-four, fashion model.
No. 8, Su Xiucen, female, fifty-two, retired employee.
No. 9, Xu Tong, female, thirty-two, head of human resources.
No. 10, Ding Wenqiang, male, fifty-three, deliveryman.
No. 11, Yang Yuting, female, twenty-seven, company executive.
No. 12, Lin Sizhi, male, twenty-six, lawyer.
As for how they had arrived here, their experiences were broadly similar.
They had all suffered brief memory loss, then awakened in that completely white room. After waiting two hours, they received their visas and came to the community to check in.
But no one mentioned an experience like Lin Sizhi's, of "designing games to judge criminals."
Lin Sizhi was the last to speak, so he naturally left that part out as well.
Fu Chen fell silent for a moment. "So, what does everyone think about our current situation?"
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