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墨書 Inktalez
Ye Feng woke up in the dark, his head pounding. He blinked a few times and found himself in a room filled with the strong smell of disinfectant. Medical charts hung on the walls, and as he looked down, he saw he was wearing a white coat with a pen and a badge tucked into its pocket.
"Doctor Li, there are patients waiting in the emergency room. Why are you sleeping here?" a nurse said as she pushed the door open, her tone slightly reproachful.
Ye Feng was momentarily speechless, his fingers unconsciously brushing against the phone in his coat pocket. He knew that a new task had arrived.
The phone screen lit up, displaying a message: "Doctor Li Yong, today you need to perform surgery on an important patient. Note: Remove the left kidney, not the right. — Puppet Master."
This was already his third identity switch. The last time, he had been a homeless man huddled under a bridge, enduring hunger and cold; before that, he had been a wealthy heir, living lavishly in mansions and driving luxury cars. Each transition came with a new task from the Puppet Master.
"I'll be there right away," Ye Feng said, forcing himself to sound calm as he followed the nurse to the emergency room.
On the way, he quickly browsed through the information on his phone about this "Li Yong," trying to grasp his current identity. Thirty-five years old, Chief of Surgery, Doctor of Medicine, divorced with no children, living alone in an apartment. There were also surgical schedules and colleague relationships… everything felt so real, as if this "Li Yong" had indeed existed for thirty-five years.
In the emergency room lay a man covered in blood. Ye Feng glanced at the medical record and felt a tightening in his chest—liver damage requiring emergency surgery. But this contradicted the Puppet Master's orders.
"Prepare for surgery!" he commanded, while his mind raced with thoughts. He faced a choice: either defy the Puppet Master's command or perform an unethical surgery. Both options could lead to terrible consequences.
On the operating table, Ye Feng's hands trembled slightly. He recalled his previous tasks. As a homeless man, he had been instructed to steal a pregnant woman's wallet; as a wealthy heir, he had been ordered to frame his driver for embezzlement. Each task had become more dangerous and challenged his moral boundaries.
"What does the Puppet Master really want?" Ye Feng wondered. "This is certainly not just about letting me experience different lives."
In the end, Ye Feng chose to save the patient. He completed the surgery according to standard procedures without touching the patient's kidney. The operation was successful, but he knew he had defied the Puppet Master's orders.
After work, he arrived at Li Yong's apartment, scanning his surroundings warily for any sign of punishment. However, once again his phone lit up with just four words on the screen: "Test Passed."
Ye Feng frowned in contemplation. What did this mean? Were these tasks some sort of test? Testing what?
The next day, he was assigned to another ward, where a quiet female patient lay. The medical record indicated: Chen Xi, twenty-eight years old, in a coma for three days due to a car accident.
Ye Feng approached the bedside for a routine check-up, but as he lifted the blanket to examine the girl's injuries, he noticed a peculiar mark on her wrist—a small blue hexagon, identical to the mark hidden at the back of his own neck.
He abruptly looked up and met the girl's suddenly opened eyes.
"You too..." she weakly spoke, her voice barely audible.
"Shh, don’t talk." Ye Feng quickly pressed her hand down, pretending to check her pulse while whispering, "Surveillance. We'll talk when we get the chance."
That night, Ye Feng was on duty. He deliberately returned to Chen Xi's ward, ensuring no one was around before closing the door.
"Are you also under the control of the Puppet Master?" Chen Xi sat up cautiously and asked.
Ye Feng nodded. "I've undergone three identity changes. What about you?"
"Seven times," Chen Xi said with a bitter smile. "I can no longer tell which one is the real me."
"Seven times?" Ye Feng looked at her in surprise. "Do you know what's going on?"
Chen Xi shook her head. "Not entirely. But I've noticed a pattern with each identity change, and I can feel that the flow of time in the real world is different from here."
"What do you mean?"
"For instance, I spent three months in my last identity, but when I accidentally glanced at a calendar, I found that only one day had passed in the real world." Chen Xi explained. "It's as if we're trapped in some kind of simulated world."
Ye Feng pondered this thoughtfully. "Have you tried to escape?"
"I tried, but it didn't work." Chen Xi's gaze darkened. "Once you defy the Puppet Master's orders beyond a certain limit, you'll be forcibly reset—thrown into a new identity without any memories of the past."
"Then how do you remember?"
"Because of this." Chen Xi pointed to the mark on his wrist. "This isn't something they gave me; I managed to leave it behind myself. Every time before a transformation, I find a way to keep this mark in my new identity. It helps me retain some memories."
Ye Feng fell silent for a moment before suddenly saying, "We need to work together."
"Work together?"
"To fight against the Puppet Master. Gather information about them and find a way to escape," Ye Feng said firmly.
Chen Xi hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, but we have to be careful. The Puppet Master is everywhere."
In the days that followed, Ye Feng and Chen Xi began their secret investigation. They discovered that each person controlled by the Puppet Master had specific marks, and these marks were located in different places.
Ye Feng also noticed some strange phenomena: certain areas in the hospital seemed to be "dead zones," with no surveillance and no other medical staff entering or exiting. In these areas, they could talk freely without being monitored.
One day, Chen Xi suddenly approached Ye Feng, looking tense. "I've discovered something. Every time we change identities, we're sent to a place called the Transformation Center. There are many people in white coats there who call themselves Adjusters."
"How do you know this?" Ye Feng asked in surprise.
"I maintained a bit of awareness during my last transformation," Chen Xi replied. "I think we might be subjects of some kind of experiment."
Just as the two were conversing, Ye Feng's phone suddenly rang. He took it out and his face instantly turned pale.
"What’s wrong?" Chen Xi asked anxiously.
Ye Feng turned his phone screen towards her. "You've been discovered. Prepare to accept your new identity transformation. — Puppet Master."
Chen Xi's face turned pale. "No, not again! I will forget everything!"
"Calm down!" Ye Feng grabbed her shoulders. "Remember our mark, remember 'Transformation Center', remember 'Adjuster'!"
Just then, the lights in the hospital suddenly went out, plunging everything into darkness. When the lights came back on, Chen Xi had vanished without a trace.
Ye Feng stood frozen in place, clenching his fists. He knew he might be next. But before that, he had to document all his findings to prepare for their next encounter.
He returned to his office and quickly wrote down all the information on a piece of paper, then tucked the note beneath the skin under his hexagonal mark. The wound healed swiftly, leaving no trace behind.
As he finished everything, his phone lit up again: "Doctor Li, your mission has ended. Prepare to embrace your new identity. — Puppet Master."
Ye Feng took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was no longer the doctor but standing in a dimly lit room with a bloodied knife in hand.
In the mirror on the wall, a stranger's face stared back at him—he was now a criminal.
His phone vibrated with a new message: "Welcome, Zhao Qiang. Your task is to escape from police pursuit and find Chen Xi within three days. Remember, time flows differently here than you understand. — Puppet Master."
Ye Feng touched the back of his neck; the hexagonal mark was still there. A cold smile crept across his lips—the game was still on, but this time, he was no longer just a pawn.
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