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

But Zhou Ke'er was not intimidated at all, and immediately dragged Long Aojiao's corpse inside.

Then, as expected, just as Long Aojiao's corpse's feet were dragged inside the door, the door slammed shut with a "bang".

Before Zhou Ke'er could even exclaim, "That's it? That's it?", she heard a hissing sound, and then she saw a pipe in the corner of the ceiling near the entrance, from which something resembling steam suddenly began to gush out.

Seeing the steam billowing straight towards him, Zhou Ke'er instinctively raised her hand to shield her face.

"hiss..."

It was high-temperature steam! Even though the pain level was lowered, I still felt a stinging sensation for a moment. More importantly, my stamina dropped by about 4% instantly. A few more hits, or staying in this place for too long, would be dangerous...

At this rate of steam emission, the corridor would be filled in less than five minutes, not to mention the increased temperature caused by the high-temperature steam, and even less to account for the difficulty in breathing due to the increased concentration of water vapor in the air...

The actual remaining safe time is much shorter!

Zhou Ke'er took two steps back, thought quickly for a while, and looked around.

"There is."

Seeing a locked small box on the ground nearby, Zhou Ke'er suddenly had an idea. A plan formed in her mind, and she quickly walked to the box, then...

He pushed the box under the pipe, then grabbed Long Aojiao's corpse's hand, stepped on the box, stood on tiptoe, and painstakingly shoved Long Aojiao's hand into the pipe, blocking it completely—hey, surprisingly, the size was just right. Could it be that he anticipated that Long Aojiao would bring a corpse?

"Not bad, not bad. This way, the steam will be released much slower. If the blockage causes the pipe to explode, that would be even better. That way, I can also cover up the crime."

Zhou Ke'er looked at her masterpiece and nodded in satisfaction. Then she placed Long Aojiao's corpse on the box so that it would be less likely for her to pull her arm out of the pipe due to gravity.

"This box is locked, so there must be a key here... I need to find the key, open the box after finding it, and then find another key or clue inside, and then continue... Wow, what is this? Is it an escape room?"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but mutter to herself as she walked towards the curtain at the end of the corridor. She had already checked and there was nothing else in the corridor, so she figured she'd have to pull back the curtain.

Walking behind the curtain, Zhou Ke'er carefully grabbed it and tried to pull it open to both sides. She felt no resistance and easily pulled it open.

Then I saw...

Bound tightly, with something like shackles around her neck... Sand between her fingers.

Zhijiansha, whose mouth was taped shut, heard the sound of the curtain being pulled open. She quickly turned around and saw Zhou Ke'er, whose mouth had been cut open, who was holding blood-stained scissors and was covered in blood.

"...???"

The two stared at each other for a while, then Zhou Ke'er stepped forward and tore off the tape from the mouthpiece between her fingers: "Are you... playing SM? Or is it some kind of passive-aggressive play?"

Yes, she immediately started talking like Old Zhou Ke'er.

However, Zhou Ke'er wasn't sure if this guy was really Finger Sand... He could be a ghost, or a human with special abilities sent by that organization in disguise?

One should always be wary of others... Although being treated so badly is definitely in the style of Zhijiansha.

(Sand between fingers: Hey! I don't have this kind of weird style!)

But the sand between her fingers still looked at Zhou Ke'er suspiciously and warily. "What happened to your mouth? And you're covered in blood... You're Zhou Ke'er, right?"

"...oh?"

Zhou Ke'er grinned sinisterly, pointed at herself, and licked her cracked lips: "You recognize this body? That's quite a coincidence~"

"...Alright, stop acting, I know it's you."

Seeing Zhou Ke'er's expression, Zhijiansha immediately realized that this guy was indeed Zhou Ke'er. If Zhou Ke'er had admitted that it was him before, it would have aroused her suspicion.

"???"

Zhou Ke'er's smile instantly froze on her face.

What happened? Has his acting deteriorated?

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208. Strange and Weird Things (Seventeen)

"Stop messing around, hurry up, hurry up, help me untangle these things..."

Zhijiansha looked helplessly at Zhou Ke'er, who was making a fool of herself, and pouted, showing a very unhappy expression. She said, "I'm so angry! I was just climbing the stairs here, and somehow I ran into some kind of trap and got locked up here... I was thinking about how to escape when suddenly a group of people barged in, saw me, and tied me up here without saying a word... What kind of people are these! It's too much!"

"...Were the people who kidnapped you two men and a woman? Did you hear their names?... "

Zhou Ke'er felt a strong sense of déjà vu and couldn't help but ask, "If that's the case... well, then I've already avenged you. I took care of all three of them..."

"Huh... this..."

Zhijiansha was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. After Zhou Ke'er untied the ropes binding her, she finally reacted: "You've taken care of everything... Well... thank you so much?"

"Hey, why are you being so polite with me?"

As Zhou Ke'er spoke, she frowned and tugged at the rope connecting the shackles to her fingers and neck. She didn't know what material it was made of, and she couldn't cut it with scissors for the time being.

It's worth mentioning that the other end of the rope was stuck in a hole in the ground, and it's unknown where it leads.

"What's wrong? What are you standing there for?"

Seeing that Zhou Ke'er suddenly stopped moving, Zhijiansha couldn't help but ask.

"..."

Zhou Ke'er put away the scissors, adopted a very serious expression, patted Zhijiansha's shoulder, and said earnestly, "Xiaosha, you're a mature player now. Don't always rely on others; you have to do things yourself. So, I'm giving you this chance now. You must try to save yourself! I believe in you! Hehe~"

Zhou Ke'er would never tell him that he couldn't untangle that thing! Humph.

"...???"

The sand between her fingers completely baffled Zhou Ke'er. "What are you talking about! You know this thing can shrink! In a little while, when all the ropes retract into that hole, my neck, which is shackled by these chains, will be snapped! This is no joke!"

"Don't worry, before your neck gets snapped, we'll either suffocate or be scalded to death by the gushing hot steam."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er comforted her, "So you take your time to deal with it. I'll look for a way to handle things over there first."

Logically speaking... although I don't know why this weird company would have a built-in escape room or something, but... anyway, if it's this kind of setup, the information and clues for solving the puzzle should all be there...

Um, wait a minute...

Zhou Ke'er suddenly recalled Shi Shi's lion-eating antics in a certain module, which seemed rather...

Thinking of this, Zhou Ke'er did as she was told. She turned around, walked to the door she had come in through earlier, grabbed the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed it open.

"squeak"

The door was pushed open.

"???"

Zhou Ke'er scratched her head. "Wow, that's really something!"

"Ah, well... it seems like I can escape now."

Zhou Ke'er turned her head and glanced at the sand between her fingers.

"????"

As Zhijian Sha struggled, clutching the rope, she suddenly heard Zhou Ke'er's words and was about to say something when Zhou Ke'er suddenly noticed... a few people walking hurriedly into the company. Although the leader was not clearly visible... it seemed to be Long Aotian, and she shouldn't be mistaken.

"boom!"

Zhou Ke'er immediately closed the door and locked it.

Holy crap, how the hell did it happen so fast?! Men shouldn't be this fast, you know?!

This is getting complicated... Zhou Ke'er glanced sideways at Long Aotian's pathetic corpse, which was even being used to block the pipe... Ah, if Long Aotian saw this, he'd be furious...

Huh? Yeah!

Zhou Ke'er clenched her right fist and slammed it against her left palm. In a moment of madness, she immediately unlocked the door, opened it, and shouted at the group of people who had just entered the company: "Hey? Long Aotian, is this you? Your sister's corpse is in my hands!"

"Crack!"

With a sharp crack, the newcomer was indeed Long Aotian. His face was grim. After hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, he looked up and saw her figure. Then, without hesitation, he decisively drew a... pistol from his waist!

"Holy crap?!"

Seeing that the other party had already engaged the safety and raised the gun to give her a thumbs up, Zhou Ke'er immediately closed and locked the door, and quickly pulled Long Aojiao's corpse's arm out of the pipe.

A sudden surge of scorching steam erupted, seemingly forming a stream of water due to the long-standing blockage, which flowed down from the pipe opening.

Holy crap, they're going too far! How did they even manage to get guns?! This is outrageous, it's malicious teaming up! This is too much for solo players!

The only option is to release the steam, which will create a high-temperature steam zone near the entrance in a short time. This will not only catch Long Aotian and his group off guard if they try to rush in, but also prevent them from getting closer... although Zhou Ke'er doesn't really have anywhere to escape to anyway.

Unless we can find the next place to go in this secret room...

Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly heard a "click" from the pipe, and then a hidden door suddenly opened without warning on the side of the corridor.

"???"

Zhou Ke'er didn't know what to say... Although she didn't know what was going on, the mechanism was definitely inside that steaming pipe, right...?

What normal person could reach in and press the button...?

Is this really something for ghosts and monsters to play with?

Fortunately, Zhou Ke'er brought a tool... oh no, a tool corpse.

Oh well, never mind for now... Zhou Ke'er shook her head, immediately hoisted Long Aojiao's corpse onto her back, and prepared to flee.

"Hey! Wait a minute! You bastard! You're really going to leave me here?! That's outrageous!"

Seeing that Zhou Ke'er seemed to really intend to abandon her and run away, Zhijiansha couldn't help but ask.

"...Hey, didn't I already tell you? I just helped you get revenge, I took care of those guys... Now that the small fry are gone, the big ones are here! I guess I'll just have to run away."

Zhou Ke'er replied helplessly, then paused and, seeing that Zhijiansha seemed to want to say something more, continued to explain: "Besides, they are only after me and don't know you. It would be more dangerous for you to escape with me. It would be better for you to stay here."

And look at you, all tied up and looking so pathetic. You could easily say you're also a victim of my regime. That way, they might not treat you so badly, and they might even let you go... It'll also buy me some time... Kill two birds with one stone! Okay, that's all, bye-bye!

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Ke'er darted away with the corpse on her shoulder, giving Zhijiansha no chance to speak.

"...I f***ing...I wanted you to help me untie this damn rope! It's almost completely shrunk!"

Now, lying on his side on the ground, he could only mutter softly, as if he wanted to cry but had no tears.

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209. Strange and Weird (18)

"Ta-da..."

Just as the sand between his fingers was sprawling on the ground like a puddle of frog urine, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps getting closer and closer.

Subconsciously, Zhijiansha moved her legs and feet, turning them counterclockwise like a clock, and looked toward the source of the sound. She saw Zhou Ke'er carrying a corpse in one hand and talking on the phone as she hurried toward them.