Five Floors

Five floors.

After opening the keypad door, Doctor Li led Jiang Lin inside.

Under the protection of security personnel, the more spacious, bright, and even somewhat brand-new corridor was empty, almost devoid of anything.

Doctor Li led Jiang Lin around several times, but nothing happened.

"Is this what you meant by a backup plan?"

"Now you should believe me, that thing is complete nonsense!"

Doctor Li stopped walking as he spoke.

Jiang Lin gripped the vocabulary book tightly in her hand, her knuckles turning white.

After a long while, Jiang Lin finally let go of his hand as if resigned to her fate.

So... was it all just my imagination?

"Of course," Doctor Li said in a deep voice, "If you receive proper treatment now, there is still hope."

Jiang Lin still wouldn't give up.

"But even if it's all fake, that guy could even use special ink to forge handwriting just to fool me. Surely there can't be nothing on the fifth floor, right?"

Doctor Li sighed and lowered his eyes, "You need to understand, that guy can't possibly get up to the fifth floor."

Jiang Lin bit her lower lip, staring intently at Doctor Li's face. "You're lying to me. Your expression just now proves that that guy was on the fifth floor."

Doctor Li looked at Jiang Lin.

After a long silence, he finally spoke again, "Okay, he did sneak up here once... but he was dragged out by security in an instant!"

"If you want to completely convince me, then prove it to me, show me the places he went back then."

Doctor Li could clearly not stop Jiang Lin, so he could only sigh and lead her to a door for critically ill patients.

"It's right here—but opening the door is impossible; there are critically ill patients inside."

Doctor Li said.

But Jiang Lin, standing there, suddenly spoke up without thinking.

"No... there's no need to open the door."

She saw a simple line drawing-like mark floating in front of the door.

Like...

A gray Crow.

The moment Jiang Lin saw the gray Crow, she felt as if her consciousness and soul had been struck by a heavy hammer!

"Bang!"

Jiang Lin staggered unsteadily, clutching her head as she crouched down.

"Ugh..."

In her mind, she seemed to see the scene when the mark was etched.

"You've arrived here? Congratulations!"

"Behind this door lies the secret of the core trick and design of this Instance. Your arrival here is just what allows me to conceal my true purpose—because they will rely on the self-correcting mechanism after the door is opened, and thus they will overlook the contingency plan I left on the door."

"The guy who designed this Instance is very strong, but... as I know it, there is nothing on Mist Island that can surpass that Crow."

"Therefore, methods of Cognitive Interference cannot desecrate the mark of the true god of this realm—nor can they desecrate the Memory that this mark can bring."

"Now, you should remember everything, right?"

"It's okay if you can't produce the [Item], don't forget... you already have one of your own [Item]."

"Use it as Anchor Point to regain the permissions that belong to you."

"Then... their Deception will seem to you like a real farce."

The Memory, almost instilled into my mind, gradually became clearer with each stroke of the Crow's mark.

Finally, Jiang Lin breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Doctor Li.

"I saw it, you're lying to me."

"This place is definitely fake. It's not a mental hospital at all; it's just a Game Instance!"

"You cannot change your direct Memory with 'God'."

Doctor Li was somewhat taken aback by Jiang Lin's words.

But then he said seriously, "It seems your illness can't be cured so easily."

"Then think about your parents, Miss Jiang..."

Do you think they're fake too?

Jiang Lin did not answer.

She held up the vocabulary book in her hand and then said, "You want evidence of the 'Player's' [Item] access rights, right? This is the evidence!"

"This thing... originally belonged to me as a [Item]!"

Hearing Jiang Lin say this, Doctor Li seemed relieved and spoke confidently.

"Then put it away—according to you, shouldn't you be able to put it into your Item Space?"

"I don't need you to bring me any new [Item], you just need to put this away, and I'll agree with what you're saying."

Jiang Lin laughed.

"Hahaha," she shook the notebook in her hand, laughing more happily than ever before, "I don't know who you are, Doctor Li ... Whether you are the remnant consciousness of 'Freud' or a subordinate of the Lord of Mist Island, as the true controller of this Asylum, you are a bit too eager to achieve your goal."

"But I can't blame you, it's just... this 'entrapment' scheme, using me as bait, was truly brilliant."

"In short—closing [Item] permissions is indeed a formidable trump card, although you used some kind of trick... probably by separating our souls from our bodies, preventing us from using the full permissions."

"So I'm more inclined to believe you're the First Generation 'Freud'... because you understand 'the Player' so well!"

"But unfortunately, I don't need to use the [Item] permission itself to confirm that this Item belongs to me."

As Jiang Lin spoke, Doctor Li's expression grew even more serious.

"Your attack this time was really severe; I'm afraid I'll have to resort to more aggressive treatment methods..."

"But I still hope you can come to your senses—what you just said cannot be proven, but I do have solid evidence that you lived in our hospital for five years, Jiang Lin."

Hearing Doctor Li, which were practically his last attempt at persuasion, Jiang Lin smiled and shook her head.

"I really overestimated you... you're incredibly stupid."

"Everything I just said can certainly be verified."

"To be honest... your use of emotional appeals like appealing to parents is indeed very effective and targeted. It's clear you've put a lot of thought into it, but it's a pity..."

As she spoke, Jiang Lin raised the notebook in her hand.

The notebook twisted and deformed, turning into a flowing black substance in Jiang Lin's hand.

"Let me explain. This isn't Item called a [Portable Notebook], but a [Counterfeit]."

"Just like I am not Jiang Lin, or 'Robin'."

The girl exhaled, her facial features shifting until a handsome young man's face appeared.

"You can call me 'May May' —or 'Director,' esteemed First Generation 'Freud.'"