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

"Hello, sir? Is there a problem?"

The butler looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked.

"No...no...um, well...maybe a little...that is to say...no, oh dear...that..."

He stammered a bunch of things, and finally, as if resigned to his fate, he looked at the butler with a disillusioned expression, "I've lost my invitation."

"What? How could this happen? Sir, please don't panic. Please tell me your name, and I'll check the invitation list right away."

The butler was taken aback upon hearing this, but then calmly reassured the other party.

"My...my name is..."

The man wore an even more worldly-wise expression, as if to say, "I knew it couldn't be that simple," and then took a deep breath and said, "My name is Grassis. I don't know why that gentleman has the same name as me... I think it's possible that he took my invitation."

"Whoa!"

Zhou Ke'er raised an eyebrow. Interesting. This guy... actually wants to make an example of him first?

That makes sense. After all, it was Zhou Ke'er who first suggested checking the invitation, and he was the culprit. If they didn't frame him, who would they frame?

Moreover... there shouldn't have been anything wrong, but the fact that the other party brought it up like that... makes Zhou Ke'er the first to mention checking the invitation seem a bit strange.

This guy's trying to muddy the waters right from the start...

Zhou Ke'er smiled kindly, with a hint of doubt in her eyes: "Hello, sir. I don't know why you have the same name as me, and it just so happens that you lost your invitation."

However, I believe that Mr. Dais, before inviting guests, would have verified their identities, wouldn't you? Would you like me to introduce myself, my profession, and my family situation to prove my innocence?

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30. The Shadowy Castle (Part Two)

"Oh! Yes, that's right... If you don't mind, although it may be offensive, it is indeed a very good idea."

The butler nodded upon hearing this, then turned to the man and asked, "Sir, what do you think?"

"I...I..."

The man couldn't help but take a few steps back. In his desperation, he hadn't anticipated this situation when he chose to frame Zhou Ke'er.

He originally thought that Zhou Ke'er would at most have a fight with him, or make a scene, and that would be enough to smooth things over. At worst, both of them would be kicked out, so at least he could take one of them with him.

If Zhou Ke'er knew what the other person was thinking, she would definitely laugh out loud.

However... seeing the other party's dilemma, Zhou Ke'er suddenly had a good idea.

"Ahem, if you allow me... may I speak with this gentleman for a few minutes? After all, while I'd also like to know why he framed me, if it's because of some unpleasant past experiences..."

Zhou Ke'er smiled gently and said, "As you all know, even though everyone has a shameful past, as a gentleman, I don't want my private affairs to be publicized everywhere. What do you think?"

The housekeeper didn't have any objections at all.

To be honest, from forgetting even the inspection invitation at the beginning to showing no interest in anything later on, as if it were just a routine matter, it's really suspicious.

Seeing that no one else spoke, Zhou Ke'er bowed slightly to the others, walked to the person's side, but did not stop, "Please follow me."

The man's eyes flickered a few times as he glanced at the others, but he ultimately followed Zhou Ke'er.

After walking a distance, Zhou Ke'er estimated that the others should not be able to hear the conversation from their current position, so she stopped and turned around.

"What...what exactly do you want?"

When the man saw Zhou Ke'er stop, he subconsciously took two steps back, put his hands in front of him, and stared at Zhou Ke'er warily as he asked.

Zhou Ke'er didn't let the formulaic smile fade just because they were apart from others. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, saying, "Do you... still remember 'Main Quest II'?"

"Main...main quest? Huh!? Are you a player?!"

The other person looked surprised and said, "I thought... wait, let me see... Main Quest II? Escape from the Castle... what's wrong?"

"That's right! Escape the castle."

Zhou Ke'er took a few steps closer, maintaining her acted composure, "So, don't you think... now is a particularly good opportunity?"

"Now... what do you mean? Hmm?! Wait, now that you mention it... it does seem... no, that's not right!"

The other person was taken aback. At first, it seemed to make some sense, but then they realized something was wrong. "How could it be so simple? If I could escape right now, wouldn't I be able to complete both main quests at the same time?"

That would be equivalent to a speedrun! There's no way there could be such an unbalanced loophole, right?

"Yes, that's true."

Zhou Ke'er nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Otherwise, why do you think I'm asking you to do it instead of doing it myself? Of course, it's to make you the guinea pig."

"Hey! You just blurted out your purpose so readily! How could I possibly agree to that? Even if there's no chance, you could at least try to lie to me!"

Seeing Zhou Ke'er's matter-of-fact attitude, the other party couldn't help but complain.

"Why do this?"

Zhou Ke'er feigned confusion, tapping the ruby ​​on her cane with her right hand. "Anyway... this is the only path you have left. If I didn't suggest this, what else could you do? Continue framing me? Try to steal my identity?"

Wake up! I have the plot hints for this identity, so I can answer whatever they ask... But what about you? If you continue like this, you'll only humiliate yourself.

Therefore, I have absolutely no need to tell you any more lies to trick you into leaving. Faced with irrefutable facts, these petty tricks are completely unnecessary.

This is a lie!

In fact, Zhou Ke'er knew nothing about this identity! That's why he suddenly proposed to negotiate with this guy alone.

After all... if he can't even answer the butler's questions, then he'll be out of luck.

So why did he still suggest that the butler ask these questions to verify his identity? It was naturally to get something for nothing... oh no, it was to leave the butler and others with the impression that "this guy is fearless and there shouldn't be any problems."

Secondly, put pressure on this guy to make him believe that Zhou Ke'er really knows everything and that her identity is not fake. He should know that if he confronts her about her identity, he will not be able to win.

In that case, forcing this guy to choose to leave obediently now would have a higher success rate.

"Well... okay..."

The man hesitated for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, but then felt a little scared. "But... what if I choose to leave now and fail? You said it yourself, this is just an experiment, right? What will happen if it fails... will I be killed on the way out?"

"That's none of my business."

Without hesitation, Zhou Ke'er answered lightly, "This is just a very simple multiple-choice question. Option one: you don't leave and choose to continue trying to enter the manor, but you don't have an invitation. So, either you'll be kicked out and forced to leave, or you'll be captured and locked up in the manor. Then you're doomed."

Option two: You leave now. Although the future is uncertain, at least you have a chance to escape. Even if someone comes to catch you, as long as you act properly, you can still escape.

So...which one do you want to choose? A normal person would know which one to choose at a glance, right?

The other person's eyes flickered, as if they were somewhat... no, almost completely convinced by Zhou Ke'er.

"And...you didn't have an invitation, right?"

Zhou Ke'er, having figured things out, confidently leaned on her cane and walked behind the other person, turning her back to him—since everyone could see her from this position anyway, it was best if he didn't attack. If he did, it would confirm his bad character, and besides, he couldn't kill Zhou Ke'er with his bare hands, so either way, Zhou Ke'er was ahead—and slowly began to speak:

"You think... when you first enter the manor, they'll definitely check your invitation, right? I just brought it up first. You don't think they wouldn't check it if I hadn't told them, do you?"

So... it's obvious that this mod is designed so that you can't enter the manor in the first place, don't you think?

So... can't we draw a conclusion now? Your departure is part of the plot. Even if the probability of escaping directly is almost zero, there will definitely be a subsequent plot to send you back to this manor.

That's better than being arrested in the first place and locked up in some dark little room in the manor, right? What do you think?

"Hmm... um... you're right."

The man remained silent for about five or six seconds, almost making Zhou Ke'er suspect that he was about to attack her. Hesitating whether to turn around and look at him—after all, turning around now would be very uncool—he finally sighed and slowly said, "I'm convinced by you. What you said makes a lot of sense... Maybe that's how the module is designed. Now it seems that this is the only way I can do it. Okay... then I'll be going."

"call..."

Zhou Ke'er breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief. If this guy refused to admit defeat and insisted on going head-to-head with Zhou Ke'er, then things would be difficult.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er turned around, bowed slightly, and stretched her hand out into the distance. "Then, please. I hope you can escape successfully, hmm."

"Okay, okay... thank you."

The man sighed helplessly, waved his hand, and walked away into the distance.

Zhou Ke'er straightened her bow tie and smoothed out the wrinkles in her clothes before leaning on her cane and walking back to where the others were. "I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting, but everything is resolved now, and we can begin the banquet immediately."

Looking at Zhou Ke'er's formulaic smile, Zhijiansha felt a chill run down her spine for no apparent reason.

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31. The Shadowy Castle (Part 3)

"It's great that this matter was resolved so quickly, but... although it was a little offensive, could you please tell me what exactly happened?"

The woman named Priti couldn't help but ask softly, "While I have no intention of prying into your private affairs, but..."

"Oh, it's really not a big deal."

Zhou Ke'er squinted at the other person, who still had a very kind expression, but her mind was racing.

If she says nothing, she can get away with it, but that will make others suspicious of Zhou Ke'er's identity... Whether they mistakenly think Zhou Ke'er is an NPC or they haven't been fooled by her, once they have doubts about Zhou Ke'er, her next actions will be in trouble.

But if we just make up a reason... if the guy who was just fooled by Zhou Ke'er was also playing in a team, and his companions are here... then wouldn't Zhou Ke'er be essentially revealing her identity as a player?

No...wait, there seems to be room for maneuver...judging from that person's behavior and Zhou Ke'er's own understanding, it seems the player only knows about their own backstory, but not about the others'...

Okay, it seems we can get away with this for now.

"It's just some minor business matter, nothing to mention."

Zhou Ke'er calmed herself down, tapped her cane with her right hand, and slowly replied with a smile: "That gentleman's factory went bankrupt due to some reasons related to me, and he himself went bankrupt as a result. His family, wife and daughters are all alone and homeless."

Out of pity, I stepped forward to take over the man's property and, incidentally, look after his wife and daughters. My actions were motivated by goodwill, but the man misunderstood, believing it to be an insult and the behavior of a prostitute. Therefore, he resorted to this underhanded tactic to frame me.

However, after our in-depth conversation, and with my promise to return his property and his wife and daughters to him, he left satisfied. As for what happens to his property afterward... that's no longer my concern.

Pretti's eye twitched, and she almost lost her composure, which was maintained by a standard lady's smile. She was silent for two seconds in embarrassment before saying, "I see. Your Excellency is truly kind-hearted and a gentleman indeed."

"You flatter me. It was just a small favor."

Zhou Ke'er waved her hand modestly.

Very well, his words just now confirmed his guess again. The others were indeed unaware of Zhou Ke'er's identity, or rather, unaware of the others' identities. Zhou Ke'er had initially thought that only he was unaware of the others' backgrounds because he was impersonating someone else, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

The fact that someone is hiding their identity as a detective is something that others obviously wouldn't know, but... if even the public identity of a middle-class person is unknown, then there's a lot of room for maneuver.

That's right, Zhou Ke'er's rambling just now was to prove this point. The series of events she described could never have been accomplished by a mere middle-class person, yet no one else raised any objections...

"Oh, alright, alright everyone, we've been waiting here long enough. I haven't even had dinner yet, and I can't wait to join this feast!"

Just then, the burly man named Stion broke the awkward silence with a gruff suggestion.

"Ah, that's right. I'm so sorry to have kept you all waiting."