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

The dark-skinned man muttered to himself for a while, then solemnly patted Zhou Ke'er on the shoulder, "If I 'favor' you now, that guy will definitely come along, but you probably can't handle it... so we'll talk about it later. Anyway... as long as you listen to me and find the right opportunity to constantly annoy that guy, I'll give you benefits, how about it?"

"Meow meow meow???"

Zhou Ke'er quickly opened her mouth, wanting to ask something else.

The forum didn't mention this happening, did it? ...Oh, right, after all, no one would reach out and pull a shadow over...

"Okay, that's all for now~ I'm very busy too, see you next time."

The dark-skinned man waved his hand and turned to leave. As he went, he muttered to himself, "Strange, I seemed to sense a very familiar aura about him... But that human should be dead by now. Ah, it reminds me of that somewhat interesting game again. I wonder when the next round will begin; I can't wait any longer~"

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44. We cannot work together.

"Haaah~"

Zhou Ke'er sat in the chair, looking sleepily at the closed door.

After finishing the Castle module last night, Zhou Ke'er logged off and went to sleep.

I don't know what happened, but I had nightmares all night and woke up countless times, so it was basically like I didn't sleep at all.

I should have stayed up all night playing games.

"Knock knock..."

There was a knock on the door.

"Please come in."

Zhou Ke'er slumped back in her chair and said lazily.

"Clap."

The door opened and Hu Tao walked in with a cup of freshly made coffee. She placed the coffee on the table in front of Zhou Ke'er and tapped it. "Doctor Zhou, it's working hours now. Even if you don't secretly play games, you can't just sleep in."

"Haa... Clip, please spare me... You know how it is, nobody ever comes here. Look at you, you're so bored."

Zhou Ke'er sprang up from her chair, then slumped back onto the table, her face pressed against the surface, and mumbled, "Anyway, I'm just here to collect a paycheck... They could have just given me the money directly, but they still made me come to work... I really don't want to work hard anymore."

"Are you an old man who's already reached retirement age? What's wrong with you? You look so颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of listlessness, apathy, and apathy)?"

Hu Tao sat down opposite Zhou Ke'er with a sigh. "Just six months ago you were full of energy... Are you really that bothered by that accident?"

"..."

Zhou Ke'er covered her ears with both hands and closed her eyes, looking like she was refusing to listen to the nonsense.

"Ding dong~"

Just then, Zhou Ke'er's phone, which was on the table, rang.

Zhou Ke'er subconsciously picked it up and opened it, her face instantly turning deathly pale.

"It's...it's all over..."

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Seeing this, Hu Tao quickly asked.

Zhou Ke'er seemed frozen, offering no reply, only staring intently at her phone screen.

The message displayed above was a single message.

"Hey, Xiao Ke~ It's been over a year since we last met, hasn't it? The archaeological research I was involved in has finally finished, and I came to find you as soon as I got off the bus! By the way, I heard you switched careers to become a psychiatrist? Wow, that's hilarious, that's quite a leap across industries!"

—by Xu Qingming

"Wow! Why is this guy coming?! I remember his mission this time is supposed to last at least two years..."

Zhou Ke'er finally snapped out of her daze, helplessly tossed her phone onto the table, and buried her face in her hands, slumping onto the table. "Ugh! The last person I want to see right now is this guy... If he sees me like this, I'll definitely laugh at him to death!"

"Who is it? Is someone coming to see you?"

Hu Tao looked at Zhou Ke'er and couldn't help but ask. She had never seen Zhou Ke'er like this before.

"A former colleague from the archaeological team..."

Zhou Ke'er mumbled a casual explanation, "Really... this guy..."

Before she could finish speaking, the door to the room was pushed open with a "bang," followed by a cheerful voice, "Hey! Xiao Ke, you didn't expect that, did you! Although I just texted you, I actually arrived a while ago... Eh?"

A young man with an artist's ponytail, carrying a large bag, and looking travel-worn, clearly not having gone home to change clothes or take a shower, greeted Zhou Ke'er in a very friendly manner.

However, when he saw Hu Tao present, he paused for a moment, then his smile turned awkward, and he quickly apologized, "Oh dear, I didn't expect Xiao Ke to be busy right now? I'm sorry, then call me after you've finished your appointments?"

As he spoke, he was about to close the door and leave.

"Um...no need, I'm not a patient."

Hu Tao paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "I am Zhou Ke'er's colleague and also a doctor at this mental hospital."

"Oh...I see. Did I disturb you?"

Xu Qingming scratched his head and said.

"No. Okay, then I'll head out first. Doctor Zhou...? Where is he?"

Hu Tao waved her hand, indicating that she would go out first, but when she turned around, she found that Zhou Ke'er was gone.

"Ah...it's alright, doctor, you can go ahead. I'll chat with Dr. Zhou for a bit, it won't take long~"

Xu Qingming caught a glimpse of Zhou Ke'er's feet peeking through the gap under the table, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. He then turned to Hu Tao and said...

"Oh... okay then."

Hu Tao stood up, looked puzzled, and walked out, closing the door behind her.

"dong dong"

Xu Qingming stepped forward and tapped the table. "Xiao Ke, how long are you going to hide? Come out now!"

"Ah...oh my, isn't this Xiaoming? I didn't even notice you. Long time no see, what a coincidence!"

Zhou Ke'er crawled out from under the table with an embarrassed look on her face and forced a smile.

"Ahem... Although it's been so long, I'd love to chat with you for a bit and tease you about what you've been up to all this time... But let's not joke around for now. I actually came back early this time because I have something to do."

Xu Qingming waved his hand, tossed aside the heavy bag that had apparently bumped into something, and plopped down in the chair opposite Zhou Ke'er, letting out a comfortable sigh. "Ah, it's been so long since I've sat in such a comfortable chair... Hmm... Do you remember that archaeological expedition a year ago?"

"Ah...of course I remember..."

Hearing this, Zhou Ke'er's expression turned slightly serious. "Isn't it because of that incident that you casually joined an archaeological team and ran off to hide in some unknown place? And I switched careers to become a psychiatrist..."

"Speaking of which, you're really not loyal enough. You actually ran away on your own, and only told me after you were gone."

"Well... there's nothing I can do about it."

Xu Qingming chuckled and brushed it off: "After all, there were only six of us who went down in that operation, and one died, three went insane... only the two of us were still relatively normal. And I was only spared because I went in a bit later than you guys... how are they now?"

"Well... Xia Lun committed suicide, and Duan Wei was locked up to prevent her from doing the same... but Li Xia has recovered."

Zhou Ke'er was silent for a few seconds before replying, "Although I don't know what she's doing now, I haven't heard any news of her death, so she should still be alive."

"ha..."

Xu Qingming sighed heavily, "I see..."

"So what exactly happened that brought you back?"

Zhou Ke'er looked at Xu Qingming with a disdainful expression and asked, "You can't just be here to reminisce about your youth, can you?"

"Of course not!"

Xu Qingming's depression came and went quickly, and now he was all smiles again. "Don't you know? During that operation, when we escaped... wasn't I holding onto something the whole time?"

"Hmm... I think I vaguely remember... I think I asked you about it, but before you could answer, I ran off with another archaeological team somewhere..."

Zhou Ke'er nodded. "I asked you on my phone, but you just gave me vague answers... What's wrong? Are you finally going to tell me now?"

"Yes! That thing... do you know that in the ancient texts that record the past, there's an item from Eastern mythology called a 'recording stone'?"

Xu Qingming's face lit up with excitement, as if he had solved a major case. "I finally understand what we... no, what you encountered back then!"

"Huh?! W-what! You mean..."

Zhou Ke'er asked incredulously, "You made a recording stone? Are you kidding me...? That's impossible! According to the latest research, the so-called 'myths' recorded in the ancient texts are all just fiction..."

A recording stone...that's unlikely, isn't it? At most, it's a well-preserved recording device left over from the old era?

"If it were just recording equipment, haven't we found plenty of those in other archaeological excavations? Those all use electricity, the same energy source we use now, but this is different!"

Xu Qingming quickly shook his head and explained, "Although I know this is hard to believe... I just happened to be at some ruins when that thing I was carrying around suddenly reacted..."

"That ruin contains some kind of unknown energy used in the old era, completely different from what we have now, and which we haven't even discovered before?!"

Zhou Ke'er stood up in surprise, "Really? This is powerful evidence that can overturn many of the most authoritative and cutting-edge claims!"

"It's true! I found an ancient bronze sword in that ruin that wasn't rusted and was still golden in color. I secretly took it to be examined... Although it can't be perfectly accurate, the material of that sword is definitely not from our era, and it's even... much earlier than the time when the Old Era was destroyed."

Xu Qingming shook his head and said, "But none of that matters. What matters is... this sword is constantly radiating an unknown energy, and it's this energy that caused the recording stone to react... I've secretly tested it, and it really can trigger the recording stone!"

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45. Take me to your house...to watch a movie!

"That means...wait..."

Zhou Ke'er rubbed her temples to calm herself down, then pointed to the large bag Xu Qingming had tossed aside. "Why is your bag so big... You didn't bring everything you mentioned, did you?... In other words, you brought that bronze sword too? That's unauthorized misappropriation of cultural relics! You'll get arrested!"

"Shh! What are you saying! I went into the ruins by myself, not as part of a team. So this wasn't a team discovery, it's my personal find!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qingming quickly waved his hand and began to argue, "Besides, I'm in a hurry to tell you! Once we've used it up here, we definitely have to hand it over."

"...So you just carry around such valuable stuff?!"

Zhou Ke'er was shocked. Had Xu Qingming gone mad? How could he do such a thing?

"I came to find you as soon as I got off the bus! I didn't dare to fly because I was afraid this thing would be confiscated at security. I drove for almost half a month to get back!"

Xu Qingming quickly explained, "Moreover, even if you had seen the images in the recording stone, you couldn't possibly be calmer than me! This might involve the truth behind the destruction of the old era and that great catastrophe! If we figure it out, it would be a monumental achievement that will go down in history!"

"...Then why did you come to me? Shouldn't you research this kind of thing thoroughly yourself and publish a paper on it?"

Zhou Ke'er asked in confusion.

"We're such good friends, who else would benefit if not you?"