The Puppet in the Mirror (3)
Professor Pan's room.
Professor Pan chatted with his puppet for a few minutes to make sure that the puppet wouldn't say "I give up" on its own.
Then, Professor Pan asked, "What were you created for? Just to make things difficult for us? If we leave or die, are you useless and will you be destroyed?"
Puppet: "I have detected that you are trying to incite panic in me and sow discord between the puppet and the main god. The puppet reminds you that this will not work."
Professor Pan: "..."
After a while, Professor Pan said, "How about I perform a magic trick for you?"
There is a pot of jasmine and a pot of orchids in the room.
Professor Pan broke off a branch of jasmine and a branch of orchid, and inserted them together at a certain angle.
Then, Professor Pan said, "Ability activation - grafting."
Soon, the two branches grew together, as if they had always originated from the same root. Then, a flower sprouted from the top of the branch. This flower had petals that resembled both jasmine and orchids, some white and some pink, making it quite unique.
The puppet said, "Professor Pan, your superpower is amazing."
Professor Pan asked, "Are you convinced?"
"I give up."
"Can you remove the word 'you'?"
"Whether it is removed or not, it does not affect the meaning of the sentence."
"So, you don't want to say those three words?"
"Yes."
Professor Pan stared into the puppet's eyes and said, "Activate the superpower—change your mindset."
The puppet paused for a moment, then said, "I give up."
A mechanical voice sounded in the air: "Congratulations to player Pan Xian for completing the mission. Please wait for ten days."
Professor Pan breathed a sigh of relief, but the thought of having to stay here for another 10 days made him a little worried.
He simply asked the puppet, "What will happen in the next ten days?"
Puppet: "What happens depends on you."
"Isn't it up to you?"
"We are just puppets, we can't decide anything."
"Then, let me ask you another way... What does your master want with us?"
"The master has no intention of doing anything; his fate is in his own hands."
Professor Pan: "..."
The puppet belatedly realized and said, "Why did I say 'I give up' just now? Did you control my mind?"
Professor Pan: "That's right. Will you attack me?"
"No, that's not enough to trigger a counterattack."
Where will you go for the next 10 days?
Puppet: "I'm not going anywhere. What happens to me next is up to you."
What if I lose you?
"Can."
What if I burned you?
"Can."
Professor Pan suspected a trick when the puppet spoke so casually.
He suddenly realized something and asked, "Could it be that in ten days, you will become me, and I will become you? You puppets will be the ones leaving the instance, while we will be the ones left here?"
Puppet: "You have such a wild imagination, this is impossible."
Do you lie?
"Won't."
Professor Pan still found it a bit strange; the rules of the game seemed excessively simple.
Is there some hidden secret within...?
He lay in bed and continued to think.
Lucy's room.
Lucy is a straightforward girl; she directly made her puppet say, "I give up."
But the puppet wouldn't speak.
Lucy said, "If you won't listen, I'll have no choice but to resort to force."
As she spoke, she made a few moves at the puppet.
The puppet dodged nimbly, but was still hit by a punch.
Lucy continued her attack, while the puppet continued to primarily dodge.
A dozen minutes later, the puppet was punched and kicked several times.
At this moment, the puppet said, "Warning! If you hit me again, I will fight back!"
Lucy was unfazed: "If you say I submit, I won't fight."
Puppet: "Then let's fight."
The puppet turned completely red and started fighting with Lucy.
Lucy noticed that the puppet's entire body had become very hot, like a red-hot iron.
She dared not touch the puppet, and could only kick it with her feet, since she was wearing shoes.
However, the puppet's taekwondo skills were just as good as Lucy's, and the puppet had the advantage because it dared to touch Lucy, while Lucy was forced to retreat repeatedly.
The pain from the blows was secondary; the main problem was that when the puppet hit Lucy, her flesh was practically scalded.
Lucy activated her powers, conjuring ice blocks from her hands and smashing them against the puppet. However, the puppet felt nothing and was not afraid of the ice. Moreover, the ice vaporized upon contact with the puppet's body, causing no actual harm.
She then tried punching the puppet while holding the ice cubes. However, despite the ice cubes helping to cool her down, her fingers were still burned by the puppet, so she dared not continue punching.
After another ten minutes or so, Lucy finally couldn't take it anymore and said, "I give up! I give up! Stop hitting me!"
The puppet stopped, its body temperature returned to normal, and said, "You said it yourself, that doesn't count as passing the level."
Lucy: "Of course I know, all I want is not to fight."
Lucy remelted the ice and applied it to her wound, which instantly made her feel better.
She realized that forcing the puppet with force would not work.
Then, she stood the bed upright against the wall. Although the bed was slightly tilted, an ordinary person certainly couldn't get onto it.
However, Lucy activated her powers and climbed up the bed step by step without any external force or slipping down.
She stood at the head of the bed, looking down at the puppet, and said, "Do you submit?"
Puppet: "I'm impressed."
"No, you should say, 'I give up.'"
"It means the same thing."
Lucy: "How could you do this?"
Puppet: "Yes, I can do that. I have no obligation to help players complete the game."
"I can kill you while you're asleep."
"Puppets can't be killed, and they can't sleep."
"..."
Lucy was annoyed for a moment, then suddenly said to the puppet, "Fruit, do you like it?"
Puppet: "I don't eat."
"I can perform and pick fruit."
As she spoke, Lucy took a mechanical hand out of her bag and threw it out the window.
After a while, the mechanical arm returned automatically, holding a big, red peach in its hand.
Lucy looked at the puppet: "This is my prop. It can automatically pick the best fruit. What do you think?"
Puppet: "Very good."
"Say you admit defeat."
"You give up."
Lucy was furious: "You! You infuriating puppet! You bad puppet!"
The puppet said nothing, quietly gazing ahead.
Dora's room.
Dora said to her puppet, "No one has ever taken a picture of you before, has anyone?"
Puppet: "No."
"How about we make a deal? I'll take a set of nice photos for you, and I won't charge you anything. All you have to do is say 'I'm impressed.'"
"no."
"I'm a very good photographer and have won many international awards."
"Puppets don't need photographs."
“Hey, having your own photo is really cool. Other puppets will definitely envy you.”
"Puppets do not compare themselves to each other, nor do they envy other puppets."
"..."
When one plan failed, Dora devised another.
She said to the puppet, "I can make you fall down without touching you. Do you want to try?"
Puppet: "No."
Dora paused for a moment, but continued, "Let me demonstrate for you. Ability activated—I stepped on your shadow."
Dora stepped on the puppet's shadow, and the puppet suddenly fell to the ground. Then, the puppet got up on its own.
Dora said, "Isn't that a powerful move? If you don't say 'I give up,' I'll keep stepping on your shadow and making you keep falling down."
"OK."
Dora: "..."
Dora gradually lost patience and kicked the puppet, but the puppet dodged it.
Dora, who had missed her kick, became even angrier and yelled, "You damn puppet, you can talk, so why won't you say 'I give up'?"
The puppet remained calm: "Sorry, I just can't say."
Dora took a few deep breaths and said, "Okay, then do you want to see snow?"
"In no mood."
Dora: "..."
Dora used her powers to conjure snowflakes.
The puppet simply said, "Your superpower is very impressive."
Dora: "So, do you give up?"
"A little bit."
Dora: "..."
After a while, Dora said, "If you still refuse to talk, I will die. You are a puppet bound to me; if I die, you will surely be punished, won't you?"
Puppet: "No, players are free to choose whether to die or live, and the puppet will not interfere."
Dora: "..."
Li Zhe's room.
Li Zhe tried many methods, but still couldn't get his puppet to say "I give up".
He devised a plan to capture the puppet and cut off several of its fingers.
However, the puppet remained unmoved.
Li Zhe panicked: "Aren't you scared? If you don't tell me, I'll chop you up piece by piece."
Puppet: "I feel no pain. I advise you not to do this, or you will definitely regret it."
"Okay, you can't feel pain, right... What if you get burned?"
Li Zhe took out a lighter and lit the puppet.
The puppet's body was made of a special type of wood that was very difficult to ignite. The lighter was almost dead before it finally burned the puppet's hand.
The puppet blew air into its hand, and Li Zhe took out a piece of cloth and stuffed it into the puppet's mouth.
The fire is burning slowly, but it's showing signs of getting bigger.
Li Zhe said, "As long as you're willing to say those three words, I'll help you put out the fire. Just nod if you're willing."
However, the puppet never nodded.
Li Zhe certainly couldn't actually burn the puppet away, otherwise he definitely wouldn't be able to pass the level.
So he had no choice but to put out the fire on the puppet.
However, half of the puppet's body was also charred.
Because the puppet looks very much like Li Zhe, it looks as if Li Zhe has been burned, which is very strange.
Li Zhe said, "I have a special ability called 'Meeting.' Once I activate it, I will talk for an hour, and you must listen and not do anything else. If you don't let me pass, I will keep activating the 'Meeting' ability and make you attend meetings non-stop for the next ten days. If you don't want to go through such a terrible thing, you'd better say 'I surrender' now."
Puppet: "No problem with the meeting, go ahead and start it. I won't get impatient because I don't have any human emotions."
Li Zhe: "..."
If meetings continue incessantly, Li Zhe himself will be the first to collapse.
Because when activating his meeting ability, Li Zhe must keep talking without interruption, otherwise he will be punished.
Having exhausted all other options, Li Zhe could only kick the puppet a few times.
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