A Psychiatrist's Bizarre Game Journey / Dream of the Mist

"Sand between fingers, flamingo, cold-cooked rabbit, spring drowsiness and autumn fatigue, Zhang He... Hey? Where's Chen Tian?"

Zhou Ke'er counted the number of people and found that Chen Tian was not there? That was a pro player who had already cleared the Nightmare mode just a few days after the server opened. How could she not be there for this kind of event?

"I'm here."

As soon as Zhou Ke'er finished speaking, she heard Chen Tian's reply coming from the corner of the stairs leading to the second floor. Then she saw Chen Tian walking down the stairs, slightly out of breath, holding the tattered wooden sword in his hand.

"Commander... what are you doing... Commander!"

Seeing this scene, Zhou Ke'er felt a chill run down her spine. She immediately glanced discreetly at the hilt of the wooden sword. Hmm... no water stains, so it shouldn't be...

I doubt you could do anything this explicit in this game...

"Twenty minutes ago, the event information was updated. Within the event module, all equipment, skills, items, and titles are unusable. So, for self-defense, I briefly recalled and practiced my swordsmanship..."

As Chen Tian spoke, she walked to Zhou Ke'er's side and whispered again in a voice only the two of them could hear, "I'll be participating in the activity module later."

Zhou Ke'er raised an eyebrow slightly, realizing that this person was Chen Tian.

"..."

Seeing Chen Tian and Zhou Ke'er exchanging glances and whispering amongst themselves, Zhijiansha glanced at the expressionless Honghe and couldn't help but gasp, as if she understood something.

The adult world is so complicated!

"Actually... to be honest, I'm actually pretty good at fighting."

Zhou Ke'er suddenly and inexplicably spoke to everyone.

------------

192. Strange and Unusual (Part 1)

Loading event modules...

[Disabling skills, equipment, items, titles...]

[Module loading complete...]

[Activity Objective: Please explore on your own]

[Event Rewards: Please explore on your own]

[Countdown to entering the module: 5...4...]

"???"

Zhou Ke'er was completely baffled. What did it mean that everything was "exploration on your own"? What was the point of this activity then?

Before Zhou Ke'er could think of anything else, the countdown ended. As a cloud of black mist surged in, when Zhou Ke'er opened her eyes again, she found herself in a dimly lit, eerie alley.

Huh? There's no female form?

Zhou Ke'er looked at her clothes and ran a hand through her hair, only to find that she hadn't turned into a woman—it seemed that the penalty was also disabled when loading the module.

Well, never mind, none of that matters.

Zhou Ke'er leaned on her cane, looking around as she slowly walked forward.

Why weren't Red Crane and Sand Fingers teleported to the same place? They were already in a team... Could it be that this event module is intentionally designed to keep players separated?

Thinking this through, Zhou Ke'er loosened her collar and unbuttoned the top button of her shirt. This suit, which she'd redeemed from the system shop, did look quite impressive, but the problem was... it was definitely cumbersome to move around in. What if she encountered a situation where she absolutely had to engage in strenuous activity...?

"Ok?"

Zhou Ke'er suddenly turned her head alertly and saw a burly man wearing a strange and bizarre mask rushing towards her, carrying a slightly bent and deformed blood-stained baseball bat in his hand.

"???"

A monster right at the start? What's going on?

Zhou Ke'er was a little confused by the scene, but she wasn't completely dumbfounded.

After all, they've been through a lot in mental hospitals. They've even seen things like stepping into a mental hospital and being hit by a patient with panties on his head yelling "watermelon salad burger" and charging at him. So what's the big deal about this mere hooded guy?

These strange thoughts flashed through Zhou Ke'er's mind. She looked at the man rushing towards her, unhurriedly unbuttoned her suit jacket, took it off, and neatly tied it to a lamppost—because exercising in a suit jacket was just too uncomfortable! If she could take off her pants, Zhou Ke'er would have taken off her suit trousers as well.

"...?"

As the strange man ran, he sensed that the atmosphere was inexplicably off, so he gradually slowed down. Finally, he stood awkwardly in front of Zhou Ke'er and asked in a muffled voice, "You... why aren't you scared? Why didn't you run away?"

Do you think Zhou Ke'er will answer?

Zhou Ke'er coughed twice, and seeing that the other person seemed to be very serious about listening to his reasons, she suddenly took two steps back to create a suitable distance, then turned around and lifted her leg.

"boom!"

With a muffled thud, the strange man who had been kicked in the chest by Zhou Ke'er staggered back a few steps and fell to the ground.

Zhou Ke'er pulled her legs back, casually tossed her cane aside, slightly twisted her wrists and neck, and walked towards the strange man who hadn't gotten up yet.

Oh, I forgot to mention, actually... Zhou Ke'er is a martial arts expert—that's all thanks to the patients who kept breaking out of prison, oh no, I mean, escaping from mental hospitals. After all, those guys are dirty and ruthless.

As for that move just now, it comes from a martial art called "Taekwondo" from the old era. Although Taekwondo itself is mostly fancy footwork and not very practical, the "back kick," which is known as the "flower of Taekwondo," can indeed be considered to be among the top three most lethal kicks.

Moreover... coupled with Zhou Ke'er's height "advantage," when he uses this move, he can basically kick the opponent's vital points—the heart or lower abdomen—so the effect is particularly great... It's a bit sad to think about...

"Cough cough..."

The strange man, who had been kicked in the chest, couldn't help but cough violently. He turned around, reached out and braced himself against the ground, trying to stand up.

Zhou Ke'er walked slowly to the strange man's side, then stepped on the hand that was half-holding the baseball bat and supporting itself on the ground. She slowly squatted down, reached out and grabbed the man's collar, then crossed her hands and pulled hard.

The principle of collar twisting is applied in a simple way. Although the posture is slightly different, there is not much difference in essence. The only difference is that this posture cannot exert full force, but it is enough to compress the carotid artery.

"I...I surrender! Please...please stop fighting!"

The strange man had his neck pressed down by Zhou Ke'er's collar, and he had just been kicked in the chest, so he could barely breathe. He hurriedly begged for mercy.

"..."

Zhou Ke'er tilted her head, let go of the baseball bat, kicked it away, and then quickly took a few small steps back to create a safe distance.

So, this strange person... needs to breathe, and the chest is a vital point, which means they have a heart that is accessible. Also, if they were to suffer a fatal attack, they would die...

Aside from looking a bit scary and carrying a baseball bat, this guy isn't really a threat...

This can be called a monster? That's embarrassing, you should leave the group!

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but look at that strange man with the same gaze an old man on the subway would give while looking at his phone. He had just been on high alert, but... this is all?

"You...are you a monster?! I'm so sorry! I didn't expect to run into a fellow monster. Please forgive me! If I had known this was your territory for collecting fear points, I would never have dared to come here!"

After Zhou Ke'er loosened his collar, the strange man took a few deep breaths and then begged for mercy from her in a trembling manner.

"??"

Zhou Ke'er scratched her head. What... is this?

Never mind, let's find out where we are first.

Zhou Ke'er took off her suit jacket tied to the lamppost, casually draped it over her shoulders, picked up the cane, and slowly walked towards the strange man.

"Ah! I remember now! You...you're that..."

Just then, the strange man suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "My God! I never expected to see you here, what a coincidence! Could you give me your autograph? Your performance was fantastic!"

"????"

Zhou Ke'er looked completely bewildered again, tilting her head in confusion. "What...are you talking about...?"

"I didn't recognize you at first because the lighting was too dim, but now that I see you... you must be the actor who appeared in the newly released film 'Infinite Dreams'!"

The strange man, his survival instincts kicking in, launched into a long-winded speech: "Your reasoning inside is truly astonishing! I'm a fan of yours!"

"???"

Zhou Ke'er didn't understand what this guy was talking about at all, and couldn't help but look at the strange man with the same expression as an old man on the subway looking at his phone.

The strange man, seeing that Zhou Ke'er didn't understand what he was saying at all, then...

Ten minutes later, Zhou Ke'er stood in front of what looked like a movie theater, staring blankly at a giant poster. It depicted the scene from the "My Cause of Death" module, where he had confronted the girl in the dream world...

------------

193. Strange and Weird Things (Part Two)

In the movie theater, Zhou Ke'er held a bag of popcorn, waiting for the movie to start, while the strange man next to her looked pitifully at his empty wallet—he was the one who paid for it all! But he didn't dare say anything...

"By the way, didn't you mention something called 'fright value' before? What is that?"

Zhou Ke'er asked while munching on popcorn.

"What? You don't know about the 'fright level'?"

The strange man, who was counting his money with a pained expression, asked in surprise upon hearing this.

"Nonsense, I'm a human! How could I possibly know that?"

Zhou Ke'er rolled her eyes at him without even looking at him, while secretly gripping her cane, ready to smash the strange man's head open if he made any unusual move.

"Wh...what! You're actually human?"

The strange man was startled by what he heard and couldn't help but take off his mask and wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Oh ho? Are you implying that I'm not human?"

Zhou Ke'er immediately asked with a very kind smile.

"No, no!"

The strange man was terrified by Zhou Ke'er's smile and immediately shook his head, changing the subject: "Well, actually it's like this... When we ghosts and monsters frighten humans, we generate energy based on the degree of fright the person is in. Our job is to collect this energy, and our wages are directly linked to the amount of fright energy we collect..."

Furthermore, our existence is tied to humanity; if no one knows about us, we'll disappear! That's why the company has strict rules against harming humans. But if this continues, humans won't be afraid of us anymore, so how will we collect "fright points"?

There were just too many things to complain about. Zhou Ke'er was silent for a while before continuing to ask, "Wait... you guys... you still want wages? Human currency? What do you need that for?"

"Ghosts need to eat and sleep too... They can't sleep on park benches, it affects the city's appearance... they'll get fined..."

The strange man answered pitifully, and after hesitating for a while, he still didn't dare to remind Zhou Ke'er that he was the one who bought the movie tickets.

"Oh, this..."

Zhou Ke'er was speechless for a moment upon hearing this. What the weirdo said actually made a lot of sense.

"But according to your logic, can you still scare people nowadays?"

Zhou Ke'er grabbed a handful of popcorn and stuffed it into her mouth to calm herself down, then asked the question in a muffled voice.