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

"...Yes, I know."

Seeing Kayako's expectant gaze, Zhou Ke'er didn't show the shock and disgust she hoped for. Instead, she scratched her head, as if she already knew this, and replied, "Isn't it common knowledge that Sadako is a cute boy? But... as long as he's cute enough, that's fine, right?"

"Hey hey hey! So that pretty girl was actually a guy?! But I could tell she was wearing women's clothes, and her voice was female too... Even her room was all pink and so girly!"

Kayako was speechless after Zhou Ke'er's words. Before she could say anything, Zhijiansha, being very polite, exclaimed in shock.

"Relax, relax, why are you making such a fuss over nothing at all? It's like saying you're a girl, but what's so strange about Sadako-chan being a boy?"

Zhou Ke'er looked at the sand between her fingers with a puzzled expression, as if she didn't understand what was so shocking about it.

"Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean by 'just like I'm a girl'?!"

"Finger Sand" immediately complained.

"Alright, that's enough of the irrelevant nonsense."

Before the sand between fingers could say more, the flamingo, who had been staring with dead fish eyes as if deep in thought, suddenly said out of the blue: "Although you don't seem to be in a hurry at all, and even have the mind to make noise and joke, I have to remind you... Have you forgotten that the clown had already called for support from that so-called organization?"

Even if Kayako is indeed quite strong among the goblins,... she probably couldn't possibly take on so many powerful goblins all by herself, could she?

"..."

Upon hearing Honghe's cold words, Zhijiansha immediately shut up. Only then did she realize the trouble she was in... She had completely forgotten that Honghe was also there, and she had actually dared to argue with Zhou Ke'er so casually... This was terrible; wouldn't this only deepen the misunderstanding?

(Red Crane, Zhou Ke'er: Hey, hey, hey, you're the one who's deepening the misunderstanding!)

Unsure what the man with the suddenly closed anus was thinking, Red Crane paused, then frowned. This was precisely what had been puzzling her: judging from the man's abilities, not only was his control fluid and powerful, but he was also easy to use. Even among normal ghosts, he wouldn't be considered weak, right? And if all the ghosts in this organization possessed this level of strength... a group battle, where a few powerful ghosts were singled out and ganged up on, shouldn't be enough to defeat them...

Furthermore... the leader of an organization capable of creating monsters of this caliber couldn't possibly be weak, right? And... not only that, but they're mass-producing them! What exactly does mass production mean?

To give an inaccurate analogy, if Kayako's strength is equivalent to ten Zhou Ke'er, then this man's strength is at least equivalent to two or three Zhou Ke'er. As for the organization leader's strength, it's unknown, but he can create them. In a matter of minutes, a bunch of monsters with the strength of two Zhou Ke'er would appear. Not necessarily hundreds or thousands, but even just five or six would be enough to give Kayako a hard time, right? If a dozen or so came... then Kayako would have no choice but to run away, wouldn't she?

This is outrageous! It's like a martial arts master fighting an army in a wuxia novel. One of them? Easy peasy. A dozen or so? No big deal. But an entire army...

"I know. I specifically waited for them to arrive."

Just then, Zhou Ke'er, seemingly unconcerned, suddenly spoke up, glancing at the man who had just momentarily shown surprise. She grinned and said, "Sorry, I made you happy for nothing. How does it feel to have your hopes dashed?"

"You're just waiting for them to come?...Have you thought of any other solutions? Do you have a way to deal with them?"

Even Honghe was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. She thought for a few seconds, but she couldn't think of any way to deal with the reinforcements without taking any action or making any preparations beforehand. She just waited for them to arrive and then dealt with them all. She didn't even have a complete idea, let alone a complete method. So she could only ask Zhou Ke'er in confusion.

"Take care of them? How could you think that? You're kidding me. We're just normal people. Even if we know a little bit of fighting, we can't possibly beat these superhuman monsters, okay?"

Zhou Ke'er's reaction was completely unexpected by Honghe. She thought Zhou Ke'er would make a few sarcastic remarks and then start to tell her about the strange and dirty tricks she had thought of long ago. Unexpectedly... he actually denied that he had a way so directly?

"Then why are you acting all confident?"

Hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, before the expressionless Red Crane could say anything, Cold-Eating Rabbit couldn't help but blurt out, "Wait for them to come and deal with you, huh? At least die with some dignity?"

"...Ha, a spineless dog dares to bark so loudly in front of two armies!"

Zhou Ke'er snorted coldly, with an expression that said, "How could you be so stupid?" She reached out and pushed up her non-existent glasses. "Sure enough, the wisdom of mortals is just that—the wisdom of mortals. Even a gorilla would be more useful than you; at least it can fight."

Listen up, all of you! The reason I'm not afraid of those guys' reinforcements arriving is because..."

"...What is it? Tell me already!"

Seeing Zhou Ke'er starting to keep everyone in suspense, even the drowsy and tired person who had been dozing off forced themselves to wake up a bit and listen attentively to what Zhou Ke'er was saying—although Zhou Ke'er was a bit unreliable, she was usually quite reliable when it came to giving solutions in this situation.

"that is...."

Zhou Ke'er curled her lips into a smile, took out her phone, and looked like she was about to tell everyone everything. Just then... a pale, slender hand suddenly reached out from the phone, grabbed Zhou Ke'er, and pulled her inside.

"!!"

Upon seeing this, Honghe's pupils shrank instantly. She was the first person present (we're talking about people) to react. Without hesitation, she crossed the sand between her fingers and reached out to grab Zhou Ke'er's original spot.

Unfortunately, I was a little too slow and missed, barely managing to grab the phone that was falling from mid-air.

"What's going on? What's happening?!"

The cold-cooked rabbit was startled by the sudden situation and immediately cried out.

"..."

Honghe pursed his lips, his brows furrowing slightly as he looked at the phone in his hand—Zhou Ke'er hadn't shown any panic or surprise just now, so he couldn't have failed to react. Therefore... it was very likely that he did it himself. But... how did he do it?

"...Sadako. I never expected it to be Sadako."

Kayako suddenly spoke up: "No wonder he asked me about Sadako's strength just now... so he actually got involved with Sadako?"

## Chapter 231, Section 226: Strange and Unusual (Thirty-Five)

"That's right, that's right, you don't need to worry. Zhou Ke'er probably... no, she definitely did this on purpose to scare you! She probably conspired with Sadako sometime during the day to pull this stunt, and we don't know what she's up to..."

Zhijiansha realized what was happening at this moment. After all, she had just gone to Sadako's place with Zhou Ke'er, so she could tell the difference now.

"Ha! No way, no way, there can't be anyone who still can't figure out what Zhou Ke'er's so-called method is, right?!"

Just then, Cold-Eating Rabbit, who had been hiding firmly behind Junxiong, gave a disdainful look, as if she had seen everything, and pointed in the direction Zhou Ke'er had disappeared: "The fact that he's putting on this show for us means that he can run away whenever he wants, so he's not afraid of reinforcements coming from the other side... The implication is, 'I can slip away whenever I want, and what happens to you is none of my business,' right?"

"Ah... well, it's not like that... Zhou Ke'er isn't that bad, he just wanted to scare you... probably."

Upon hearing Cold-Eating Rabbit's guess, Finger Sand quickly waved his hand and explained, "Because Sadako's teleportation can carry multiple people. When he saved me before, it was Sadako who teleported both of us to escape."

So he had no reason to abandon us. Right now, I guess he's just had a mental breakdown and wants to demonstrate and scare you guys first, then come back and get a lot of complaints and criticism from you, and then act all wronged and say something like, "I could have taken you all with me, and you guys are scolding me like this, sob sob sob," or something like that.

"Oh dear! I never imagined you'd talk about me like that behind my back. It's so hurtful! Waaah XP"

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the phone that Honghe was holding, which Zhou Ke'er had just put down. Before anyone could react, a figure was squeezed out of the phone screen with a "whoosh," like mayonnaise.

Everyone looked closely... and the person speaking was... actually the man Kayako had wrapped up in her hair?!

This was quite alarming. Everyone instinctively looked back at where the man was, only to find him still obediently wrapped in hair and unable to move. Moreover... even he himself looked utterly shocked at the sight.

"..."

Kayako, who had slumped back onto the sofa with little interest, looked at the man who had suddenly appeared without saying a word, seemingly deep in thought.

"Hey, hey, I'm telling you... it's one thing for Red Crane Cold-Cooked Rabbit and the others to be surprised by this scene, but what's with you, Finger Sand, so surprised? Didn't you just see this scene at Sadako's place?"

Well, that's definitely Zhou Ke'er's tone. He reached out and played with his extra long hair, resting his chin on his other hand and tilting his head to look at the sand between his fingers, asking, "Didn't Little Sadako-chan say that she can change the appearance of objects or humans that enter her world... although I don't know the exact principle behind this ability..."

"Oh oh oh oh!"

Upon hearing this, Zhijiansha suddenly realized that, indeed, in Sadako's world, Sadako had casually repaired Zhou Ke'er's cracked mouth. According to her impression, she thought it was just that, but she didn't expect that it could completely change a person's appearance.

"I see... That makes sense. If you think Sadako can be trusted for now, then there shouldn't be any problem... But now you want us to leave here with Sadako's help, and then you'll pretend to be her and infiltrate that organization?"

Honghe nodded, having roughly understood Zhou Ke'er's plan, and casually asked to confirm again whether Zhou Ke'er thought the same way.

"Yes, that's about right, that's pretty much it."

Honghe's ability to react instantly was exactly what Zhou Ke'er had expected, so he didn't bother with any more rambling explanations and simply nodded in response.

“In that case, the plan is feasible, but there seem to be a few problems. First, we have to take care of this guy first, at least we can’t let him escape or make contact with that organization, otherwise you will be in danger if you are exposed later.”

Seeing that Zhou Ke'er nodded in agreement, Honghe didn't say anything more and immediately started planning. After all, the reinforcements sent by that organization could arrive at any time. Judging from the time the clown sent the message, the door could be opened the next moment. "Secondly... never mind, we'll talk about that later. Even if you don't plan it out, it's okay to improvise. The main thing is to get rid of this guy first, otherwise, if the reinforcements come in and break it down, it will all be for nothing."

Zhou Ke'er instinctively wanted to say, "Are you teaching me how to do things?", but after glancing at Hong He's serious expression, she swallowed the words that were about to come out and forced a nod, saying, "nsdd (this doesn't mean you're my little brother), I've thought of a way to deal with this problem: chop him up and throw him in Sadako's place and bury him. Now the main question is... what do you think, Kayako-san?"

"Me? What's wrong with me?"

Kayako, who had been lost in thought for some time, suddenly heard Zhou Ke'er calling her, which brought her back to her senses. She looked at him in confusion and asked.

"Uh... I mean, what are you planning to do later? The organization's reinforcements will be arriving soon... I reckon it's unlikely that only one or two ghosts will come, and you might be in danger if you're still here."

Zhou Ke'er paused, then explained to Kayako, who hadn't quite grasped the situation, secretly regretting her earlier decision to let the clown go...

If we hadn't let that guy go back, we could have had Red Crane or Finger Sand change their appearance and infiltrate that organization with him; that might have been better.

After all, it's better to infiltrate and spread rumors yourself than to send someone back to spread them, and you might even be able to gather some additional information.

Unfortunately, there's no point in thinking about it now. All I can do is start creating a scenario so that the reinforcements who arrive later will believe that Zhou Ke'er is the man.

"Um!"

Hearing Zhou Ke'er and the others talking so openly, the man was about to shout out. If reinforcements had arrived nearby, his shout might thwart their despicable plot!

Unfortunately, he then realized that countless hairs had flooded into his nose, eyes, and mouth, making it impossible for him to speak. He also experienced a sudden loss of breath and his vision went completely black.

"...I've packed it all up for you. Just give it to Sadako yourself. I don't want to run into that guy. I'll leave on my own in a bit, so you don't need to call Sadako to help me."

Kayako lay listlessly on the sofa and said quietly.

## Chapter 232, Section 227: Strange and Unusual (Thirty-Six)

"Tsk... The jealousy of women, no, female ghosts, is truly terrifying..."

In the deserted, eerie little house, Zhou Ke'er, her hair tangled up like a cocoon with only her head showing, squinted and muttered under her breath.

Kayako and Sadako were actually at odds? Ah, that's not quite right, because Sadako had no idea about this, so it's not a one-sided conflict between Kayako and Sadako...

Well, because Sadako, who is a boy, is cuter than Kayako?

"Ugh, really... the reinforcements are taking forever to arrive! At this rate, if any members of the organization were in danger under normal circumstances... they would have died by now... how can they even provide support?"

Could it be intentional? Is this the legendary old-fashioned Russian method of rescuing hostages by killing the criminals first, then safely killing the criminals, or killing both the hostages and the criminals?!

After waiting for a long time, Zhou Ke'er, who couldn't move because she was tied in one position, couldn't help but complain inwardly. She had been worried that the reinforcements would arrive too quickly, before they were ready. Now, she was actually hoping that those guys would arrive soon...

"Hey, did they issue some new instructions without my knowledge...? Are they not coming to rescue me? How am I supposed to get out of here?!"

Zhou Ke'er suddenly felt worried. Although he had the phone, to avoid being recognized, he was actually using Long Aojiao's phone to check organization information. So, he had his own phone in his left pocket, Long Aojiao's in his right, and he was also holding the phone from the long-haired man from before...

Furthermore, her hands and body were tightly bound by Kayako's hair, making it impossible for her to move at all, let alone look at her phone...

Kayako, really! Couldn't you loosen it a little? It's way too tight, making Zhou Ke'er so uncomfortable!

"Pat-pat, pat-pat"

Just then, Zhou Ke'er, who had been waiting anxiously, finally heard hurried footsteps outside.

Zhou Ke'er immediately perked up, then quickly composed herself, putting on a severely injured and listless expression. Her eyes were half-closed as she glanced sideways at the doorway, and she uttered a weak but barely audible voice from outside: "Is...is it someone from the organization? Quick...come help me!"

"..."

After Zhou Ke'er's voice came out, the footsteps outside the door stopped abruptly. After a moment of silence, a very faint whisper could be heard outside. Fortunately, Zhou Ke'er had sharp ears and was able to make out the gist of it.

First came a woman's voice: "I've checked. There is indeed only one ghost inside, wrapped in hair. It looks very similar to one of the ghosts that the organization sent down that might be in danger. Plus, it is indeed this location, so it should be right."

Then came a man's slightly doubtful voice: "Is it just him... no, just a ghost? Are you sure there's no one else? Is it possible you missed something? It can't be that after he was in danger, he was just tied up and that was it? He didn't do anything else? He wasn't here guarding the hostage waiting for us to arrive, planning to ambush us?"