The surgery has been completed, and Lila was wheeled out of the operating room by the doctor and the nurse.
The roller bed automatically slides on the metal floor, and the bluish lights on the ceiling of the corridor are filled with a sense of unreality.
Turning a corner, a tightly sealed metal door opened, and Lila, along with her bed, was pushed into a capsule-shaped healing chamber.
The chief surgeon has now changed out of his surgical gown and is wearing a white coat. On the outside of his white coat is an identification name - "Dr. Huang, Director of the Medical Office".
Dr. Huang inserted an intravenous drip into Lila's hand, closed the glass cover of the recovery chamber, and said to her: "Rest well, your wound is expected to heal within 12 hours. If you feel unwell, press the green call button on your right side. I have another surgery to attend to, I'll be going now."
Lila nodded silently.
The doctor and nurse left Lila's room.
Lila was in the recovery pod, watching the built-in display of the recovery pod showing various data.
The instrument is constantly beeping, the ECG is fluctuating, and the heart rate is maintained between 80 and 110. The blood pressure is slightly low, and the condition is mild anemia.
Her entire physical data was displayed on it.
"Crimson Soil" leans towards a cyberpunk worldview, so the technology in this world is much more advanced than the reality in which Lila lives. The high-tech healing chamber does not seem like something that Earth's current technology level could produce.
Lila suffered such a serious injury, but the doctor told her that the wound would heal in twelve hours, a medical technology that is not achievable on this same Earth.
"The real-life Second World."
Entering the game is like opening the doors to a second world.
This promotional slogan contains no exaggeration. Lila has truly crossed over. She wonders if the 10,000 players who participated in the beta testing with her have also crossed over to this world, assumed different identities, and embarked on new lives distinct from their reality.
Lila is very adaptable to various environments, she is as resilient as wild grass, and she can take care of herself well even without parental guidance. Now she has entered a completely new environment, which is unfamiliar to her. However, Lila is optimistic and believes that although her in-game identity is quite complex and dangerous, she still has a relatively stable start.
Because she is currently a patient, a rookie security guard who was injured by multiple attackers while on duty during her internship.
During her recovery, she is safe and can temporarily stay away from some trouble. And her injury is on her head, so feigning amnesia is a cliched method, but it is useful. This gave Lila ample buffer time.
Why would one travel through such a profound issue is truly too deep, Lila does not have the ability to get to the bottom of it.
The pressing question before her was how to live.
Those six pieces of advice were deeply imprinted in Lila's mind.
"First, please treat the game world as the real world."
"Second, do not reveal your identity as a player to anyone."
"Third, do not disclose the game content to anyone."
"Fourth, life only happens once, and death cannot be revived."
Fifth, if you choose to start the game, then you only have two paths to take: "completing the game" and "character death".
"Sixth, everything has a price."
The fourth and fifth points can be merged, and their focus is on the consequences of "death". The statement that life is only once is very likely not a joke.
If we consider the game world as the second world, then the reality in which the players reside can be called the first world. If one dies in the second world, will they also die in the first world?
The cost of death is something that no one can bear, Lila felt the pressure - the pressure to survive.
Lila has twelve hours of healing time.
Twelve hours later, she will step out of the recovery pod and face the people of the second world.
According to her complex identity, she may need to frequently deal with a rebel organization called "Mechanical Dawn", she needs to work hard to climb the ranks in the Investigation Department and gain the trust of others, and she needs to become a qualified double agent, hiding her identity to pass intelligence for the organization.
Lila was given a buffer period, however, she obtained a royal flush opening.
Every step must be taken with utmost care and caution, as if walking on thin ice.
Do you know if there are any players who play like her?
The recovery capsule is in operation, a wave of blue light after another sweeping across her body, the restorative medication being infused into her veins. Lila feels a tingling, itching sensation on her scalp, and her wounds are rapidly healing.
"What, check the panel?" Lila tentatively thought to herself.
The game system responded to Lila, and the light screen opened up again, revealing familiar text.
She skipped the basic identity settings that she had reviewed multiple times and checked another section.
Basic Attributes
Name: Lila
Dispossessor
Extraordinary abilities: [Unacquired]
innate talent:【Performer】You have superb acting skills and can deceive most people. 【Toughness】You have the resilience of a cockroach.
You can acutely perceive the dangers around you and avoid them.
You will achieve twice the result with half the effort when you learn any skill.
What does Dispossessor mean?
Dispossessor, a profession that relies on hunting and killing special ability users to steal their extraordinary powers and gain strength.
Can you acquire superpowers by killing a Specials user? If you kill someone with extraordinary abilities, will their superpowers be transferred to you?
Lila was startled, and her heart rate index on the display of the recovery capsule soared rapidly.
"Abnormal heart rate, abnormal heart rate...... The therapeutic helm is emitting a beeping alarm."
Lila immediately took several deep breaths to stabilize her heartbeat, and after a dozen seconds, the alarm in the recovery chamber turned off.
She was about to carefully consider the cruel profession of Dispossessor, but in the next moment, the light in her room went out.
The metal door opened, and someone entered her hospital room.
Lila turned her head and looked towards the door through the transparent glass.
Dr. Huang slowly walked in, wiping his glasses, and said to Lila with a smile, "How are you feeling?"
"I think I have amnesia."
However, Dr. Huang's next move interrupted what Lila was about to say.
He lifted the hatch of the healing pod, fished a blue chip out of his wristwatch, and pressed it into Lila's hand, speaking in a low voice: "This is what the organization asked me to deliver to you."
Lila: What? What organization, what organization? Explain it clearly!
She picked up on the odd taste, the Dr. Huang in front of her who was so amiable, is actually a double agent just like her?
Dr. Huang nodded to Lila: "I have limited authority and am not privy to your mission. For any future actions, if needed, you can notify me, and I will do my best to cooperate." Lila did not know how to react, and could only look at him with an expressionless face.
"Here is this, these are the personal information of the person you are currently replacing. Please read it carefully, some small daily habits are the most difficult to imitate and the easiest to betray. Fortunately, the person you are playing is a new intern who is not familiar with everyone, so it is not difficult to replace them." Dr. Huang then took out a black chip and a silver-white bracelet, "The organization's communicator is right here, and the people above will contact you through this."
".......," Lila replied flatly.
The more she said, the more mistakes she made, so she decided to remain silent.
"Ah, you have made quite a sacrifice." Dr. Huang sighed, to disguise the wound, he deliberately came up with a mechanical transformation surgery...Don't worry, that person has been dealt with by the organization, her genetic information and life trajectory have also been modified. From now on, you are the patrol and security officer 'Lila' of the 7th squad of the field operations team."
After hearing these words, Lila had a relatively clear idea in her mind.
The name of the intern security guard of the Investigation Department is also "Lila", but this "security guard Lila" is quite complicated. She was replaced by an undercover agent from Mechanical Dawn and then eliminated, while the real Lila ended up becoming the undercover agent who replaced "security guard Lila"... It's quite convoluted!
"There is more than one Awaker in this Investigation Department, and the heads of various teams and departments possess extraordinary abilities. The abilities of Awakers are diverse, encompassing all kinds of powers." Dr. Huang said, "There is a rumor in the Investigation Department that the ability of the head of the criminal investigation team is 'Lie Detection', so please be very careful."
Lila said briefly: "I understand."
"Everything is for the dawn." Dr. Huang said to Lila, with a deep meaning in his eyes.
This sentence...why does it sound so much like the Communist Manifesto?
Lila reacted quickly and also repeated the sentence: "All for the dawn."
Dr. Huang nodded with a sigh: "Take care, I have to rush to the next surgery... Ah, I didn't expect I would have to work this hard when I first came in."
Lila watched his back until he left.
The strong will to survive occupied Lila's mind, and danger was right beside her.
What kind of organization is Mechanical Dawn? They can unhesitatingly eliminate a person and replace their existence, which doesn't seem like the behavior of good people. What is their purpose in infiltrating the Investigation Department with moles? What is the ultimate goal of the Resistance?
The most important thing is that Lila is unsure whether she can leave the Second World and return to the First World, and if she is trapped here forever, what will she do?
Lila took deep breaths repeatedly to lower her heart rate, so the recovery cabin would not sound another alert for an abnormal heart rate.
Her gaze was fixed on the three words "Dispossessor".
If one could say she has any support, it would undoubtedly be the ability of the "Dispossessor". This terrible ability is perhaps her only hope. Her identity is special, walking on a tightrope, with abysses to the left and right, and the danger of falling off the cliff in front and behind. What troubles Lila is that she has no chance of retreating.
No two-faced person can succeed and retreat, if she betrays the Mechanical Dawn organization, will she have a good outcome? If she betrays the Investigation Department, she will have an even worse fate, and she also has the identity of a first-class smuggler.
The cost of death made Lila cautious enough, and her past solitary life had taught her to protect and arm herself.
She thought deeply for a very, very long time, and finally decided to treat this extraordinary time-traveling experience as a game, a real game, a game that cannot be lost, a game of life and death. She wanted to complete this game, go all the way to the end, and avoid all the bad endings to reach the happy ending... no matter what methods she used.
