Huang Shengjie thought for a moment but still couldn’t figure it out.
However, he couldn’t take the gold sand back with him either. He could only hope that since it was still early in the game, most people wouldn’t yet execute a "rob-rob-rob" strategy. He aimed to use this time difference to convert as much gold sand into currency as possible.
As for what to do next, he’ll have to take it one step at a time.
Huang Shengjie matched with the next trading partner.
This time, the trading partner chose an expression of "full confidence", with a slight smirk, as if everything was under control.
Huang Shengjie instinctively frowned, as this was precisely the expression he disliked, which the Lie Detection Mechanism had selected as the expression he’d least want to trade with.
This didn’t seem to be a good sign.
[The current trading ratio is: "2300:2000"]
[Please submit "2300 gold sand" and "2000 minutes of visa time" as trade items.]
The trade ratio had changed compared to the last time.
This might mean that the number of players on the Visa Time Provider’s side had increased.
But instead of reassuring Huang Shengjie, it made him uneasy.
Because a change in the trade ratio meant that the other party’s gain was reduced, making it more likely for them to choose "rob".
"How should I choose?"
Huang Shengjie looked at the two options, "trade" and "rob", falling into hesitation.
The countdown timer for waiting for the trade quickly ran out, and after deliberating as much as he could, Huang Shengjie made a choice.
The opponent’s card turned over, showing the words "trade" on a green background.
Meanwhile, Huang Shengjie’s card showed "rob".
[You successfully robbed the other party’s trade items.]
[You gained 2000 minutes of visa time.]
[The gold sand used for the trade has been converted into legal gold coins.]
This time, Huang Shengjie not only acquired 2000 minutes of visa time, but the gold sand he submitted was also converted into gold coins and returned to him.
The trade box reopened, revealing five coins, two marked "1000" and the other three marked "100", representing the equal value conversion of gold sand and visa time.
Huang Shengjie could roughly guess the opponent’s expression—it was surely one of shock or anger.
But this was precisely the strategy he had just thought of.
Trades still continued; no matter what choices both sides made, three trades had to be completed at least.
This time, Huang Shengjie chose "trade".
The opponent’s card turned over, showing "rob" on a red background.
[The opponent successfully robbed your trade items.]
Huang Shengjie received nothing, but this was entirely expected.
In the third trade, Huang Shengjie chose "trade" again, a somewhat risky decision for him. If the other party continued choosing "rob", he would undoubtedly suffer a total loss.
But Huang Shengjie decided to take a gamble.
On the screen, the opponent’s card slowly turned over.
A green-background "trade".
Huang Shengjie let out a sigh of relief; he had gambled correctly.
[Both sides chose "trade", transaction completed.]
[Trade items automatically exchanged; you gained 2000 minutes of visa time.]
[The gold sand used for the trade has been converted into legal gold coins.]
[3 trades completed, would you like to continue for 2 more trades?]
Seeing the prompt on the screen, Huang Shengjie pressed "Yes".
The opponent obviously made the same choice.
In the subsequent two extra trades, both chose "trade", all successfully completed, with no one choosing "rob" again.
[Trade has ended.]
Both parties could engage in a maximum of five trades, after which the connection would forcibly disconnect. To continue, they would need to rematch, but it wasn’t guaranteed they’d match again.
Huang Shengjie let out a sigh of relief, starting to tally the gains from this trade.
He originally had 11730 gold sand. The first trade gained him 2300 gold coins and 2000 minutes of visa time, the second lost him 2300 gold sand, and the third, fourth, and fifth trades were normal exchanges of 2300 gold sand for 2000 minutes of visa time.
Including the 4000 minutes of visa time from the first trade, Huang Shengjie obtained a total of 12000 minutes of visa time and 2300 gold coins.
There was still 230 gold sand left in the small suitcase, which could be basically ignored.
"I originally brought 17000 gold sand, and now, combined, visa time and gold coins are about 14300. There’s definitely a loss, but this is already a good outcome.
"It seems my strategy was effective."
Huang Shengjie’s second trade certainly involved an element of gambling, stemming from a sudden inspiration, but it did have its corresponding rationale.
In the first trade, he directly chose "rob." If the opponent also chose "rob", then both sides would end with a "rob-rob-rob" strategy, resulting in a lose-lose situation.
But for Huang Shengjie, at least this would stop him from losing more, because if the first trade was "trade" versus "rob", he would lose 100% of his gold sand, not just 30%.
If the opponent chose "trade" in the first round, then this situation arises.
Huang Shengjie took the benefits from the first round; the opponent would certainly choose "rob" subsequently. So, in the second trade, Huang Shengjie chose "trade", deliberately letting the opponent rob him.
This way, he could show goodwill and regain the trust of the opponent.
If the opponent was a benevolent player, they might continue cooperating, achieving a win-win result over five trades.
Of course, if the opponent was malicious, they might still choose "rob" in the third trade, so this strategy wasn’t foolproof.
Nonetheless, compared to haphazardly picking options, this strategy had a higher success rate, and the results were indeed positive.
"In any case, this batch of gold sand has been safely converted.
"As more players come to the trade zone to exchange gold sand, the situation’s dynamics will certainly shift again, trade ratios might change, and players’ choices might alter.
"Some well-meaning players might choose ’rob’ from the start if they get tricked too often, or they might stop coming to the ’trade zone’ altogether.
"Yet, if things reach that point, it’s not something I alone can change. I’ll just have to take it one step at a time."
In fact, Huang Shengjie was a bit curious about who the second player he traded with was. Before leaving the "trade zone," he deliberately waited for two minutes.
But unfortunately, there was no player leaving from the Visa Time Provider’s side.
Evidently, that player should have chosen to keep matching.
Because players holding gold sand have a very limited amount on hand, but the visa time of players is abundant, allowing them to trade many times.
Perhaps many players specifically profit from using their visa time to exchange for gold sand in the trade zone.
...
Huang Shengjie returned to the rest area.
An Anti-Smuggling Team player noticed him but did not initiate an inspection.
After all, he returned from the trade zone, appearing calm, most likely having completed the gold sand transaction. A hasty inspection involves risks.
If their guess was wrong, they wouldn’t only fail to seize any gold sand but would also need to compensate with visa time themselves.