Chapter 586: Chapter 585: The Missing Third Core

Qin Cheng nodded: "Yes, I’m sure this community originally had a third game core.

"An accident happened before entering the second phase.

"He might have left the community, or he might be dead."

Qin Cheng paused slightly, then continued: "According to the rules, when a player dies in a community, replacements can be found through recruitment or headhunting.

"But recruitment has a cooldown, and headhunting requires finding suitable candidates. Plus, when entering the second phase, the community might get split, so personnel changes are quite normal.

"So initially, I didn’t pay much attention to the community’s player structure.

"But thinking about it now, I feel there’s something off.

"Because according to Lu Bingjun’s statement, Community 2 was in the role of ’victor’ in the previous phase, so it wasn’t dismantled.

"And if such a strong community, its replacement efficiency should be far above that of ordinary other communities.

"Because strong communities have fewer deaths and recruit less frequently, they won’t trigger long cooldowns; moreover, strong communities are well-known, naturally attracting many players from outside communities who want to join, making recruiting easier.

"You and Lu Qi are players number 13 and 14, which makes sense because the community expanded after entering the second phase.

"But I’m player number one, which is quite strange.

"Because regardless, community replacements follow the vacancy numbers from front to back.

"For example, if both player number 1 and number 5 have vacancies in the community, after recruiting a player, they should first fill player number 1’s position.

"So, the original player number 1 in the community likely died in the last game of the first phase.

"So there wasn’t enough time for recruitment and replacement."

Huang Shengjie looked slightly shocked, but after quickly sorting through the doubts Qin Cheng raised, he also quickly came to a conclusion.

"In terms of community structure, having 3 cores is normal.

"Lu Bingjun doesn’t seem to fully command respect, and the community’s current seemingly stable state feels like an illusion.

"The vacancy of player number 1 indicates a player died during the first phase’s last game.

"Regarding the third core, the previous player’s death, and previous game experiences, the old players of the original Community 2 seem to be secretive and unwilling to discuss too much, only saying everything is focused on money.

"So...

"The community originally had a third core, and he was most likely the original player number 1?

"Community 2 was gaming in a stable 3-core mode through most of the previous phase, which allowed it to transition to the second phase as victors, retaining the community’s core members.

"But...

"Due to the third core’s death in the last game, the community’s structure became unstable.

"Lu Bingjun has been trying tirelessly to promote you, aiming to enhance your voice, thereby stabilizing the community structure again?

"Looking back, Lu Bingjun has always been trying to enhance your presence, from initially emphasizing your profession to praising you in the game review sessions, all carrying this intention."

Qin Cheng nodded: "Yes, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.

"However, I think the actual situation might be even worse.

"The deceased player number 1 was likely not just a game core but also the original community leader."

Huang Shengjie paused: "Ah? The original community leader?"

He quickly grasped the key: "Right, if it was just the death of a game core, there would be no need for such secrecy. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"It could be openly admitted.

"But if the one who died was the original community leader, then things become complicated.

"If this is openly acknowledged, it could lead newcomers to question the stability of the community’s current power structure, potentially greatly undermining Lu Bingjun’s authority.

"So, Lu Bingjun and the old community players tacitly agreed to keep silent about this. Many old players are merely pretending to comply outwardly, temporarily cooperating, but are not entirely convinced..."

Qin Cheng continued: "There’s another point as evidence.

"The initial community construction fund was around the 600,000 level, not reaching 900,000.

"From the donation records, Lu Bingjun’s displayed donation was roughly 300,000, but due to possessing the ’First Player Identity Card,’ his contribution would be more noted, so the actual amount should be around 240,000.

"Ye Lin donated 200,000, Yao Yuan 80,000, while the other players contributed very little, only varying between 30,000 and 50,000.

"At first glance, this amount seems normal, but there are many expenditures for the community fund, such as purchasing Immunity Coupons.

"The community’s Immunity Coupons had about two weeks of cooldown when initially joining, now it’s down to eight days.

"When purchasing Immunity Coupons and considering other expenses, there is at least a gap of two to three hundred thousand."

Huang Shengjie realized and nodded: "So, the original player number 1 must have once donated at least two to three hundred thousand as visa time for the community.

"He was the true leader of the community, holding the First Player Identity Card.

"While Lu Bingjun and Ye Lin were game cores, always maintaining a stable 3-core structure.

"However, at the end of the first phase, due to unforeseen circumstances, player number 1 might have died or left, leading to an embarrassing situation:

"Community 2, while retaining its core team into the second phase, was plunged into a leaderless crisis.

"And the short-term optimal solution was to let Lu Bingjun assume the community leader position.

"Otherwise, with new players joining in the second phase, the situation could become messier and harder to manage.

"Thus, Ye Lin and her supporters, although possibly unwilling, had to consider the bigger picture, appearing in front of us new players as if ’Lu Bingjun has always had high authority.’

"Lu Bingjun was very aware of this, so he kept finding ways to consolidate his position.

"Including this time.

"The role of custodian itself represents certain community power.

"Of course, Lu Bingjun intended to smoothly incorporate this part of the power to solidify his leadership position.

"But Ye Lin and her supporters clearly didn’t want this.

"So, Lu Bingjun chose to take a step back and assigned this power to you.

"Ye Lin’s side, though unwilling, couldn’t openly find a reason to oppose.

"For Lu Bingjun, while this action might exacerbate conflict and lead to divergent votes, the benefits far outweigh the risks, so he had to proceed."