The fairy maid cheers for her deceased master today.

The corridors of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Hospital are very long.

Or perhaps, X thinks the corridor is very long.

Throughout the journey, he was constantly worried about Elena's condition, and pondered how he could save her.

"Don't worry, let's hear what the doctor has to say first." Even Deacon Samuel could easily see the unease in Ax's subtle movements.

"Um."

Axe followed Deacon Samuel, who soon stopped.

"We're here, right here."

A heavy wooden door came into view, with a sign that read "Professional Diagnosis Room" hanging on it.

Samuel knocked gently on the door.

"Please come in." A very cold voice came from inside the door.

Axe pushed open the door. The room was lit by a gas lamp, casting a soft light, but the atmosphere was cold. A doctor in a gray robe sat behind a desk, holding a medical record in his hand.

"So it's Deacon Samuel." The doctor looked up, his gaze sweeping over Ax, his finger pressing against the temple of his glasses. "And this is?"

"Sir Axemore," Samuel introduced, "a friend of Elena's."

The doctor frowned, then nodded slightly: "It's strange that Elena has friends. She didn't have any friends when she was a fairy of the Holy Order."

Sensing the contempt directed at Elena, X clenched his fists involuntarily, but quickly restrained himself.

"I want to know about Elena's situation," Ex said, trying to remain calm.

In fact, X himself was surprised that he couldn't remain completely calm.

Perhaps, in the past, when facing characters in games, he could look down on those characters from the player's perspective.

But when a real, living person, a living demon, is in front of him, and something happens to them, and they are his friends... he really doesn't feel he can stay calm.

The doctor put down the medical record and gently pushed up his glasses: "Elena, a former fairy of the Holy Path Society's Purification Department, born twenty years ago. She was expelled two months ago due to alien contamination."

Two months ago...

More than two months ago... after that silverware theft occurred.

Irene mentioned this: she entered the "Rain World" in an attempt to find the truth of the case, but encountered obstacles from the aliens and was driven away.

"That's right." The gray-robed doctor flipped through the medical record. "She didn't hide the level of contamination. And the Holy Church also provided her with some assistance—special medication. Her level of contamination is barely maintained by regularly taking suppressant drugs."

Further contamination was prevented through medication.

"But this time it's different," Samuel added. "The situation has worsened."

The doctor nodded: "This time, she overexerted her body, and the new contamination from the swamp aliens exacerbated her symptoms. Her contamination level has now reached the red line."

"The red line refers to..." Ex asked, frowning.

"It's the tipping point. The mutation tipping point," the doctor explained. "Once it's exceeded, Elena will completely lose control and become a mutant. Oh, you may have seen it; there are exhibits of swamp-turned-fairy fragments in the Holy Church."

Ex immediately remembered that tuft of hair that had turned into a swamp.

A chill and unease washed over him again. Ax's heart sank.

"How much longer...?" he asked with concern.

The gray-robed doctor glanced at his watch: "At the current rate of pollution spread, it will take at most three days. After three days... the fairies you know will disappear."

They would then be completely transformed into a mutant. X understood.

Three days!

X looked down at the black pendant in his palm, then suddenly stood up, rushed over, and grabbed the doctor by the collar:

"You'll definitely find a way, won't you, Doctor!"

Samuel wanted to stop it, but he raised his hand and then lowered it, watching quietly from the sidelines.

The doctor, however, remained completely expressionless: "Sir, please calm down. This is an objective law and reality. And objective reality will not change according to your thoughts."

"Objective reality?" X roared. "You're the Holy Order! You specialize in dealing with heretics! How could you possibly have no way to deal with them?"

Unable to calm down.

For the first time, X felt a powerful mix of powerlessness and anger.

Even if one were a dead person, this emotion would not be suppressed.

"Sir, I still suggest you prepare the burial plot and coffin first, and then have the Holy Order purify the area early to preserve Miss Elena's dignity..."

"What did you say?!"

Ex pushed the doctor against the wall.

But the doctor's expression didn't change at all... He looked more like a dead man than a dead man himself.

"Dr. Green!" Samuel said, frowning, even calling out the other man's name. "You shouldn't have said that."

"Oh!"

Dr. Green offered no resistance to Ax, simply speaking calmly.

"I'm just stating the facts."

"No," Deacon Samuel suddenly spoke up, "there is another way."

"What method?!"

Ax immediately loosened the doctor's collar.

This good news calmed him down.

As long as there's a way... there's still hope!

Dr. Green gently rubbed his neck, then squinted and said, "Samuel, please don't cause the death of a noble knight. The passing of one fairy is enough to keep us busy."

"Doctor!" Axe interrupted the doctor immediately, then said in a low voice, "I'm very curious to know Deacon Samuel's method... Please respect my choice, Doctor."

After regaining his composure, Ex remembered. The testing room in the Church of the Holy See... had the function of suppressing contamination.

Although he doesn't know exactly how he did it, it might be through that.

In short, there is still hope.

"It's simple," Deacon Samuel replied. "As long as we enter the 'Rain World,' there is hope."

really.

Dr. Green's expression finally changed. He looked coldly at Deacon Samuel: "You shouldn't have put a nobleman at risk. You've broken the rules, Samuel."

But Ax already knew what he should say: "Thank you, Deacon Samuel."

"No, that's too dangerous!" Dr. Green objected. "This gentleman isn't a member of the Holy Order, hasn't received specialized training, and hasn't been taking anti-contamination drugs regularly. And Elena's mind is already corrupted; going in would be suicide!"

"But this is the only chance. The only chance to save Elena," Samuel insisted. "The Sir is Elena's only friend now, and he's the only one who can get into her heart."

"This is murder," Dr. Green said, adjusting his glasses.

"No, at most it's suicide." Axe stepped between Green and Samuel, stopping their argument.

Then he turned to the doctor: "Doctor, I must save Elena no matter what."

Then he turned to Deacon Samuel: "Once we enter the 'Rain World,' what exactly do we do?"

Samuel took a deep breath: "The alien contamination is physical in the real world, but in reality, the root cause always lies in the mental world. If Sir Samuel is willing to delve into Elena's mental space, perhaps he can save her."

"What does this mean?" Ex asked humbly.

The doctor sighed.

"Samuel, Sir Moore, you...you're throwing your lives away."

"Dr. Green, please explain," Samuel continued. "You can't stop Sir Moore."

The doctor seemed to understand that neither of the two men listened to reason, and finally shook his head in resignation.

He sighed and began to explain in detail:

According to the theory of the unconscious, the human psychological structure is divided into the id, ego, and superego. The id follows the pleasure principle and pursues immediate gratification; the ego follows the reality principle and coordinates the id with the external world; the superego is the moral self.

"What does this have to do with Irene?"

"Heterogeneous contamination is essentially the contamination of the 'id,' constantly amplifying the chaos of the 'id,' ultimately leading to the loss of 'humanity.' Hmm, fairies call it 'fairy nature'? Anyway, it's the same thing."

Dr. Green paused.

"But under normal circumstances, the id, ego, and superego are in balance, even quite stable. The 'ego' can also play a coordinating and balancing role, thereby combating pollution."

Therefore, the stronger one's "self," the better one can resist "alien contamination." X realized this.

"Irena's problem is that her psychological defense mechanisms have collapsed, whatever the reason," the doctor continued to explain. "Faced with the trauma of alien contamination, her ego is unable to reconcile the impulses of the id with the demands of the superego, leading to an imbalance in her psychological structure."

Ex extracted keywords. In summary, Elena originally had a firewall in her heart, but now that firewall has malfunctioned.

Thus, a vicious cycle occurs.

As pollution deepens, the defenses of the mind weaken, and as these defenses weaken, pollution deepens further.

Elena has fallen into her destined death spiral.

X: "...So?"

"Therefore, you need to enter her subconscious world, find the loopholes in her psychological defense mechanisms, and help her rebuild her psychological balance and a strong inner self."

Ex pondered, "Like patching a bug?"

"Yes, very similar." Dr. Green nodded. "If there are loopholes, fill them in and restore her 'self' to normal. If there are no loopholes, we need to directly strengthen her inner will and establish new psychological defense mechanisms."

In short, if there are vulnerabilities in the firewall, fix them. If not, build a new, higher wall.

"But you said the pollution is already very serious..." Ax asked again.

"As long as it's not the last moment, the pollution is reversible. After all, it's Elena's own mental space." Dr. Green adjusted his glasses. "'Rain World' is a place of miracles, and the power of the mind is full of miracles. All she lacks is an opportunity."

Ex vaguely understood: "Then what are we waiting for?"

"Wait until you realize the extreme danger here, and the extremely high probability of failure." The doctor shook his head again.

"This process is extremely dangerous. Elena has already been corrupted, and her heart is probably filled with negative emotions... In the 'Rain World,' this will manifest as the possibility of the land being overrun with alien species."

"Any mistake could cause her to break down prematurely."

"And nobody knows what Elena's inner world is like right now. It could be a volcano, lava, a cliff... danger is everywhere."

"And the intruder might never return, becoming completely lost in that world... and..."

Even if you do everything you can, you might not be able to save her.

A miracle is called a miracle precisely because it is so rare.

Yes, I knew all along how much risk that would involve.

only--

True gamers cannot accept an imperfect ending!

It's a gamble with the dignity and everything of puzzle players.

"I'm willing to try. I'm fearless. I don't want to regret it."