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

"Who knows? Maybe the ghosts take pity on each other and didn't kill them. I've been suspicious of this weird organization ever since I first came into contact with them. Who turns humans into ghosts and then makes them kill each other? Isn't that idiotic? Humans at least have the absolute advantage of not being harmed..." — This was another man's voice. He paused, then continued, "And another thing... all the channels for contacting the higher-ups of this organization are monopolized by that ridiculous Aotian Guild. We freelancers are just sent here to be used as laborers... It's infuriating! If it weren't for the fact that the main quest of this module might be related to this organization, I would have quit long ago!"

"!!!"

Zhou Ke'er, who had been listening intently, was taken aback by these words. These were players from some organization, not NPCs... and they seemed to harbor quite a grudge against Long Aotian's guild...

Isn't that much easier to handle? If it's an NPC, they might worry about revealing any special abilities, but if it's a player... well, that's a piece of cake! First, as long as they don't reveal anything, they won't be exposed. Second, even if they are exposed, there are probably very few ordinary players who can beat Zhou Ke'er. Now, Zhou Ke'er has nothing to be afraid of!

"Alright, alright, enough of this nonsense... If there's nothing else, I'll open the door. This guy doesn't look well; he might be dying. If we can't save him, the organization might misunderstand and think we've done something wrong or that he's an undercover spy or something. That would be terrible."

The woman quickly interrupted the second man's rambling and spoke up to remind him.

"Okay, okay, you're right."

The man stopped talking, responded, and then pushed the door open forcefully.

Zhou Ke'er pretended to look up with great difficulty at the three people who came in. One of them, a tall and strong man, was walking in front, followed by a woman who was fairly good-looking and a thin man with glasses.

Tsk, they're all taller than Zhou Ke'er.

Wait a minute... no, that was the Zhou Ke'er from before, the Zhou Ke'er who looks different now... he, he, he's gotten taller!

He finally...he's finally over 1.7 meters tall!

Wow, Zhou Ke'er was so moved by this realization that she almost cried out in joy.

"What happened?! What's wrong?!"

The burly man at the front was about to say something to Zhou Ke'er when he saw that Zhou Ke'er's half-closed eyes were actually...filled with tears of emotion. He was immediately startled and blurted out something in his mind.

"What happened?! Is he already dying? No way!"

Hearing the burly man's surprised words, the woman behind him panicked and hurriedly stepped forward, asking questions while glancing at Zhou Ke'er, "Uh? This is...."

"Obviously...it's because they were so moved to see us finally arrive to rescue them...they must have been waiting for a long time, and were afraid that no reinforcements would come, right?"

Finally, the bespectacled man slowly stepped forward, adjusted his glasses, and said, "But there's nothing we can do about it. Those guys from the Aotian Guild clearly said they accepted the mission, but then suddenly went back on their word. We were sent halfway through... so we're late."

"Ao...Aotian Guild? What's that...Aren't you guys part of that organization?!"

Zhou Ke'er's eyes twitched almost imperceptibly, but she still pretended to be very weak, yet she didn't understand what the other person was saying, and asked with a forced wary expression.

"Oh, I'm sorry... We are indeed part of an organization. If you don't believe me, look, we have our own communication methods."

The woman quickly pulled out her phone and showed it to Zhou Ke'er, then turned and glared at the bespectacled man, muttering, "You're all talk! What are you showing off for! Show your mother!"

## Chapter 233, Section 228: Strange and Unusual (Thirty-Seven)

"whispering sound...."

The bespectacled man turned his head away, made a small "tsk" sound, but did not refute anything, looking timid and hesitant.

"You...you people, I've never seen you in the organization before...who are you? Are you with that group from earlier?!"

Zhou Ke'er perfectly captured the expression of panic and suspicion, truly a master of acting.

Don't underestimate this short passage; it contains at least the following subtexts:

First, turn the tables: I am indeed a member of the organization, and because I have been out on missions for a long time, I don't know you. So it is you, not me, who should be suspected of being a suspect. Although Zhou Ke'er has not been suspected of being a suspect yet, it is best to be on the safe side.

Secondly, you'd better tell me in detail about the organization's situation, the more detailed the better, and you also have to answer a few of my questions, otherwise your identities will be questionable—which will also help Zhou Ke'er gather some intelligence.

Third, the group that just kidnapped me is laying the groundwork for spreading false information. Otherwise, it would be too abrupt to just start talking straight away; they need to smooth things over first, or it will feel awkward.

Furthermore, Zhou Ke'er was certain that the other side would complete their mission, which meant they would definitely bring her safely back to the organization... or perhaps simply untie her? In either case, they couldn't harm Zhou Ke'er, so no matter how much she resisted, it didn't matter.

However, if it's the second scenario, and they don't take Zhou Ke'er to the organization... then they'll have to put in a lot more effort. They can't let all the time they spent with Zhou Ke'er tied up go to waste, can they?

"..."

Zhou Ke'er breathed a slight sigh of relief, but still looked very suspicious. She stared at the woman for a while, then carefully examined the phone's interface before slowly saying, "This alone cannot prove your identity... You know, the organization's previous messages mentioned that ghosts from other organizations had obtained phones that could communicate with the organization... Unless you can answer a few of my questions, I won't believe you!"

"Don't believe me?! Believe it or not, we'll take action right now! You won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences?! You should know that you're now in our hands! Look at yourself, you can't even move, and you're still threatening us?"

Upon hearing this, the burly man immediately widened his eyes and angrily threatened Zhou Ke'er.

"Hmph! Just as I thought! You were indeed posing as members of the organization to deceive me! I was wondering why those people retreated so easily; now I know. But you were exposed far too quickly!"

Zhou Ke'er immediately stiffened his neck, adopting a heroic stance—he knew they wouldn't actually harm him anyway, he could always make up another lie later—and declared righteously, "Go ahead! No matter how much you threaten me, I will never betray the organization! Kill me or torture me, it's up to you! However, you will now bear the wrath of the organization! After every member dies, the organization can locate the murderer who killed him! You can't escape!"

"Ugh, I'm so angry!! Who are you two?! A simple explanation would have cleared things up, but you two made it like this. I must have had terrible luck to be teammates with you two! If it weren't for the fact that you two are the only two people I know in the game... I'm speechless..."

Seeing this, the woman slapped the burly man on the forehead in anger, and couldn't help but cover her face and complain. In the end, she had to force a smile out of her angry expression and said to Zhou Ke'er with a smile, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. My friend is a little confused. He was just talking nonsense. Let's not worry about him... What question do you want to ask? I'll answer it."

"...Then...I'll reluctantly trust you one more time..."

Zhou Ke'er looked at the woman, her expression hesitant, but finally she nodded reluctantly: "Then I'll ask you a very simple question, but only members of the organization know the answer to... Where is the organization's headquarters?"

"Ah...this...I really don't know...."

The woman's face fell immediately, and she stammered, slightly puzzled, "We only joined the organization through other ghosts and monsters. We have no idea where the headquarters is... not to mention the headquarters, we don't even know where the branches are... All we have is a cell phone to contact the organization... We're new to the organization, we don't know much..."

Oh? They didn't know? Is it that they really didn't know, or... have they also started to suspect Zhou Ke'er's identity and want to turn the tables? After all, they are all players who have completed the Nightmare difficulty module, so they should have this level of vigilance and awareness... so we can't rule out this possibility.

Zhou Ke'er's mind raced for a moment, but she didn't pause for too long, lest the other party see through her act. She remained silent for less than a second before adopting a relieved expression and saying to the woman, "Great! It seems you really are members of our organization... If you had actually answered with a specific location, then you would have been truly imposters... After all, our organization doesn't actually have a headquarters... Saying things like 'the organization is here' is just a way to deceive people outside the organization."

"Huh? Is that how it is?"

The woman said with slight surprise that she thought she would not be able to answer the question and would have no choice but to resort to special means, such as knocking out the ghost and carrying it back, or... carrying the cocoon made of hair back without untying it. Fortunately, she passed the test.

"Ugh, what bad luck... I never expected our target to have an accomplice. And what a coincidence that we ran into that dangerous monster with a slit lip who was recently mentioned in the organization's messages..."

Zhou Ke'er sighed dramatically, looking utterly dejected. "Although I don't know why they just tied me up and left, or what reason they had for sparing my life... it's all for the best, otherwise..."

"So that's how it is! I was wondering why those arrogant people... cough cough... I was wondering why that group suddenly abandoned the mission and made us take the blame. So that's why."

The bespectacled man then feigned sudden realization, pushed up his glasses, frowned, and complained, "That's just too much! And... I remember a few of them died at the hands of that monster..."

"Alright, alright! All you do is talk! What's all the fuss about? Can't we tell what you're saying?"

Before the bespectacled man could finish speaking, the woman quickly turned around to stop him, lowering her voice to say, "We were suspected because you let something slip just now. Now you want to do it again? Are you addicted?"

"Um... could you please help me get me out of all this hair...?"

Seeing the three of them arguing again, Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but speak up and remind them—are these three players... all idiots?

## Chapter 234, Section 229: Strange and Unusual (Thirty-Eight)

Hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, the three of them finally realized what was happening and frantically tried to pull the hair off Zhou Ke'er's body, but unfortunately, they had little success because Kayako was wrapped up too tightly... uh, I mean her hair.

"Tsk... Kayako is definitely taking revenge for personal reasons, it's too much... Just because I seem to have a good relationship with Sadako, she treats me like this... Ha, female ghost."

Looking at the three people who were practically biting each other in frustration, unable to loosen the tightly bound hair no matter what they tried, Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but mentally rant, "While it does look a little more realistic, does it have to be this extreme? A little more would have been enough..."

"Um... couldn't you use some tools?... This hair doesn't look like it could be torn or untangled by hand..."

Looking at the three of them, who were covered in sweat, Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but laugh and remind them, "The biggest difference between humans and animals is that humans use tools..."

"Huh? How do you know we're human?"

Upon hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, the bespectacled man suddenly looked up and asked her a strange question out of the blue.

"???"

Zhou Ke'er looked completely bewildered, a rare occurrence for him. He couldn't understand what this guy was asking... This guy's logic is a bit strange, isn't it?

"You're human... What's wrong? Is there a problem?... Why can't I tell you're human? What are you asking?"

Zhou Ke'er, of course, asked questions directly as soon as she had them. Why would she save her brilliant mind to think about such a ridiculous question?

"Hmph... I had my suspicions from the beginning, and now you've finally shown your weakness! Our organization is full of monsters, so how could you recognize us as humans on the spot?"

The bespectacled man, with an expression of complete confidence and as if he had seen through everything, said with great self-assurance, "This subconscious tendency to treat others as human means that you subconsciously believe yourself to be human... That clearly means you're not a ghost, but a human! Therefore, you're not one of our organization!"

"???"

Zhou Ke'er looked confused again. What... what kind of logic is this?!

"...?"

Not only Zhou Ke'er, but even the two teammates of the bespectacled man showed expressions of "Huh? What nonsense is this guy talking about?" and for a moment they were completely unable to react to what he was trying to say.

"Ha! I knew it! Nothing can escape the discerning eyes of Detective Conan!"

Seeing Zhou Ke'er's expression, like an old man looking at his phone in a subway station, the bespectacled man assumed that Zhou Ke'er hadn't expected him to see through her deception so easily, and that's why she subconsciously showed that expression. He became even more certain of his guess and proudly raised his head, saying...

"...Huh? What...are you talking about..."

Zhou Ke'er really didn't want to argue with that idiot, so she sighed and turned to the other two, "Um...is your friend...did he suffer some kind of mental breakdown? Or...?"

At this point, Zhou Ke'er suddenly paused, abruptly changing her tone, "Or are you actually the ones in disguise? But to reveal so many flaws in less than five minutes of meeting, I find it hard to believe you're really some kind of undercover spies..."

"this...."

Hearing Zhou Ke'er's words, the woman couldn't help but show a weary expression. She turned listlessly to the bespectacled man, rubbing her forehead with one hand. "Oh no, oh no, I can't get angry, I can't get angry! What if my heart rate gets too high and I get disconnected?"

"What do you mean...?"

Seeing Zhou Ke'er's disdainful look, the bespectacled man immediately became annoyed and blurted out a question without thinking.

However, before he could finish speaking, Zhou Ke'er interrupted him directly, saying seriously, "Whether you are pretending to be members of our organization or you are actually members of our organization, remember this! There is no ghost in our organization!"

We are guardians who abandoned our human identities to gain abilities comparable to those of demons, in order to prevent them from harming humanity! We are definitely not demons! Do you understand?

"Oh, this..."

The woman was clearly unaware of this matter. Looking at Zhou Ke'er, who seemed extremely serious and righteous, she didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Also... although strictly speaking, the members of our organization can no longer be considered truly human, we still firmly believe in our hearts that we are human, so we consider ourselves still human. Is there a problem with that?!"

Zhou Ke'er was almost convinced of her own words when she changed the subject again, looking at the three people in front of her and saying in a deep voice, "You don't even know this... who... who are you?! Judging from how you keep slipping up, you don't seem like professional undercover agents or spies... You just stumbled upon a cell phone that belonged to some unknown organization, discovered our organization's activities, and tried to find us, right?!"

This is unbelievable! Zhou Ke'er originally planned to infiltrate the organization by pretending to be a member, or at least get close to the people who rescued her, and then try to get closer to the organization... But... plans really don't always go as expected. Who would have thought that these people not only lacked vigilance, but also brazenly exposed their true colors with such smug looks... It would be strange if Zhou Ke'er didn't point this out to them!

If Zhou Ke'er pretends not to have seen any of these flaws and manages to infiltrate the organization... then if those people eventually come to their senses and realize within the organization that they were wrong about everything they said, and Zhou Ke'er didn't suspect a thing... then they will truly be discovered.

It's not entirely unacceptable that things are like this now. At least with the other side's incredible assistance, Zhou Ke'er has solidified her status as a member of the organization. The only problem is... how is Zhou Ke'er going to help them cover it up...?

Sigh, I'm so tired. Not only do I have to make my own lies sound believable, but I also have to help the other person come up with a plausible lie to "deceive" myself...

Zhou Ke'er is having such a tough time!

Let alone NPCs, even if it's just a team of players with some skill, Zhou Ke'er wouldn't have to worry about this...

What are we going to do now...?