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

This weather isn't actually fog, it's smog!

Zhou Ke'er sighed, praying that she wouldn't hit anything, and slowly moved the car closer to the side of the road.

Let's get out of the car and see what's going on.

I reached out and pushed open the car door, and thick fog rushed into the car—no, that's not right!

These wisps of mist contained a faint but very distinct eerie aura!

The character "壹" in Zhou Ke'er's right pupil immediately began to flicker slightly, but he himself could not see it.

This is bad! Reality is different from the game... Zhou Ke'er has no spiritual power and can't use any spells. Although he seems to be able to absorb other "ghosts," he doesn't know how to utilize the ghosts absorbed into his body. Not to mention, he just learned that even absorbing "ghosts" has a limit. What if he encounters one he can't absorb indefinitely...?

Speaking of this, Zhou Ke'er suddenly seemed to remember something and quickly ran to the back of the car to rummage through the trunk—that's right, the exorcism tools she had swindled from the exorcist Mu Yang during the bus incident. She remembered that on her way home, she had passed by the garage and, just in case, had casually stuffed a few in...

Unexpectedly, it actually came in handy.

Zhou Ke'er immediately stuffed two balls into her pockets, one in each hand, until they were bulging. She also held a small black box in her hand, with a small light on it flashing.

It's unbelievable! Every time I go to see Xu Qingming, something like this happens. Last time I went, I encountered the bus incident, and this time I ran into something strange again...

This guy is toxic!

And... most importantly, this godforsaken place still has no signal, which is like being all alone, unable to call for help.

So how come Zhou Ke'er could drive into a place like this even when she was just driving normally on the road?

"boom!"

Just then, a loud bang was heard, and a large patch of thick fog in front suddenly dispersed, revealing a figure that slammed hard onto the ground with a sickening sound. The figure rolled around on the ground several times in a miserable state—and what was most annoying was that it rolled towards Zhou Ke'er!

439. The Exorcist

Seeing this, Zhou Ke'er immediately took out the spherical exorcism tool she had just put in her pocket, pressed the switch button, and threw it hard at the figure.

Then it hit the guy's face with perfect accuracy, and at the moment of impact, a spray with a slight exorcising effect also sprayed out from the spherical prop, covering the guy's face.

Yay! Got it! NICESHOOT!

As the spray spread, a melting "sizzling" sound filled the air, and the mist that came into contact with the spray began to dissipate gradually—but for some reason, the guy enveloped in the spray seemed to be unharmed.

"Exorcism spray? Which exorcist colleague is this? I am Shi Mi, a Green-rank exorcist..."

The figure abruptly reached out and removed the spherical prop attached to their face, exclaiming in surprise, "Wait... that's not important. What rank of exorcist are you? If you're below Green rank... run! This isn't an exorcist you can handle! It's almost become a Great Exorcist!"

Huh? I didn't expect that what came wasn't a ghost, but an exorcist...

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck Zhou Ke'er, and a lightbulb went off in her head. She thought to herself, "Isn't this the perfect opportunity for me to join the Exorcist organization? And right now, that Mingmengjing girl... should still be in the event module. She's killed so many monsters, her ranking must be in the top sixty-four. That way... she can't stop me from becoming an Exorcist. And when she logs off, she'll find out that I've already become her teammate!"

Without hesitation, Zhou Ke'er, known for her quick thinking, quickly composed herself before replying in a slightly flustered voice, "I...I'm not an exorcist! What...what should I do?"

"Not an exorcist? Then how come you have exorcism spray?!"

Upon hearing this, the man who called himself Shi Mi quickly got up from the ground, looking warily in the direction from which he had just fallen, and asked Zhou Ke'er.

“I…I’m from the Zhou family, so I always carry some of these kinds of items with me when I go out for self-defense…You know, we do encounter ghosts quite easily…It’s thanks to these items that we can hold out until the exorcists come to rescue us.”

Zhou Ke'er wore a listless expression—the fog was so thick, and the other person had their back to him, making it even less likely they could see his face, so there was no need to force herself to make any expression; it was exhausting. However, her tone was still quite expressive, "You know the Zhou family, right? They produce exorcism tools..."

"..."

Shi Mi sighed heavily upon hearing this. He had thought someone who could provide support had arrived, but it turned out to be a burden who needed protection... However, he was already in dire straits himself, barely able to save himself, so how could he have the energy to protect others? "Then what are you still doing here? Why don't you run?"

"How...how can I run? I don't know how to get out of this damn place! This must be some kind of illusion, right? If this ghost doesn't die, how can an ordinary person like me escape! I've encountered ghosts many times, you can't fool me!"

Zhou Ke'er immediately exposed the truth: "That's how it was during the last bus incident. The entire bus entered an illusion, and it wasn't until the exorcist Mu Yang resolved the bus illusion that it was freed from the illusion."

That ghost was probably just an ordinary little ghost, but now this one is about to become a big ghost. How can Zhou Ke'er get out of this illusion?

Shi Mi choked upon hearing this—he hadn't intentionally wanted Zhou Ke'er to go and die, but in his haste, he had momentarily forgotten about it, subconsciously assuming that since they had these exorcism tools, there should be a way to leave the illusion...

But as expected, even the people from the exorcism tool supplier aren't experts in everything.

Just then, a buzzing sound came from ahead, and a strange figure suddenly darted out of the fog and rushed towards the person in front.

Clang!

At the critical moment, Shi Mi suddenly drew the Tang sword from his waist and held it in front of him, colliding with the fiercely approaching Gui Meng, producing a sound like metal clashing.

Seeing this, Zhou Ke'er quickly threw another exorcism spray ball over—whether she helped or not wasn't important; the main thing was that the fog was blocking her view, preventing her from seeing their movements clearly. She still needed to use the exorcism spray to disperse some of the fog that was condensing and wouldn't dissipate because it was mixed with evil spirits.

After this thought crossed Zhou Ke'er's mind, the character "壹" in her right pupil flickered slightly again, and then the scene in Zhou Ke'er's vision changed instantly: it was like some kind of thermal imaging, but what stood out in her eyes was not temperature, but an eerie concentration.

The surrounding mist contained only a small amount of malevolent energy, so it appeared only as a faint black. The outline of Shi Mi's figure was slightly darker than the mist, but there was a particularly dark area within his body, several times darker than the rest. The Tang sword he held also gleamed with a jet-black luster, clearly indicating that it was no ordinary sword.

And that monster was even more extraordinary; its entire body was pitch black, its color almost matching the darkest part of Shi Mi's body.

It's not that a simple comparison would necessarily show that Shi Mi is no match for this ghost, but mainly it's because Zhou Ke'er's knowledge of ghosts is so limited that she can only make a rough analysis based on this kind of direct comparison.

After all, he didn't know how Shi Mi dealt with the ghosts, or what hidden methods he might have used...

Killing monsters above one's level is perfectly normal, and Zhou Ke'er is just a ruthless, malevolent detector.

"drink!"

Shi Mi grunted, using the force of the strange creature's impact to jump back two steps, holding the slender Tang sword in both hands, and staring at his opponent with a fierce look.

Because unlike Mu Yang or Ming Mengjing, he cannot directly use the evil parts of his body to attack—after all, his lungs can't just jump out of his throat to fight, right?

Therefore, only weapons infused with malevolent materials can be used to harm the ghosts. However, it is clear that, under normal circumstances, their lethality against ghosts is definitely not as good as the former.

What he can do by relying on the evil in his lungs is to inhale the evil from the outside world through breathing. After passing through his lungs, it is transmitted to his whole body to achieve a short-term boost to his physical fitness. But this is different from Zhou Ke'er's absorption of evil. The evil that Shi Mi inhales through breathing will eventually be exhausted with use or dissipated with breathing, and it will also cause damage to his body.

Although Zhou Ke'er was unaware of this, he could discern from the varying shades of color in his vision that with each breath Shi Mi took, the color on his body seemed to deepen imperceptibly.

"Soaring Dragon!"

Seeing the monster lunge towards Shi Mi, Shi Mi took a deep breath, gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and finally roared, his face turning bright red, as a flash of light appeared from below...

The blade got stuck in the monster's body.

Yes, it only cut in less than a quarter of the depth of a little finger before getting completely stuck in the monster's body, unable to go any further.

Clang!

Immediately afterwards, the hand, as sharp as a blade, swung violently, and the Tang sword in Shi Mi's hand was broken in two.

At the same time, he himself was kicked away by Gui Yi and slammed hard onto the ground next to Zhou Ke'er.

440. Do I really need to do this?

With a clang, the remaining half of the Tang sword in Shi Mi's hand flew out and fell in front of Zhou Ke'er with a slight thud.

Seriously, officer? You can't even hold a weapon properly?! You're really disgracing the exorcists!

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but complain in her heart, and why did it fall in front of him? This situation seems so deliberate!

"Run...run!"

Seeing that he was no match for the monster, Shi Mi struggled to his feet while frantically calling out to Zhou Ke'er, "I've already called for backup. I don't know if they'll arrive before I die, but they should be here soon. I'll buy you some time here. You quickly find somewhere to hide..."

Before he could finish speaking, and before Shi Mi could fully stand up, he was once again violently slapped away by the monster that had pounced on him. His body flew in a high arc before crashing heavily to the ground.

Good grief! You're just stalling for time! So, if you're this weak, why were you even sent to deal with this level of trickery?!

Zhou Ke'er had no choice but to quickly bend down, pick up the broken Tang sword, grip the hilt, and warily stare at the strange creature in front of her that had not yet turned its attention to her.

It was indeed vaguely similar to a human form, except that its face did not have obvious features, and its hands were like the sickle claws of a mantis, which looked very sharp. There were also many places on its body that seemed to be incomplete, with black mist floating around them.

It should be much weaker than the giant monster Zhou Ke'er encountered in the event module—but for Zhou Ke'er in the real world, whether it's weaker or stronger is meaningless. It's all going to be a one-claw kill anyway, and then Shi Mi will have to kneel on the ground begging Zhou Ke'er not to die.

Oh, Shi Mi might die even before Zhou Ke'er? That's alright then.

However... this monster does seem to be not very intelligent. Even though Shi Mi said that rescue would be coming soon, this monster did not choose to finish him off quickly and take his life while he was unable to get up. Instead, it was slowly approaching him—perhaps it does not understand human speech?

Moreover, even though it was Zhou Ke'er who was currently holding half of the Tang sword, it acted as if it didn't see her at all, its gaze completely fixed on Shi Mi, as if it couldn't start working on the next target until the previous one was solved. It's quite unintelligent.

...This is so suspicious, it's all too strange. Could it be that the exorcists staged this whole thing to test Zhou Ke'er? But the Dream Realm shouldn't have released its module yet, and even if it did, it wouldn't be this efficient... So, it must be that the exorcist Mu Yang we encountered last time found out Zhou Ke'er's identity?

If that's the case, then things will get complicated. If Zhou Ke'er runs away, they might see through her and realize that she's all bark and no bite, all show and no substance. In that case, she could be captured and dissected for research, which would be terrible.

It would be better to try rescuing Shi Mi here. Regardless of whether he's acting or not, it would be Zhou Ke'er doing them a favor, so it wouldn't be a loss.

That's what they say—the main problem is how to rescue her. Even Zhou Ke'er herself might not be able to escape...

Of course, Zhou Ke'er would never take matters into her own hands to deal with this strange creature. Putting aside whether she could even win, even if she were lucky enough to do so, her true strength would be revealed... That wouldn't do.

While pondering, Zhou Ke'er pressed the button on the small black box in her hand and then tossed it toward the ghost.

The light on the small black box was flashing rapidly and making a constant buzzing sound, as if the signal was being interfered with.

Under this situation, which resembled signal interference, the ghost's body twisted, and black mist floated up in many places as if loading was hindered, which also slowed it down considerably.

As expected of the tool Mu Yang used to resolve the bus incident last time, it also has a certain effect on this level of ghosts.

So... why did Ishimi not even bring any tools when he was solving the ghost story?!

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and get on the bus while you still can!"

Seeing this, Zhou Ke'er quickly gripped the broken Tang sword in her left hand, then strode forward, directly stepping over the monster—after all, its current target wasn't him—and while opening the driver's side door, said to Shi Mi, who was swaying and barely managing to stand up, "Do you want me to help you up?!"

"Ah? Oh!"

Shi Mi was stunned for a moment before he realized what was happening. He immediately rushed to the back seat of the car, forcefully opened the door, and crawled inside.

Who wants to die when they can live?

Covering the rear? Buying time? Are you crazy to think I'd risk my life to stop monsters if I could drive away?

"boom!"

Immediately following him was the monster that charged wildly in his direction. The car door, which he hadn't had time to close, was dented by the impact. If Shi Mi hadn't pulled his leg back quickly, he probably would have been pinched by the car door.

In that case... judging by the force, amputation would probably be the only option.

"Damn it, putting everything else aside, you guys have to pay for the car repairs, right?"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but swear. It seemed that she would have to change to a different car from the underground parking garage next time she went out. If she wasted her car like this every day, she would be out of cars in a month or two and would have to buy a new one. How troublesome!

While cursing, Zhou Ke'er's hands were quick. Luckily, she hadn't turned off the engine or locked the doors when she got out of the car, so she could start it now. Otherwise, if she had been slowly inserting the key, the back door would probably have been ripped off.

Fortunately, this was in an illusion; otherwise, Zhou Ke'er wouldn't dare drive recklessly on the road in such thick fog, where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Besides, Zhou Ke'er knew this area quite well, so even if she drove blindly... it shouldn't be a problem... right?

Zhou Ke'er slammed on the gas pedal and asked Shi Mi without turning her head, "Why didn't you bring any exorcism tools to deal with this level of ghost? Do you look down on the tools we made or are you too confident in yourself? Look, if you had carried ten or so with you, would you have been beaten up like this?"