At the moment the countdown hit zero, Lin Sizhi realized he was back in the original community hall.
The others in the community also appeared almost simultaneously.
"One, two, three... twelve." Fu Chen immediately counted the number of people and, finding no one missing, let out a slight sigh of relief.
Although they had returned to the absolutely safe place of the 'Community', it was clear that many people hadn't yet transitioned from the dangerous environment of the Walkway and still had lingering fears.
Many also obviously had things to say.
But at this moment, the information on the big screen refreshed.
[Now announcing the final chip acquisition results for Community 17 in 'Blood Poker.']
[No. 1 Fu Chen: 52,000]
[No. 2 Jiang He: 87,500]
[No. 3 Li Renshu: 65,000]
[No. 4 Cao Haichuan: 54,000]
[No. 5 Cai Zhiyuan: 58,000]
[No. 6 Wang Yongxin: 223,500]
[No. 7 Qin Yao: 144,000]
[No. 8 Su Xiuqin: 91,000]
[No. 9 Xu Tong: 24,000]
[No. 10 Ding Wenqiang: 15,000]
[No. 11 Yang Yuting: 24,000]
[No. 12 Lin Sizhi: 217,500]
[The above chips will be converted into visa time in 24 hours and credited to each player's visa.]
"What??"
"How much!!"
"Ten, hundred, thousand… how is it that there's over a hundred and twenty thousand visa time? Doesn't the total chips for all eight players only add up to one hundred sixty thousand in the game?"
Seeing the numbers on the big screen, many involuntarily gasped.
Ding Wenqiang was evidently the most shocked, staring in disbelief at the numbers on the screen, then repeatedly looking over at Wang Yongxin.
As for Wang Yongxin, he was clearly in a good mood, browsing the product list in front of the vending machine.
"Does anyone want something to drink?"
No one responded, so he only ordered a cup of coffee for himself.
Cai Zhiyuan's face was also filled with puzzlement.
Clearly, as someone skilled in calculation and familiar with probability, he had a rough estimate of the maximum chips that could be earned in this game.
Therefore, when he saw a number exceeding his estimate by an entire magnitude, he was even more shocked than someone like Ding Wenqiang, who was confused throughout.
"I think we need to review." Cai Zhiyuan looked at Fu Chen.
Fu Chen glanced at everyone: "Do you all want to rest first, or should we review first?"
"Let's review." Everyone quickly reached a consensus.
The time in the Walkway and in the community coincided, so as they entered the game at 8 o'clock, it was now just past nine-thirty, still a while before mealtime.
Although many felt mentally exhausted, the huge gap in chips stirred their intense curiosity.
Those with fewer chips wanted to know immediately where the others' chips came from.
And those with more chips didn't mind flaunting their victory to everyone.
"Access the 'Blood Poker' game rules." Fu Chen said to the big screen.
Soon, the big screen displayed the detailed game rules, completely identical to what everyone had seen in the Walkway, but in more detail.
These rules were divided into 'Chip Exchange Area' and 'Multiplayer Game Area' sections, with very specific descriptions of the various facilities in both areas.
Even the appearance and style of the facilities were briefly described.
A large amount of text filled the big screen, making some people dizzy.
But most still patiently read through these rules again from start to finish.
Fu Chen looked at everyone and hesitated for a moment: "Where should we begin our review…"
Cai Zhiyuan seemed to have found some clues, staring at the visa times on the big screen, contemplatively uttering two words.
"Grouping."
Fu Chen: "Hmm?"
Cai Zhiyuan explained: "Start with the grouping. In a multiplayer matchmaking game like this, everyone's earnings often have a strong positive correlation with the groupings.
"For example, in our group, the earnings are all between 50 and 60 thousand, because we adopted a completely identical and safest strategy."
Fu Chen seemed to be deep in thought, quickly grabbing paper and pen.
"If we reverse engineer the grouping from the amount of chips...
"The first group: you, me, Officer Cao, Sister Li.
"The second group should be… Xu Tong, Uncle Ding, Yang Yuting, and…"
Wang Yongxin raised his hand while sipping coffee: "And me."
"Oh?" Fu Chen was somewhat surprised.
Because the first three had very few chips, it was easy to tell they were a group, but Wang Yongxin's chips were ten times higher.
If Wang Yongxin hadn't admitted it himself, Fu Chen would have found it very difficult to think he was in this group at first.
"Then the third group is Jiang He, Qin Yao, Aunt Su, and Lawyer Lin.
"Indeed, individual gains are directly related to groupings, except for individual cases."
Without much explanation, everyone quickly understood what actually happened.
Because this game was essentially a multiplayer team game.
An individual's decisions were very likely to be influenced by the other three people. Ultimately, the four would tend to use similar strategies.
If their group strategy was good, then everyone would gain a lot; conversely, if the group strategy was poor, then everyone's gains would decrease.
Judging from the list, the first group should have been the strongest overall, as all four were clever individuals, but their chip amounts weren't the highest.
Clearly, this was the influence of group strategy.
Fu Chen continued: "Let me first briefly talk about our group's strategy, and then we can see what specific differences exist among the three groups.
"At the beginning, the four of us defaulted to exchanging 20,000 chips and then met in the multiplayer game area.
"After about ten minutes of discussion, we and our opponents, the players from Community 9, agreed to use a rotating banker method to win the base stakes to complete the multiplayer game, avoiding deduction of visa time upon departure.
"After that, we returned to the chip exchange area and drew another 400ML of blood.
"In the multiplayer game, everyone adhered to the agreement, but because it was impossible to evenly divide ten games, two people randomly took the banker role one extra time, earning an additional 7,000.
"We used a one-on-one alternating seating method, so Sister Li and a player from Community 9 each took the banker role one extra time, ensuring maximum fairness."
Hearing this, Jiang He exclaimed "Oh."
Clearly, this strategy was almost identical to her thought.
Yang Yuting was also somewhat surprised: "Hmm? Xu Tong thought the same way, and that's roughly how we executed it.
"I thought it was a very ingenious solution... Turns out everyone thought of it?"
Xu Tong was a bit frustrated: "So… the key difference lies in the amount of blood drawn.
"You all drew an additional 400ML of blood each, so you exchanged for nearly 40,000 more chips."
Fu Chen nodded: "Yes. Actually, at first, we all only drew the default minimum of 200ML. Going back for more blood was Cai Zhiyuan's suggestion during the discussion."
Cai Zhiyuan explained: "Drawing 400ML of blood is a normal donation amount and doesn't affect the body.
"600ML would make you weak, and above 800ML would harm your health.
"All four of us are healthy, so trading an additional 400ML of blood for 40,000 minutes of visa time was a deal more than worth it."
40,000 minutes of visa time, measured by the prices in the vending machine, is roughly equivalent to 40,000 dollars, allowing a player to survive close to another month in the New World.
No matter which way you measure its value, this exchange was undoubtedly worthwhile.
Ding Wenqiang lowered his head in regret, unable to understand why he never thought of this during the hour and a half of gameplay.
Li Renshu looked at Yang Yuting: "Yuting, did your group only use the initial 20,000 chips?
"But… why is there such a big difference in the final chip count?"
The other three people's chip amounts could be explained; they only drew 200ML of blood, amounting to a maximum of 20,000 chips.
But why did Wang Yongxin have 200,000 chips? They were clearly in the same game.
Yang Yuting awkwardly glanced between Wang Yongxin and Ding Wenqiang: "Because… our group had a small conflict. You could say we had an internal strife."