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

Looking at that guy's disgusting, grinning face, even Zhou Ke'er herself wouldn't believe he didn't have a backup plan. He's cunning and shrewd.

Turning a woodland into an indoor passageway is really going too far! This isn't just supernatural, it's fantastical...

Zhou Ke'er gave the old man a universally recognized friendly gesture, then jumped into the passageway without thinking, closing the window behind her.

Although it can't be locked, this shows an attitude of "I know I can't stop you, but I'm going to annoy you anyway".

He subconsciously touched his pants pocket.

Wow, I didn't expect that phone with half its screen broken would still be there.

I thought that was the end of it after I was teleported here.

It seems that providing nuclear-powered flashlights in horror games is an unbreakable rule.

Zhou Ke'er turned on the flash and shone it deeper into the area.

Hmm? This corridor...it looks like it's a passageway connecting to some kind of performance hall?

I hadn't noticed before, but the ground wasn't a bare, dilapidated wooden floor; instead, a dark red carpet was laid on top of it.

On both sides of the wall, there are some posters that look like they've been there for many years.

Zhou Ke'er recognized the text on the poster; it was Chinese characters from the old era, and it was in traditional script.

"Hmm... many words have become blurred, only a few words are still legible... 'Theater'?"

As Zhou Ke'er jogged forward quickly, she glanced at the old posters on both sides and pondered to herself.

There was no sound of the old man following behind. Had he given up on chasing Zhou Ke'er? Or... was he so sure that Zhou Ke'er couldn't escape that he didn't bother to chase her anymore?

Although she had some doubts, Zhou Ke'er naturally wouldn't go back to check the situation.

Just kidding, the second law of horror movies: when you run away, you'll definitely trip and fall, and there's an 80% chance you'll sprain your ankle or break a bone. In short, you'll end up lying on the ground, crawling backwards in terror.

(Just like Dio with his leg broken (just kidding))

A faint sound seemed to be coming from ahead... no, perhaps it could be called a melody? The tune was very slow, or rather, so slow that it even sounded a little hoarse.

The sudden sound of music in the midst of complete silence is hardly a good omen.

Before long, Zhou Ke'er ran to the end of the corridor.

At the end was a large vermilion gate, so brightly colored it seemed oddly out of place with the surrounding dirty and dilapidated scene, as if they belonged to two different worlds.

Hey, speaking of which... Zhou Ke'er has already run all the way here, why isn't the main quest updating yet? Does the system still think Zhou Ke'er can go back and escape through the door?

Before Zhou Ke'er could think any further, without warning, the door in front of her suddenly swung open, crashing against the old wall with a dull thud, shaking down a cloud of dust, some of which still swirled in the air, pungent and acrid.

It was pitch black behind the door. From the vague outline that could be seen, it seemed to be a stage or some kind of place.

That's right, at the very back of this room is a small stage, and below the stage are many seats crammed together.

Before Zhou Ke'er could shine the flashlight on other places and corners, the stage was suddenly illuminated.

It appears that the stage lights have been turned on.

As the bright, dazzling lights shone on the stage, a woman appeared out of thin air in the center of the previously empty stage. She was gracefully dancing with flowing sleeves, her face heavily made up, and she was softly singing a little tune.

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94. Who exactly died? (Part 8)

"Jun Yu, Jun Yu. I am but a woman, my life is so ill-fated. You are but a man, yet you are so unfaithful. I, in my youthful years, have died with regret."

The woman sang a long, slightly hoarse opera-style song, sending a strange and chilling feeling through Zhou Ke'er's back like a leech.

To be honest, listening to this stuff in the middle of the night is really creepy.

Zhou Ke'er stepped into the room.

The moment he stepped inside, the stage lights went out instantly, and the singing that had been echoing in the room gradually faded into silence.

The woman slowly fell to the ground, sobbing softly, before finally disappearing into the pitch-black night.

Zhou Ke'er frowned.

That's outrageous! Why did this guy run away as soon as he arrived?! Zhou Ke'er isn't some kind of devil!

Zhou Ke'er walked straight onto the stage, crossed her arms, and waited for the guy to come out.

But there wasn't even a trace of them.

Meanwhile, the old man who should have caught up long ago has yet to show himself.

That's so strange! That's so strange!

Furthermore, the main storyline hasn't been updated!

Could it be that the system is stuck or has crashed?

Something's not right; there's a sense of unease throughout.

Something's been wrong ever since I was teleported here.

That white-haired old man, the monster that suddenly appeared and looked exactly like Zhou Ke'er, and the famous actress who just disappeared here.

They all have that... how to put it, a feeling of just scratching the surface. They just touch it lightly, and then nothing more.

That old man clearly tied Zhou Ke'er up at first, but then he just left without doing anything? If he was watching her, Zhou Ke'er wouldn't have been able to break free. Besides, she couldn't fight him while tied up.

But he left, and nobody knows where he went.

And then there's that monster that looks exactly like Zhou Ke'er. Zhou Ke'er strongly suspects that the monster is just there to stall for time. What kind of monster is that weak? And it inexplicably gave Zhou Ke'er an item, though she doesn't know what it's for.

The most ridiculous thing is that one second you're looking out the window at a normal woodland, and the next second you're in a corridor. And this corridor is inexplicably long.

They came all this way just to scare Zhou Ke'er, right? They only sang a few lines before stopping. And now there's no follow-up.

Why does it sound like they can't come up with a plot anymore?

This module deserves a bad review!

Wait... wait a minute?

Can't come up with a plot?!

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed in Zhou Ke'er's mind.

Yes, that's exactly the feeling! That's why I've always felt something was off!

That's right... if that's the explanation, then all the strange things make sense!

Original origin...

So cunning! (There's only one truth!)

Zhou Ke'er suddenly opened his eyes (to match the atmosphere, he closed his eyes first and then suddenly opened them), reached out and pushed up glasses that were not actually there, then suddenly flicked his hand and pointed forward with one finger.

"Stop hiding, come out! I know everything, and you're the mastermind behind it all!"

Zhou Ke'er shouted with great momentum.

But no one paid him any attention; all was silent.

It was a little awkward.

"Hmph, do you really have to tell me outright before you'll give up!"

Zhou Ke'er interlaced her fingers and placed them below her nose, resting her chin on her thumbs—a classic Commander Ikari pose, only she couldn't sit down. Standing and doing this pose looks a bit silly.

There was still no answer. Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips and could only say in a deep voice, "The culprit behind all this is you! Should I call you the narrator or the main quest master?"

That's right, this so-called "main quest" should be seen as playing a leading role, or to put it more vividly... a "director"? A "screenwriter"?

Almost, it has both characteristics.

Although I haven't figured out the reason for doing this yet, putting all the inconsistencies together, this is the most reasonable explanation.

First, Zhou Ke'er's deduction that she was "dead" must have been outside the script. If Zhou Ke'er told others about this, the whole script would be messed up, so in a moment of desperation, Zhou Ke'er had to be transferred over.

If Zhou Ke'er wasn't mistaken, this place was the small wooden cabin at the foot of the mountain mentioned in the previous mission hints.

The reason that old man didn't attack Zhou Ke'er when she first arrived was probably because he went out to do some necessary "plot preparations," right?

After all, on the one hand, Zhou Ke'er needs to experience a plot that seems to have no major flaws, and on the other hand, on the other hand, the Red Crane and the others who are about to arrive will not be able to discover that Zhou Ke'er has already arrived here. Some settings must be changed.

That thick hemp rope, which was obviously tied haphazardly, was only meant to allow Zhou Ke'er to break free on her own and enter the next part of the story.

The round ball that fell from that weak monster must be the so-called "story item".

This is exactly the same "incongruity" that comes from the main storyline where Zhou Ke'er is constantly being urged to "escape through the door quickly".

But to his surprise, Zhou Ke'er didn't follow the script at all. Instead, she found a loophole in the scene and tried to escape through the window.

This is bad! Doesn't this deviate from the script? Zhou Ke'er's feeling of "skimming" these plot points is because she didn't continue according to the script, but instead gave up following it.

So it had to urgently add more scenes, suddenly turning the flat ground outside into a corridor, and making the corridor longer, so that it would have time to conceive and prepare for the next extra plot.

The famous singer disappeared after singing a few lines, and now Zhou Ke'er is in a strange stalemate because the plot hasn't been planned yet!

Or perhaps the triggering conditions were set incorrectly, preventing Zhou Ke'er from continuing smoothly according to the plot?

That should be about right.

The fact that the main quest hasn't been updated yet is strong evidence that it's because it's been multitasking, preparing the setting while dealing with the situation on Red Crane's side, so it probably hasn't had time to focus on this.

Hmm... thinking about it this way, I have a strange feeling that the boss of this module might also be a student from that God Academy...

Well, probably not. Probably.

The surroundings were silent, yet the collapse was beginning.

[Buzz...buzz...signal blocked...]

[Interference...Remove...Nutrition...]

[Task cancellation... in progress...]

Cancellation complete

Congratulations to player "Zhou Ke'er" for discovering the "Basic Worldview"!

[Basic Worldview Exploration Progress: 70%]

Please fully explore the basic world view of this module.

A series of system notifications sounded one after another, but Zhou Ke'er had no time to pay attention to them.