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

Beneath his exposed skin flowed countless winding, uneven marks, with bluish-purple and dark gray marks spreading across them.

His contorted and pained expression suggested that he was being eroded by some foreign substance.

"Yellow Springs! Yellow Springs! I sense her presence on you! Where is she!"

The man held his head in his hands, his bloodshot and dark eyes wide open, and roared at Zhou Ke'er.

The other person's frenzied state seemed to resonate with Zhou Ke'er in some way, forcing him to kneel down on the ground, clutching his head and crying out in pain, barely able to speak.

"Hey... this game gives me a headache every few minutes. If this keeps up, won't it cause a lot of brain damage? Is this really okay?!"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but think to herself, "That's what I'm complaining about."

"An evil... This is an evil? How is this possible... Why is it on me! Where is my divinity? How could it... be corrupted by an evil! This..."

As the other person watched Zhou Ke'er convulsing on the ground, their frenzied emotions gradually subsided, and their loud roars turned into low mutterings.

"So that's how it is... So it failed? The world was destroyed after all? Ragnarok, it really is like this..."

The man muttered to himself, but did not deliberately lower his voice.

He swung his right hand sharply, and the large mass of flesh beneath him instantly shattered, scattering countless pieces, fragments, and remnants everywhere. He landed slowly on the ground, gently shaking off the stains from his linen robe, restoring it to its original whiteness.

But his right eye, still a mixture of black and blood red, and the undulating, writhing bumps beneath his skin, indicated that he had not become any safer.

However, the pain in Zhou Ke'er's head had lessened considerably at this moment.

"This guy just mentioned...the destruction of the world? So this module really is set in the Old Era... Also, he mentioned Ragnarok, which is indeed mentioned only briefly in the last ancient texts..."

Zhou Ke'er struggled to keep her still aching mind afloat as she slowly stood up, pondering, "He just mentioned 'divinity'... This must be from the so-called European mythology of the old era, which means he is... a god?"

"Ha, how could that be? What god would be captured and used as research material... Besides, judging from his appearance just now, he doesn't seem like a Western god from the old era as recorded in the annals."

"Who are you? Why do you have the aura of the underworld on you?"

The man slowly approached Zhou Ke'er.

The closer Zhou Ke'er got, the more complicated he felt. It attracted him to the other person, but also made him feel fear and disgust, and he wanted to stay as far away from the other person as possible.

"The Underworld? That sounds like a familiar term... Let me think... It seems to be a place similar to the Eastern 'Underworld' and the Western 'Hell' in the old era... Some sources seem to equate 'Underworld' and 'The Underworld' directly... But, regardless of the interpretation, it should both be 'the place where the dead should go,' right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er's mind raced, "So he means that I carry the aura of 'death'...?"

No...wait, that doesn't make sense. Let's just assume he said it himself for now. He's supposed to be a Western god from the old era, so why would he use "Yellow Springs," a term unique to the East from the old era? Shouldn't it be "Hell"?

"Mortal! I bestow upon you the supreme honor of answering my question, yet why do you remain silent?"

Seeing that Zhou Ke'er did not answer immediately, the man asked in a deep voice.

"Hmm...and this guy's speech habits, it must be some ancient classical Chinese from the East in the Old Era...what exactly is this...?"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't deduce anything from such a convoluted piece of information, and seeing the other person's seemingly impatient demeanor, she grinned and said, "Hey! Shouldn't you state your name before asking someone a question? Also, what is Huang Quan? I have no idea!"

Zhou Ke'er was gambling that if the other party really wanted to know about the so-called "Yellow Springs," and if Zhou Ke'er really had some aura of the "Yellow Springs," then the other party would definitely not kill Zhou Ke'er.

Knowing that she is unlikely to be killed by the other party, if she doesn't act recklessly, would she still be Zhou Ke'er?

"Ignorant and foolish mortal...you have made a decision you will regret!"

A thick, dark mist surged in the man's right eye. He reached out and grabbed the immobile Zhou Ke'er. "Since you want to know my name, you must pay the price! You should know that even if corrupted by evil... a god is still a god!"

After saying that, the man's hand that was holding Zhou Ke'er suddenly twisted, and countless tentacles and chunks of flesh poured out from it, then burrowed into the wound he had just left on Zhou Ke'er's body.

"Ughhhhh!"

Zhou Ke'er could no longer feel any physical pain. He vaguely heard whispers that seemed both near and far, completely incomprehensible, indescribable murmurs. He saw something surging in the darkness, something gazing down from the abyss, something in the endless universe... the nightmare of a fool...

"It was just a tiny bit of evil energy leaked out, and he couldn't even handle it? He really is just a mortal! It seems he was only unintentionally tainted by the aura of the Yellow Springs?"

The man dismissively tossed Zhou Ke'er to the ground. "Then, in exchange, though not an equal exchange, consider it an act of my pity... Listen carefully! My name! I am Cronus, the god of time and space!"

"Cronus..."

Zhou Ke'er fell to the ground, her whole body convulsing and spasming uncontrollably, completely unable to control her body, but for some reason her thoughts gradually became clearer.

"I vaguely remember... the chief god in the ancient Greek mythology, who seemed to be an exiled god-king... the king of time and space, that should indeed be him... but, according to the records, he did not have the ability of tentacles or anything like that."

The anomaly must be because of this! He kept mentioning the so-called "anomaly," and initially said that his "divinity" was being corrupted by it... These tentacles and chunks of flesh must have been created due to the "anomaly"!

Zhou Ke'er was completely unaware that countless tiny tentacles, barely perceptible and waving, were emerging from the numerous fine wounds on her body.

Glancing at the status bar, Zhou Ke'er discovered that her sanity had dropped to one-tenth. Although the rate of decline had slowed down for some reason, according to the game's rule that losing sanity meant the game was over, Zhou Ke'er estimated that she only had less than half an hour left.

"Mortal, I will now grant you eternal liberation, out of my mercy... Hmm? Wait!"

Kronos was about to casually finish off Zhou Ke'er, who was convulsing on the ground, when he suddenly took a few steps closer to her in shock. "The evil energy that leaked from my body hasn't regenerated... You can actually purify it, no... you're actually absorbing the evil energy?"

Before Zhou Ke'er could say anything, countless tentacles that had sprouted from his body suddenly shot out and pierced Kronos's arm.

"Hmm? This is... As expected, I wasn't wrong, you... can actually absorb evil! So that's how it is, someone who has come into contact with the Yellow Springs couldn't possibly be just a mere mortal..."

Kronos's pupils contracted sharply, thick black mist churning within them, but receding at an extremely slow pace. "No, this is more than just extraordinary... If Chen Tian and the others could possess this ability, the plan wouldn't have failed! The world wouldn't have been destroyed by those evil beings!"

"Wait... Chen Tian!?"

Zhou Ke'er's eyes widened as she struggled to turn to look at Kronos, asking incredulously, "You just... said Chen Tian, ​​right? Chen Tian? That's right, isn't it?"

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

28. Shadow Castle (Zero)

"Ah!"

Zhou Ke'er struggled to get up.

But this isn't where Zhou Ke'er was just now. This is the settlement space.

In other words, just a moment ago, Zhou Ke'er's sanity was cleared, which directly led to her being judged as insane and losing the game.

Zhou Ke'er sat on the ground for a few minutes before gradually coming back to her senses. She casually exited the settlement space. Since she hadn't completed any of the tasks in this module, she didn't receive any rewards, so there was no need to check the settlement results.

"That Cronus just now actually mentioned Chen Tian? Is it... just a coincidence of names, or...? But why would a Western god mention an Eastern name from an ancient era..."

Zhou Ke'er pondered for a while, "Also, what did that guy mean by 'absorbing evil' at the end? How come I didn't know I had this ability? Is it because of that antidote? That doesn't make sense..."

"Ah! Forget it, I won't think about him if I can't figure it out! Anyway, this kind of thing has nothing to do with me."

Zhou Ke'er couldn't figure it out no matter how hard she tried, so she simply gave up thinking about it.

Player "Ilika" has accepted your friend request.

Player "Finger Sand" invites you to join the team.

As soon as Zhou Ke'er returned to the small wooden house, she pulled her head back out of the window, and two notification sounds rang out.

"Oh, Chen Tian is online... Should I ask her about what happened earlier? No, never mind. Hmm, another game invitation? That's a bit of a coincidence."

Zhou Ke'er glanced at the time. "It's only twelve o'clock now. It shouldn't be a problem to play one more round."

With that in mind, Zhou Ke'er accepted the invitation from Zhijiansha.

The next second, Zhou Ke'er appeared in another small wooden house.

"Oh ho! Jin Yi, Shi Shi, you're both here?"

As soon as Zhou Ke'er arrived, she saw that Jin Yi Ye Xing and Shi Shi Shi Shi were already waiting in the small wooden house.

"Hey... what the heck is this outfit? Has some weird trend popped up without my knowledge?"

Jin Yi looked at Zhou Ke'er's tattered hospital gown, which was full of tiny holes and torn into strips in some places, and couldn't help but complain.

"Oh dear, we just came out of the module!"

Zhou Ke'er pouted helplessly, "To be honest, I think the costume design in this game is just too..."

"Huh? Then why don't you just buy an outfit from the store? The clothes you buy from the store are different from the ones you bring out from the module. The outfit will automatically revert to its original form after the module ends."

Mr. Shi asked in confusion.

"Oh! I forgot!"

Zhou Ke'er slapped her forehead and quickly opened the mall panel.

"Actually, I don't think it's necessary to buy clothes in the mall."

Finger Sand, standing to the side, shook her head. "Anyway, the clothes in the store don't offer any bonuses; they're just ordinary clothes. So, it's the same as finding another outfit in the module to wear."

Moreover, the current store only has clothes and nothing else, but I saw on the forum that players who have cleared the "Fog" difficulty dungeon said that after leaving the cabin, the store will open up the sale of other items.

Furthermore, we don't have many rational points to begin with, so it would be extremely foolish to waste them on something like this instead of accumulating them.

"Oh! That makes a lot of sense."

Zhou Ke'er nodded with a look of conviction, then bought herself a whole set of clothes, spending all 19 sanity points she had.

"Hey, look! This exquisitely crafted handmade cane, inlaid with a large ruby, only costs 5 sanity points! That's an amazing deal!"

Zhou Ke'er immediately changed out of her mental hospital gown with clothes she had bought from the mall, then raised the cane in her hand and waved it at the others, tapping the ground as she went, saying, "And also, with this kind of hardness, you could even use it to hit someone!"

"..."

Looking at Zhou Ke'er, who had changed into a respectable tailcoat reminiscent of an old-fashioned English gentleman, wearing a handcrafted top hat adorned with ornate feathers, and leaning on a fine cane, Zhijiansha was momentarily at a loss for words. "How many sanity points do you have left? I remember this outfit wasn't cheap... compared to other complete sets that cost no more than 5 sanity points..."

"It's not expensive! It's only 19 in total, so I'll just go all in."

Zhou Ke'er shrugged, instantly ruining the composed and elegant demeanor that the expensive suit had given him. It was as incongruous as an American from an old era trying to pretend to be an English gentleman.

Okay. I knew it.

Jin Yi sighed, "Then let's start the game. How about we try the 'Hard' difficulty first?"

"Tch, why bother with 'hard'? Just go straight for 'Fog' difficulty!"

Zhou Ke'er tapped the ground with her cane and made a suggestion with a disdainful look.

"Hmm? You...you've tried the 'Hard' difficulty dungeon?"

Thinking back to the disheveled state of Zhou Ke'er's clothes when she first arrived, and combining this with his current words, Zhijiansha was surprised and speculated.

"Yup!"

Zhou Ke'er nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

That's right, he did try the difficult difficulty dungeon, but he failed.

"Is that so? Well, anyway, there's no punishment for failing..."

Finger Sand thought for a moment, then turned to the others for their opinions, saying, "I think it's fine... Let's try the highest difficulty, what do you guys think?"