The penultimate day of the preseason and mid-season tournament.
Wang Shun took a stack of information, took a deep breath and walked into the meeting room of the Wandering Circus. He looked straight at everyone sitting there and said, "I believe everyone should be able to recite the information about our opponent this time by heart."
"Because they don't have any data for us to analyze." Wang Shun smiled bitterly, "Russell Cemetery Team, our opponent in the last game."
As he spoke, he opened the system panel:
"Russell's performance in the preseason was similar to the previous two years. He gave up singles and doubles competitions and focused on team competitions. This is both a good thing and a bad thing for a rookie team like us."
"The good thing is that you only have to play one game, the bad thing is that this game is the team game you are least good at."
Wang Shun clicked on the system panel, and the panel slid to the next page, on which was a small video. After Wang Shun clicked play, the video began to play. A gray mist with black smoke and miasma was surging, and only a few people could be seen running in it, breathing heavily.
Wang Shun clicked Pause, his expression becoming serious:
"This isn't the first time I've played this little video for you guys. This is a video of Russell's last game at the cemetery. This is the video of Russell's almost all games throughout the preseason."
"It was all foggy and I couldn't see anything clearly."
Ri Liu leaned back in his chair. "We have analyzed this. Russell Cemetery should have fixed a player with fog concealment skills in the team in order to further keep the skills of the team members secret. During the game, he releases the skill, confusing the opponent's vision while keeping his information secret in front of the audience."
Wang Shun sighed: "This approach was very successful and cannot be replicated. They don't need the support of the audience, so they can do this. Because of this approach throughout the preseason, we know nothing about them except the number of deaths in Russell Cemetery."
"Compared to last season, the number of deaths at Russell Cemetery during this year's preseason has dropped significantly."
Wang Shun paused for a moment and said, "It can't be described as a sharp decline. In this year's preseason, Russell Cemetery only lost two players and successfully entered the preseason finals."
"Before this, I didn't understand why Russell Cemetery, which ranked 10th last year, gave up the qualification for this year's mid-season game and was relegated to the preseason. But now that I have come to this point, after President Ri's analysis, I realized that I was in a wrong thinking zone."
Wang Shun shook his head and smiled helplessly: "I have always believed that Russell Cemetery, which wantonly sacrificed the lives of its members in exchange for victory, is a cruel, inhumane, cold-blooded guild."
"Isn't it?" Mu Sicheng asked back while holding his chin and spinning his pen, "Last year, this team sacrificed more than 80 new players."
Ri Liu took out the pen that Mu Sicheng was spinning in his hand and said, "Not really."
"On the contrary, this guild is just as they advertised, a shelter for desperate players, a warm and humane collective cemetery. Russell Cemetery is a typical closed community guild. They have a sense of mutual assistance like neighbors, and are very united and friendly."
Question marks began to appear in Mu Sicheng's mind: "A solidarity and friendship that pushes people out to die?"
"You should change your mindset. When they joined this guild, they knew they would most likely die. In other words, these people did not join this guild because they wanted to live."
Ri Liu raised his eyes and said, "It's because I want to die, but I don't want to die in such a meaningless way."
"And Russell Cemetery is a place where their death can be maximized."
Mu Sicheng was lying on the table, glancing at Ri Liu who had confiscated his pen. "But even so, Russell Cemetery has nothing to do with solidarity, right?"
Ri Liu lowered his eyes to look at Mu Sicheng, and suddenly changed the subject: "What do you think is the greatest value of death?"
Mu Sicheng was startled, then he sat up straight and began to think hard: "Money? No, I won't be able to spend it after I die. Fame? It seems to be meaningless after I die..."
Finally, Mu Sicheng sighed and leaned back in his chair in resignation: "I don't know what these people are thinking. When a person dies, there is nothing left. Death is worthless no matter what it brings. Besides, I have already entered the game. If I fight to the death and earn points, I can still get something in exchange. Dying is too unwise."
"That's you." Ri Liu said calmly, "A highly capable newcomer that all the big guilds are vying for, Mu Sicheng, you are also a top-notch configuration in reality, with a good family background and a first-class school. You have a clear understanding of your own value, so you will not easily go to the option of returning to zero."
"You've never been swept away, have you?"
Mu Sicheng was startled: "What are you rolling?"
"Involution." said Ri Liu.
Mu Sicheng frowned: "Isn't that only available when you are employed?"
"No, wherever resources are monopolized, there will be involution." Ri Liu picked up a pen and wrote on an open piece of paper. "Points in the game can be earned by playing the game, just like wages can be earned by working, so playing games is a way of working."
"But there are all kinds of guilds in the game. They have subcontracted the work of playing games in a more efficient way, improving the efficiency of earning points through playing games. They also provide various guarantees to reduce the chance of you dying from the game, just like all kinds of companies."
"Normal players will take the initiative to join these companies in order to earn points efficiently and survive better."
"This is the first mechanism to be formed, and it is also a reasonable operating mechanism." Ri Liu wrote the words [Original Mode] on the paper. "Normally, this mechanism can continue to operate for a long time before it starts to break down. But at this time, there is a setting in this game that accelerates the breakdown of the mechanism."
Ri Liu slowly opened his eyelids and said, "That's gambling."
"Gambling in this game is a kind of expected loan mechanism. This mechanism ties your faith, interests, and even your life to the guild, which doubles the cost of your bet. Even if a player knows that he will most likely be exhausted to death by this guild, it is difficult for this player to get out of this guild because of the gambler mentality, sunk costs, and difficulty in finding a new buyer. This forms the first necessary element of involution."
"—Tied up."
"The tighter the binding, the slower the flow of personnel between guilds will become. The slower it becomes, the more people will realize that it will be harder and harder to find a new guild. Choosing a guild will become a lifelong choice. Then, in the newcomer period, everyone will madly compete to enter a large guild, lowering their own treatment, etc."
"Once you get to this point, you'll discover something amazing." Ri Liu tapped the paper twice with his pen. "The efficiency of the guild in earning points has increased, the speed of game rotation has increased, and the points circulating between the gambling pools are increasing. The points in the entire game are growing exponentially."
"But the treatment of new members in the guild is getting lower and lower. No matter how many points the guild saves, in order to maintain its ranking position, it will eventually have to be invested in the league, so there is not much left."
"Where did all these points go? Who took them away?"
Ri Liu put the pen down and pushed it gently with his fingertips, and the pen rolled in front of the stunned Mu Sicheng.
Mu Sicheng reached out and grasped the pen that Ri Liu pushed to him. He felt a chill on his back: "...In the gambling pool."
"Bingo." Ri Liu smiled. "That's right. The pool mechanism always bets out points with a five-fold leverage probability. It seems to be a loss-making business, but the points that everyone takes from the pool plus the points they earn themselves eventually return to the pool, and then the 5 to 15 percent handling fee quietly eats up the bulk of the profits in the wins and losses."
"From the fact that the richest guild is the Gamblers' Alliance, not the Killer Order, it can be seen that the betting pool is the biggest banker in this game."
Ri Liu looked up at the data on Wang Shun's system panel: "Suppose you are just an ordinary player in the game, with ordinary skills and panel. Although you can survive, you can't join a big guild, and you can't become a star player."
"You're trying to survive, and then in one league you can't help but bet all your savings on a team, and then you lose everything. In the midst of the devastation, you realize that it's hard to get money from the pool."
"But after each league match, the points gained from the five-fold leverage in the betting pool will drive up the prices of items in the entire game. If you don't dare to gamble, your points won't increase, and the items you can buy will become fewer and fewer, making it increasingly difficult to survive in the game."
"You don't have any extra points to exchange for money in real life. Games are not a place to release your desires. Instead, they make you more miserable, because after working six days in real life, you finally have a day off and have to work in the game. You have to save points to buy props so that you can save enough points to buy a life-saving prop before the next week's game starts."
Mu Sicheng's eyes widened: "...Thank you, after putting myself in your shoes, I feel like dying."
Ri Liu continued, "The high-level players who have points in their hands redeem items for real-life use, and the crazy players who don't care and just want to have fun today. The former are a minority, while the latter have become the largest base of players under the catalysis of the gambling pool, that is, gamblers. That's why the Gamblers' Alliance can grow so big."
王舜點頭贊同日柳的話：“但有賭徒聯盟，也有非賭徒聯盟，日會長給我分析之後，我特地去調查了一下拉塞爾公墓的隊員賭池投資平均情況。”
“結果是很讓我驚訝的。”王舜點了一下面板，面板彈出了一張數據分析表格，“他們的賭池投資人均不超過十積分，可以說是名副其實的非賭徒聯盟了。”
“賭博是一種刺激性的未來預期消費，當這種消費欲望降低的時候，說明他們對自己的未來預期非常悲觀。”
王舜嘆氣：“沒辦法卷入大公會，不敢賭博，要經歷住一周一次的死亡游戲的考驗，很多人在現實裏也過得很累，每天努力工作也沒什麽錢，日子緊巴巴的，好不容易進游戲了，結果……”
“他們過得很辛苦。”
辛苦到連他這個敵方的調查師，都覺得不忍的地步。
“……不會吧……”牧四誠都開始覺得對方凄涼了，“他們去年季中賽團賽一直贏啊？就算是吞賭池底金也不至于這麽慘吧？！”
日柳豎起三根手指：
“第一，因為沒有明星隊員，他們沒什麽人投資，自己沒什麽賭池底金，要吞只能吞對方的。”
“第二，就算贏了，賭池的大頭是投資的贏家觀衆吃，去掉賭池收的手續費，戰隊能吃到的賭池底金的抽成只有百分之五到百分之十。”
“第三，他們去年是冷門隊伍，季中賽關注度不高，根本沒什麽觀衆給他們雙方加注，他們能吃到的只有大公會明星隊員小電視充電積分的翻倍那個底金的百分之五。”
“總的來說，他們雖然一直贏，但沒吃到多少聯賽紅利。”
王舜嘆氣着補充：“而且我打聽到，拉塞爾公墓的會長把他們去年贏來的賭池積分作為體恤金，分成了八十多份發給了那些死亡隊員的親近之人。”
牧四誠聽得五味雜陳：“……要我我多半也撐不下去。”
“那我們回到最初那個問題。”日柳撩開眼皮，“如果一個人什麽都做不到，什麽都得不到，一輩子都活得很辛苦，終于撐不下去了，對于他而言，什麽是死亡的價值最大化呢？”
“錢權名利對于一個死人來說都沒有意義，什麽對于一個死人是有價值的？”
一直沉默的木柯開口了：“在死那一瞬間被認可為有價值的，并且這種價值會一直被人記住。”
“我之前在國外念書，那邊的自殺率很高，很多人在自殺之前會去一些事故的高發地帶，或者一直在街上徘徊，看到有強盜或者是混混之類的，就會沖上去見義勇為，讓這些人殺死自己。”
“有個雜志上的采訪說，百分之七十多有過自殺念頭的人在死前想做一件可以讓別人記住自己的好事。”
木柯頓了頓，繼續說：“有些自殺者還會形成團隊互相幫助，我看過他們的專題報道，叫【自殺社區】，【自殺社區】的牽頭者一般也是想自殺的人，一般這個牽頭的人是因為想要別人活下去才會建立這個社區，所以他會想方設法地去救助這個社區裏的其他人，希望他們活下去。”
“但很奇怪的一點是，因為有了社區的存在，這些人的自殺率有時候反而會攀升。”
牧四誠追問：“為什麽？”
旁邊的劉佳儀回答：“因為有人記住他們了，所以可以被人記住的死去。”
“在這種放棄自我的社區氛圍裏，很容易滋生出一種犧牲情緒，用一句通俗易懂的話來形容就是——”日柳的目光移向展示着拉塞爾公墓資料的系統面板上，“——我為你而死，我希望你代替我活下去，并且記住我。”
“活下來的人或許會比死去的人更痛苦，因為背負更多，連死的代價都變得沉重了。”
會議室裏所有人都是一靜。
王舜咳了一聲，打斷了凝滞的氛圍繼續說了下去：“結合上述信息，我和日會長深入分析了一下拉塞爾公墓戰隊。”
“大家都知道，對于一支戰隊而言，最重要的是戰術師，但因為拉塞爾公墓戰隊的成員一直在變，所以他們每場比賽的戰術師也是不同的，但他們的戰術風格卻保持相當平穩。”
“所以我們揣測，真正制定戰術的戰術師并不是這些被推出來輪換的戰隊隊員，而是幕後一直沒有上過場的拉塞爾公墓公會會長。”
“不過這位會長實在是太神秘了，近兩三年都沒有參加過聯賽，我們獲得到關于他的資料非常的有限，我用了很多辦法，才找到一個號稱多年前疑似偶然看過拉塞爾公墓會長參賽的老玩家，他和我說，這位會長的技能非常的奇特，上場之後在一片迷霧裏很快就清繳了對方。”
“高速擊敗對手的技能我們不是第一次見了，這也不是這位會長技能最奇特的地方。”
王舜擡起頭，神色肅穆：“我們都知道聯賽團賽要五個玩家才能參加，但那位老玩家信誓旦旦地向我擔保——”
“——那位會長是一個人上場參加比賽的，而等到上場，系統卻說游戲地圖內拉塞爾公墓有五個玩家，比賽正常運行。”
散會後。
開會時一直沉默寡言的唐二打罕見地叫住了起身準備離開的日柳：“我們能單獨聊聊拉塞爾公墓？”
剛起身準備離開的日柳又坐了回去，他擡手示意最後離開的王舜把門關好，坐在椅子上轉過身來看向唐二打：“唐隊長有什麽要單獨和我說的？”
唐二打盯着日柳：“你認為【拉塞爾公墓】是個【自殺社區】類型的公會？”
“目前看來是的。”日柳手肘放在桌面上，十指交握，“而且拉塞爾公會的會長是這個公會的靈魂人物，他有互助型【自殺社區】牽頭人的典型心理特征。”
唐二打蹙眉追問：“什麽心理特征？”
日柳淡淡地平視唐二打：“他正在用盡一切辦法救他的會員和隊員。”
“但拉塞爾去年在季中賽死了八十幾個人。”唐二打屈指敲了敲桌面，強調，“我看不出送新人上聯賽賽場能和救人能扯上關系。”
日柳忽然笑了一下：“唐隊長覺得要怎麽樣才能救回一群想死的人呢？”
唐二打一頓：“我不知道。”
“給他們希望。”日柳平靜地看向唐二打，“聯賽的勝利就是他們的希望，這支公會不在乎積分，不在乎生死，他們只想贏，我猜拉塞爾公會的會長一開始是想不顧一切贏下來，然後用冠軍的獎勵——願望拯救所有人。”
“但他們輸給了殺手序列，并且在接下來的九十排位賽裏團滅了。”
日柳說：“唐隊長，你還記得王舜說，拉塞爾公墓戰隊在團滅之後崩潰到棄權嗎？你覺得一個真的肆意把新人隊員送上場被屠戮的戰隊，會因為團滅一次就崩潰嗎？”
“只不過才死了五個人而已。”日柳口吻平淡，“底層玩家的人命是這個游戲裏最不值錢的東西了，他們季中賽的勝利已經代表他們走這條路可以走得通，他們離成功只差一點，再來一次說不定就成了。”
“但拉塞爾卻棄權了，他們沒打季中賽，從季前賽從頭打起，唐隊長，你覺得是因為什麽呢？”
唐二打沉默了下去。
他心裏有一個答案，但又覺得這個答案又匪夷所思，又……心酸。
日柳繼續說了下去：“因為人員傷亡。”
“再從季中賽打起，面臨強隊，就算能贏，他們必須要再經歷一次巨大的人員傷亡，他們寧願放棄好不容易攢下來的排位，名氣，積分，冒着巨大的不确定性，為了減少人員傷亡，從季前賽重新來過。”
“他們只是想贏，只是想活而已。”
唐二打摸了一下自己兜裏，似乎想掏煙出來，但最後還是忍住了。
日柳垂下眼簾：“這種【自殺社區】類型的公會的形成需要一開始就有一個想要自殺的群體存在，我猜測，拉塞爾公會最開始形成的時候那批會員，應該是同一批進入游戲的，而且這一批人在現實裏大概率是互相認識的。”
“國內是不允許這種傷害自我的社區存在的，所以我猜測，他們這個群體一開始是以另一種群體的名義存在的。”
日柳擡眸望着對面沒說話的唐二打：“而你單獨來找我，就是因為這個群體，對嗎唐隊長？”
唐二打靜默了很久很久，才嘶啞地開口：“你們剛剛分析拉塞爾公墓讓我想起一件事情，去年這個時候，異端處理局接到一樁異常事件的報案，但查了半天，都沒有找出異端，最後以社會事件蓋棺定論了。”
“這個異常的案件是什麽？”日柳問。
Tang Erda was silent for a while. "The owners of the Sunshine Building collectively jumped off the building. A total of 47 people died. They jumped from the building one after another within a month. Because we suspected that it was related to heresy, we suppressed the news at that time. Half a day later, we investigated it and released it quickly."
Ri Liu asked calmly, "What is a social event?"
Tang Erda took out a cigarette and lit it up after Ri Liu nodded in agreement. He took a deep puff and said in a hoarse voice:
"The Sunshine Building was a badly finished project that had been in a bad state for more than three years. The developer who invested in it attracted foreign capital, but when something went wrong, they took the money and ran away abroad. Those who jumped off the buildings were all owners of the badly finished buildings, one by one. After they jumped, all the families were wiped out. There was not even anyone left to help collect the bodies."
"After the person who jumped from the building died, the remaining owners of the rotten-end building helped collect the body and sent it to the funeral home. After cremation, the ashes were placed in their original house in the rotten-end building."
Tang Erda slowly exhaled a puff of smoke: "There are not many people living in the rooms in the rotten-end building now. There are urns full of ashes, like a cemetery."