God's Imitator-Chapter 468: Garbage Time

Huang Ming lowered his head in thought for a moment and asked, "Then... what do we do next?

"You didn't expose '↑The High Priestess,' right?"

He Xiaojun nodded. "Mm. I think... actually I can take the initiative to request matching with him again."

If following He Xiaojun's previous personality, he might instinctively choose to directly expose '↑The High Priestess,' questioning who he really was, where he got this intelligence, and who the traitor in the community was.

But very obviously, this would be completely meaningless.

Because the other party wouldn't be like a villain in movies, letting out a signature laugh and laying all cards on the table, explaining the ins and outs clearly. Instead, they would only silently end the game and no longer accept any subsequent matching invitations, adjusting subsequent game strategies based on the premise that 'the deception was exposed.'

So He Xiaojun didn't expose the other party. Instead, he turned the tables and deceived the other party out of one match's returns.

Because '↑The High Priestess' didn't know he had already been exposed, he still expected He Xiaojun and Huang Ming to continue persuading other Community 14 players to send Wealth Vouchers. He would satisfy He Xiaojun's requests as much as possible.

At this moment, He Xiaojun had two choices.

One was to match with '↓The World' and '↓The Hierophant' from the same community separately. After entering the free matching phase, players from the same camp could also freely match without restrictions.

This way, they could demand these two transfer Wealth Vouchers to them and roughly judge who the traitor was through their words and actions.

The other was to continue matching with '↑The High Priestess,' trying to continue using this reverse trap to extract more Wealth Vouchers.

The former was behavior weak players might instinctively adopt. After all, curiosity about the traitor's identity, disgust toward the traitor, and rejection of powerful enemies would all jointly promote this tendency.

But very obviously, the second strategy was more correct.

Huang Ming nodded. "Alright, then I'll try to match with '↓The World' and '↓The Hierophant,' probe indirectly, and demand they transfer some Wealth Vouchers to me.

"You go meet that '↑The High Priestess' again.

"If you have any ideas subsequently, send me an invitation anytime. I'll accept immediately."

...

Huang Ming still transferred all his Wealth Vouchers to He Xiaojun according to their previous agreement.

After He Xiaojun returned to his lounge, he immediately sent an invitation to '↑The High Priestess' again.

After waiting a while, '↑The High Priestess' accepted the invitation.

He Xiaojun still entered the game as the 'Thief' side.

'↑The High Priestess' asked, "What's wrong? Are there other problems?"

He Xiaojun nodded, pretending to instinctively want to call the other party by surname then stopping, "Mm, sh... that, I already met with '↑The Moon' last match. He also agreed to our plan. In the next two matches, he'll match with '↓The World' and '↓The Hierophant' respectively, which counts as secondary confirmation of this strategy.

"Our community will definitely smoothly unify opinions.

"I'm here to continue discussing subsequent strategies.

"Since we've already determined cooperation with them..."

He Xiaojun pointed at wooden box number 15, 'The Devil,' and continued, "Then our people will definitely match separately with their people in subsequent games, right?

"Just as you said before, distribute the Wealth Vouchers in the wooden boxes at an 8:14 ratio. We take 8, they take 14, and when the game ends I'll go to the Exit Area where they are.

"Both '↑The Moon' and I feel this is an acceptable condition.

"So, we need to confirm specifically who matches with whom, right? We need to know their specific roster."

'↑The High Priestess' was silent for a while and didn't speak.

Suddenly, she relaxed, leaned back against the chair, and looked up and down at He Xiaojun wearing the '↓Justice' mask.

"When was I exposed?

"Let me think...

"Near the end of last match, that question you asked me should have buried some kind of trap, right?

"Huh... I really didn't expect I'd fall into the hands of a player like you, sending you quite a few extra Wealth Vouchers last match."

'↑The High Priestess's' reaction also surprised He Xiaojun greatly.

Very obviously, the other party was much smarter than He Xiaojun had imagined and wasn't fooled by the counter-deception. Instead, they quickly realized they had already been exposed, so that both parties returned to square one.

He Xiaojun asked, "Then when did you sense something was wrong?"

'↑The High Priestess' didn't speak.

He Xiaojun thought seriously for a moment. "Mm... I probably shouldn't have been this proactive.

"If I had patiently waited until you next invited me, then reluctantly and unwillingly accepted your plan, perhaps you would have directly given me the roster, right?

"So...

"Our community's traitor didn't just sell out the community's secret code. He also roughly revealed some of our personality traits.

"It's just unfortunate that perhaps due to limited time, he couldn't describe things particularly finely and in detail, so you revealed flaws when impersonating.

"However, for me, this also counts as a new piece of information."

'↑The High Priestess' was somewhat surprised. "This makes me see you in a new light.

"Very obviously, that traitor player in your community underestimated you, and I also underestimated you.

"Your ability to adapt to this game is much stronger than I imagined.

"So, although this result is a low-probability event for me and somewhat regrettable, it's not unacceptable."

The two each fell into brief silence.

Since both parties had already laid their cards on the table and neither obtained what they wanted from the other, further communication at this point seemed somewhat superfluous.

"I choose the first strategy."

He Xiaojun casually clicked on 10 wooden boxes out of 22 and took the Wealth Vouchers inside. Naturally, this match ended without suspense.

However, in the final moments, '↑The High Priestess' suddenly spoke again.

"This game is actually already over. You should understand, right?"

He Xiaojun was stunned for a moment but didn't show any extra movements.

'↑The High Priestess' continued, "The entire latter half is actually true 'garbage time,' so whether you were deceived actually doesn't affect the overall situation anymore.

"However, I do see you in a new light.

"Among ordinary players, your progress is quite fast. When the game ends, you can definitely choose any Core Community to join. I can guarantee you that our community will welcome a player like you.

"When that time comes, you're welcome to find me.

"This isn't rhetoric or a scam. It's a sincere invitation."

He Xiaojun didn't say anything more. He just silently waited for the game time to end, stood up, and left.

...

"The game... is already over?

"Is this alarmist talk to deceive me, or is it serious?"

Returning to his lounge again, He Xiaojun seriously thought about what '↑The High Priestess' had said then he suddenly froze.

He realized this was most likely true. His original understanding of the game rules was mistaken.

Judging from game time, the 'Tarot Game' had just passed the halfway point.

But in reality, it was already approaching the end. All players' fates were already determined, and what remained afterward was only garbage time.