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

"Uh... well... let's just say that. What happened?"

Zhou Ke'er glanced at the blond man who stood obediently and silently behind the car door, then awkwardly turned to the police and asked.

"That's great... that's how it is."

The police officer breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and explained, "We just received a report that someone had been hit by a car on the road, so we rushed to the scene. But when I arrived, according to onlookers, the victim had already left on his own... This is the gentleman."

Fortunately, this gentleman's clothing was quite...distinctive, so the medical staff and I who arrived at the scene quickly caught up with him. However, he seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, and he didn't seem to understand what we were saying...and even started running away..."

The policeman, slightly out of breath, explained helplessly to Zhou Ke'er, "This gentleman seems to be in a hurry to see you. If possible, please advise him to go to the hospital for a check-up as soon as possible..."

It's not uncommon for people to experience no immediate health problems after a car accident, but later discover severe organ damage leading to sudden death...

For this gentleman's safety, please make sure he gets checked out. Also... please come to the police station to give a statement afterwards. Although he is the victim, it's said that he was hit by the car the instant the light turned red, and the driver is insisting on that... This is quite troublesome..."

Zhou Ke'er gave an awkward twitch at the corner of her mouth.

The guy who can bring a car to a sudden stop at 60 mph with a single slap doesn't seem like the type to die from a single hit...

"Uh... this..."

Zhou Ke'er turned to look at the blond man. This kind of thing was super troublesome... He didn't want to get involved.

When Zhou Ke'er realized that she was probably out of danger, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. After all, no one wants to die suddenly for no reason.

Damn it, I was terrified... Zhou Ke'er is now having a fit of rage! But whether it's the guy in front of her or the policeman next to her... Zhou Ke'er can't really say anything harsh to him...

After all, the police officer was acting normally, his tone was kind, he didn't seem to have any ill intentions, and he was actually quite well-intentioned...

"Um...why don't you go to the hospital with them for a checkup?"

Zhou Ke'er paused for a moment, scratched her cheek, and asked the blond man.

“I serve my God, at his right and left.”

The blond man ignored everyone else, focusing solely on Zhou Ke'er, and spoke slowly and deliberately, word by word.

The way the police and the men behind him were looking at Zhou Ke'er changed completely...

Their expressions seemed to say, "This guy... could he be a cult member? He's even scamming unsuspecting foreign friends... should we arrest him on the spot?"

That's right! That's absolutely what they think! Zhou Ke'er encountered the same situation when she went to catch patients who had escaped from the mental hospital!

"...Sigh, I know, I know."

Zhou Ke'er and the police stared at each other for a while, then finally sighed helplessly as if she had given up: "I'll take this guy to the hospital with you for a check-up... Please lead the way."

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107. That's a big problem.

(King Crimson!)

"what..."

Zhou Ke'er collapsed onto the sofa, exhausted.

I'm so tired, so incredibly tired.

I accompanied that strange guy who suddenly appeared to the hospital, and also went to the police station to give a statement...

And this guy is currently sitting obediently opposite Zhou Ke'er.

Zhou Ke'er gets a headache just looking at this guy.

The phone rang.

Xu Qingming dialed again. He's really persistent. I told him I was fine when we were in the hospital.

"crooked?"

Zhou Ke'er answered the phone with a sigh.

"..."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, as if they hadn't expected Zhou Ke'er to actually answer, and were momentarily at a loss for words.

"Sigh, didn't I already tell you I'm fine? Although I'm happy that you care about me so much, I'm sorry, no matter what, we can never be together!"

Zhou Ke'er slumped her upper body on the sofa, propping her cheek with her right hand, her phone resting on her face without her using her hands to pick it up, and read aloud in this difficult posture.

"...You rascal, it's been over a year and you've become so unreliable. Has that incident from six months ago really affected you that much?"

Xu Qingming's voice came from the phone, and Zhou Ke'er's eyes widened suddenly. She almost dropped the phone from her face, but luckily she caught it in time.

"...How did you know? No...what do you know?"

Zhou Ke'er sat up straight, becoming slightly serious.

“In the afternoon, I felt that something was wrong with you, so I called your acquaintance in the mental hospital to ask about it.”

Xu Qingming's hesitant voice came through, "I think I know what happened to you half a year ago... You know it yourself, right? It wasn't your fault."

Furthermore... no matter what, as your friend, I think it's better to give you some advice. After all, if I don't say it now, I probably won't have another chance to advise you later.

Well... what we can't escape is ourselves, and what we can't undo is the past. As long as we don't dwell on the past, time will heal everything...

"Can time heal? But what if time itself gets sick?"

Before Xu Qingming could say anything more, Zhou Ke'er interrupted, "Hey, you think you know everything, acting like you're blinded by your own involvement but clear-headed bystander, and you even offer advice... I don't remember you being like this before?"

"...Well, you're right. I guess I'm really bad at giving advice."

Xu Qingming replied awkwardly, "I wasn't planning on saying anything, after all, your attitude was already very clear. I know your personality, and there's no point in trying to persuade you..."

But your colleague, the young lady named Hu Tao, asked me to talk to you, so there's nothing I can do, since I just asked her for help.

"That guy with the clips... he's really something..."

Zhou Ke'er sighed, "Come on, don't I know you? You say you're asking because of Hu Tao, but you probably have your own ulterior motives too... You haven't given up on getting me to help you, have you?"

"Ah, you saw right through me."

Xu Qingming smiled and said, "Yes, I've thought about that too. But everyone has selfish motives, right? Like you... if you didn't have selfish motives, wouldn't you have helped me?"

"Hmm...that's true. I can't argue with that."

Zhou Ke'er shrugged, then realized that the other end of the phone couldn't see her, so she resumed her difficult pose of sprawling on the sofa.

"Oh well... it's fine as it is."

Xu Qingming paused for two seconds, as if taking a soft breath: "Let me give you one last piece of advice, something someone else used to tell me: 'A person cannot live alone. The loneliness of not needing anyone is different from the loneliness of needing someone but not being able to be with them.' Okay, that's all for now. Goodbye."

Hearing the call end notification, Zhou Ke'er pouted and tossed her phone onto the sofa. "How ridiculous," she thought, "that last sentence was so abrupt. What was with the show-off?"

Lonely? Really... Zhou Ke'er doesn't think she's lonely at all... Even if she is, uh... it's probably only a little bit?

After staring blankly for a while, Zhou Ke'er realized that there was a strange guy sitting opposite her.

This guy's name seems to be Porius. I don't know the original spelling, but the transliteration is probably something like that.

This guy is a real problem... He's completely latched onto Zhou Ke'er, insisting that Zhou Ke'er is some kind of goddess and that he wants to serve by her side...

What is all this?!

Zhou Ke'er sighed helplessly, slumped on the sofa, and openly scrutinized Bolius.

He sat upright and obediently in the chair, remaining silent unless Zhou Ke'er told him to. His long, smooth, golden hair cascaded over his shoulders, and a hint of dark red lurked in his deep brown eyes...

Most importantly, this guy is freaking tall! Zhou Ke'er, who's only about 1.6 meters tall, is so envious she's practically begging to die! Jealousy has completely distorted her appearance!

"Cough cough..."

After an awkward silence for a long time, Zhou Ke'er finally spoke up: "Um... since you said you are a servant who serves a god... then, which god do you serve?"

“My revered God, I will never betray you; the only god I serve is you.”

Polius abruptly stood up, placed one hand on his chest, bowed slightly, and answered solemnly, "I escaped from the abyss of Tartarus only to serve my god once more, even if it costs me my life."

"..."

Zhou Ke'er was speechless; this guy was completely ignoring her question!

"So, I'm asking... what's the name of the god you're talking about? Which god is it?"

After another moment of silence, Zhou Ke'er continued to ask.

"...I am terrified, I dare not call my god by his name."

Bolyus looked surprised, then quickly bowed and said, "But...you seem to have...forgotten many things?"

"Ah, right... I've almost forgotten everything, I don't even know what this is all about... so please explain it to me clearly."

Zhou Ke'er propped her cheek on one hand and said with a displeased expression.

"Very well, then please forgive my intrusion. My god is the god of time, the king of the gods, whose name is Cronus!"

Polius bowed slightly and explained solemnly, "Countless ages ago, our god was imprisoned in the abyss of Tartarus by usurpers, and those we served were not spared either."

However, for some unknown reason, from a certain point onwards, Tartarus's binding force weakened more and more, until today, even I can escape from the abyss.

Holy crap!

On the surface, Zhou Ke'er showed no expression and listened attentively to Bolius's explanation, but inside she was panicking!

Kronos! He just met Kronos before! Zhou Ke'er herself is definitely not Kronos, she was mistaken for that guy... probably because Zhou Ke'er absorbed a part of the "evil" from Kronos in the game!

According to Kronos himself, those "evil entities" merged with a portion of his "origin," and Zhou Ke'er, having absorbed the evil entities, also became tainted by the aura of Kronos's origin...

Damn it! That's definitely why this guy mistook him for Cronus himself! How come he can't even see that?! He's so incompetent!

However, Zhou Ke'er is now afraid to explain what exactly is going on...

If the truth is revealed and the other party instantly turns hostile: "Traitor! How dare you steal the authority and majesty of my god?!" and then unleashes a barrage of attacks on Zhou Ke'er, then she's doomed!

This is a tough guy who can be hit by a car and fly through the air without getting hurt, and can stop a car at 60 mph with one hand!

Thinking of this, Zhou Ke'er's smile became somewhat fake.

We absolutely can't let this guy find out the truth... Wait, no... wait a minute, if we keep hiding it, it'll definitely be discovered eventually. Who knows if that Kronos will actually come out of the game's virtual reality...

Why not make up a convincing lie to absolve myself of this responsibility... Hmm, that's what I'll do!

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108. The trouble is getting even bigger.

"Um..."