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

Zhou Ke'er suddenly had an idea that completely overturned her previous guess.

The mission says to kill "yourself," right? But...

First of all, is Zhou Ke'er alive or dead in her current state? If I remember correctly, the shadowy figure said "You are already dead" at the beginning.

That means Zhou Ke'er is no longer alive. In that case... how can a dead person die again?

It can't be a system where "when a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, they become a '聻'; when a '聻' dies, they become a '希'; and when a '希' dies, they become a '夷'," right? But this module's background is clearly not from the Eastern era of the Old Era...

Furthermore, the shadowy figure claimed to have turned Zhou Ke'er into someone who was about to die so she could experience death... but it also said at the beginning that "if she hadn't died, she could have lived on as that person."

So... does "Zhou Ke'er," who lives on in place of that person, still count as Zhou Ke'er herself?

So... in that case, even if she successfully died in a manner contrary to the original plan... it wouldn't be considered Zhou Ke'er "committing suicide," but rather that Zhou Ke'er killed someone else...

Should he commit suicide right here? But then the problem just goes back to square one, doesn't it? Strictly speaking, he's already dead...

Damn it, I must be overthinking it.

Zhou Ke'er shook her head, deciding to try her initial guess first and prove it was wrong.

Huh? Wait... why hasn't it turned into the next person yet? Wasn't that shadowy figure already...?

Just as she thought of this, Zhou Ke'er's vision went black and she lost consciousness.

"Strange...why is there still a delay?"

The shadowy figure watched Zhou Ke'er disappear after a while and couldn't help but mutter to itself in confusion.

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Before she even opened her eyes, Zhou Ke'er felt an unbearable hunger and thirst. Her stomach was too weak to make any more rumbling noises; only her intestines were still moving weakly.

But there's no food inside for it to digest; it just keeps wriggling, as if that's what makes it feel full.

Zhou Ke'er even wondered if her stomach and intestines would start digesting themselves if she didn't eat anything soon.

I forced my eyes open, but there was no glaring bright light as I had expected. Instead, there was only a dim yellow incandescent light flickering on the narrow, dark ceiling.

Everywhere there was a nauseating, disgusting smell, as if it were excrement that had been left there for months without being cleaned up, and had even started to ferment.

Zhou Ke'er leaned against the wall, which was obviously filthy even without looking at it, but she didn't have the strength to stand up or move even a little bit.

It was likely due to prolonged dehydration and hunger that caused the exhaustion.

The sticky, soft, and slightly damp texture made Zhou Ke'er feel very uncomfortable as she leaned against the wall.

I glanced around briefly and saw several people sitting nearby, their genders indistinguishable... but I guess they could still be considered human.

They looked pale and emaciated, no... not pale and emaciated, but their faces were turning an eerie bluish-gray, their eye sockets were deeply sunken, and their lips were so dry that even the blood seeping from the cracks had dried and congealed.

Without a doubt, Zhou Ke'er must look like this now.

Is this... an illegal imprisonment?

Zhou Ke'er didn't even have the strength to frown.

This is absolutely the worst-case scenario.

Even a sudden, unexpected death like in Final Destination is better than this. At least then you still have the ability to move. In this situation... you can't even move, what can you do?

So... the person Zhou Ke'er has become, the one who's about to die, probably died of thirst or starvation...

However... sitting and waiting for death is not Zhou Ke'er's style. Zhou Ke'er gritted her teeth and tried to use the wall she was leaning against to get up.

His thin body swayed slightly, as if a fragile branch that had been pressed down by something had suddenly been released and sprang up.

A feeling of dizziness followed, and I felt a little nauseous. This must be a side effect of not moving for too long. For a moment, even breathing became difficult, as if my body had become accustomed to that breathing posture of leaning against... no, slumped against the wall.

"Squeak, squeak"

Just then, the outermost rusty iron gate was slowly pushed open, making a grating, teeth-grinding sound.

A dark figure walked in, followed by a series of "pattering" footsteps.

Before Zhou Ke'er could even squint to see the person's face clearly, the person had already walked up to her.

"Still able to move? I thought you brains in jars, so immersed in illusions and unwilling to wake up, so willing to revel in false dreams, were no longer capable of survival?"

The man rambled on about some incomprehensible things, "But... even so, it won't make things easy for you. Consider this your punishment as traitors!"

Then came a sharp pain.

Zhou Ke'er lost consciousness again.

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78. The Death Loop (Part 5)

"here it is..."

When Zhou Ke'er opened her eyes, she found that she was not in the space where the shadowy figure was.

This is a street.

Many dilapidated cars were parked on both sides of the street. It seemed that they were not parked normally, but were abandoned on the street because they were damaged and could not be started after being rear-ended.

Black smoke filled the streets, and the sky was tinged with an eerie bluish-green. The gloomy clouds gathered together, like sticky glue, and slowly undulated.

Zhou Ke'er glanced at her clothes. A white shirt and jeans, though somewhat worn and covered in dust, didn't make her look particularly disheveled.

How is this going?

Could it be that as soon as he returned to that space, before he even regained consciousness, the dark figure, fearing Zhou Ke'er would say a few more foul words, immediately started another round?

Can't you?

Speaking of which...did my stamina just get reset to zero? I don't remember...

The two times I died before, it showed that my stamina was reduced to zero, but it didn't just now...

Could it be that Zhou Ke'er is actually still stuck in this state and hasn't truly died?

But... what's going on now?

Hallucination? Or...?

"boom!"

A rustling sound came from the side, followed by a loud gunshot.

Something is coming this way!

And it's very fast.

Zhou Ke'er subconsciously pulled on the door of the car next to her, then climbed in without hesitation and closed the door behind her.

Fortunately, the car was almost completely damaged, and the door was easily pulled open without any alarm sounding.

The car rushing towards them was moving too fast; even if Zhou Ke'er ran away immediately, she would definitely be spotted. The street wasn't winding at all; even with abandoned cars parked haphazardly everywhere, it could still be described as open and spacious.

Therefore, Zhou Ke'er could only choose to hide in the car for the time being.

Generally speaking, if the other person's sense of smell or hearing is not far beyond that of an average person, and they appear to be running, even if it's unclear what they are chasing or doing something else, they shouldn't be distracted by checking if anyone is inside the car.

Thinking this, Zhou Ke'er hid under the car seat, cautiously raised her head, and looked out through the broken window.

About seven or eight seconds later, a man dressed in full protective gear, who looked like a police officer, was seen running towards the other end of the street with a gun in his hand.

And behind him, there was a whole bunch of... uh, zombies?

Good grief, so it's switched to a post-apocalyptic theme again? This is bad... If it's zombies, they might actually discover Zhou Ke'er hiding here...

If she gets discovered, Zhou Ke'er, who's surrounded in the car, will be out of luck.

Then...

Zhou Ke'er was hesitating whether to go out and slip away with them when the group of zombies abandoned the guy in front and surrounded the car where Zhou Ke'er was.

"Damn it..."

Seeing the car door ripped open and the rotten, gaping maw lunging at her, Zhou Ke'er only had time to utter "Damn it" before typing "GG".

Unexpectedly...

The next second, Zhou Ke'er opened her eyes and found herself back on that street.

They did not return to the space where the shadowy figure was.

Zhou Ke'er subconsciously looked to her left.

A few seconds later, a rustling sound came from there, followed by a gunshot.

Exactly the same situation as before!

What is this? A rollback? The save/load trick? But Zhou Ke'er can't save?

Moreover... if dying here will cause a rewind... that means Zhou Ke'er will be trapped here. Unless she finds a way to break free, she won't be able to return to the space where the shadowy figure is, let alone complete the main quest.

At this point, Zhou Ke'er was basically certain that her original body in this world was still in that small dark room, and everything now was probably some kind of illusion...

How can I leave this place?

Zhou Ke'er thought about it carefully and remembered a movie from the old era called "Inception." Although she had only seen the introduction and a general plot summary—because no film footage had been preserved. Most of the films left over from the old era were preserved in written form, and many more only had titles and records, with the content long lost.

According to that explanation, if you find yourself in such a situation... you might be trapped in a dream, and you'd need a strong stimulus to wake up.

But isn't it exciting to be eaten by a zombie right away?

As Zhou Ke'er thought this, she looked at the zombies that had already come into view.

"Hey! What are you standing there for! Run!"

The man was stunned when he saw Zhou Ke'er, but he didn't have time to care. He just shouted something and continued to run away.

Zhou Ke'er touched her chin. Did she need more intense stimulation?

With that in mind, Zhou Ke'er charged straight toward the group of zombies.

Zhou Ke'er is out again.

Unlike the previous time when it was bitten to death, this time it was dismembered and killed.

However, the next second, Zhou Ke'er reappeared on the street. Another timeline.

"??? It seems this won't work?"

Zhou Ke'er scratched her head. "Speaking of which... how about we try to kill that guy? Maybe that way..."