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

"One thing you need to be aware of is... it's not that I have to persist, but rather 'I'... have to persist. Do you understand?"

The other person sighed, "I am only a part of my mind. I cannot go against my own thoughts. In other words, although I have a little bit of independent thinking ability, it does not mean that I am an independent individual or an independent personality. I am just a part of myself."

Therefore, even if it's just a fleeting thought in my mind, I have no right to stop "me," at most I can offer "you" a little help.

"..."

Zhou Ke'er was silent for two seconds, realizing that the other person seemed to want to say something, so she remained silent.

"But, you know what? For some reason... you're special! From the moment you discovered all this, no, I should say, from the moment you crossed those levels... you've already escaped my control. You don't need to follow the plot... you can influence my imagination... do you know that?"

As the other person spoke, they began to get a little excited: "If you compare 'my' spirit to a running program, then... you are the bug that can change the program!"

"Huh? I'm a bug? That's not bad..."

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but laugh out loud: "So, according to this logic, you, as part of 'me,' still possess the ability to think for yourself and have your own thoughts...aren't you also a so-called bug?"

"...If I had to put it that way...I have indeed never seen another 'me' capable of self-thinking."

The other party did not deny it.

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125. My Cause of Death (Part Six)

Seeing the other person's serious expression, Zhou Ke couldn't help but laugh out loud. Staring straight at the other person, she said, word by word, "This is really interesting. You're quite good at pretending. I almost fell for your act. It's impressive that you went to such lengths to come up with all these fancy excuses!"

"Oh? You doubt me? What do you mean?" The other party was not flustered upon hearing this. He blinked and showed a just-right look of doubt as he looked at Zhou Ke'er.

"You're behaving so normally, how could anyone not suspect you?"

Zhou Ke'er plopped down on the sofa, crossed her legs, raised her eyebrows, and said to the other person.

"What kind of logic is it that they suspect me just because I behaved normally?"

The other party was genuinely confused and asked with slight surprise.

"It's a very simple principle. Although your acting skills are not flawed and your performance is quite normal... in fact, this is the biggest flaw. Obviously, a being with such a fragmented and chaotic mental space cannot be a normal person. And if you are part of the being's spirit or consciousness, how could you be so logical and organized?"

Zhou Ke'er didn't keep her in suspense or try to be mysterious. She immediately nodded and explained, "Furthermore, there are still loopholes in your explanation. You said that it was the will of the main body that prompted you to guide me back to my original level, which sounds somewhat reasonable, and your other explanations do indeed make sense. But the question is, as the main body that has absolute control over its own mental space, does it really need you to send me back, especially through inducement? Once you think about it this way, the conclusion is obvious, isn't it?"

Before the other party could say anything, Zhou Ke'er paused and then continued to reply: "In that case, I have to wonder what your purpose was in sending me out of the room. Well, maybe I'm just being cynical, but after thinking about it, I can only come to one conclusion: you want to get rid of me."

And what are your reasons for doing this? There are several possibilities. First, my presence is hindering what you want to do. Second, killing me is a necessary part of your plan. Third, I threaten your very existence.

Furthermore, given that you have no control over this mental space, even though you just showed off your ability to turn a person into a living being to deceive me, it's clear that this was just a cover-up. If you could control this place, you could have simply thrown me there without having to waste your breath.

In conclusion, I speculate that you are either another personality trying to seize power, or some other external consciousness. As for me... I might be the original personality who lost my memory due to trauma or injury, or perhaps an emergency measure originating from the original personality?

Hmm, thinking about it this way, you probably can't attack me here, and you can't freely enter or leave that so-called lower space, right? And that space is probably some kind of memory fragment, a kind of emergency protection measure to awaken my memories?

Ha, thinking about it now... leaving right at the beginning was a huge mistake. You must be thrilled when you find out, right? Too bad, you've had your fun for nothing.

As she spoke, Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips. She had only been suspicious at first, but after hearing the other person say something like "you won't die," she knew even a fool would know he was talking nonsense.

This module isn't the same one as last time, so the mission description should be reliable. The mission says Zhou Ke'er is dead, so she definitely is dead, and in the past perfect tense, not some fancy present continuous tense or future tense...

Although I still don't quite understand what's going on, at least the above points should be certain, assuming the module itself isn't malfunctioning...

[Congratulations to player "Zhou Ke'er" for reaching 70% exploration progress in the hidden world!]

As Zhou Ke'er finished speaking, the system notification tone also sounded very promptly.

It seems that most of what Zhou Ke said is correct, but are there still some crucial pieces of information that haven't been deduced or discovered?

However, it seems we need to deal with this guy first.

Although Zhou Ke'er's actions just now were somewhat like stirring up trouble, that was exactly what he wanted... to stir up trouble.

After all, it's obvious that hiding it won't help. You either expose the other person or listen to them and go out. There's no other choice. What else do you want if you don't just make it clear? Unverified reasoning is the most useless kind of reasoning; it's just wishful thinking.

"........"

After listening to Zhou Ke'er's long speech, the other party's face had already darkened. It took a long time before he finally squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Since... you have such thinking ability... why do you still need to summon me?"

"What a hassle. Unfortunately, the contract is already in place, and I've fulfilled my obligations. You either find a way to kick me out and break the contract, or you obediently offer up your soul. Sigh, it's all because of people like you that business is so tough these days."

"Huh? A contract... Speaking of this... you wouldn't happen to be... a demon?"

Zhou Ke'er couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. He recalled the descriptions of demons in some ancient texts... These guys were the race that most respected contracts, even more so than angels. Of course... at the same time, they were also the race that best exploited loopholes in contracts, more cunning and treacherous than those petty goblins. They were clearly a contradictory combination.

But... since we're talking about demons, these guys should be afraid of angels, right? If they're afraid of angels... then they should also be afraid of the holy light that comes from God's divine nature, right?

It can't possibly be like Nyarlathotep, who entered the White House with an old seal covered in national flags, right? Ah, Zhou Ke'er saw this reference when she was studying international history of the Old Age. Although she didn't know what it referred to, it should be something like this.

"Yes, you still remember that?"

The other party sighed, too lazy to maintain Zhou Ke'er's appearance any longer, and directly transformed into a tall, thin man dressed in a butler's uniform.

His eyes gleamed with a scarlet hue, and a pair of curly ram's horns grew from his head. "Well, I was originally thinking of letting you do it yourself, I'm too lazy to lift a finger, but... it seems that in this situation, I have no choice but to do it myself. Don't blame me, since we signed a contract, we have to abide by its terms!"

As he spoke, he assumed a fighting stance, seemingly about to pounce on Zhou Ke'er. A dark mist, mixed with deep purple, seemed to emerge from an abyss and swirl around him.

Zhou Ke'er was about to swear.

Damn it! Why is this guy ready to fight at the drop of a hat?! Can't we all talk it out?! Peace brings wealth, peace brings wealth!

He doesn't necessarily have to eliminate the other party (actually, he can't). He just needs to complete the main quest! After that, what does it matter to him whether the other party lives or dies?

Thinking of this, Zhou Ke'er quickly took several steps back, frantically waving her hands at the other person and shouting, "Stop, stop, stop! Can you let me say a few words?"

However, the other party completely ignored Zhou Ke'er and continued to charge forward, almost reaching her.

Zhou Ke'er had no choice but to use the "Trickster's Little Trick" effect one to slow down the opponent.

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126. My Cause of Death (Part 7)

"Wait a minute! Now you can listen to me properly, right? I told you before, don't rush to fight! Let's talk and discuss it! Fighting is no good. Even if it doesn't scare the kids, it's still bad to damage the flowers and grass!"

Seeing that the other party was still not giving up even after slowing down, and was obviously going to make another move, Zhou Ke'er hurriedly shouted to stop, "I didn't say I was going to tear up the agreement, can you be reasonable!"

Think about it, I definitely can't beat you, right? Even if I manage to escape, what then? I'll already be dead, won't I? Since I'm going to die anyway, why should I break the contract? There's no benefit in it, so why would I do something that harms others and doesn't benefit myself? Don't you think that makes sense?"

Zhou Ke'er rattled off a long string of words in a flash, leaving the somewhat bewildered Mr. Devil pausing in his tracks. He scratched his ram's horns in confusion and asked, "So what do you want to do? If there's nothing else, just do as I say! Wouldn't that be much better? Why do you have to expose the truth? Are you addicted to this?"

"Of course I need your help! Think about it, even though it's the original body that died, I don't know anything and have no memories. I can basically be considered an independent individual, right? If I die without knowing why, wouldn't that be like being buried with a stranger? That would be super unpleasant!"

At the very least, even if I die, I should at least know the truth! You have to tell me what caused my death? How did I die, and for what reason?

Zhou Ke'er looked at the other person and said it as if it were a matter of course.

"Ah...you have a point. Dying like this is indeed a bit tragic. Alright, although I am a demon, I am basically more merciful than an angel, right? I grant your request, as long as you promise...to obediently offer up your soul after you know everything."

The demon thought for a moment, then shrugged and nodded to Zhou Ke'er.

"So, what was the cause of my death?"

Zhou Ke'er narrowed her eyes and asked.

"What else could it be? You were so quick-witted just now, why can't you figure it out now?"

"It's obvious you summoned me by sacrificing your own life. That's the cause of your death; any normal person would guess, wouldn't they?"

The other person sighed and looked at Zhou Ke'er helplessly as they answered, their eyes seeming to look at her as if she were an idiot.

"Ugh...."

Zhou Ke'er straightened up, propped her chin up with one hand, pursed her lips, and rolled her eyes at the other person. "It's really strange... I'm really puzzled. How exactly do you manage to, or rather, what kind of mentality do you have, to be able to immediately follow up with another lie without changing your expression after being exposed as one?"

I always thought... only I could do this, but now it seems that in terms of mindset, I have to admit defeat to you.

Seriously, stop with the nonsense, let's talk this out openly, okay? I'm already dead, so I'll accept whatever you decide. I only have one request...to tell me the real cause of my death, okay? Just say it."

Since the task panel was completely silent, Zhou Ke'er knew without even thinking that the other party was just spouting nonsense again.

I almost fell for his trick just now, talking about a demon... How could that be?! What kind of suspenseful, sudden, and fantastical plot is this? Even the opening CG didn't include any of these elements.

"Since you don't believe me at all, what's the point of me saying anything?"

The other party remained calm upon hearing this, and simply shrugged helplessly.

"Please! Do I have to just call you out on it? If you know your lie has been exposed, just admit it! Do you have to have everyone call you out before you're satisfied? Are you a masochist?"

Zhou Ke'er bent her right index finger and tapped the table. She looked at the other party, who seemed to still intend to put up a stubborn resistance, with a pout. She condensed a ball of holy light in her hand, which was released by the God's Divinity artifact, and threw it at the other party.

"If you were truly a demon, I don't need to explain what would happen, but clearly you aren't... So, what should I call you? An alien consciousness? I'm afraid that's not the case."

"..." The other party remained silent for a long time, staring intently at Zhou Ke'er, before finally transforming into the appearance of a young girl, opening her mouth as if to say something...

But Zhou Ke'er suddenly interrupted her before she could speak.

For some reason, he seemed quite interested. He clicked his tongue and stroked his chin. "Hey, wait a minute, I suddenly have an idea. How about you listen to my speculation first, and then tell me whether my speculation is right or wrong, and then tell me the whole truth? What do you think? Isn't that a good suggestion?"

The girl looked at Zhou Ke'er helplessly and nodded. This girl was really talking to herself; she hadn't even said she was going to tell him everything...

"My initial deduction should be correct. The alley where I first appeared should indeed be some kind of emergency mechanism to remind me and awaken my memories. So the girl who also appeared there at that time... although she is still 'me' in essence, she should carry some kind of imagery... and now that I see you like this, I am certain that's the case."

So obviously, did I commit the act of "refusing to help"? Just like I did in that alley, I treated the girl who asked me for help with indifference. Well, the reason is, as I deduced before, that "I" have lost my emotions due to family oppression and am unresponsive to others' pleas for help... so that's why I refused to lend a hand, right?

If all of this is a flashback of memories after death, then I should represent the "id" or "ego" that is confused and struggling in the memories, and you represent... "emotions"?

Thinking about it that way, your pretense of being a "devil" does indeed carry some kind of metaphorical meaning, doesn't it?

Zhou Ke'er speaks very quickly, basically saying whatever comes to mind, which makes her seem somewhat incoherent. Of course, she didn't really put much effort into organizing her thoughts, as there was no need for that.

"Haha, you're mostly right, but unfortunately there's one small mistake, though I can't blame you for that."

The girl was silent for a moment before sighing. She looked at Zhou Ke'er with a strange expression and said softly, "It's not because 'I' have lost my emotions that I refused to help... but precisely because I felt emotions that I chose to stand by and do nothing... Do you understand?"

"Huh? What kind of logic is this? No... wait... it can't be... you mean!"

Zhou Ke'er's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing this. If it really was what he thought, then it was far too perverted...

"That's right, because watching from the sidelines brings me a feeling called 'guilt,' which allows me, who has lost all emotion, to feel a long-lost feeling... That's why I didn't do anything."

In a sense, this might even better fit the metaphorical meaning that emotions are the devil.

The girl nodded, confirming Zhou Ke'er's unspoken guess.

For a moment, the room fell silent, and Zhou Ke'er was at a loss for words. The atmosphere became somewhat deathly still, mired in an awkward silence.

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127. My Cause of Death (Part 8)

"Ah, this..."