False and Real

When Jiang Lin saw Max bring the Doctor, her first instinct was to run away.

Faced with two tall Doctor, Jiang Lin was subdued almost without any chance of fighting back.

How could a frail little girl who loved to draw be a match for the robust medical staff of the Asylum?

In the fourth-floor solitary confinement cell, Jiang Lin was tightly bound to a chair with restraints, and couldn't help but sigh.

"I was careless. It seems that 'Max's' lost Memory and Cognitive Interference are deeper than I thought..."

"And I also made a stupid mistake. If I hadn't run away and tried to explain myself, there might have been a chance for things to turn around. But by running away, didn't I just let them see that I wanted to 'run away'?"

Jiang Lin sighed, gazing up at the soft light on the ceiling.

"But how do we break this deadlock now...?"

"Being tied up here means I can't move at all, and even if they release me later, I'll probably be under close surveillance by the medical staff because of Max's report."

Jiang Lin pondered, feeling a slight headache coming on.

She is not good at handling such situations.

The only saving grace was that, although Max had reported him, his vocabulary notebook hadn't been confiscated.

If that vocabulary notebook is taken away, and the words I wrote on it are revealed to the medical staff...

Regardless of whether those guys were genuinely acting as Doctor and treating her like a patient, or whether they were deliberately imprisoning her and aware of her "Player" status, Jiang Lin felt her confinement level probably needed to be raised another notch.

If it's the former, then when those Doctor see my notes, they will definitely think that my symptoms and delusions are very serious and require close monitoring and treatment.

If it's the latter...

They would certainly be even more unwilling to allow Jiang Lin to discover the "Truth".

"In any case, there's still a chance..."

As Jiang Lin pondered, the door to the solitary confinement cell was suddenly pushed open.

A middle-aged Doctor of normal build, carrying a notebook, strode in, with a folding chair tucked under his arm.

He walked up to Jiang Lin, and under her curious gaze, unfolded a folding chair and sat down directly in front of Jiang Lin.

"Oh dear, the patient on the fourth floor is showing signs of worsening..."

"The dean isn't here, this is a huge problem."

Jiang Lin looked at the Doctor who had sat down and listened to his complaining tone, and a realization dawned on her.

This is aimed at me.

Furthermore, judging from the slightly different payment method, more complex name tag, and older age of this Doctor compared to the Doctor in the previous room, this should be a more senior Doctor.

Sure enough, after sitting down, the other person took out a pen from their shirt pocket, opened the notebook in their hand, placed it on their lap, cleared their throat, coughed, and began to speak.

"Cough cough... cough!"

"Hello, you're Jiang Lin, in the private room on the fourth floor... right?"

"I am a specialist Doctor at this hospital. You can call me Lao Li or Doctor Li."

The Doctor, with his expert demeanor, spoke very persuasively.

Jiang Lin nodded slightly.

"Yes, I am Jiang Lin," she answered cautiously. "Are you here to treat me?"

"Treatment? No, no, no, it's assessment and examination," Doctor Li shook his head. "You ran up to the second floor trying to pull other patients out with you... According to the patients on the second floor, you seem to have very severe delusional symptoms."

"You seem to think that the Real World is a Game, and the goal of this Game is to escape the Asylum?"

Doctor Li said casually as he wrote in his notebook with his head down.

"Really? I was just joking," Jiang Lin began, trying to justify her actions with a belated excuse. "To be honest, I just made a friend, and she seems quite outgoing..."

"So I just wanted to make a joke, but I didn't expect that because this is Mental Hospital and I am also a mental patient, she would overreact."

Jiang Lin tried her best to speak in a very serious tone, recounting the reasons she had just prepared before the Doctor arrived.

Although it's a clumsy explanation, it is indeed one possible interpretation.

But...

Unfortunately, this explanation couldn't fool them.

"Then why are you running?"

Doctor Li cut to the chase and asked directly.

Jiang Lin was momentarily speechless.

She stammered for a long time before finally saying, "I... I'm a little scared."

This is certainly even less likely to convince the Doctor.

Doctor Li shook his head, sighed, and wrote some more.

"Jiang Lin, Jiang Lin... you still think this is all Game, so you're trying to fool me, an NPC, right?"

Jiang Lin lowered her head and remained silent.

That's what she really thought, but even after the other party called her out on it...

"You just think that I'm a very smart NPC right now, or that the Game mechanics are making me say that, right?"

Doctor Li continued.

Jiang Lin was now incredulous, and she looked up at Doctor Li in surprise.

Doctor Li put down his pen, showed her the notebook, and flipped through it.

"Miss. Jiang, this isn't the first time I've come to assess your symptoms... Although most of the specialists at the hospital advise against it, as the Doctor who knows you best, my current assessment is that we can negotiate."

"You have exhibited this symptom of believing that 'reality' is Game multiple times."

As Doctor Li spoke, Jiang Lin looked at him, feeling a bit confused.

"What's the meaning?"

She asked instinctively, as if it were something unreal.

"You've been experiencing these delusions for a long time, and you've tried to escape from the hospital more than once."

Jiang Lin's mind was in a mess, and she stammered, "But... but I really..."

"Are you saying you actually saw a supernatural phenomenon? That notebook where your own handwriting appeared?"

Doctor Li spoke in a cold voice, and Jiang Lin looked at him in astonishment.

How did you know?

"That was given to you by a patient on the second floor—your delusional symptoms are extremely similar, so you influenced each other during your conversations," Doctor Li continued. "He made that notebook...he imitated your handwriting."

"As for why it appeared automatically... it's because of the temperature."

"That notebook is very small, and it will automatically change color when placed in your palm—the special ink that changes color and reveals the writing is something that can be bought at any stationery store in this day and age."

Jiang Lin was stunned for a moment. "What...?"

But she still found a loophole. "Wait a minute, but he lives in a mental hospital, how could he possibly get his hands on that kind of special ink?!"

"You're still lying to me!"

Doctor Li sighed.

"This is a mental hospital, not a prison... As long as it's not a dangerous item like a knife, family members can bring it in."

"His family sent him ink. We didn't check if it was anything special; we just assumed he wanted to write something."

"Until the first Item he made for you was discovered..."

"And we don't know how many of these vocabulary notebooks he has hidden!"