"Game?"
Looking at the words appearing on the paper, Jiang Lin froze for a moment.
This was her handwriting again.
But Jiang Lin still had no memory of when she had written this sentence.
Did she write it during a period of mental confusion or memory loss?
No...
The moment this thought emerged, Jiang Lin immediately rejected it in her heart.
Because these words had "appeared" out of nowhere!
If this had happened on an electronic screen, it would be quite normal.
What she held in her hand was a paper notebook—so small it could fit in her palm.
For words to magically appear on this kind of paper was like some supernatural force at work.
Of course, there was also a more reasonable explanation...
"I might really be in a 'game'."
And just as Jiang Lin had this thought, she quickly felt strong doubt and uncertainty rising within her.
No...
Everything feels so real, how could it be a game?
Jiang Lin felt slightly dizzy.
A new thought emerged uncontrollably.
What if...
It's "surreal" plus "game"?
She suddenly had this idea.
Then, the moment this thought appeared, Jiang Lin knew...
"Could this actually be true?"
If this wasn't true, why would she have such a thought?
She calmly flipped to the next page of the vocabulary notebook in her hand.
"The game's objective is to escape the asylum, but it seems we've already failed..."
Jiang Lin continued flipping through.
"You are not a patient, remember this—because you may lose your memory over and over again."
"This isn't my first attempt."
"This asylum not only modifies your memories but also constantly 'resets,' trapping you in reincarnation cycles."
"I am your past self, the version with complete memories."
"Make good use of 【items】."
"You have two teammates, Max and May."
"Max is a woman with gold-rimmed glasses who talks a lot and is quite lively and outgoing, located in the second-floor ward;
May may have already sacrificed himself in the wine cellar on the asylum's basement level."
"Beware of fog and seawater."
"If you forget how to retrieve items, I've left one final backup stored on the fifth floor."
"Other patients are dangerous, medical staff cannot be trusted."
Jiang Lin reached the end, all the hints had finished appearing.
She had to admit...
These chaotic hints scattered all over the place really did seem like her own handwriting.
Jiang Lin could almost imagine her past self hurriedly writing these things down.
"So I'm really in a game after all..."
She carefully put away the notebook, then stood up.
At that moment, the woman with gold-rimmed glasses also looked at Jiang Lin.
"Eh? You're finished?"
"Yeah... I've read it all," Jiang Lin nodded, "Anyway, I know your name now... or rather, your code name."
The woman with gold-rimmed glasses was excited, yet also somewhat surprised: "What is it? How do you know?"
"The thing that young man just gave me recorded your name," Jiang Lin said, "You should be called Max."
The gold-rimmed glasses woman fell into thought after hearing this: "Hmm... Max? I'm quite sure this definitely isn't my real name, but rather a code name."
Jiang Lin also thought this was likely a code name, but she couldn't help asking.
"How are you so certain?"
"Because it sounds like a foreign name. Although my memories about my parents are a bit fuzzy, I'm quite sure they wouldn't have given me such a strange foreign name."
Max said seriously.
Jiang Lin also nodded.
Listening to Max's accent, she was also certain this person's real name definitely wasn't this.
"Anyway, that notebook also said," she hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "You and I should both be 'players'?"
"Players?"
Max was very curious.
"Yes, the world we're in, this asylum, is a game," Jiang Lin said quietly, "This isn't the real world, but a game world, and we're players whose memories have been tampered with, making us mistakenly believe this is the real world."
"Oh, you mean like The Matrix?"
Max suddenly understood.
Jiang Lin felt something wasn't quite right, but still nodded: "You could say that... but I vaguely feel it shouldn't be that technological kind of feeling, more like something mystical, supernatural..."
She muttered, while Max stroked her chin and spoke.
"I understand what you mean... these details aren't important. So anyway, you sought me out because we're both players?"
"Right."
Seeing Max catch on so quickly, Jiang Lin breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought convincing this person would take some time.
Now it seemed...
Max, like herself, had subconsciously already sensed something was wrong.
That's why she understood immediately.
Thinking this, Jiang Lin decided to go further.
"Anyway, our goal seems to be escaping this asylum..."
"And this isn't our first attempt—this place goes through cycle after cycle of reincarnation."
Jiang Lin lowered her voice as she spoke, then shook the vocabulary notebook in her hand.
"Although I don't know who that young man was, the notebook he gave me contains information left by my past self."
"So... we need to work together!"
Hearing this, Max nodded seriously.
"I completely understand now, but if we're going to escape, where should we go next?"
"The fifth floor!"
Jiang Lin said with absolute determination.
The vocabulary notebook mentioned using 【items】, but Jiang Lin simply couldn't remember what 【items】 were or how to use them.
Fortunately, her past self seemed to have anticipated this situation—"If you forget how to retrieve items, I've left one final backup stored on the fifth floor."
So Jiang Lin now planned to immediately head to the fifth floor.
That was the area for examinations and critically ill patients. Normally, ordinary patients like them weren't allowed up there.
But Jiang Lin knew...
She wasn't a real patient.
She was a player!
With this as the premise, the deeply implanted notion in her mind that "the fifth floor is off-limits" might even be this game's method of preventing her from recognizing the truth.
So...
Jiang Lin was determined to go check out the fifth floor.
"Let's go, Max, we'll quietly go upstairs now."
Just as she was about to lead Max upstairs, she suddenly discovered...
The woman with gold-rimmed glasses beside her had disappeared.
Just as Jiang Lin was looking around in confusion, she suddenly noticed Max around the corner approaching with two tall doctors.
"Yes, doctor, it's her."
"This patient from the fourth floor seems to have had an episode, saying something about escaping the asylum and trying to drag me along with her!"