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

Zhou Ke'er glanced around discreetly. It seemed that only Leng Chi Tu and Zhi Jian Sha were on the same bus as him; the other four were not there. They might have been sitting in the front row and Zhou Ke'er hadn't seen them, or they might have randomly boarded other vehicles.

There was no other way; Zhou Ke'er's abilities were sealed, otherwise she would have already used her evil powers to cover her and sense her.

However... it seems the danger set in this module hasn't arrived yet. Is it still in the preparation phase? Giving "ordinary" players some buffer time to gather information is a kind of starting bonus, isn't it? If we could know what we would encounter in advance and make corresponding preparations, it would be much better.

Zhou Ke'er first searched her pockets and the backpack under her feet to see what was inside.

He quickly found a small wallet in his pocket containing loose change—Zhou Ke'er had never seen such a small amount of money in her life—as well as her ID card and student ID. Besides that, there was an ordinary-looking smartphone. The backpack contained only some toiletries, snacks, and books; nothing else.

There are no other apps on the phone except for a communication app, which contains contact information for Lengchitu and Zhijiansha, as well as a class group chat for "the whole class".

It seems the setup was that last week, Ke'er and Honghe and the others were "unacquainted," or at least "not familiar" with each other, not familiar enough to exchange contact information.

Seeing that the scene was still relatively peaceful so far, Zhou Ke'er didn't rush to talk to Leng Chi Tu and the other two. Since the three of them were sitting in the last row, there wouldn't be much of a problem with their conversation, so there was no need to rush.

Before proceeding, we need to consider the possible scenarios.

Since this module sealed all players' abilities before it started and aimed to let players experience what it's like for "ordinary people to encounter disasters," it means that what they encountered was definitely not an ordinary danger, but at least a crisis like a large earthquake or tsunami, or a supernatural situation.

If it were a group of students going to a training camp, what would be the most likely dangerous situation they would encounter if we applied it to a horror movie? Most likely, there would be something wrong with the location of the training camp, whether it's ghosts, cults, or terrifying creatures... these are all very common tropes.

However, the plot may not necessarily follow this common formula; a catastrophe could very well occur during the journey—perhaps a zombie apocalypse? or something like that…

"Ding dong."

Finger Sand sent Zhou Ke'er a message: [Zombie Crisis? Or a Ghostly Hostel?]

As expected, everyone's guesses were mostly correct.

Zhou Ke'er didn't reply via phone, but simply shook her head at Zhijiansha beside her, indicating that she certainly couldn't be sure either.

Just then, the bus suddenly braked hard, and no one had time to react. Fortunately, the speed was not high, and everyone was wearing seat belts, otherwise someone would definitely have been thrown out.

Is this how it begins?

Zhou Ke'er immediately looked out the car window, but she didn't see anything like zombies, killers, or monsters. The suburban highway was peaceful, and there was no indication that any disaster was about to happen.

But this did not make Zhou Ke'er lower her guard. Since she already knew that a disaster would happen, she could not have any of the typical suicidal thoughts such as "Ah, it's probably just my imagination," "I must have just seen it wrong," or "It's not a big problem."

Thinking this, Zhou Ke'er calmly reached out and took down the small escape hammer hanging by the window—the last row of bus windows couldn't be opened, so they usually came with one. It was no bigger than a fist, definitely not good for self-defense; it was mainly for emergencies in case something happened later and the first two doors were blocked by the chaotic students, Zhou Ke'er could simply break the window and escape.

There was a bit of chaos ahead, with everyone asking what happened and why the car suddenly stopped.

A middle-aged woman who looked like a teacher stood up and explained to the students, "Don't worry, everyone, fasten your seatbelts. It seems we just hit a stray cat or dog that suddenly darted out from the roadside. The driver will get out and check and handle it. It will be resolved quickly, so please don't worry."

Zhou Ke'er frowned slightly—sending the driver down to check was a bad idea. If a disaster were to strike now, the driver would almost certainly die, leaving no one to drive the bus—making their only means of transportation useless.

However, given Zhou Ke'er's current status, she has neither the ability nor the standing to stop them from doing so.

With no other option, Zhou Ke'er could only grip the escape hammer tightly, subtly pressing it against the corner of the car window, ready to act immediately should any problems arise, escaping danger as soon as possible.

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728. Doomsday Escape (Part Two)

As expected, everyone soon heard a terrified scream coming from ahead, clearly the voice of the driver who had gotten out of the car to check the situation.

The teacher sitting at the front of the bus was startled by the noise and quickly told the students to sit quietly and not run around. Then, he got off the bus to check on the driver.

Zhou Ke'er sighed softly. It's over. It looks like these people are going to be sent up one by one.

However, there's nothing that can be done about it. Apart from Zhou Ke'er and a few others who were already aware of the impending disaster and were therefore on guard, who in their right mind would have predicted it?

Zhou Ke'er looked out the car window at the surroundings, but most of the suburban roads were pretty much the same. There were no houses on either side where she could ask for help or hide. It seemed that the accommodation had been chosen in a mountain village, and this road led into the mountains, so there were not many vehicles passing by on weekdays.

There's nothing else on the road except this bus. As for Honghe and the others... it's unknown whether the bus departure time was wrong or whether they aren't students.

Zhou Ke'er glanced at her thin arms and legs—it seemed that the system had adjusted their physical age to fit the identity of a "student".

Zhou Ke'er casually unbuckled her seatbelt, then subtly raised her foot and placed it on the seat, elevating herself to look ahead.

Then, the teacher also let out a scream of terror mixed with disbelief, and then almost scrambled back onto the bus, pounced on the driver's seat, and hurriedly but without hesitation closed the door.

The bus erupted in commotion upon seeing this, with students, confused and bewildered, bombarding the teacher with questions.

But at this moment, the teacher had no interest in answering the students' questions; she was just scratching her arm incessantly, as if something extremely disgusting was stuck to it.

Although Zhou Ke'er's abilities were sealed, his eyesight was still quite good. Even from the last row, he could clearly see what was happening to the teacher: her arms were covered with particles of all sizes that looked like the eggs of some kind of creature. As she scratched, these "eggs" began to spread rapidly, climbing all over her body at an extremely fast pace.

It's worth mentioning that these "eggs" didn't just appear to be "attached" to her body; rather, they seemed to have "grown" onto her, becoming an integral part of her body. Furthermore, the areas covered by the countless eggs exhibited a state resembling "melting."

In other words, the teacher now appears to have melted from the side, turning into a puddle that, while still retaining a semblance of human form, is completely unrecognizable as human. Moreover, the "eggs" hanging on her body are beginning to swell as her body melts.

It looks like it's going to explode.

The thought flashed through Zhou Ke'er's mind instantly—clearly, the driver outside must have been splashed by some kind of "egg" and melted like the teacher in front of him, then "exploded." The teacher who went down to check on the situation was splashed by the debris from the explosion and ended up looking the same way.

Once she understood the situation, Zhou Ke'er no longer hesitated and immediately grabbed the emergency hammer and began to strike the edge of the car window with all her might.

As Zhou Ke'er smashed the window, the students inside the bus snapped out of their disbelief and began to scream.

Some people sitting in the front rushed to the bus door in a panic, frantically pulling on it to try and get off. However, the bus door opener was clearly not near the door, but near the driver's seat, which was currently occupied by a teacher who looked like he was about to explode.

Seeing the futile efforts of those students, most of the students in the front row screamed and squeezed towards the back of the bus.

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but click her tongue. Was there not a single student among this group who was even slightly calm and intelligent?

With a series of cracking sounds, Zhou Ke'er quickly smashed open the car window next to her. Although there were still some scraps on the edges that could potentially cut someone, now was not the time to pay attention to that.

"Open the car window and climb out! What's the point of squeezing to the back? There's no exit at the back of the car!"

Zhou Ke'er frowned and raised her voice to remind them—the windows in the last few rows cannot be opened, so you need to use the escape hammer to break them open. The windows in front of you can be opened, so why are you trying to escape to the back!

Upon hearing Zhou Ke'er's reminder, the panicked students snapped out of their daze and realized what was happening. The students sitting by the window hurriedly and clumsily unlocked the car window and pulled it open.

Almost simultaneously, the teacher in the front driver's seat finally couldn't take it anymore and exploded with a "pop." But instead of shattering into pieces and scattering everywhere as expected, it was like cheese on a pizza. In a sticky and tangled state, it seemed to have turned into something that was half solid but felt like liquid. It quickly filled the entire front seat and then surged towards the rear like a tide.

Upon witnessing such a horrific and utterly disgusting scene, most of the students began to cry and scream, especially those at the very front.

As for the students who had just tried to open the door but were blocked at the front door, they were instantly engulfed and swallowed by a tide of flesh and blood and "eggs".

Zhou Ke'er didn't linger and immediately jumped out of the car window. He was already rather small, and with the scene in this game reverting to his high school days, getting out of the car window was incredibly easy.

Seeing that Zhou Ke'er had already slipped away, Zhijiansha and Lengchitu, who were already sitting in the same row, naturally couldn't stay any longer and quickly climbed out through the broken car window.

Meanwhile, inside the bus, the "eggs" surging towards the back were not only moving, but some of them were also constantly exploding, scattering many smaller "eggs".

These tiny "eggs" are not connected at all; they have extremely high speed and a very long range, and many students who were at the front were caught off guard and fell victim to them.

This further fueled the students' panic, since they were all huddled together, and who knew if this thing could spread when they were close together?

Zhou Ke'er stopped paying attention to the situation inside the bus, figuring out that most of them were going to die anyway. He quickly took Zhijiansha and Lengchitu and moved away from the bus—many windows were open and students were climbing out; if any of the infected "eggs" were inside, it would be disastrous if the bus exploded.

The most urgent task is to determine where to escape to.

Just then, the sound of a car driving by came from the road behind them.

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729. Doomsday Escape (Part 3)

Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Ke'er and the other two instinctively looked in that direction and soon saw a car with its hood covered in "eggs" speeding towards them. Fortunately, it did not cover the windshield.

It was obvious that the person driving the car had also seen the scene in front of Zhou Ke'er and immediately slowed down.

Zhou Ke'er looked closely and saw that the person sitting in the driver's seat was none other than Hong He.

However, before Zhou Ke'er and the other two could do anything, the other students who had managed to escape from the bus saw the car approaching in the distance and rushed towards it, crying out "Help!"

Instead of rushing to catch up with the others, Zhou Ke'er took Zhijiansha and Lengchitu on a longer route, intending to follow the car from behind.

After all, there were quite a few students who managed to escape, and they all rushed onto the already narrow suburban road. The small car that Honghe was driving couldn't even make a way out, let alone go around it, and was bound to be forced to stop.

But that's where those students went wrong—didn't they see that huge mass of "eggs" crawling on the car's hood? How could they dare to drive right through it? Were they so scared that they lost their ability to judge, or did they simply think that since those eggs had been lying on the hood for so long without making a move, they probably wouldn't either?

But Zhou Ke'er clearly saw the fleeting displeasure and helplessness on Honghe's expressionless face. Rather, it was precisely because she usually maintained a blank expression that her occasional expressions were all the more noticeable.

She immediately slowed down and stopped the car when she was still some distance away from the students. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the trunk, and then jumped into the back seat and darted out from behind the car.

Honghe's movements were fluid and seamless. The students, who were already struggling to understand the situation, were even more caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.

The flamingo that jumped out of the trunk also chose to go around the car and soon met up with Zhou Ke'er and the others who came around from the grass beside the road.

As Honghe and Zhou Ke'er had predicted, the moment the students approached the car, the "eggs" clinging to the hood seemed to sense something, and without warning, they rapidly expanded and exploded before anyone could react.

The splashing of splattered splatter on the students blocking the way was a minor issue, but sure enough, the disgusting "eggs" covered most of the windshield, rendering the car unusable. Honghe's decision now seemed remarkably wise.

There was no time for pleasantries. Finger Sand quickly pondered for a few seconds, then immediately offered two suggestions, saying rapidly, "We have two choices now. The first is to continue along this road. There are relatively few people in the mountain village, and they are mostly elderly. Even if they have encountered this monster, the threat to us is relatively small. However, animals can also be infected with these eggs, so it might be the origin of this virus."

The second option is to return the way we came. Although the city is undoubtedly in chaos right now, with this situation everywhere, safe havens or similar places will surely be established soon. However, it's difficult to maintain safety even within those safe havens.

"Stop talking nonsense! Right now, we can only either continue forward or go back, do we really need to analyze such a long and complicated process?"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but complain, then turned to the others and asked, "What's your decision?"

Cold-Eating Rabbit stared at Zhou Ke'er in surprise—could this be someone else impersonating her?! Zhou Ke'er didn't make the decision herself, but instead asked for other people's opinions? The Zhou Ke'er she knew wasn't this democratic!

Cold-cooked Rabbit's thoughts were completely written on her face, and Zhou Ke'er saw right through her! She immediately flicked her forehead, "You've caught me talking badly about me in your heart!"

After being flicked on the forehead by Zhou Ke'er, Lengchitu finally felt relieved—ah, good! It seems that it really is Zhou Ke'er after all, and she wasn't switched!

"Let's go back the way we came. The dangers in the city are more manageable. At least if we occupy a cleared safe house, we don't have to worry about monsters suddenly popping out of nowhere. But it's not so certain in the mountain village. Whether it's the insects and small wild animals everywhere, or the rather simple house structure, these are all standard features that make it easy for accidents to happen."

After a two-second pause, the flamingo quickly made its choice.

Zhou Ke'er and the others had no objections and did not waste any more time—although the above text seemed long, it only took less than half a minute in reality.

However, speaking of which... after spending some time with her, Flamingo seems to have undergone some personality changes. If it were the Flamingo she was when we first met, she would definitely have been constantly complaining about how boring it was to hide, and then insisting on running to dangerous places, wanting to cause some trouble. But after spending some time with her, Flamingo now seems to prioritize the safety of her companions more than anything else, even if it's "fun."

Otherwise, her considerations wouldn't have been based on safety.

That's a huge step forward, isn't it?

"Speaking of which, the way you all look..."

As they walked briskly, Honghe sized up the other three: "They've actually really turned into high school students."

"Since your identity is that of a high school student, then of course you should look like a high school student. Otherwise, are you going to pretend to be a high school student who has repeated a grade for more than ten years?"

Zhou Ke'er squinted and replied, "So what identity were you assigned?"

Honghe shrugged: "Your teacher was supposed to be on that bus with you, but according to the plot, he was delayed by some things, so he drove here himself. When I first arrived in the module, I was still driving in the driver's seat, and I almost veered off the road and overturned."

At this point, Honghe paused, then added, "I originally thought you were teachers or something, so I continued on this way by taking the bus with the class. I didn't expect you to have become students."