The Puppet in the Mirror (1)
One of the girls, with short blonde hair, an oval face, and defined muscles, is named Lucy. She is a 26-year-old foreign taekwondo instructor.
The other girl, with long blonde hair, a wide face, slightly dark skin, a tall figure, and a smiling face, is named Dora. She is 28 years old and works as a photographer.
Dora isn't as pretty as Lucy, but she seems cheerful, confident, and poised; she appears to be a successful woman.
Lucy isn't very tall, but she looks like she's a formidable fighter, and her expression appears somewhat reserved.
There was a middle-aged man with a square face and an arrogant air about him. His name was Li Zhe, a 42-year-old executive at a listed company.
The other middle-aged man had a serious expression, tightly pursed lips, and focused eyes, giving him an air of wisdom. He wore black-rimmed glasses. His name was Zhou Wangliang, a 45-year-old mathematics professor.
Although he is not old, half of his hair is white, which seems to be due to his dedication to academics and the hard work involved.
The last stranger was a young man named Xie Wei, 23 years old, who had just graduated from university. He was always smiling, with two dimples on his face, looking like the boy next door, making people feel at ease. He had meticulously styled hair, clear eyes, and fair skin, and seemed to be a well-off second-generation rich kid with no guile.
Jian Tanxi and Professor Pan briefly introduced themselves, and then Jian Tanxi introduced Qu Chen.
Jian Tanxi rarely teamed up with so many strangers, and she felt a little uneasy, wondering what kind of people these strangers were and whether they would be easy to work with.
Professor Zhou Wangliang of the Department of Mathematics knew that Professor Pan was a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and felt that he had found a kindred spirit, so he chatted with Professor Pan for a while.
Zhou Wangliang rarely spoke to others.
Taekwondo instructor Lucy said to everyone, "I'm good at kung fu. If there are any enemies later, they can hide behind me."
Lucy's Chinese isn't very fluent and she has a foreign accent. However, you can tell she's very brave.
Jian Tanxi said, "Thank you, Lucy. However, I would prefer that we fight side by side."
Lucy: "Let's fight together, OK."
Xie Wei laughed and said, "Lucy, how can we let a girl like you protect us? I'm the one who should be protecting the girls."
Lucy glanced at Xie Wei and shook her head, saying, "You look weak and useless."
Xie Wei: "..."
Jian Tanxi: "Pfft."
Another foreign girl, Dora, said to everyone, "Hello everyone, it's an honor to meet so many Chinese people. Please take good care of me."
Dora's Chinese is much better, and quite fluent. Everyone politely responded to her, except for Li Zhe, a senior executive at the company, who simply nodded without saying anything.
Just then, a huge piece of paper floated over, on which was drawn a hunter.
The hunter said, "Welcome to the new round of the game—Mirror Puppet. I am the referee for this game, the hunter. The participants are: Jian Tanxi, Qu Chen, Pan Xian, Lucy, Dora, Li Zhe, Zhou Wangliang, and Xie Wei, a total of 8 people."
Now, let's announce the rules of the game:
Eight puppets will emerge from the mirror shortly. These puppets will resemble humans in appearance, but their bodies are made of wood. Each puppet has a built-in artificial intelligence brain, allowing them to think and converse normally. Each player will be assigned one puppet, and you must make your puppet say the three words "I give up"—not a single word more or less will count.
The game lasts for 10 days. If all the puppets say "I give up," the player can leave after 10 days. Any other questions?
Zhou Wangliang asked, "What if we complete the mission ahead of schedule?"
The hunter said, "You'll have to wait 10 days before you can leave. During that time, you can stay in your own rooms."
Dora asked, "Can we only talk to the puppets in this corridor?"
Hunter: "No. We'll assign you rooms in a bit, and you can take your puppets back to your rooms."
Jian Tanxi asked, "Does it mean that as long as the puppet says 'I surrender,' it's considered a success, no matter what method is used?"
Hunter: "That's right."
Jian Tanxi: "Can that puppet speak Chinese?"
Hunter: "Yes, you can rest assured about that."
Professor Pan: "Are puppets dangerous?"
Hunter: "Normally there isn't, but if you treat it badly, it might trigger a resistance mechanism with unknown consequences. So please proceed with caution."
Jian Tanxi pointed at Qu Chen and asked, "What about this child? He can't speak, so he can't do this job properly."
Hunter: "Players can help each other, and the final reward is calculated based on each player's actual contribution. So, helping your teammates is never a loss."
Li Zhe asked, "If the puppet is severely damaged, will the player be punished?"
Hunter: "No."
Upon hearing this, Li Zhe's lips curled into a confident smile.
The hunter said, "Now, there will be eight rooms, each with a name marked on the door. Please check in according to your name. Visiting each other's rooms and helping others complete tasks are allowed. Of course, if you don't want your companions to help you and steal your credit, you'd better find a way to finish quickly."
After saying that, the hunter gradually disappeared.
Suddenly, eight puppets appeared in the mirrors on both sides. These eight puppets were similar in size to the eight players, and one of them was a small puppet as small as Qu Chen.
Then, the eight puppets stepped out of the mirror.
Each player has a puppet standing in front of them, and each puppet is similar to themselves.
However, although the puppets have artificial skin and artificial facial features, they look rather rough and can be easily identified as mannequins.
Next, eight rooms appeared on both sides of the corridor, each with a player's name written on it. Jian Tanxi's room was the second one from the left, while Qu Chen and Professor Pan's rooms were on either side of Jian Tanxi.
Xie Wei laughed and said, "It seems that not only were the rooms assigned, but the puppets were also assigned. Now, shall we take our respective puppets back to our rooms?"
Lucy said, "Okay."
Professor Zhou Wangliang said, "Wait a minute, don't you guys find this strange? This mission seems too easy, and there's plenty of time—ten days in total. Could there be some hidden traps in this mission?"
Photographer Dora said, "I think this task might be very difficult to complete. The puppet isn't a person, so how can you get it to say specific words? It's not afraid of pain, so hitting it won't work. Moreover, it has to say 'I give up,' not a single word more or less. This might take many days to complete; 10 days might be considered quite tight."
Company executive Li Zhe said impatiently, "In my opinion, this is not difficult at all. It can be done in a few hours at most. We are all superhumans, and we have all sorts of strange and wonderful tools. Can't we even subdue a puppet?"
Professor Pan said, "The problem now is not subduing the puppets, but getting them to say 'I submit.' This is far more difficult than defeating them."
Li Zhe: "It's not difficult. If I beat it, it will naturally say 'I admit defeat'."
Jian Tanxi said, "What if it says 'I give up' or 'I really give up'?"
Li Zhe: "Then let it say it again."
Jian Tanxi: "What if it refuses?"
Li Zhe: "Then beat it until it says 'I surrender'."
Jian Tanxi: "But the puppet is not afraid of pain."
Li Zhe: "Why are you so long-winded? Why don't you just try it and see?"
As he spoke, Li Zhe threw a punch at his puppet. However, the puppet nimbly dodged and was not hit.
Li Zhe: "..."
Photographer Dora said, "See? I told you this task wouldn't be easy."
Young Xie Wei said, "I suddenly have an idea... This mission shouldn't take more than a few days, but we have to stay here for ten days... Is something really terrible going to happen in the last few days, but the hunters haven't told us?"
Professor Pan said, "That's very possible. If in the next few days our rooms are no longer ordinary rooms, but become rooms filled with flames, poison gas, floods, or venomous snakes, then we'll have a hard time surviving."
Taekwondo instructor Lucy said in broken Mandarin, "Don't be afraid... I'm here. I'll take care of the danger."
Company executive Li Zhe said impatiently, "If you can't even speak properly, don't try to be a hero. You know a little bit of fancy footwork, but you think you're so great."
Lucy glanced at Li Zhe with some annoyance, but said nothing.
Jian Tanxi said, "No matter what, let's finish the task at hand first. Let's go to our respective rooms."
Everyone was carrying their puppets and preparing to go into the room when Li Zhe suddenly rushed up to Qu Chen and pulled his puppet away.
Professor Pan quickly stopped Li Zhe, somewhat displeased, and said, "What are you doing?"
Li Zhe said, "This child looks silly and doesn't understand anything. He definitely won't be able to complete the task. Why don't you give me his puppet and I'll help him finish it?"
Professor Pan snatched Qu Chen's little wooden puppet back and said to Li Zhe, "You should take care of your own puppet first. Qu Chen came with us, so if he can't finish, Jian Tanxi and I will help him."
Li Zhe sneered: "Hmph, what skills do you have? You might be asking me for help in a few days."
With that, he took his puppet back to his room.
Professor Pan didn't make a big deal out of it and returned the little wooden puppet to Qu Chen.
Qu Chen thought the little wooden puppet was a toy, so he grabbed the puppet's arm and ran around with it.
The puppet's body wasn't as flexible as a human's, and being half-dragged and half-pulled like this, its heels were practically sparking. However, the little wooden puppet didn't resist.
Jian Tanxi said to Professor Pan, "Judging from Xiaochen's condition, he probably doesn't know what to do. Why don't I take Xiaochen back to my room, take care of him, and study how to make the puppet talk? If I succeed, I can use the same method to help Xiaochen."
Professor Pan said, "Alright, the hunters don't forbid players from going to other people's rooms. Xiao Chen is closer to you, so you two can go to one of their rooms first."
"Um."
So everyone went back to their rooms.
Jian Tanxi led Qu Chen to her room and closed the door.
She immediately locked the door from the inside to prevent other players from suddenly coming in and "helping" her complete the task.
Although she didn't like these games, since she had been pulled in, she had to make some contribution and get some rewards so that the trip wouldn't be in vain.
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