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

Grassis stared wide-eyed at Zhou Ke'er, asking in utter bewilderment as blood gushed from his mouth. With each word he spoke, blood gushed from the wound on his neck, which was being covered by his hand.

"Too much nonsense."

Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips, stepped forward and kicked Grassis to the ground, then stomped hard on his throat and rolled it over.

With Zhou Ke'er's strength, she probably stomped Grassis's Adam's apple inward.

From the very beginning, he was scared away by Zhou Ke'er. In the end, he finally returned only to be inexplicably killed by Zhou Ke'er. He stared at Zhou Ke'er with wide eyes, feeling resentful, and died without any enjoyment of the game.

However, although it seemed completely unexpected, Zhou Ke'er actually had a plan. After all... Grassis had already provided 20% of the mission progress, and as for the rest, she figured she wouldn't get any more information from him, so she might as well just kill him.

Not only will this prevent this guy from causing Zhou Ke'er any further trouble, but... judging from the circumstances of Dais's death, killing Grassis should also yield related items. If these items are also related to information about him, Zhou Ke'er will achieve 50% completion and successfully obtain the special item.

Why not do a business that's guaranteed to make a profit?

You have killed the character "Glasses" and obtained the story item "The Consecration of Glasses".

"Huh? A sacrificial ritual? This thing... can be materialized?"

When Zhou Ke'er saw that the items she had obtained had not helped advance the mission, she was disappointed for a moment, but she quickly recovered.

[Note: The "Glasis's Sacrifice Ritual" grants you the qualification to benefit from this ritual. Once activated, it will initiate the process of transforming you into an immortal being and grant you access to subsequent rituals.]

"This is...! Wait, obtaining the follow-up ritual... which means this ritual can be taken out of the module?! So this ritual directly affects the player, not the character in the module..."

Zhou Ke'er analyzed in her mind with slight surprise: "This item can definitely be considered comparable to the special reward of the hidden quest! It directly affects the player. There are indeed rumors about this kind of item on the forums, but no more than ten people have announced that they have obtained it. Based on this, there won't be too many people in the entire game who have obtained this kind of item... After all, the server has only been open for less than two weeks!"

"It's decided! Let's go all in and see if we can activate this ritual. If we can, we'll make a fortune!"

Zhou Ke'er's eyes narrowed, and she immediately turned to the stunned Zhijiansha and the others, saying, "Zhijiansha, could you help me...?"

Before she could finish speaking, a burst of uncontrollable laughter, seemingly born from tax evasion, rang out from Tasia's direction.

The group instinctively looked in that direction.

But it turned out that Pretty had sneaked into the castle at some point, and now he had climbed out of the window, looking like he had "finally completed his mission" and was a super tax evader.

"Didn't expect that, did you, Tasia! While you were standing here in a daze, I went in and destroyed the sacrificial ritual you set up! That way, my mission is complete! Hahahaha! The final victor is not you, Tasia, but me, Pride!"

Pride burst into laughter at Tasia, who was staring at her with a blank expression. Her persona had completely collapsed; she was no longer an elegant lady, but rather a crazy, arrogant woman who made you want to punch her.

"Wh...what! You're saying you ruined the ritual?!"

Before Tasia could react, Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but shout out.

"That's right! This is my exclusive mission! Didn't you guys notice that the monster next to Tasia disappeared right at the beginning?"

Priti barely managed to suppress the wildly upturned corners of her mouth and explained, "Well, shouldn't we be considered as one team? If I resolve this ritual, it'll be equivalent to declaring victory for our side! The situation is now five against one. As long as we deal with Tasia, this module should be over."

"It seems...that's indeed the case!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Yi nodded in sudden realization.

"Moreover... the rewards from this module are also very substantial!"

Priti completely ignored Tasia's gloomy face beside her, and instead looked like she was already dreaming about the future, counting on her fingers as she said:

"If we survive, we'll get the 10 sanity points from the main quest I, escape the castle, get the 10 sanity points from the side quest, and then we can destroy the castle while we're at it..."

Oh, no need. It's already on fire. Just wait patiently for it to burn out, and the extra 10 sanity points from the mission will be a piece of cake...

That gives me 30 sanity points from the base reward, and I also completed the exclusive quest... I've hit the jackpot!

"Really...really! Even though I didn't complete the special mission, I really made a killing this time!"

Upon hearing this, Shi's eyes lit up. "Even though I didn't do anything, is this the thrill of winning without lifting a finger?! I don't want to work hard anymore!"

"Ah, yes, they made a killing...!"

Zhou Ke'er squinted, her expression switching to flamingo mode, and read the poem listlessly.

His hidden quest! He was so close to getting the special reward! And this ritual, it was such a huge win, now it's all gone! Gone, all gone!

Compared to all this, 30 is nothing!

However, there's another way to double your sanity points: the second side quest... Since the losses are so great, we need to make up for some of them!

Hehe...hehehehehe...

Zhou Ke'er seemed to have gone mad, letting out a chilling laugh as she looked at the others with a sinister gaze—she could gain another 30 sanity points if she killed everyone else, hehehehe!

"Hey! Your eyes are terrifying! Are you thinking about something super scary?!"

Jin Yi couldn't help but complain when she saw Zhou Ke'er's expression.

Zhou Ke'er's smile froze... Oh well, as expected... one against five is impossible...

"You think...you've already won?!"

Tasia suddenly spoke up: "Why do you think our manor owner's side only has two players, while your side has seven? You don't actually think the game's balance is that bad, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Priti's smile faded, and she stared at Tasia, saying, "It's certain you have a backup plan, but as long as you don't use it, isn't that enough? We're five against one; do you think you have a chance to use your so-called backup plan?"

Do you know why you were able to disrupt that sacrificial ceremony so easily?

Tasia did not answer Priti's question, but changed the subject.

Has that ritual not been destroyed yet?

A glimmer of hope rose in Zhou Ke'er's heart.

"Because, according to the background setting, Dess had already discovered that the ritual was given to him by Grassis... Planning this ritual was just a scheme to lure the enemy out! Moreover, we also knew that the church would send people to destroy the ritual..."

Tasia scanned the crowd, her gaze turning cold as she said, "So, this ritual was originally planned to be disrupted by you! Only by disrupting this ritual can the energy that bursts forth at that moment trigger another ritual!"

"Detective, weren't you here to investigate the disappearances that happened in this manor? Where did they all go? I'll tell you now!"

"Hey...no way...I knew it wouldn't be that simple..."

Before Zhou Ke'er could react, Jin Yi couldn't wait to exclaim.

"Indeed, how could a module on the Fog difficulty be so easy... Even in player-versus-player games, even if the opponent makes a major mistake at the beginning, it's impossible to end it this easily..."

Sand between her fingers murmured, "So there really are measures to force balance? Even if some outrageous players try to destroy the manor indiscriminately from the start due to a side quest, the game will provide the manor's side with corresponding countermeasures..."

"That's right... this module is only just beginning!"

Tasia's voice drifted over, sending chills down one's spine.

As Tasia's voice faded, the flames that had spread to almost every corner of the castle suddenly paused, and then...

A cold, damp wind, seemingly from nowhere, swept in.

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

42. Shadowy Castle (XIV)

"Holy crap! Attack! Attack! Attack! How could we lose to her when they're practically charging at us like dragons???"

Upon seeing this scene, Pride panicked immediately. Completely disregarding any semblance of dignity, he unconsciously uttered profanities and charged towards Tasia without thinking. At the same time, he shouted to Zhou Ke'er and the others, "Strike first! Take this guy down, and this module will be over! I've already sneaked all the way here, how can I let myself be caught off guard and fail?!"

...Friend, it seems your public persona has collapsed. Is this really okay?

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but recall how ladylike Pride had been at the beginning of the module. What had she become now? Indeed, money... no, rationality is the root of all evil!

"you!"

When Tasia saw that Priti was fighting with all her might, she couldn't help but panic for a moment and showed a look of alarm.

Seeing this, Pride couldn't help but laugh. This was definitely the opening! Clearly, Tasia had imagined how the other party would react in this situation—perhaps running away or having some countermeasures—but she certainly never imagined a powerful figure would charge straight at her!

Moreover, Plett's glowing green eyes... he really wanted to kill her, no, he wanted to eat her alive! Like, devour her whole!

Although Tasia had appeared sinister and manipulative when she made her threats, she immediately revealed her true colors and lost all composure when she saw the terrifying Pride. She instinctively shuddered and took two steps back.

"Sinek! Cadillac!"

As Zhou Ke'er watched Priti charging forward with her mouth wide open, roaring, she couldn't help but provide her with a voiceover on the spot.

"You...you stay away from me!"

Tasia, seeing the ferocious face of Priti, was finally terrified. In despair, she put her hands in front of her and screamed loudly.

Meanwhile, Zhijiansha, Shi Shi, and Jinyi had naturally already rushed over to help.

After all, this isn't an anime where monsters would sit and watch the magical girl's transformation for a full five or six minutes before taking action.

Wait a minute... I seem to be comparing myself to a monster...

Forget it, it doesn't matter.

Zhou Ke'er swung her cane and rushed towards Tasia.

Hmph, they don't feel anything when they hit you with their fists, hitting you with a cane is really satisfying~ It's awesome!

This is what you call a good feel!

Take this from Zhou Ke'er... Ah↗Ah↘Ah!

Zhou Ke'er suddenly slammed on the brakes, and then...

He turned around and ran away without looking back.

Zhijiansha also noticed something was wrong. She had clearly been ahead of Shi Shi and Jin Yi, but she was suddenly brought to a screeching halt. Then, disregarding her image, she scrambled back.

"Sigh... So you're the only ones I managed to fool?"

When Priti, Shi, and Jin Yi were already too late to stop and were less than five steps away from Tasia, Tasia's panicked expression instantly changed.

This change of expression is even faster than a student secretly playing on their phone while doing homework, who puts away their phone as soon as they hear footsteps outside the door.

"According to the background setting of the module, this was supposed to be a last resort for Des to use to perish together with Grassis... I never expected that it would be used against you."

Tasia sighed and turned to Zhou Ke'er: "You...you're so cunning! I was thinking of helping Uncle get revenge, but you ran away faster than anyone else...Oh well..."

Zhou Ke'er smiled awkwardly, then subtly took a dozen...dozens of steps back.

Just kidding. Although he said that, who knows if it was just a way to lull Zhou Ke'er into a false sense of security? What if this distance is still within the damage range?

It's better to play it safe.

Sand between Fingers didn't dare to stop for a moment. After staggering to his feet, he ran without looking back until he was almost thirty or forty meters away from Tasia before stopping, panting, and leaning against a tree to look back.

Countless pale white lights rose from the castle, their shapes resembling countless undead, surging like a tide behind Tasia in an extremely eerie manner, forming a vortex.

Those who were close to Tasia felt an irresistible suction force, pulling them directly towards the vortex.

As for Tasia... she was naturally the first one sucked into the vortex.