144: Chapter 144 Fair but Unreasonable

So Hu Gualing looked at Xiao Niao, but found that Xiao Niao was also shaking his head in refusal, saying, "What a cruel headband, Gualing, you should wear it instead."

Hearing this, Hu Gualing squeezed the headband in his hand and suddenly became a bit Life Qi, saying, "Although this piece of equipment was dropped because of my good luck, since we are a team, the dropped items should be distributed by the team. How can you just give it to me?"

Once these words were out, Tang Yao and Xiao Niao looked at each other. What was going on with Gualing? Shouldn't he be happy to get good equipment? Why does it seem like he doesn't even want it?

But then, Hu Gualing thought for a while and said firmly, "This headband adds to the maximum HP, which is useful for all three of us. For the sake of fairness, I think the three of us should just settle it with rock-paper-scissors!"

Tang Yao, upon hearing this, didn't even think and stepped back two steps, shaking her head as she said, "I'm not playing rock-paper-scissors with you. Such an ugly headband, you guys can wear it yourselves."

Hu Gualing saw that Tang Yao's disgusted look as she stepped back didn't seem faked, and he was suddenly at a loss, having to look at Xiao Niao.

Xiao Niao was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected that Gualing was acting a bit Life Qi because of the uneven distribution. Looking at it this way, although this guy Gualing has been a troublemaker since he was young, his character is actually not bad.

However, after thinking about it, Gualing's rigorous attitude towards item distribution is actually correct. After all, in ordinary online games, there are many players who end up meeting offline for Immortal Master PK due to disputes over virtual items.

And in this mysterious Fantasy Jianghu game, character abilities can be synchronized to reality, so the value of game items here is undoubtedly much higher than other virtual items, and it is even difficult to measure with real currency.

Now, the three of them can still push the item back and forth in a harmonious Qi-ly way. One reason is that the relationship between the three of them and their characters are quite good; they are not the type of people blinded by greed. Secondly, although this piece of equipment adds 15 points of HP, it counts as quite a good piece of equipment for them who have just left the Novice Village.

However, in terms of quality, it is only 'Excellent', which is equivalent to the bundle of wooden shaft steel arrow that Hu Gualing casually gave to Xiao Niao, and it is far inferior to the blue 'Fine' quality main weapon crafted by Hu Gualing, so the three of them didn't have a very urgent sense of need.

But later on, as the game progresses and the quality of dropped equipment gets higher and higher, if there is no reasonable distribution method, even if the three of them get along well, cracks will appear due to unfair and unreasonable item distribution.

So at the moment, there is indeed a need for a reasonable item distribution method...

Xiao Niao thought to himself. This look of contemplation, when seen by Hu Gualing, was mistaken for Xiao Niao also being tempted by this Hero's Headband, just too shy to ask for it, so he spoke quickly: "Actually, this headband suits you quite well, Xiao Niao."

Xiao Niao just came back to his senses and was stunned again upon hearing Hu Gualing's words: "Ah? How does it suit me?"

Hu Gualing said: "Because you are timid and afraid of trouble, but this headband is called the Hero's Headband. If you put it on your head and add 15 HP, I believe your courage will also increase a bit."

Xiao Niao was instantly between laughter and tears, but heard Hu Gualing change the subject: "However, I won't just hand it over to you. Let's decide who it belongs to by playing rock-paper-scissors!"

After finishing, Hu Gualing hid one hand behind his back, ready to throw a punch at any moment.

Xiao Niao hurriedly waved his hands and said: "No, no, no, don't play rock-paper-scissors. This headband is most suitable for you to wear."

Hu Gualing's face stiffened, and the words 'I'm not happy' were written all over his face. Seeing this, Xiao Niao hurriedly explained: "Your idea of using rock-paper-scissors to decide item ownership is not wrong; it's mainly to ensure the fairness and reasonableness of item distribution. I think so too, there must be a reasonable distribution method."

Hu Gualing: "Then why do you..."

Xiao Niao: "Listen to me, using rock-paper-scissors to decide item ownership, this distribution method is fair, but this kind of fairness does not mean it is reasonable."

Hu Gualing asked suspiciously: "Why is it not reasonable?"

Xiao Niao: "Think carefully. Relying on rock-paper-scissors to decide ownership, whoever wins gets it—it looks very fair as it relies on luck, but in reality, everyone's need and compatibility for this item are different. Take the three of us as an example. For instance, Tang Yao not only doesn't need this headband, but is also very resistant to it. As for me, this headband is still useful to me. After all, adding 15 HP can at least serve as a way to boost my courage, but my combat ability... well, there's no need to say much about that. And with you and Tang Yao around, I won't have many opportunities for close-quarters combat with monsters, so for me, other than increasing a bit of HP and boosting my courage, it really has no other use."

"But you are different. You fight with your fists and are always in close combat with monsters, so it's hard not to get hurt and lose HP. If you can have 15 more points of maximum HP, it can increase your fault tolerance significantly. In the future, when facing elite monsters or BOSSes, it might just be this 15 HP that allows you to die one less time, or even prevents us from wiping out as a team."

"We are currently in the pioneering stage, and item distribution should adhere to the principle of maximizing the team's strength. This way, we can clear deeper maps and stronger monsters earlier to get more precious items, and on the basis of satisfying our equipment configuration, we can then consider the principle of fair distribution for other unused items. I think this is a relatively reasonable distribution method, don't you agree?"

After Xiao Niao finished speaking, he showed a shy smile and asked for everyone's opinion.

Tang Yao nodded in approval. Although she hadn't played online games before, the distribution method wasn't unique to online games; it was equally applicable in reality, so she could understand it very well.

Hu Gualing was stunned for a moment. With such a long string of words, he had to carefully analyze the information...

Actually, he had played quite a few online games in internet cafes before, and there was one where you formed teams to enter a Dungeon and fight bosses to get equipment, and the equipment distribution mechanism was set like this: After a rare item dropped, a demand box would pop up in front of all players in the team. Clicking the 'X' meant voluntarily giving up. Other players who clicked 'demand' would then enter the next stage: rolling dice to compare numbers. Whoever rolled the highest number would get ownership of the item.

He had previously proposed rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner, imitating this distribution method.

The advantage of this distribution method is fairness, focusing on a contest of pure luck. Regardless of your strength or wealth, whether you can get ownership depends entirely on luck.

Of course, there are also disadvantages, which is that not every player necessarily has a real need. Some might not need the equipment at all, but just want to get their hands on it to sell for some game currency, so they shamelessly click 'demand', and if they have a bit of luck, they can snatch ownership from players who really need this equipment to improve their strength and clear the Dungeon. From this point of view, it is indeed a bit unreasonable. This must be what Xiao Niao meant... a situation where everyone's need and compatibility are different, resulting in absolute fairness but not necessarily reasonableness?