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

There's something outside the door.

"Finger Sand" quickly lowered her voice and answered.

"Is anyone there? Is...is anyone there? Please...please help me! Please!"

Just then, a faint voice came from outside the door, which sounded like a man.

"..."

Finger Sand and Cold Rabbit exchanged a glance. Although they didn't know what each other's eyes were trying to convey, they both nodded very seriously.

Then, the sand between her fingers slowly closed the door.

"..."

There was a long silence outside the door.

"Please help me! Otherwise I really... Oh, right! If... if I get caught here, you'll be in danger too! So... please, let me go inside and hide for a bit..."

The sounds outside began to grow urgent, as if he knew something was approaching him.

"what happens?"

Just then, Chen Tian, ​​who was not a deep sleeper, heard the noise outside and quickly woke up. After sitting up, she saw Zhijiansha and Lengchitu standing at the door and subconsciously asked in a low voice.

"...Someone outside is calling for help and wants to come in."

The sand between his fingers gave a brief summary: "It seems someone is chasing him."

After thinking for a moment, Zhijiansha added, "If the main quest hadn't come out yet, I think it would be reasonable to save him. But now that the main quest has come out, it's definitely not related to this situation. It could be the work of other players, so I don't think it's cost-effective or risky. There's no need to open the door."

"..."

Chen Tian thought for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the wooden sword that was lying to the side. She walked towards the door and asked in a low voice, "Didn't you look through the peephole to see who it was?"

"I looked, but it was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything."

Sand between Fingers answered immediately.

"Wait... excuse me, are you a player?! You're players, right? Me too! Great, please help me, I have important information! And... I'll repay you later, you can ask for any reward you want!"

Just then, the person outside the door seemed to have overheard the conversation between Zhijiansha and the others, and immediately spoke up excitedly.

"...He's actually a player?"

The three of them, Zhijiansha and Chen Tian, ​​were stunned for a moment. Chen Tian waved the wooden sword in his hand and nodded to Zhijiansha.

Finger Sand had no choice but to say, "Alright, then step back a little and I'll open the door."

After saying that, Zhijiansha pushed open the door.

As soon as the door opened, a tall, thin, and somewhat pampered young man stood outside. Although he had no injuries, he looked terrified, as if he had suffered some kind of mental trauma.

As soon as he saw the door open, he quickly slipped inside and closed it behind him. Only after doing all this did he seem to breathe a sigh of relief, leaning against the door and sliding down to the floor.

"What's wrong with you? What happened?"

Seeing his expression, Zhijiansha quickly asked.

Chen Tian, ​​standing beside him, gripped her wooden sword tightly and watched the man warily. Although the Chen Tian in her mind was still withdrawn, she had learned a little about swordsmanship over the years.

"Huff...huff...you, since you're players, you must know that the main quest is to create an urban legend, right?...But, but...this quest is impossible to complete!"

As if recalling something, the man couldn't help but show a horrified expression. "You, you should have seen my name on the contribution list... I'm Yuan Fan... Just now... I was staying next to that urban legend's vessel, the ghost... You, you know how it died?!"

The man who identified himself as Yuan Fan seemed so nervous that his mouth was numb, and he spoke incoherently and stammeringly, clearly quite agitated.

"Huh? How did he die?"

Finger Sand eagerly pressed on—though for some reason, an uncontrollable thought surfaced in her mind: Could this have been Zhou Ke'er's doing...? He really is capable of such a heinous act...

(Zhou Ke'er: Achoo...who's calling me?)

"That ghost... after becoming the embodiment of an urban legend, and after the urban legend reached 25% of its completeness thanks to my efforts..."

At this point, Yuan Fan nervously swallowed, "A... a crack appeared before our eyes, like the eye of some being watching us through it... That being said that the ghost, as the vessel for a new urban legend, would be subject to a new 'setting,' and then... a strange, indescribable sound came from the crack..."

I only felt this blasphemous and indescribable voice growing louder and louder, gradually seeping into my mind. This voice seemed to contain a meaning I couldn't comprehend at all, yet it also seemed to contain nothing at all... just a chaotic mess...

Finally... that monster... it... it exploded! Exploded into pieces, no... into dust!

## Chapter 253, Section 248: Strange and Unusual (Fifty-Seven)

At the same time, in a space that flickered with a hazy gray light and was otherwise empty, a rift suddenly tore open, and a man dressed in a magnificent robe with a dark complexion slowly walked out, exuding arrogance.

“I don’t believe you have the right to interfere with or even obstruct the plan without a reason. I need a reasonable explanation, or you will face my interrogation and their questioning.”

The man spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice like the waters of the River of Oblivion, containing an allure that seemed to tempt one to fall into depravity.

"Hmph, an explanation? I want an explanation from you!"

The gray mist in front of the man suddenly dissipated, revealing an elderly man with white hair and a gray beard seated on a throne. The man's expression was one of anger as he coldly stared at the man before him: "Don't think I don't know why you went to such lengths to persuade them to agree to use this place as the venue for that so-called 'event'! Remember this well, this is my territory! Holding this so-called 'event' here is one thing, but who gave you permission to pull these dirty tricks?!"

"Small tricks? I don't understand what you're talking about. All my actions are in accordance with the rules, without violating them in the slightest."

The man maintained a solemn expression and answered in a completely unwavering tone.

"Complies with the rules?"

The old man couldn't help but snort coldly: "Using this so-called 'event' as an excuse to add your 'settings' to my territory and my inhabitants, even directly creating a species entirely of your own, openly infiltrating my territory—you really have a grand plan!"

"When the event was designed, many plans were put forward, and this one was approved by most of them. If you are dissatisfied, why didn't you object at the time? Why are you causing me trouble now?"

The man's tone remained unhurried, but carried a slight hint of dissatisfaction.

"It's ironic that you're saying that! I wasn't even in the meeting, and... wasn't that your fault?!"

Seeing the man's righteous and stern demeanor, the old man finally couldn't help but slam his hand on the armrest, stand up, and angrily rebuke him.

"..."

The man looked puzzled. "I didn't do that."

"You didn't do that, but 'you' did do it!"

The old man snorted coldly. "In short, I've already lodged a protest with them. 'You,' or rather 'all of you,' should have been summoned by them to explain what's going on. Since you weren't summoned and are still in charge of running this event, I believe you haven't done anything shady. However, the content of this event should be modified, and a backup plan should be implemented!"

"....I see."

The man was silent for a moment. “However, I have to report to them first and get confirmation before I can change the plan. The process must comply with regulations.”

"Hmph, then you'd better hurry up. The longer you drag this out, the bigger the mess will get, and the worse 'your' situation will be."

The old man sat back on his throne, speaking with dissatisfaction.

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

"It...it exploded? What does that mean?"

Upon hearing Yuan Fan's description, Lengchitu couldn't help but blurt out, "Damn, how can ghosts explode like that? That scene is too bizarre!"

"I...I don't know..."

Yuan Fan shook his head frantically, answering with lingering fear, "As soon as I heard the sound coming from that crack, my sanity plummeted. In a daze, I saw the ghost with me explode from the inside out like an overinflated balloon! Just seeing that scene almost made my sanity drop below the red line. I didn't have time to think about anything; I instinctively turned and ran... This kind of mission, this kind of mission is impossible to complete!"

Seeing Yuan Fan, who seemed quite frightened, Zhijiansha pondered for a moment, thinking to himself, "According to him, if he wasn't lying, then it means that when an urban legend reaches a certain level of completeness, some kind of entity adds settings to the medium of that urban legend..."

However, this vessel might suddenly perish. Whether this is due to the intentional actions of that being or because the vessel of the urban legend cannot withstand this setting, it is still unclear... Unless, a player tries to create an urban legend using themselves as the vessel, and sees what happens when that so-called being adds settings to them...

"No, then why did you ask us to save you? And why did you say that if the people chasing you come looking for us, we'll be in trouble too? According to what you just said, the only thing that could harm you is that unknown entity, and since you're still alive, that means that entity hasn't attacked you... So what danger are you still facing?"

Just then, a voice suddenly came from the bed next to them. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was Chunkun Qiufei, who was sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Judging from her words, she had obviously been eavesdropping for a long time.

"Hey! How long ago did you wake up?! Why are you pretending to be asleep?!"

Realizing this, Cold-Cooked Rabbit immediately complained.

"I already said, I wasn't sleeping, I was just dozing off! Sleeping and dozing off are not the same thing!"

"Spring drowsiness and autumn fatigue," he said casually, in a tone meant to coax a child.

"No, no... I don't know why, but... but, besides that being, in the darkness, in the shadows, there are many other unknown things, silently watching me, as if lurking and waiting for their chance to hunt... I can feel them, I can feel them!"

Yuan Fan swallowed hard, then quickly shook his head, explaining, "Ever since I saw that being, it's like something's lurking in all the shadows... It's definitely a curse! But, but you don't have it here, I haven't felt anything... I don't know why, but to protect myself, I had no choice but to hide near the door of this room... I genuinely didn't know there was anyone inside at first..."

"???"

Everyone looked bewildered. This excuse was ridiculous. Did the room have a built-in amulet?

For a moment, the only sound in the room was Zhang He, who was still sleeping, turning over in bed.

"Um, I wanted to ask, how much sanity do you have left?"

Just then, Finger Sand finally spoke up and asked, "According to the official website, if a player's sanity is low enough, they will experience hallucinations and illusions. So I think... it's very likely that your sanity is too low."

"Ah, is that so?! No wonder, I see... It's because my sanity level was too low... This was all an illusion, it was fake..."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Fan immediately believed it and breathed a sigh of relief, as if to comfort himself.

"...Then why don't you feel it when you come here?"

Cold-cooked rabbit suddenly interrupted, asking an inappropriate question.

## Chapter 254, Section 249: Strange and Unusual (Fifty-Eight)

In that same gray, hazy space, the man in the ornate robe, with slightly dark skin, finally looked at the old man again. "The reply from above has arrived. They agree to change the event's content according to the backup plan. However, if we follow the backup plan, it might cause serious harm to the event venue and the residents there. Can you accept that?"

"Whether it's destroyed or not doesn't matter, as long as you don't overstep your bounds. Even if the entire city is destroyed, it won't affect me."

The old man snorted coldly, waved his hand, and replied, "Then what is this backup plan you're talking about?"

"The second main quest will be launched, which will stop the rule that ghosts cannot harm people, remove the disabled status of players' skills and equipment, and start the battle royale mode. Survival time, escaping pursuit and successfully counter-killing will be combined as a comprehensive evaluation for ranking."

The man explained meticulously, "Furthermore, we'll intensify the pursuit of players who still want to complete Main Quest One, preventing them from making progress. This way, the impact will be less than if Main Quest One suddenly failed. You'll have control of the event; you just need to perform micro-management in real-time... Oh, and by the way, there's a player I've asked you to 'take care of'."

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

At the same time, Zhou Ke'er, who had successfully fooled Augusta, was about to take advantage of his momentary lapse in judgment to make a secret request when a system notification suddenly sounded.

[After testing, thanks to the players' persistent efforts, the "Ghosts cannot harm people" rule has been lifted.]

[Main Quest 2 unlock requirements have been met]

Main quest 2 has been unlocked.