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

Before she finished speaking, a small group of people—about five in total—came running out from the direction Zhou Ke'er pointed and headed towards her.

The group of people seemed to have mixed backgrounds. The boy in the lead looked like a commoner, while the group behind him included some who looked like nobles. This combination looked quite incongruous.

The young civilian who was leading the group looked flustered and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "We mean no harm! We just saw that you all seemed to be pretending to be like those monsters, but you're probably normal people in reality, so we followed you to make sure that!"

Zhou Ke'er glanced at the expressions of the group. The expression of the commoner boy in the lead was the most vivid and lifelike, quite different from the disgusting smiles of the monsters. The others did not show any strange smiles or inexplicable expressions. However, one of the noble girls had a hidden wariness in her eyes towards the others, and even intentionally or unintentionally kept a distance from them. Although it was not very noticeable, it made it easier for her to escape.

Clearly, either the noblewoman has a problem, or one of the others does.

The information flashed through Zhou Ke'er's mind in an instant, but did not show on his expression.

"Then let's prove your identities first—for example, do you make an opening in yourselves, or do you want me to make an opening for you? Either option is fine."

Red Crane chimed in, "After that monster was attacked, what flowed out of its body wasn't blood, but vesicles. So now she wants to use that to verify the identities of the people in front of her."

Upon hearing this, all of them except the noblewoman extended their arms without hesitation, placing them in front of the flamingo, indicating that she should take action directly. The girl hesitated for a moment before complying.

Honghe used the small knife he carried to check the blood of the others, and found that it was all normal blood. He then nodded and looked at Zhou Ke'er.

Zhou Ke'er nodded in agreement on the surface, but she didn't think that such a simple test could successfully distinguish between monsters and humans.

However, his ability to detect evil spirits is limited to those that are evil, and these monsters are formed not only by evil spirits but by something else. Therefore, he cannot accurately determine the identity of the person in front of him.

"So what? What's your purpose in following us? Even if we've confirmed we're not those monsters, so what?"

Zhou Ke'er shrugged and asked the group.

The young civilian at the head of the group quickly replied, "We want to go with you; it'll definitely be safer that way. Do you have something to do in the city, or are you planning to leave? We definitely won't cause you any trouble, and we can even give you directions!"

Zhou Ke'er raised her eyebrows upon hearing this, without objecting—anyway, ordinary infected people were definitely no match for them, so it was a good opportunity to see what these people were up to.

Just then, the noblewoman suddenly spoke to Zhou Ke'er, "Um... I, I want to tell you something! Just between us!"

Zhou Ke'er glanced at her, but wasn't afraid. She nodded and walked with the girl to a small corner not far away.

Immediately, in that corner, the girl glanced warily at the group of people traveling with her, then quickly said to Zhou Ke'er, "Sir, please don't be fooled by those...monsters! Some of them...some of them have definitely been replaced by monsters! I saw it clearly!"

Originally, we escaped from the ball together, but our clothes were so badly damaged that we had to change. They said that civilian clothes were easier to move in, but I secretly saw that they simply couldn't wear those complicated formal dresses!

This is just like those monsters that mimic us humans; they can't learn such complex behaviors overnight! While we can't rule out the possibility that some of them genuinely haven't worn formal attire themselves and therefore don't know how to dress, it's impossible for everyone to be like that!

Meanwhile, on the other side, the commoner boy, seeing the noblewoman leave, looked alarmed and said to Red Crane, "You must be careful! That person... could very well be a monster! We were afraid she would attack us the whole way, so we didn't dare to reveal her identity..."

When the flamingo asked for the reason, the commoner boy's answer was similar to the noblewoman's in the first half, but there was a huge difference in the middle: "We had to change clothes because our clothes were badly damaged along the way—we all changed into lighter clothes, but she said that her clothes weren't damaged much and she didn't need to change—but that's not true. Some of us were planning to spy on her while she changed, but we discovered! We discovered that she didn't know how to take off her dress at all! She can't wear a dress! Just like those monsters that imitate us humans, they haven't been able to learn such complicated behaviors!"

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678. No need to distinguish

The words of the boy in civilian clothes were naturally heard by Zhou Ke'er, who was sharp-eyed and perceptive. Both sides had their own version of events, and it was hard to tell for a while who was telling the truth and who was lying.

But in fact, there seems to be no need to distinguish between them.

They're really playing these tricks on Zhou Ke'er; they're still too green. Rather than choosing between believing one of the two, Zhou Ke'er prefers not to believe either of them—why should one side be assumed to be telling the truth just because their accounts are contradictory? Isn't it also possible that both sides are lying?

Zhou Ke'er was very familiar with this kind of trickery.

Zhou Ke'er glanced quickly at the red crane, then gave the noble girl a disgusting and eerie smile and stretched out a hand to her: "Too bad, you've really asked the wrong person."

Before she finished speaking, Zhou Ke'er controlled the evil thing that made up her left hand to change shape. After twisting, it actually turned into the same shape as the capsule-shaped monster she had encountered at the beginning. Her whole face also began to blur and distort, and she approached the noble girl step by step.

The noblewoman's eyes widened, clearly terrified. She instinctively took two steps back, staggering and nearly falling to the ground, almost screaming.

Fortunately, Zhou Ke'er reacted quickly, grabbing her and covering the noblewoman's mouth with her other hand. Seeing the despair in the girl's eyes, Zhou Ke'er's face returned to normal, though a strange and disgusting smile remained. She leaned down and whispered in the struggling girl's ear, "What's the rush? I didn't say I was going to harm you. I just want to remind you, those people are my prey—I went to great lengths to infiltrate—you'd better go warn your damned companions not to mess with my prey, or I won't mind killing my own kind!"

After saying that, Zhou Ke'er glared fiercely at the noblewoman before shaking her off. "What's your answer? My patience is limited. Three, two..."

Clearly, Zhou Ke'er has now mastered the art of playing these kinds of twisted characters.

"I understand! I understand! I will do it! Please don't kill me! I will do whatever you say! I can do a lot for you, whether it's warning them or helping you deceive those people, I can help you, just please don't kill me!"

The noblewoman hurriedly agreed, nervously watching the situation with the boy in commoner clothes, while lowering her voice and pleading for mercy in a low, hurried tone.

Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes—it seemed this guy was probably human. But it was also possible he was faking it, though that didn't matter.

Thinking this, Zhou Ke'er suddenly reached out and pinched the noble girl's chin, forcing her to open her mouth. With a flick of her other hand, it was as if she had thrown something into her mouth. "I know that you humans love to say one thing to someone's face and another behind their back. I've been learning this for a long time. So, to prevent you from secretly revealing my identity to them, I've planted a 'seed' in your body. If you try to harm me, your head will explode like a watermelon falling from a rooftop to the ground."

Although Zhou Ke'er said these words with a smile, they were like a bolt from the blue to the noble girl. Although she did not feel that she had swallowed anything, the noble girl did not doubt Zhou Ke'er's words. She just showed a look of despair and utter despair and nodded numbly.

"Okay, let's go back."

Zhou Ke'er patted the girl's head with satisfaction, then turned and walked back towards the flamingos. "Oh right, I almost forgot—if it were a human, I should ask—what's your name?"

Watching Zhou Ke'er's retreating figure, the noblewoman wanted to run away, but remembering Zhou Ke'er's earlier actions, she dared not do so. In despair, she could only follow Zhou Ke'er's footsteps and whisper behind her, "Natalie. My name is Natalie."

Back beside Honghe, Zhou Ke'er winked at her subtly, then asked, "I think I heard you guys talking about something here just now. Did something happen?"

Although Honghe didn't know what Zhou Ke'er meant by blinking, she still tried her best to cooperate with him and replied expressionlessly, "It's nothing, just a simple matter—these people accused the girl who came to find you of being a mimic monster."

The boys were surprised that Red Crane would speak so openly and without any attempt to hide it. They wanted to stop Red Crane, but they didn't know how, so they had to give up in frustration.

"What a coincidence!"

Zhou Ke'er revealed a strange smile: "The girl on my side also accused them, saying that those guys are all mimicking monsters."

Flamingo squinted. "Wow, so that's the old trick. That's so outdated—so what are you planning to do?"

Zhou Ke'er shrugged and openly stated in front of the others, "My suggestion is—do nothing. Since they're hiding among us this way, it means the mimic monsters hiding among us can't possibly slaughter us all immediately. In that case, there's nothing to be afraid of. Besides, since they're familiar with the city's terrain, let them take us out of the city quickly; we're in a hurry to get to the military camp."

The flamingos naturally had no objections, since these mimicking monsters were not a significant threat to them in terms of strength. The only thing to be careful about was preventing them from sneaking in, which would be a bit troublesome—but it was easy to solve. As long as they stayed together and didn't get separated, those monsters wouldn't have a chance to sneak in.

Besides, Zhou Ke'er also has the ability to sense things. Even if a mimicry monster disguised itself as one of them and infiltrated the group, he would be able to detect it. Unlike the other people who suddenly appeared, Zhou Ke'er was very familiar with the aura of his companions whom he had spent so much time with, so he could easily detect even the slightest change.

So, led by those teenagers, Zhou Ke'er and the others headed toward their destination while keeping an eye on the general direction to avoid being led astray.

Meanwhile, Zhang He and Chun Kun Qiu Fei, who had set off from the capital of the Kingdom of Bulangbo, had already traveled all the way to the camp of the human alliance.

But what they saw was not fully armed soldiers, but an empty, desolate military camp. The ground was littered with corpses, emitting a putrid stench, and countless tents lay collapsed on the ground, as if some great disaster had struck.

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679. The final stage, the arrival.

Almost another day later.

Zhou Ke'er and her group had not yet reached the Human Alliance's camp and were still on their way.

The warm light of dusk spread across the earth, creating a fleeting illusion of peace and tranquility.

The remaining journey would only take a few hours on foot to reach their destination, but nearly two days had indeed been spent traveling. Considering the total time spent traveling so far in the entire module, this was indeed quite long. However, for Zhou Ke'er and the others, especially Zhou Ke'er, it was a rare respite.

It has to be said that this period was indeed the most peaceful—compared to everything Zhou Ke'er had experienced since entering this module. She didn't even encounter any insurmountable dangers along the way, and as for those mimicking monsters, Zhou Ke'er's perception abilities prevented her from blending in with them, so they posed no threat whatsoever.

The noble boys and girls were still following behind them, pointing out the way. Although they had accused each other of being mimicking monsters from the beginning, no one had done anything unusual so far, so Zhou Ke'er let them continue to follow.

As for Zhou Ke'er herself, during these two days of long travel, she no longer needed to maintain a constant state of alertness and vigilance. Instead, she had the time and energy to absorb and digest the knowledge about how to use evil spirits that Tavel had given her while traveling. This was indeed a significant boost to her strength.

Just as everyone was moving forward in silence, the long-dormant system notification suddenly sounded.

[Main quest detected? Phase 2 complete. Compiling final results...]

[Note: Players scattered across different regions will receive updates on the completion status of all regional missions within their respective regions. The final mission will also be conducted region-by-region.]

[Note 2: The current regions are as follows: Central Continent Region, Dragon Kingdom Region, Demon Realm Region, Elf Forest Region, and Faraway Outer Sea Region.]

The statistics for the Central China region are as follows:

[Fuya'er Grand Duchy Region: Completed Successfully - First Completer: Player "Zhou Ke'er"]

[Dragon Duchy Region: Completely Lost]

[Branbo Kingdom Region: Barely Completed - Primary Completion: Player "Mingmengjing" and the Royal Knights]

[Duchy of Santa Luth: Completed - Primary Completer: Player "Dragon Aotian"]

[Mullstein Principality Region: Fallen]

[Unsealed Area: Barely Completed - First to Complete: Player Team "Aisim" and the Rebels]

[Comprehensive Jazz Territory: Fallen]

Zhou Ke'er stroked her chin, and now she understood—no wonder she couldn't find any other "chosen" players. It turned out they were divided into different regions. It was already lucky enough that she, Zhou Ke'er, Hong He, and Long Aotian, the three chosen ones, were all in this one continental region, and that they all happened to know each other—who knows, it might have been arranged by those beings.

However, besides those few, there are actually other player groups I've never heard of who can complete regional missions on their own. Plus, with that guy Mingmengjing, it seems the other players aren't as bad as he thought; they're quite capable.

[Regional task statistics complete.]

[Main Quest? The final stage is about to begin...]

Players currently in the fallen area will be enveloped in black fog. The countdown to the fog completely covering the fallen area ends in 24 hours. Players who fail to escape the fallen area before the fog fully covers it will suffer severe damage, or even death.

[Unaffected areas will continue to be invaded by the black fog, but the safe zone will not shrink until the affected areas are completely covered.]

The evil entity slumbering on this continent will gradually awaken along with the black mist, and the danger level of the region is increasing.

[The source of the black mist is being generated randomly...]

[Generation complete—Dragon Duchy region "Dragon's Valley", Murstein Marquisate region "Ironforged Altar", and Combined Jazz Territory region "Place of Contract"—a total of three locations where the Black Mist originated.]

Main Quest Final Stage Revealed:

Option 1: Survive in the Central Continent until the black fog spreads to every corner of the entire Central Continent. If more than one-third of the current player population still survives, the mission is complete.

Option Two: Venture into the perilous territory and destroy any one of the birthplaces of the Black Mist, preventing it from spreading throughout the Central Continent. If successful, the mission is complete regardless of the number of surviving players.

To reduce travel time, all players in the safe zone will receive three teleportation opportunities, randomly landing at any location within a selected fallen zone.

[In ten minutes, the final stage of the main quest will begin. Players, please prepare.]

We wish all players a pleasant gaming experience.

"They said they gave us two choices..."

Zhou Ke'er pouted.

Honghe immediately chimed in, "But there's actually only one."

Zhou Ke'er nodded: "That's right. After all, we can't pin our hopes on the unpredictable question of whether other players will survive, and in the current situation, it's impossible to gather all the other players together to protect them. So, even for most players, rushing to the birthplace of the black mist is just a pointless act of suicide..."

“But they will still do it. And so will we,” Flamingo added.

"Speaking of which, if we had completed all the second-stage tasks from the beginning, would it be possible to have bypassed the final task altogether?" Cold Rabbit blinked and asked abruptly.

Zhou Ke'er shrugged: "Who knows, maybe. Why don't you travel back in time now, unleash your domineering aura, and complete all those missions with a single tremor?"