Upon seeing this score, Huang Shengjie was somewhat surprised: "Eh? The score is a bit low, just an average match?
"But I really didn’t notice any fundamental difference between her performance and Uncle Zheng’s performance... yet there’s a ten-point gap, which should count as a significant difference."
Qin Cheng seemed thoughtful: "This game should have some hidden rules, a special algorithm if you will, which compares the performance details against the setting in the setting book. The more it matches, the higher the score.
"The key issue now is figuring out where the point deductions are being made.
"Is it that her portrayal doesn’t quite meet the requirements of the setting book? Or was there intentional information hiding causing the point deduction?
"If it’s the latter, then she might be suspected of being a ’Special Player.’
Zhou Wanlin pondered: "Can information hiding from the setting book cause point deductions? This point wasn’t mentioned in the game rules, was it?"
Qin Cheng shook his head: "It wasn’t mentioned, but we can’t completely rule out this possibility.
"We can only comprehensively compare and speculate based on the performances and deduction scenarios of all actors."
The curtain gradually opened, and the performance continued.
[First Act, Scene Three]
[Professor - Fu Yujun]
This time the stage setting changed again, appearing to be a university professor’s office, with the overall furnishings clearly better than Zheng Chunhua’s county teacher’s office.
Fu Yujun wore a high-end administrative jacket which indeed gave off a university professor vibe.
He initially stood sideways to the audience, then slightly turned and tossed a printed document onto the desk.
"Gong Zheng, is this your project report?
"Did you even take it seriously?
"I had high hopes for you, but what you turned in is truly terrible.
"You mentioned wanting to pursue graduate studies and doctoral studies and wished to continue honing your skills here, yet you treat it like this? How can I trust you to focus on academics with this attitude?
"I don’t need your apologies or explanations!
"What I need to see is results!
"Go back and carefully review the email I sent you and give me a revised version in three days."
The scene Fu Yujun portrayed can be summarized as ’Professor critiquing Gong Zheng,’ with the focus mainly on academic issues and virtually no mention of lifestyle or emotional factors.
...
Second-tier ’VIP Seats.’
This area’s layout is vastly different from the first tier, with six special ’VIP seats’ arranged in a horizontal line without obstruction.
Each VIP seat is a standalone compartment with a private bathroom and vending machine, but you can’t leave throughout the entire game.
Beside the seat is a special control panel, but it’s only used for ’answering questions.’
According to game rules, during intermission, players can return to the lounge and engage in three activities: ’call,’ ’inquire,’ and ’answer.’
But the VIP audience cannot call or inquire, they can only answer questions posed by other audiences and gain corresponding scores based on whether their answers are correct.
The VIP audience from other communities follows the same protocol.
In essence, the VIP audience design achieves two different effects:
Sealing the strongest players within each community, testing the community’s talent pool;
Requiring VIP audiences to make correct choices without consulting other community members, listening to intra-community calls, further widening the gap between different communities.
Lin Sizhi is also in his seat, quietly watching the stage performance.
Although Fu Yujun previously participated in the ’Lifting Game’ and ’Hermit Judgment,’ Lin Sizhi did not participate, so they didn’t cross paths in the game.
So, this is Lin Sizhi’s first real encounter with Fu Yujun.
The curtain gradually closes.
[Calculating performance score...]
[Fu Yujun’s score for this performance: 52 points (High Match)]
...
First-tier audience section, Qin Cheng frowned deeply, immersed in thought.
"Based on the matching degree, it is almost as high as Uncle Zheng’s? Just slightly lower.
"That suggests that Fu Yujun’s performance was sufficiently in character?
"But there’s no way to confirm whether the score difference between Fu Yujun and Zhang Lijuan is due to ’performance’ or ’content.’
"Is lying a point deduction factor? This rule is not clear."
Huang Shengjie also seemed puzzled: "Earlier we discussed that there could be a critical difference between a high school teacher and a university professor.
"But now... it seems their attitudes towards Gong Zheng vary?
"Uncle Zheng praised Gong Zheng highly, saying he was particularly sensible, self-motivated in learning, and always excelled academically.
"Yet the professor portrayed by Fu Yujun asserts Gong Zheng submitted a sloppy project report, failing to meet the professor’s standards.
"This is indeed contradictory."
Qin Cheng considered for a moment: "Hmm... there are two possibilities.
"The first one is that the professor is manipulating Gong Zheng, intentionally using this method to suppress him, later planning to exploit him for research purposes.
"The second possibility is the professor is truthful, and Gong had indeed gone through a period of academic negligence in college. In other words, something happened after the college entrance exam causing a change in Gong Zheng.
"Currently, both possibilities are plausible, and logically deducing, the second possibility is more likely."
...
[First Act, Scene Four]
[Supervisor - Hu Yingxu]
The curtain gradually opened, and compared to his previous appearance in the ’Endorsed Game,’ Hu Yingxu seemed to have undergone special makeup.
However, his make-up did not make him look more handsome but rather darkened his skin tone, the dark circles were prominent, accentuating a particular ’office flavor.’
This time the stage setting shifted to a supervisor’s office inside a corporate office building.
"I called you here to discuss household registration and home purchasing eligibility.
"You know, our company’s slots are always limited, and the competition among your batch of employees is very fierce.
"Your ability is relatively average within this batch, and there was a small mishap recently, so this matter is indeed difficult to handle.
"But...
"I think you’ve handled things very well, quite clever, compared to others, you are more worth cultivating, and also the talent the company needs more.
"So, let me give you a heads-up privately.
"This year indeed there’s no hope, but for next year’s batch of slots, I will try to fight for you as much as possible.
"However, during this time, try to find ways to improve your performance in the company, make your work appear better."
After speaking, Hu Yingxu picked up the cup on the desk for a sip.
But immediately after, he frowned slightly.
"What do you mean you must buy a house this year? Are you in a hurry to get married? Or is there some other reason?
"Gong Zheng, you’re being a bit inconsiderate.
"Yes, according to company regulations, you can get household registration and home-buying eligibility as early as this year, but that’s the fastest case scenario.
"It’s already quite good for me to help you get it next year; there are several old employees who have joined three or four years ago and still haven’t gotten it.
"That’s how it is, go back to work."