Chapter 755: Endorsement Game

A sharp beep sounded.

Lu Qi realised she had already arrived at the game floor.

The venue's layout was deceptively simple, essentially a circular arena, though structured exactly in reverse of a typical one. A standard venue placed the stage and large screen at the centre, with audience seating around the perimeter.

This one flipped that entirely. The vast central area belonged to the audience, functioning like an enormous circular dance floor. Wrapped around them was a ring-shaped stage, and beyond that, farther out, a ring of large screens.

Lu Qi did a rough count and found exactly 16 large screens, arranged into a regular sixteen-sided shape, close enough to a circle that it didn't meaningfully alter the venue's overall structure.

All the players were packed into the central audience area, a dense crowd, at least a hundred people by rough count.

One thing stood out, though: every player had been forcibly outfitted in new clothing and fitted with a distinct mask. The outfits were simple grey jumpsuits covering players completely from head to toe, and the masks were pure black, a smooth curved surface with no facial features at all, just a single large embossed number.

The colour of each number varied slightly.

Lu Qi glanced at the players nearby and saw the number "2" on all their masks. One of them even held up a gesture forming the number "2" with his hand toward her.

Clearly, this number indicated the community, and the player making the gesture was likely Qin Cheng or Yao Yuan, whichever of them was leading this particular game.

The reason for using hand gestures instead of speech was simple: no player was able to speak.

Lu Qi also noticed a special wearable device had appeared on her forearm, a long touchscreen strip that seemed to allow for some kind of interaction.

Looking around, the entire audience area consisted of over a hundred people dressed identically, with no name tags of any kind. Aside from the differing numbers on their masks, there was almost nothing to distinguish them. Of course, height and build still varied between players, so it might be possible to roughly guess the identities of same-community players with obviously different builds, but for players from other communities, there was simply no way to tell.

Just then, the sixteen surrounding screens began simultaneously displaying the game's rules.

Players shifted slightly toward the outer stage and the screens, making sure they had a clear view.

[Good morning, players! Welcome to the Endorsement Game.]

[This game has no fixed duration. Each round lasts 30 minutes, running for at least 4 rounds, and the game will end once specific conditions are met.]

[A total of 112 players from 16 communities are participating. There are no hidden communities or hidden players.]

[Players will each take on one of 4 roles: Audience, Endorser, Agent, or Media Representative, together simulating a product endorsement campaign.]

[You may check notifications or perform specific actions through the touchscreen on your forearm. Please monitor it closely and protect your own privacy.]

[The detailed rules of this game are as follows:]

[I. Basic Process]

[1. Endorsement Period (5 minutes)]

[At the start of each round, a category of Endorsed Product will be announced.]

[Male players wishing to become an endorser for that product must pay 3,000 minutes of visa time within 5 minutes to gain eligibility, then take the stage to compete for the role. (Male players only.)]

[2. Speech Period (10 minutes)]

[All players competing to endorse this product will speak in turn, working to win over more fans and attention.]

[3. Frenzy Period (10 minutes)]

[During this window, audience members may show their support for an endorser: maintaining eye contact with an endorser generates Heat Value for them, helping them earn visa time.]

[1 audience member gazing for 1 second = 1 Heat Value = 1 minute of visa time.]

[4. Elimination Period (5 minutes)]

[Endorsers currently on stage will be eliminated based on their Heat Value.]

[There are three possible elimination standards, one chosen per round:]

[Standard 1: The bottom 50% of endorsers for the same product, by Heat Value, are eliminated.]

[Standard 2: The top 50% of endorsers for the same product, by Heat Value (excluding first place), are eliminated.]

[Standard 3: Elimination determined by a certain form of common knowledge.]

[When only 1 endorser remains for a given product, they will not be eliminated.]

[An endorser who survives into the next round may choose to Unmask, removing their mask and revealing their true appearance.]

[In addition, between certain rounds, a Cross-Examination phase may occur, in which endorsers of a particular product type are questioned by other endorsers, followed by an additional special elimination.]

[The game ends and moves into settlement once the number of surviving endorsers on stage remains unchanged for two consecutive rounds.]

[During the game, players may enter a Private Waiting Room at any time, but must follow the rules posted at the room's entrance. (See the notice board at the waiting room door for details.)]

[II. Player Roles]

[1. Audience]

[The default role for all players at the start. Their primary task is to contribute Heat Value to the endorser they support.]

[2. Endorser]

[Once selected as an endorser for a product category, work to avoid elimination and accumulate as much Heat Value as possible.]

[3. Agent]

[Once a player from your own community becomes an Endorser, you may select one player to serve as their Agent.]

[Limited to one per community. Even after the endorser is eliminated, the agent role remains in effect.]

[An agent may speak freely from the audience floor and may purchase headlines from a Media Representative.]

[4. Media Representative]

[Each round, 4 large screens will open for bidding. The highest bidder becomes that screen's Media Representative and enters the Media Room behind that screen.]

[Media Representatives may communicate freely among themselves, but cannot communicate with any other player.]

[An Agent may Purchase a Headline from a Media Representative, meaning they attach any amount of visa time as payment along with a headline of no more than 10 characters.]

[A Media Representative may choose to publish one of the submitted headlines, or none at all, but may not publish any other content of their own.]

[Note: Once an Endorser is eliminated, they are permanently locked into the Audience role. Media Representative and Agent roles persist until the game ends and cannot be switched between each other or reverted back to Audience.]

[III. The Reflection Room]

[Any Endorser who behaves improperly while competing on stage will be forcibly confined to the Reflection Room until the game ends.]

[Players confined to the Reflection Room may face a risk of death: if 30 audience members each input that player's name and each spend 2,000 minutes of visa time, the Instant Death Penalty may be applied to that player.]

[IV. Settlement and Death Rules]

[At the game's conclusion, any Endorser still on stage and not eliminated will receive an additional 20,000 minutes of visa time.]

[The endorsed product category that achieved the highest cumulative Heat Value will grant its community a Special Bonus on the community vending machine, with the specific bonus determined by that product's top endorser (choice of 3 options).]

[Each surviving endorser's Top 10 contributing audience members, by Heat Value, will each receive 30,000 minutes of visa time. (Cannot be earned more than once, in case of ties, audience members from the same community as the endorser take priority.)]

[Communities with no surviving endorser will have 30,000 minutes of visa time deducted from every player, forming an Extra Prize Pool to be split evenly among communities whose endorsers survived.]

[Before the game ends, a Death Vote will be held, applying the Instant Death Penalty to a specific category of player, subject to the following restrictions:]

[1. The targeted category must be precisely described, using no more than 2 selection criteria.]

[2. The vote requires support from over 70% of all players to take effect.]

[3. Each failed vote will require the selection criteria to be changed. If it fails three times, the Death Vote will be abandoned, and the game will end immediately.]

[More rules will need to be discovered during play.]

[The first round will begin in 10 minutes. Please prepare yourselves.]