In different cultural contexts, owls have two completely opposite symbolic meanings.
One represents wisdom, rationality, and fairness, while the other represents death, bad luck, and darkness.
Either way, for Lin Sizhi, both were decent implications.
He didn’t immediately put on the oxygen mask, because the game hadn’t officially started yet, and he could take advantage of the oxygen-rich environment in the rest room to think a bit longer.
Lin Sizhi came to the coffee table and picked up the wooden box with the countdown.
From the countdown, this wooden box would open approximately when entering the second stage.
At that time, he would receive chips equal to 10% of his total visa time.
This was definitely good news for players with a lot of visa time.
If a player had 200,000 total visa time, they could receive 20,000 chips. Even without playing a single game, they could repay the debt and ensure safety but if they only had 20,000 visa time, they would only receive 2,000 chips.
At the same time, in another rest room.
Han Mengying from Community 4 had just selected ’Rabbit’ as her mask.
Choosing such a mask was naturally not because it was cute, but a consideration based on the game rules.
Players had to wear oxygen masks and dress suits throughout the 3-hour game, which meant the oxygen mask’s image was the player’s face, directly determining the first impression they gave others.
Among these animals, there were quite a few images that looked majestic and imposing but were actually dangerous.
For example, crocodiles, foxes, tigers, and so on.
They only looked fierce or beautiful, but would actually make others subconsciously produce a ’cunning and dangerous’ first impression, severely reducing the willingness to play together.
Instead, they might put the wearer at a disadvantage in the game.
Han Mengying carefully secured the wooden box on the coffee table properly. Of course it couldn’t be damaged.
She currently still had over 100,000 visa time. 10% was approximately over 10,000 chips. Of course it couldn’t be casually wasted.
Afterward, Han Mengying also didn’t immediately put on the oxygen mask, similarly utilizing the rest room’s final oxygen-rich environment to think as much as possible.
"This game’s first stage rules are very clear.
"Although it’s just a practice period, winning one round can net 2,000 chips. This isn’t a small amount.
"This means the first stage is very likely the key period that directly widens the chip quantity gap between players, laying a good foundation for the second stage’s more complex rules.
"This game’s gameplay isn’t complex. As the game continues, everyone will definitely become more skilled at this game as time goes on.
"To use some specific techniques to earn more chips, we must seize the initial window period.
"Besides this, ’Sage Identity’ is an advantageous identity in the game. Not only can you always use the ’Sage Deck’, there will also be some additional privileges. It must be fought for as much as possible.
"This time, the players from our Community 4 entering the game are all smart people. We should have certain advantages. As long as four or more of them obtain ’Sage Identity’, the second stage game should be half won."
Han Mengying carefully recalled the specific battle rules of ’Fool’s Game’ once more.
"This game is called ’Fool’s Game’ because the rules are simple and clear, very conducive to ’Fool Players’ understanding?
"But does the God’s Imitator who designed this game think this can bridge the gap between ’Sage Players’ and ’Fool Players’?
"This idea is too naive. Chapters fırst released on NovelHub(.)net
"This is still an unbalanced game. I can think of several strategies targeting fool players right now.
"It might also be the same as I guessed when entering the game. This isn’t a game welcoming fool players at all, but a trap.
"The God’s Imitator deliberately designed such seemingly simple rules to make fool players lower their guard and participate in the game, but actually, it gives smart people even greater room to maneuver.
"The simpler the rules, the more deceptive they are, and the bigger the gap they can create."
On the surface, rock-paper-scissors was a simple game everyone was familiar with, and there wasn’t much room for using strategy, with luck being a major factor.
Those fool players who were completely outplayed in other strategy games might also obtain good returns in this game by relying on decent luck.
The battle platform also ensured fairness in this game mode as much as possible but Han Mengying didn’t think so. She believed she could still maximize benefits from this set of rules.
After roughly planning her strategy, Han Mengying came to the chip exchange machine. After receiving the basic 10,000 chip startup capital, she also exchanged an additional 20,000 chips for herself.
Each was at minimum 1,000, totaling 30 chips, properly secured in her pocket.
Although the first stage battles couldn’t add extra bets, since there was a 20,000 chip exchange limit per hour, and once missed it couldn’t be exchanged again, she should still exchange as much as possible to lay a good foundation for the second stage game.
After all, in similar games, the more chips the better. This was common sense.
There was only one door in the rest room leading to the outside world, with a countdown for the game start on it.
When the countdown was about to end, the device beside the door ejected five cards with a "pop."
These cards were very thick and hard, with characters and patterns made using three-dimensional embossing, perhaps to prevent some players from cheating with techniques like double-turning.
Han Mengying picked up the five cards and looked. This was a ’Fool Deck’, meaning three fool cards, one sage card, and one thief card.
Not being a sage deck was somewhat disappointing to Han Mengying, but the fool deck could also have corresponding strategies.
The countdown was already down to the last ten seconds.
Han Mengying took a deep breath, using the last bit of time to take advantage of the rest room’s oxygen-rich environment, then put on the rabbit mask and opened the rest room door to head to the first battle room.
As the game officially started, the countdown numbers on that wooden box also began jumping. It would unlock in one hour.
At the same time, in another rest room, He Xiaojun also put on the ’Gray Wolf’ mask and picked up his ’Fool Deck’.
He only generally understood the rules and didn’t think as much as Han Mengying.
From the game rules, the battle platform could ensure fairness in battles between both sides, and the game results mainly depended on luck.
Moreover, the rules also stated that the more you think, the more oxygen you consume.
Once the game officially started, all thinking required spending additional chips. Blind thinking was a very extravagant behavior.
Especially for players like He Xiaojun with little remaining visa time.
So he neither considered too many strategies nor was willing to exchange additional chips. He only took the initial 10,000.
Finally looking back at the red wooden box on the coffee table and confirming it had no risk of falling, He Xiaojun opened the door and stepped into the battle room.