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

Speaking of which, Zhou Ke'er had some doubts... Could this thing be Tasia's escape plan? Maybe, after all, you can't trust the enemy's words. Perhaps it really is a feigned attack, pretending to perish together with others, while actually hiding and secretly preparing to launch a sneaky attack.

Immediately, several enormous bone claws emerged from the vortex, precisely grabbing Shi Shi Jin Yi and Pridi and dragging them into the vortex.

"Waaaaaah! Why did this happen?!"

Pride struggled frantically, hopping around like a frog thrown into boiling water, "Help! Can't I just get through the Fog module properly this once?! I've already lost five times in a row! Waaaaaah!"

As for Shi Shi... he completely gave up struggling, only looking resentfully at Zhou Ke'er and Zhijiansha who had escaped unscathed: "Wow... you guys are really dogs! Zhou Ke'er is one thing, she was too cowardly to come over from the beginning, but Zhijiansha, you went too far! You saw the problem, but you just ran away without even reminding us!"

"Um...I forgot."

Finger Sand scratched his head, showing no intention of rescuing them. "Here's the thing, I thought you should have noticed something was wrong by now. If I yelled, it would be too obvious, and the other side might give up and take immediate action, which would make things much more complicated."

"What do you mean we should have figured it out by now?!"

Caught in the bone claws, with half her body already trapped in the vortex, Jin Yi couldn't help but complain, "So what exactly is wrong?! What's so 'obvious' about this?! How did you guys even notice it?!"

"..."

Zhou Ke'er opened his mouth, but... looking at the brocade robes that were now just a large, healthy head, he suddenly didn't know what to say.

"Because it was so fake... I'd give this acting a negative score, okay?"

Seeing that the sand between her fingers did not answer, Zhou Ke'er looked at the brocade robe with only half a head left and decided to mercifully satisfy his last thirst for knowledge, so she quickly answered.

Watching Jin Yi, whose face was full of... no, half of his face was confused, being swallowed by the vortex, Zhou Ke'er felt a sense of fulfillment for having done a good deed.

"That's right. Don't you guys find it strange? They were very calm at the beginning, and they even used all their trump cards. They should have had the overall situation under control. How could they suddenly change their attitude after being attacked by someone? It's obvious that they were showing weakness to lure you over."

At this moment, Zhijiansha slowly sighed and explained to the remaining Shi and Priti.

"...Do you have some kind of problem with the Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but scratch her head and ask, "Although this guy is completely useless, and it wouldn't be wrong to call him a burden, he hasn't even done his job as the 'commentator' properly, and he keeps trying to steal the spotlight, he's still a good person!"

"You're the one who clearly has the most complaints about him!"

Before the sand between his fingers could speak, Shi, caught in the vortex, couldn't wait to finish his last rant in this module at the last moment.

It has come to a successful conclusion.

"Sigh... I give up... I lost again. Solo queue is useless after all... I should just be a support for the pros... Why do I have to match with the fog mod all by myself?"

Despondent, Pride fell into a state of self-doubt similar to that after a 20-game losing streak in ranked matches. With vacant eyes, she muttered to herself, "I was wrong, I was really wrong. I shouldn't have played this game in the first place. If I hadn't played this game, waaaaah!"

Before she could finish speaking, she was swallowed by the vortex.

"Hmm... the vortex doesn't seem to have disappeared yet?"

Zhou Ke'er swallowed hard and couldn't help but take several dozen steps back again.

"No way..."

"Sand between Fingers" said helplessly, and then he made his escape without any hesitation.

"Wait for me!"

Seeing this, Zhou Ke'er quickly followed Zhijiansha and slipped away.

After all, isn't there an eternal truth?

When you're being chased, you don't need to run very fast, you just need to run faster than the people you're being chased with.

so...

Zhou Ke'er quickened her pace.

Are you kidding me?! Do you think he can run slower than sand slipping through your fingers?

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

43. The Shadowy Castle (The End)

However, things did not develop as Zhou Ke'er and the others had imagined.

The two people who were desperately running away did not feel any strong suction or anything like that coming from behind them, and they didn't even hear a sound.

Zhou Ke'er sensed something was wrong and subconsciously turned her head to take a look.

The vortex just spun quietly there, and nothing like bone claws came out of it.

However, although she didn't see anything, Zhou Ke'er felt as if some inexplicable energy was being drawn away from the castle manor.

Although there was no evidence, the manor seemed to have become desolate and dilapidated in an instant. The decorative vines that originally climbed the outer walls of the castle appeared to have completely lost their vitality, although they were still just as green.

The faint firelight seemed to freeze; the burning flames didn't feel hot, but rather gave off an eerie chill. The orange-red glow reflecting on the dark sky gradually faded, and the ancient castle was being shrouded in darkness.

The crescent moon, edged with blood-red light, lost its last glimmer of brilliance under the cover of dark clouds. At this moment, everything was silent; though a faint light still flickered, it seemed to have been swallowed by darkness.

This manor is dead.

The character "Tasia" is dead.

The character "Duplik" is dead.

The character "Jansen" is dead.

The character "Pretty" is dead.

The castle has been destroyed, and the module has ended.

[Module is currently being processed for payment]

Exiting the module

As the system notification appeared, an endless mist gradually rose around Zhou Ke'er, enveloping her.

Behind the thick fog, indescribable, ineffable black shadows flashed by at high speed. Although I had seen this scene before when I finished a module, it seemed to be seen more clearly this time.

For example, it's like the previous picture was 480p with very low brightness, but now it's been optimized to 720p with a thoughtful increase in brightness.

Although what should be unclear is still unclear.

Congratulations to player "Zhou Ke'er" for completing the "Dense Fog" difficulty module!

You will randomly receive some indescribable "casual glance," "gaze," "interest," or "favor."

"This is...right, it seems there was indeed a mention on the forum that after using the fog module, it was because of this bonus that I was able to leave the cabin..."

Zhou Ke'er then remembered this, "And... the duration of being able to leave the cabin is also related to this, it seems to increase step by step from 'a casual glance' to 'favor'."

Furthermore, it's also related to the rank of some unspeakable being... However, there isn't much information about this on the forums, since those using the "Dense Fog" mod rarely reveal this information.

To be honest, Zhou Ke'er was just too... lucky this time with the "Fog" mod. If she hadn't been randomly assigned to a player-versus-player mod, if the opposing team hadn't made a major mistake at the start, and if Priti hadn't launched a surprise attack at the end, Tasia might not have been so determined to take everyone down with her.

Furthermore... although the ending of this module was somewhat abrupt, upon closer analysis... the background setting of this module is actually quite deep. For example, there are heretics who came to seize the ritual, and there are also believers sent by the church to stop the ritual... as for the detective who impersonated someone else and Grassis who secretly followed them...

So it shouldn't be a seven-on-two situation, but rather the invitees scheming against each other while the castle secretly observes and reaps the benefits. Once the remaining survivors have gathered enough intelligence, the strength difference between the two sides should be balanced, and then the final battle should begin... That's the kind of exciting drama we should have!

But for some reason, something was wrong from the very beginning when Zhou Ke'er drove away Grassis himself.

No... actually, this is actually advantageous to Grassis. After all, it gives him a legitimate reason to observe secretly, but who knows what he actually did.

And what are Des and Tasia from the castle doing? They revealed their identities right at the start, especially Des. He controlled a door and then Steon at the beginning, and then used up all his abilities. I don't know what they're up to.

Simply put, a bunch of noobs messed up a perfectly good mod.

"Ugh..."

Zhou Ke'er sighed. This victory brought her no sense of accomplishment whatsoever. Even though she had encountered the true "Dense Fog" difficulty mode, Zhou Ke'er estimated she would die six, seven, eight, or nine times.

Wait a minute... why is Zhou Ke'er still not getting a good random number after all that internal monologue? Is there a bug?

Zhou Ke'er snapped out of her daze, staring blankly as dark figures darted through the thick fog, scrutinized her, and then left. A sense of foreboding washed over her...

He doesn't even like these guys...?!

Hey, every single guy who came over was more than just giving a "casual glance"! At the very least, they were "staring" at least, but not a single one of them was willing to do it?

So Zhou Ke'er, filled with rage, resolutely decided... to reach out and grab one herself.

That would definitely pique the interest of the captured creature, right? They might even say something like, "Very good, human, you've caught my attention!"

Without hesitation, Zhou Ke'er began to observe the passing shadowy figures intently.

Hmm... this thing that's wriggling and twisting on the ground, looking disgusting like a caterpillar, is definitely a pass.

As for the one with tentacles... never mind, Zhou Ke'er is a bit traumatized by that thing now.

That thing that looks like a ball... well, it seems to be making some weird noises. I can't hear it clearly here, but never mind... there's nowhere to grab it anyway. How am I supposed to catch such a big ball?!

Oh, finally there's a human-shaped one here, this is it!

Zhou Ke'er's eyes lit up. After the guy got close, she immediately made her move and suddenly reached out to grab him.

The guy was stunned, seemingly not expecting anyone to grab him, and then Zhou Ke'er pulled him away.

This was a dark-skinned, tall and thin man who was looking at Zhou Ke'er with a puzzled expression.

It's great that they don't seem to intend to kill Zhou Ke'er outright. Since she's humanoid, she can communicate, which is why Zhou Ke'er didn't pull in those weird-looking things. Who knows if the thing she pulled in would just eat her whole?

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a system notification sounded:

Congratulations to player "Zhou Ke'er" for obtaining "Gaze" from "*King of Clothes*".

"Huh?"

Zhou Ke'er was stunned. What a coincidence... No, was it that the person being pulled over was the one whose name had been **ed out of the system notification, or was there some other inexplicable entity involved...?

"Oh? It's that guy's scent... He's actually watching you! Is it because I'm here, or..."

The dark-skinned man gave Zhou Ke'er a surprised look. "Interesting... I don't know what that guy's up to, but... let me cause him some trouble~"

[Congratulations to player "Zhou Ke'er" for obtaining the "Arouse Interest" skill from "Crawling *** Mixed *** Trouble ***"]

"Huh? This... can be repeated?"

Zhou Ke'er looked at the other person with suspicion, as if this guy knew the being who had been "watching" him before.

Just then, the system notification sounded again.

[The "King in Yellow" has upgraded his "gaze" towards you to "aroused interest"]

"???"

Zhou Ke'er was completely bewildered. Why did this seem like a fight over a man's affections? What was going on?

"Oh? That guy is... interesting too. It's been a long time since something this interesting has happened. Okay, I've decided..."