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

Zhou Ke'er leaned forward slightly, a smile playing on her lips. "Aren't you afraid I'm just lying to you? Or... do you trust me that much?"

Sagos's lips curled up slightly. "Of course, the moment I saw you, I knew you were someone I could trust."

"Bah bah bah!"

Just then, the hero Sion spat out the gag that was blocking his mouth and righteously rebuked him: "Sagas, you bastard! You're over a hundred years old and you're still acting young, trying to seduce some pretty lady, aren't you ashamed! You're lusting after her body, you're despicable! Let me tell you, this is a deep well, you can't handle it! I should handle it, I'm the hero, I can handle it!"

Zhou Ke'er pointed to the three people hanging up, "If I'm not mistaken, 'hero' must be some kind of top honorary title, right? Is this what a hero in your world is like...? If this can convince everyone, then it means he's very strong? He has no rivals in your world?"

Sargus shook his head and explained, “Perhaps the specific situation in our world is different from yours. Sion was just a former hero of the Principality of Bahadur; there isn’t only one hero. Moreover, the hero who inherited the power of the Holy Sword… is actually just a weapon specifically designed to attack demons, but the Demon King’s camp is just a slightly larger force that is hostile to humanity.”

Zhou Ke'er seemed to understand: "So that means there are other heroes besides him—and many holy swords. And besides demons, there are many other dangers?"

Sagos nodded. "That's right. In terms of strength alone, our team is only of average level on this continent."

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535. The World Defense War (Part 1)

"Well..."

Zhou Ke'er frowned slightly, deep in thought.

He had just been a little confused. If these people in front of him were already the strongest in this world, then the other players... referring only to the stronger professional or elite players, they wouldn't be much weaker than Zhou Ke'er. In that case, wouldn't this so-called large-scale event be too easy? — Unless some beings directly intervened.

It seems the power levels are about the same. After all, those beings just want to have fun or watch, not actually intend to wipe out humanity here. So, if the combat power of this world is enough to give the players a tough fight, there's no need for those beings to interfere further and release any other overpowered monsters... right?

That's what they say, but Zhou Ke'er couldn't guess what those beings were thinking, so she could only hope that was the case for now.

Besides... he still didn't understand how he had suddenly ended up here.

In short, Zhou Ke'er hasn't decided what to do next if he's acting alone yet. After all, he doesn't have a basic understanding of this world yet, so he'd better stick with these guys for now—even though they seem unreliable, Zhou Ke'er himself is even more unreliable and isn't afraid at all.

Just then, Xi Ang spoke up, interrupting Zhou Ke'er's thoughts, "So...would we have the honor of having you accompany us for the time being? If you don't have a good place to go yet, you can come with us first..."

Chris, who was standing nearby, immediately swung in mid-air and headbutted Theon in the chest, instantly interrupting him. At the same time, she shouted, "Don't use that sycophantic tone to say anything with ulterior motives!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke'er tilted her head innocently. "That's not a problem. However, I need to know what your purpose is and where you're going. Don't tell me it's just a simple escape; I don't believe it."

Sargus transformed the magic ball in his hand back into a staff, casually waved it at the other three, and the ropes binding them instantly disappeared. The three fell straight to the ground from mid-air, landing in a dusty mess.

Then Sargus spoke up, "Actually, with Sion's strength, he could have resisted the king's spell to reclaim the holy sword. But that would have meant getting bogged down in the power struggles of the capital, unable to extricate himself for a while. And just at this moment..."

As he spoke, Sargers looked at Sion, who was getting up from the ground. Sion scratched his head helplessly, brushing the dust off his body as he said, "It just so happens that the Duchy of Dragon was trying to create heroes through some ancient secret method to another world, and the demons, having lived for so long, obviously knew about the existence of this secret method, so they sent demons to stop it... In the end, for some reason, the plan completely failed."

Not only that, the spatial rift that was forcibly opened emitted an extremely powerful yet eerie aura—that's how I've heard it described, but I haven't actually experienced it myself, so I'm not entirely sure—in any case, this aura alone nearly overwhelmed the powerful beings near the spatial rift. Fortunately, they forcibly closed the spatial rift, preventing the terrifying being on the other side from directly descending upon this world.

Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes imperceptibly. Goodness, why does this description feel so familiar? It feels like this is a module she experienced before.

It should be the module where you first encounter Long Aotian. In the end, Long Aotian unleashed a Saya Descent, and that skill was definitely bugged.

Sagos nodded, then added, "And the two princesses of the Duchy of Dragon, Cynthia and Draco, have disappeared without a trace. Since then, the Duchy of Dragon has been plunged into civil war, and the entire capital has been sealed off."

Zhou Ke'er slowly descended from the air, straightened up, and looked at the other group. "I see... I understand more or less what this is about—but you still haven't said what you're going to do? Could it be that you want to support that country?"

If this sub-world is indeed related to the module that Zhou Ke'er experienced, then the royal family of the so-called Duchy of Dragon should have some kind of non-human bloodline and should be related to "evil" to some extent.

Thinking about it this way... since different evil entities can resonate with each other, it's highly likely that the massive amount of evil energy emitted by Long Aotian during his final "Saya no Uta" (Song of Saya) passed through the spatial rift and triggered a resonance within the royal family of the Duchy of Dragon, who possessed traces of evil blood...

Oh no. We're doomed.

The corrupting power of this evil thing is no joke. If it were to spread... the capital of the Duchy of Dragon would probably already be a hell on earth.

“My master is currently residing in the capital of the Duchy of Dragon. I haven’t been able to contact him for some time now, ever since that rumor started circulating.”

Sion said earnestly, "Although I am not as strong as my master, and even if I went, it might not be of much help, but... he is still my master, and I cannot stand idly by."

Zhou Ke'er pondered for a moment: Xi Ang was slightly stronger than her, and Xi Ang's master was stronger than Xi Ang. With Zhou Ke'er's current strength, if she disregarded her innate resistance to evil, dealing with ordinary evil shouldn't be a problem. Therefore, as long as Xi Ang's master wasn't corrupted by evil, his life wouldn't be in danger.

So Zhou Ke'er casually asked, "By the way, is your master a member of the royal family of the Duchy of Dragon?"

Xi'ang was slightly taken aback, not understanding why Zhou Ke'er suddenly asked this, but still subconsciously replied, "How do you know? My master was the second princess of the previous Duchy of Dragon, why are you suddenly asking about this?"

Zhou Ke'er's lips twitched slightly. Well, poor hero, your master is most likely gone. Even if he is, he'll probably be a "lump" or a "pool" (in a physical sense).

To be honest, if I really turned into that grotesque state, I'd rather just die and be done with it.

Sagos's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had noticed something, but before he could, Chris had already asked directly, "You seem to know something about this? Aren't you from another world?"

Upon hearing this, Sargers reached out and patted Chris on the shoulder, shaking his head at her. "Think about what we were just talking about, what happened in the Duchy of Dragon."

Before Chris could react, Sion, standing beside her, widened his eyes and looked at Zhou Ke'er, asking, "You came from that other world on the other side of the spatial rift?! Wait... so you came here from the Duchy of Dragon, right? How is the capital of the Duchy of Dragon doing now? What's the situation?"

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536. The World Defense War (Part Two)

Zhou Ke'er shrugged, looking completely innocent. "I didn't come from the Duchy of Dragon that you mentioned. I just escaped from the spatial rift and came right here."

Sion's eyes dimmed slightly, but he didn't complain much. He just forced a smile and said, "I see... I'm sorry, I was a little too hasty just now."

Zhou Ke'er thought for a moment, then put on a serious expression and added in a frightening tone, "By the way, there's something I have to tell you first. My world was once attacked by some kind of strange entity, and the energy emitted by that entity was extremely polluting."

Furthermore... I once had contact with a princess named Cynthia from another world in my world. If I'm not mistaken, she should be the princess of the Duchy of Dragon that you mentioned.

After interacting with her, I discovered that her bloodline actually carries that evil energy—I suspect that such a being may have once descended upon your world and given birth to offspring. If that's true, then the royal family of the Duchy of Dragon is certainly doomed.

The others were stunned upon hearing this, and their brows furrowed deeply.

The holy sword, which had finally slain the demon, flew shakily back into Sion's hand and remained motionless for a moment, clearly exhausted.

At this moment, Xi'ang had no time to pay attention to the condition of the Holy Sword. He hurriedly asked Zhou Ke'er, "Why...why is this? Even if they have the bloodline of that evil entity you mentioned, wouldn't that reduce the impact on them? How can they be in grave danger?"

Zhou Ke'er slightly raised her eyes, her expression darkening as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. In the end, she sighed and raised her left hand flat. "Resonating with that kind of evil energy is an extremely dangerous thing—look at my hand."

After saying that, Zhou Ke'er secretly urged the evil energy to flow into his left arm. Not long ago, when he almost glimpsed the true name of that ancient book in the secret realm, the strange feeling he had afterward resonated with the "Seven Chapters of the Mysterious Monarch's Secret Scripture," which flooded Zhou Ke'er's mind with a lot of knowledge about evil energy. Now, what he had to do was to use one of these evil energy techniques.

First, a thick, pitch-black mist seeped out from Zhou Ke'er's left hand, lingering in the air; just seeing it was enough to make one feel disgusted and nauseous.

Immediately, something seemed to be wriggling on Zhou Ke'er's left arm, or as if her entire hand was melting, causing strange and irregular deformations. However, due to the obstruction of her sleeve, it was impossible to see what was happening.

However, soon, the others were shocked to see that something seemed to be dripping from Zhou Ke'er's left sleeve. But the liquid seemed to be very viscous and did not break at all. Upon closer inspection, it was not a liquid at all, but countless tiny, very smooth tentacles!

Zhou Ke'er groaned, her face contorted in pain, as if all the color had drained from her. She knelt on the ground, her brows furrowed deeply, and began muttering incomprehensible gibberish.

As Zhou Ke'er spoke, the black mist that had been spreading out was finally absorbed back into Zhou Ke'er's hand, and her hand finally returned to its original shape.

Of course, most of his actions were feigned by Zhou Ke'er. In reality, he didn't feel any pain or discomfort at all, and the physical transformation was quite simple, requiring no incantation to return to normal. It was all just Zhou Ke'er making things up.

The others remained silent, simply watching Zhou Ke'er and waiting for her to continue.

As for the soldiers who were still lying there pretending to be unconscious, they were about to cry out—couldn't you find somewhere else to talk about this? Why do you have to stay here and refuse to leave? What are you trying to do?! We're just pretending to be unconscious, you can't really take our unconsciousness for real!

Zhou Ke'er pretended to catch her breath, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and then continued to explain: "As you all saw, once you are contaminated by this strange and evil energy, your body will be irreversibly transformed into what my left hand just became. I was only able to barely suppress... no, only slow down this transformation because I have a special method."

Those who possess that kind of bloodline, once they come into contact with this energy and resonate with it... their transformation will be unstoppable. Either their bodies cannot withstand the erosion and erosion of this energy and they die directly, or... they will be transformed into that grotesque form under the influence of that energy. That's why I said the odds are against them..."

Sion looked dejected and rather dispirited, while Sargus frowned and muttered to himself, "So that's how it is... No wonder my teleportation spell kept failing because it was blocked by some kind of energy. It seems that the Duchy of Dragon has been permeated by this strange energy, and it's still spreading, even trying to cross the border and invade other duchies..."

Zhou Ke'er paused, glanced at Lance and Chris who remained silent, and finally turned to Sion, asking, "You already know that the Duchy of Dragon is likely in this situation, and that your goal of rescuing people is unlikely to succeed... Do you still plan to go there?"

Xi Ang raised his head, clenched his fists, and his eyes regained their determination: "Of course! That's my master. No matter what, no matter how small the hope, even if it's impossible, I will try!"

However, he immediately turned to the others, changing the subject: "But... such a dangerous matter, especially one concerning my personal affairs, I can't shamelessly ask you all to go to such a dangerous place with me... so, I'll have to walk the rest of the way on my own..."

Before Sion could finish speaking, Chris interrupted him. She said with a displeased look, "Sion, what do you mean by this?! Do you think we're all cowards? We're a team! How can we go our separate ways over such a small danger?!"

Lance, standing to the side, nodded and planted his greatsword on the ground. "The way of the knight is to be upheld to the end! When I joined the squad, I swore an oath—I will be your loyal and steadfast shield!"

Sagos smiled and shrugged. "Really, how could I be left out of something like this?"

"Everyone!"

Sion was so moved he couldn't speak.

Zhou Ke'er, who watched the whole thing from the sidelines, almost gave the same look as an old man on the subway looking at his phone—good heavens, is this some kind of emotional drama about a heroic team?! This kind of trope is so outdated!

They were getting all sentimental, probably feeling really moved, but Zhou Ke'er, watching from the sidelines, was getting goosebumps. He felt embarrassed for them.

To break the ice, Zhou Ke'er could only sigh, "Since that's the case... you probably wouldn't mind taking me along, right? I have to go there too."

Compared to the so-called war between humans and demons, the situation there is definitely more urgent and important. If there are other players in this world... they would all rush there as soon as they know about this.

Xi Ang looked at Zhou Ke'er and nodded firmly. "Welcome to the team, Miss Memoride. From now on, you are our companion."

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537. The World Defense War (Part 3)

After reaching a consensus, Zhou Ke'er and Xi Ang's group finally left that small, dilapidated village.

After walking along the deserted road for a long time, the sky gradually darkened, and it was clear that we would have to spend the night in the wilderness.

Zhou Ke'er finally couldn't help but ask, "Speaking of which, at our current speed, how long will it take to reach the Duchy of Dragon?"

Sagos shook his head and replied, "To be precise, we are now on the border of the Duchy of Dragon. That small town we just passed is right next to the border. However, at our speed, if there are no other obstacles along the way, it will take at least three days to get from here to the capital of the Duchy of Dragon."

Zhou Ke'er blinked—well, she was used to modules that rarely stayed overnight, so she subconsciously felt that three days was too long just for traveling. But then she thought... coming from the border of a country to its capital on foot, even though they were faster on foot than by carriage, three days was indeed a very short time.

Thinking about it this way, the duration of this so-called activity is likely to be quite long, so we need to change our mindset now, otherwise being too anxious later could lead to problems.

Zhou Ke'er was about to say something when she suddenly realized that the others were all still in their original positions, completely motionless. Saggs was even still in the shape of uttering the last syllable, his mouth still open—as if time had stopped.

Before Zhou Ke'er could figure out what had happened, she found herself in a place that looked like a conference room.

The meeting room was dim and cramped, containing only a long table and chairs around it. Apart from a few candles burning dimly on the table, there was nothing else in the room.

This room doesn't even have a door.

However, as other people appeared in their seats one after another, the meeting room soon seemed to come alive a little.

Zhou Ke'er quickly glanced at the others, most of whom were strangers, but there were a few familiar faces—such as Long Aotian, Honghe, and... Dio.

Honghe also spotted Zhou Ke'er instantly and opened her mouth as if to say something, but Zhou Ke'er shook her head, signaling her to hold off for now.

Soon, after all the guest seats were filled, people finally appeared in the main seats.

"Welcome to the Dream of Mist. I apologize for forcibly bringing you here in this way."

The woman in the main seat was alluring and beautiful, but she always covered the lower half of her face with a fan—she was the swollen woman who had met Zhou Ke'er and the others once in the main world. "Now, let me give you a brief explanation."

Of course, none of the people present were the kind of troublemakers who would dare to speak out at such a time; they all quietly waited for the other party to continue speaking.

The swollen woman's eyes seemed to be filled with laughter. She narrowed her eyes slightly and continued in a strangely joyful tone: "I suppose you all already have some guesses or understanding of your current situation, right? In short—you are the players we have chosen."

After our assessment, we've determined that you possess the ability to make us happy... well, you possess the ability to rival us—not in your current form, of course. So, we've decided to give you a little... a little pushover.

This event is a test for you all, so please don't let us down. After all, only success can save the lives of your fellow players. If you fail... then all the players who die in this event, including you, are truly dead.