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

2. Yes, I am mentally ill... Doctor, what's wrong?

"pat"

As Zhou Ke'er struggled to sit up against the wall, she seemed to have touched a switch. Immediately, the ceiling lights turned on.

The pale light shone down, and the cold night wind blew in through the broken window across the street.

"Cough cough..."

A few soft coughs came from the side.

Zhou Ke'er quickly looked around the room.

The room wasn't spacious, but it wasn't cramped either. The bed was neatly made with clean, folded bedding.

Well... this did make Zhou Ke'er feel a little strange. It was so clean, and not messy at all... This didn't seem like a mental patient's room.

However, considering that the background of this mod is that the player is a normal person, this makes sense.

"The new recruits this time are of good quality."

Zhou Ke'er's eyes darkened slightly as she looked at the other two people in the room and spoke slowly in a low voice.

“If you weren’t tied up, the jokes would be more believable.”

A man sitting up opposite Zhou Ke'er immediately exposed his lie.

"Um... hello everyone, could you help me unbutton this...?"

Just then, a man lying on the ground nearby, struggling frantically but unable to get up, pitifully said, "I can't get up..."

Zhou Ke'er glanced at the nickname above the man's head: "Shi Shi Eats Lions".

"It seems...no. Didn't you notice? Our hands are all tied up."

The man who had previously criticized Zhou Ke'er shook his head and replied, "I am 'Jinyi Yexing,' you can just call me Jinyi."

So you're hiding your true identity in the dark? I'll remember you. No one can offend Zhou Ke'er, no one.

"I am Zhou Ke'er."

Zhou Ke'er glanced at Jin Yi with a sinister look, gave a casual reply, and then began to examine the hospital gown she was wearing.

Hmm... it's a regular hospital gown, just with longer sleeves and more buckles. It's quite different from those specially made restraint suits.

As a psychiatrist, Zhou Ke'er naturally had specific knowledge of how to break free from restraints.

But... there's no way to get out of this outfit I'm wearing right now using those methods.

Because the specially designed restraint suit has straps and buckles connecting various parts, if you want to break free, as long as your body is flexible enough, plus some special techniques, you can forcefully pull your two hands behind your head to take it off.

But now all they have on them is extra-long sleeves that are tightly wrapped around their bodies several times and then fastened at the back with buckles.

Although it seems simple, crude, and lacks any skill, there's... no way to break free! Unless you're strong enough.

Furthermore, to prevent patients from self-harming, mental hospitals generally don't leave sharp objects in the wards. This means you can't even use your mouth to hold a sharp object and cut your sleeve...

Wait... a sharp object!

Zhou Ke'er quickly looked at the broken window.

That's it!

However... if the glass is broken, the noise will be too loud, and there's no guarantee that it won't attract other people, such as security guards or caregivers.

Moreover, given their current condition, they can only break it from the inside, which would result in shards of glass falling out of the window.

but...

Zhou Ke'er glanced at Jin Yi Ye Xing. Given his height... if he stood up, the part where his sleeves were tied should be about the same height as the sharp edge of the broken window itself.

"Ahem... Um, Jin Yi, try to stand up. If you can, look at that window over there. You can use that sharp point to cut open the sleeves that are tied up."

Zhou Ke'er coughed twice and spoke to Jin Yi Ye Xing.

It would be best if I accidentally fell down, hehehe!

"window..."

Upon hearing this, Jin Yiyexing glanced in that direction, his eyes lighting up, but then his expression turned troubled. "It's possible... but I'm afraid I might accidentally fall..."

"There's no way I can reach there with my arms tied up, given my height."

Zhou Ke'er sighed helplessly. He didn't want to be short either! He drank milk and took calcium supplements every day, and never missed a workout or stretching session, but he still couldn't reach 1.7 meters. He was desperate!

"Mr. Shi might be able to, but we'll have to wait until he can stand up first. Look at him now, he can't even crawl."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Ke'er glanced at Shi Shi, who was still wriggling on the ground, and added.

"Hey, with my fiery temper, who says I can't get up! Just you wait and see!"

Upon hearing this, Shi Shi, the Lion Eater, became displeased and began to wriggle... no, hop around even more vigorously. He successfully transformed from a caterpillar into a fish dancing in a frying pan.

But I still can't get up.

"Damn it!"

Shi lay on the ground in despair, her eyes lifeless, clearly already a salted fish stuck to the pot.

"How can you possibly jump like that? Look at me, okay?"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't stand it anymore, rolled her eyes, lay down on the ground, adjusted her posture, and then started jumping around.

"Whoa! Ha! Aaaaah!"

So two stupid fish, struggling to survive, appeared in the ward.

Jin Yi looked at Shi Shi and Zhou Ke'er, who were jumping around on the ground, with a look of utter disbelief, and couldn't help but think to himself:

These two guys, they might have escaped from some mental hospital. No, mental hospitals don't accept idiots. Right, they're probably followers of Aqua.

"How can you possibly jump like that! Why don't you just sit up and lean against the wall?"

The woman in brocade, who was still trying to cut open the sleeves, couldn't bear to watch any longer and sighed as she reminded her.

"Oh! That makes sense!"

Upon hearing this, Shi was startled and instinctively wanted to clench his right fist and strike his left palm, but... his hands were now bound, and the consequence would be...

Losing his support, he lost his balance and his chin slammed hard against the ground with a crisp "crack".

Everyone froze for two seconds, then Shi started rolling on the ground in pain, unable to speak.

"Hmph, of course I thought of this method a long time ago. I'm demonstrating it to Mr. Shi! I'm telling him that this method will absolutely not work!"

Zhou Ke'er twisted her body on the ground as she spoke.

"..."

Jin Yi began to worry about the future of this module; these two might not be able to prove they weren't mentally ill.

"Hey, right... I checked the team panel, there should be four players in total, so why are there only three of us here?"

Zhou Ke'er sensed that the atmosphere was a bit strange, so she quickly put on a serious expression, glanced at the panel, and asked in confusion.

"Hmm... that player's nickname is 'Finger Sand,' so she's probably a female player, which is why she's not in the same room as us."

Finally, the woman in brocade, having torn open her sleeve, breathed a sigh of relief and replied while taking off her clothes, "I initially thought you were 'Finger Sand,' and that female player was called 'Zhou Ke'er.'"

"I......"

Zhou Ke'er had nothing to say.

"Waaah... Zhou Ke'er! Hahahaha, your name is so funny!"

With the help of Jin Yi, Shi Shi unfastened the clasp, took off her clothes, and chuckled indistinctly while holding her chin.

"..."

Zhou Ke'er nodded to Jin Yi to express her gratitude, and then laboriously rolled up her long, floor-length sleeves.

This wasn't the first time he'd been asked this question... After all, Zhou Ke'er does sound like a girl's name... But! It's a name with profound meaning! It's the name of a powerful figure from the old era before the world was destroyed, albeit a transliteration.

"Hmm... So now the question is, what should we do next?"

Zhou Ke'er frowned as she looked at the hospital gown that was rolled up but still hanging loosely on her arm and said.

"They say it's to prove they're not mentally ill... but how are we supposed to prove it...?"

Jin Yi simply took off his clothes, revealing his bare upper body, and sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Go see a doctor. If you can speak logically and clearly, you can prove that you are not mentally ill."

Ms. Shi rested her chin on her hand and answered matter-of-factly.

"How could it be that simple..."

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but retort: ​​"First of all, after we find the doctor, he won't think about talking to us or judging whether what we say is logical. Instead, he'll think: 'How did these guys get out?' and then call the security guards to arrest us and lock us up even tighter... In that case, this module can be declared a failure."

"And there's another problem... It's probably late at night now, which means the doctor probably isn't at the hospital. Even if we sneak out now, we won't be able to find the doctor. We might even get caught by the security guards on patrol."

Zhou Ke'er thought for a moment and added, "I was too careless just now... I actually overlooked the time. But if we delay until tomorrow morning, we'll be forced to take our medicine, and if we take those medicine..."

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

3. Everyone is mentally ill.

"Saying all this is pointless."

Shi said with a pursed lip.

"Hmm, you're right. Just talking about it won't lead to any discoveries, so perhaps..."

Zhou Ke'er didn't refute, but nodded and glanced at Jin Yi, asking, "How about we go outside and take a look?"

"It's not necessarily a bad thing; we won't discover anything by just sitting here like this anyway."

Jin Yi had no objections and walked over to grasp the doorknob. "However, there might be some risk involved, so we should be careful."

The three of them then turned off the lights in the room and waited until their eyes had adjusted to the darkness before cautiously leaving the room.

"Wait! Oh no, I just remembered something!"

Just as she stepped out the door, Zhou Ke'er suddenly lowered her voice in alarm and said...

"what's up?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Yi quickly asked.