Chapter 526: Refusal |
Lu Bingjun gave an approving nod.
Although Qin Cheng was a new player and quite young, his identity as a medical student and his calm demeanor still carried considerable weight.
This was precisely the important role that a specific profession like medicine played within the community.
But the moment Qin Cheng finished speaking, Deng Xiao jumped in impatiently and said, "The medicine is one thing. Take it however you're supposed to take it, and everyone's room should definitely have a bottle of painkillers on hand for emergencies.
"But shouldn't the more important issue be the question of how people are distributed?
"Shouldn't the ones who get selected to suffer rotate?
"Let me be clear upfront. If we're talking purely about visa time earned, I'm not necessarily in the bottom seven. I only dropped there because I donated a lot.
"Old Lu, if you don't change the rules, I won't be voluntarily donating any more visa time going forward."
Fitness trainer Deng Xiao was very much in line with the stereotype of a hotheaded brute. He had always spoken bluntly and directly, and this time was no exception. It was he who first broke open this very significant issue.
Lu Qi blinked and said, "Doesn't the rule say it randomly selects from the 7 players with the least remaining visa time by default?
"That doesn't seem like something you can rotate."
As a new player, she clearly had not yet grasped the many intricacies of community proposals and the community fund.
Seeing that no one else responded, Shen Bowen explained, "In theory, it's possible to pass a special proposal that allows players to 'deposit and withdraw' their personal visa time, thereby adjusting how much visa time each person is carrying on hand.
"Most communities in the previous stage should have figured this out. It's just that not every community necessarily managed to put it into practice."
It was evident that the players of Community 2 had long since realized this kind of proposal was an option. Even the seemingly brash Deng Xiao was well aware of it.
It simply had not been implemented, for one reason or another.
The lobby fell quiet again, and everyone looked toward Lu Bingjun.
On a matter of such significance, he was inevitably the one who would need to make the call.
Lu Bingjun nodded and said, "We did actually discuss this before. The idea was to try establishing a fund that would allow people to deposit surplus visa time and withdraw it under certain conditions.
"But the proposal didn't gain majority approval at the time, so it never passed.
"Looking at things now, it seems like this proposal may have become necessary again.
"If this approach works, then we can use a 'multi-person rotation' system to distribute the burden of this suffering.
"So when it comes down to it, we currently have two paths to choose from.
"The first is to do nothing, continue with the current community development fund contribution rules, let everyone earn what they can through their own ability, and donate whatever they choose voluntarily. The 7 players with the least personal visa time will be randomly selected to endure the pain, and if they want to escape it, they'll need to work hard in the games to earn more.
"The second is to pass a new proposal that continuously adjusts each player's personal visa time, bringing more people into the rotation to share the burden."
Ye Lin, the community's other game core, spoke up and said, "The downside of the first option is that it may fracture the community's cohesion and disrupt the progress of community building.
"There's a real possibility that everyone stops donating.
"Relationships would become strained, and the community would start evolving internally into a survival-of-the-fittest kind of society.
"The downside of the second option is that it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among the stronger players, and some might consider leaving the community.
"Because the 'top seven' players currently bear no risk at all, yet under this approach, they would be forced to share in the pain.
"Ideally, we should find a middle ground between the two options and dynamically balance the relationship between 'efficiency' and 'fairness.'
"But clearly, if this approach is handled poorly, it could end up leaving everyone dissatisfied.
"And there is one more critical issue that needs to be resolved. If some of the players with more visa time are simply unwilling to share the burden no matter what, we currently have no means of compelling them."
Lu Bingjun thought it over carefully for a moment and looked around at everyone, saying, "How about this. Let's start by finding out how many players are unwilling to share in the pain.
"After all, a proposal like this can only realistically be implemented if the majority of people accept it, and only then can we properly work out the corresponding details."
Everyone looked at one another, and for a stretch of time, no one spoke.
For the seven players with less visa time, they were of course unconditionally in favor of the second option. The more players from the top seven who came in to share the burden, the better.
After all, every additional player reduced their burden in a real and tangible way, lowering the probability of being selected.
As for the players with more visa time, they had their own image within the community to consider. Coming right out and saying they were unwilling to share in a setting like this would likely earn them a good deal of resentment.
But perhaps that was precisely the effect Lu Bingjun was aiming for.
He had not intended to give everyone too much time to think, but just as he was about to speak up and move the conversation forward, a clear voice rang out.
"I'm not willing."
Lu Bingjun turned his head in some surprise and found Lin Sizhi wearing his usual expression, stating those words as a matter of course.
Amid the somewhat stunned looks on everyone's faces, Lin Sizhi repeated himself for emphasis.
"To be precise, it's not that I'm unwilling to share in the pain under any circumstances. I simply don't accept a question phrased this broadly. Unless you present a specific proposal, I won't agree."
The atmosphere in the lobby became a little awkward for a moment. Lin Sizhi seemed to be instinctively distanced by some of those present, but it was clear that he did not care.
And just as Lu Bingjun was considering how to ease the tension and continue pushing the conversation forward, someone else spoke up.
Qin Cheng said, "I agree with Lin's point.
"Lu, since there's no actual proposal on the table, my answer can only be 'not willing.'"
His words had a noticeably greater impact than Lin Sizhi's. Everyone in the lobby was taken aback, and many had never expected those words to come from him.
Earlier, Qin Cheng had already spoken once in his capacity as a medical student, briefly mentioning the painkillers in the medical kit and how to use them. That was in line with his professional identity.
As a new member, speaking up to that extent had already been more than enough.
Weighing in on discussions about community proposals was, by nature, a political act. As a new member, it was generally best not to voice opinions, and even if he did, openly stating opposition at such a pivotal moment was not something he should have been doing.
Yet Qin Cheng had taken a clear and firm stance on Lin Sizhi's side.
In the eyes of the other players, Lin Sizhi's opposition to the second option made sense because he was already a beneficiary of the current situation. As a veteran player, he had accumulated a substantial amount of visa time and had confidence that he would not fall into the bottom seven.
But Qin Cheng was a new player, the one with the least visa time in the entire community, and he himself had suffered through the pain just the night before.
If the second option failed to pass and no one else came forward to voluntarily share the burden on his behalf, it meant that until Qin Cheng actually earned a large amount of visa time through games, he could potentially be selected to endure the pain once every three days.
And even under optimistic circumstances, earning enough visa time to climb into the top seven would take at least one to two months, if not longer.
So Qin Cheng's statement left many people completely baffled.
Huang Shengjie was so anxious that he kept sending pointed looks in Qin Cheng's direction, silently urging him to take it back and stop digging himself into a hole.
But Qin Cheng was not looking at him.