Truth and the Patient

"Game?"

Jiang Lin paused for a moment as she looked at the words that appeared on the paper.

This is your own handwriting again.

But Jiang Lin still has no recollection of when she wrote that sentence.

Did you write it down when you were mentally unstable or had lost your Memory?

Wrong...

The moment the thought crossed her mind, Jiang Lin immediately rejected it.

Because this line of text "emerged"!

If it appears on an electronic screen, this is a perfectly normal phenomenon.

But the problem is...

What I'm holding in my hand now is a paper notebook—it's barely the size of my palm.

The writing appearing out of thin air on this paper is simply the work of some supernatural force.

Of course, there are also more reasonable explanations...

"I might really be in the 'Game'."

The moment Jiang Lin had this thought, she quickly felt a strong sense of doubt and wavering within herself.

Wrong...

Everything feels so real, so why is it just Game?

Jiang Lin felt slightly dizzy.

A new idea emerged uncontrollably.

If...

Is it a combination of "surrealism" and "Game"?

This thought suddenly popped into her head.

Then, the instant the thought crossed Jiang Lin's mind, she knew...

"Could it really be true?"

If this isn't true, why would I even have such a thought?

Without making a sound, she turned to the next page of her vocabulary book.

"The goal of the Game was to escape the Asylum, but it seems that we've already failed..."

Jiang Lin continued scrolling down.

"You are not a patient, remember that—because you may lose your Memory again and again."

This isn't the first time I've tried it.

"This Asylum will not only alter your Memory, but it will also constantly 'reset' them, trapping you in a cycle of reincarnation."

"I am the you of the past, and also the you with complete Memory."

"Make good use of [Item]."

"You have two teammates, Max and May."

"Max is a talkative and outgoing woman with gold-rimmed glasses, in a ward on the second floor; May may have already died in the wine cellar on the first basement floor of this Asylum."

Beware of fog and seawater.

"If you forget how to retrieve the Item, I've left a final backup plan, stored on the fifth floor."

"Other patients are dangerous, and medical staff cannot be trusted."

Jiang Lin scrolled to the end, and all the clues had appeared.

She had to admit...

These disjointed, fragmented prompts also resembled the chef's own arms.

Jiang Lin could easily picture herself as a child hastily writing down these things.

"So I really am in a Game...?"

She carefully put the notebook away, then stood up.

At this moment, the woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses also looked at Jiang Lin.

"Huh? You're done?"

"Hmm... I've finished reading it," Jiang Lin nodded. "Anyway, I know your name... or rather, your code name."

The woman with the gold-rimmed glasses was excited, but also somewhat surprised. "What is it? How did you know?"

"Your name was written in the things that the boy gave me," Jiang Lin said. "Your name should be Max."

The woman with the gold-rimmed glasses fell into thought after hearing this, "Hmm... Max? I'm pretty sure that's not my True Name, but a code name."

Jiang Lin also thought it was probably a code name, but she still couldn't help asking.

How did you determine that?

"Because it sounds like a foreign name. Although my Memory of my parents are a bit hazy, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have given me such a strange, foreign name."

Max said seriously.

Jiang Lin nodded in agreement.

Judging from Max's accent, she was quite certain that this guy's real name definitely wasn't that.

"Anyway, that notebook also said," she hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke, "That you and I should both be 'Player'?"

"Player?"

Max was very curious.

"Yes, the world we're in, this Asylum, is Game," Jiang Lin said softly. "This isn't the real world, it's Game world, and we're Player whose Memory have been manipulated, making us mistakenly believe this is the real world."

"Oh, you mean like the Matrix?"

Max suddenly realized.

Jiang Lin felt something was off, but she nodded anyway. "You could say that... but I have a vague feeling it's not the technological kind of thing, it's more like something mystical or supernatural..."

She muttered to herself, Max stroked his chin as he spoke.

"I understand what you mean... These details aren't important. The reason you took the initiative to come to me is because you and I are both Player?"

"Right."

Seeing that Max was so cooperative, Jiang Lin breathed a sigh of relief; she had thought it would take some time to convince him.

Now it seems...

Max, like himself, probably already subconsciously sensed that something was wrong.

That's why she understands immediately.

With this in mind, Jiang Lin decided to take it a step further.

"In short, our goal seems to be to escape this Asylum..."

"And this isn't the first time we've tried; this is a cycle that repeats itself Xingyi and over again."

Jiang Lin lowered her voice and then shook the vocabulary Notebook in her hand.

"Although I don't know who that boy was, the notebook he gave me contained information left behind by my past self."

"So... we have to act together!"

Upon hearing this, Max nodded solemnly.

"I understand completely now, but if we want to escape, where do we go next?"

"Fifth floor!"

Jiang Lin said firmly and decisively.

The vocabulary book mentioned using [Item], but Jiang Lin couldn't remember what [Item] were or how to use them.

Fortunately, it seems my past self had foreseen this situation—"If you forget how to retrieve the Item, I have a final backup plan, stored on the fifth floor."

Therefore, Jiang Lin now plans to head to the fifth floor immediately.

That area is for examinations and critically ill patients; normally, ordinary patients like them shouldn't be allowed up there.

However, Jiang Lin knew...

I am not a real patient.

She's Player!

Given this premise, the deeply ingrained idea that "the fifth floor cannot be visited" might even be a means for this Game to prevent me from recognizing the Truth.

So...

Jiang Lin insisted on going to the fifth floor to take a look.

"Let's go, Max, let's sneak upstairs now."

Just as she was about to take Max upstairs, she suddenly realized...

The woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses beside me was gone.

Just as Jiang Lin was looking around in confusion, she suddenly noticed Max walking over from around the corner with two tall Doctor.

"Yes, Doctor, it's her."

"This patient from the fourth floor seems to be having an episode. He's saying he wants to escape the Asylum and he wants to take me with him!"