Global Ghost Stories: I'm Investigating Ghosts in My Nightmare!

Chapter 42 The Patient and the Intruder

The cold gaze was like two scalpels, cutting into the depths of Bai Yu's consciousness through his eyes, trying to peel away all his hidden thoughts.

He knew the face in front of him all too well.

Lan Ce's thick-rimmed black glasses, his slightly tense brow from years of focusing on data, and his rationality that seemed to quantify everything in the world into parameters...

Everything seemed to be exactly the same as the teammates he remembered.

However, Bai Yu's heart sank into a deep coldness in an instant.

This is definitely not Lance.

Lanze's rationality is based on an objective understanding of the world and absolute trust in his companions; behind that calmness lies a human warmth.

The "doctor" before me had only one thing in his eyes—a program. A pre-programmed, cold program used to identify and correct "errors." He was merely a rule enforcer disguised as Lancer.

“Patient Number Seven,” the voice of “Dr. Lance” rang out again, still calm and unwavering, “I’m asking you a question. According to the records, your recent symptoms of ‘hallucination’ have been worsening. You’ve started frequently mentioning people and things that don’t exist, such as that so-called ‘Investigation Bureau.’ Now, your physiological indicators are showing abnormal fluctuations again. Tell me, what are you ‘hallucinating’ about this time? Or… what are you afraid of?”

His words were like an invisible net, shrouding Bai Yu. Every word was a trap. To admit to the illusion was to admit to being a "patient" and be included in the world's "treatment" system; to deny the illusion would be judged as "non-cooperation," thus triggering more intense "corrective" measures.

Bai Yu's brain completed countless deductions in a few seconds. He slowly raised his head, his eyes meeting the scrutinizing gaze of "Dr. Lan Ce," whose calm eyes revealed a perfect blend of confusion and fear befitting a "patient."

“I…” His voice was hoarse and dry, trembling slightly, “I don’t know… I just… feel very uneasy. I think I… had a very long dream. In the dream, I wasn’t Number Seven, my name was… Bai Yu. I had many companions, and we were together… doing some very dangerous things…”

Instead of denying it directly, he went along with the other person's words and packaged his real memories as a vague "dream".

“I woke up and found myself still here. I can’t tell… which side is real. So, I’m a little scared.” He lowered his head slightly, avoiding the other person’s gaze, a gesture that made him look even more vulnerable and helpless. “Doctor, am I… getting sicker?”

This monologue, a blend of truth and fantasy, was nothing short of perfect. He used the genuine weariness and paleness he felt after his soul was shattered as evidence to vividly portray the pain and contradictions of a mental patient struggling between reality and fantasy.

A glint of analysis flashed in Dr. Lance's programmed gaze.

He seemed to be comparing Bai Yu's response to the cases of countless patients in his database.

A few seconds later, the cold scrutiny on his face faded slightly.

“This is a classic symptom of ‘cognitive confusion,’ which is common in your course of illness,” he said, as if reading a diagnosis report. “You’ve projected your imagined ‘self’ into reality, and this has caused anxiety and fear. This suggests that your previous medication dosage may need some adjustments.”

As he spoke, he took out a small metal box from the pocket of his white coat, took out two white pills that were the same as before, and handed them to Bai Yu.

"Now, eat this. It can help you relax and temporarily blur those unnecessary 'dreams'."

Again.

Bai Yu's heart tightened suddenly; the same trick could not succeed twice.

Under the "doctor's" watchful eye, he had no chance to hide the pills.

Reject or accept?

In the instant he hesitated, Dr. Lance's gaze, which had just calmed down, sharpened again.

"What? Are you resisting treatment, Number Seven?" The coldness in his voice, which was inherent to the program, intensified.

At the critical moment, Bai Yu's gaze fell upon a fountain pen clipped to "Dr. Lan Ce's" breast pocket. It was a very ordinary old-fashioned Hero brand fountain pen, but there was an extremely fine scratch on the cap.

Bai Yu had seen that scratch before.

In the real world, Lanze also has an identical fountain pen, which Anmu gave him when he first joined the agency. The scratch was accidentally left during a mission when he tried to deflect a flying shrapnel.

The creator of this world has such exquisite imitation abilities! It read its own memories, copied Lance's appearance and voice, and even perfectly replicated a tiny detail on his personal belongings!
But this is precisely its biggest weakness!

A procedural world would not allow such "imperfections" to exist.

The appearance of this detail only proves one thing—the creator of this world, Wen Maoran, although he attempted to establish a kingdom of absolute order, his own will was filled with the inherent arrogance and… mischievousness of human nature. He enjoyed the feeling of manipulating people's hearts.

A bold plan instantly formed in Bai Yu's mind.

He raised his head, his eyes no longer filled with confusion, but instead gleaming with a mixture of obsession and fanaticism. He stared intently at the pen, as if it were some rare treasure.

“No…no…” he murmured, as if speaking to the doctor, yet also as if speaking to himself, “I just…saw it. This pen…it shouldn’t be here. It belonged to a companion of mine named ‘Lance.’ I remember it clearly, the scratches on it…were from a mission…”

He began to actively "pour out" his "fantasy".

For the first time, Dr. Lanze's brow furrowed genuinely. He glanced down at his pen instinctively. His system told him it was just an ordinary pen. But the details described by the patient were so precise they defied logic.

"Number Seven, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"I'm not lying!" Bai Yu's voice suddenly rose, her emotions so agitated it seemed she was about to lose control at any moment. "You're all fake! This world is fake! You're all... illusions created by Wen Maoran! He wants to turn me into an empty shell like you! I won't let him succeed!"

He snatched the two pills from "Dr. Lance's" hand and, under the other's astonished gaze, shoved them into his mouth without even looking at them. Then he grabbed a water glass, gulped down a large mouthful of water, and swallowed the pills.

"Look! I took it! But it's useless!" He was breathing heavily with excitement, his eyes burning with fanaticism. "Your drugs can only numb my body, but they can't numb my memory! As long as I remember them, remember Captain An Mu, remember Mo Fei, remember Lu Yueqi... I am not Number Seven! I will always be Bai Yu!"

He accomplished a perfect disguise in a way that was almost self-destructive.

An incurable patient whose condition has worsened to the point where he can no longer distinguish between reality and fantasy, and who has developed severe resistance to the "treatment".

Dr. Lanze was completely stunned. His programmed thinking was clearly incapable of handling this complex situation that exceeded all contingency plans. He looked at the emotionally charged and fanatical "Number Seven" before him, then at the empty tray in his own hands.

Finally, he adjusted his glasses and said in the cold tone of a medical recorder, "Patient number seven has developed severe paranoid delusions, accompanied by violent tendencies. He has taken medication, but his mental state is extremely unstable. We need to... report to the hospital director for an in-depth 'memory review'."

He gave Bai Yu a deep look, as if he were looking at a defective product about to be sent back to the factory for repairs. Then, he turned around and walked quickly into the depths of the corridor, seemingly to report to his "dean".

The crisis has been temporarily averted.

Bai Yu leaned against the wall, feeling waves of dizziness rising from his stomach. The two pills were starting to take effect; they felt like two cold worms crawling up his veins, trying to paralyze his central nervous system and slow his thinking.

He had to find a safe place immediately to minimize the effects before the drug took full effect.

He forced himself to get his bearings and headed towards the "activity room" the nurse had mentioned earlier. It was where the most patients were, the most chaotic, and the best place to hide.

……

dark.

The boundless darkness.

When Lu Yueqi's consciousness snapped out of the dizzying, pulling sensation, she found herself in a void. There was no sound, no light, no gravity, and she couldn't even feel the passage of time. She was like a speck of dust cast into the depths of space, suspended alone, unable to find any coordinates to refer to.

Fear gripped her heart like a cold hand.

But this time she didn't scream.

"I am Lu Yueqi, an investigator from Team One of the Nightmare Investigation Bureau. I am here to find Bai Yu and bring him home."

She closed her eyes and silently repeated her goal in her mind over and over again.

She reaffirmed her "mental anchor," and the incredibly steadfast figure that had stood in front of her in the toy factory slowly emerged in her sea of ​​consciousness, radiating a faint light, illuminating a small beacon for her in this boundless darkness.

As her "self" solidified, she began to try to perceive the world. She cautiously extended her "deep chill" power, like an invisible net, into the surrounding darkness.

In an instant, a torrent of chaotic, broken, and painful emotions surged toward her!
"...My leg...it hurts so much...someone help me..."

"...Don't come any closer! You're not my mother! You monster!"

"...What's the date today? Did I take my medicine? Who am I?"

Thousands of desperate, frantic, sorrowful, and confused voices exploded in her mind at the same time, almost tearing her sanity to shreds.

This is what Lance called "information soup"!
A chaotic ocean composed of the fragmented memories and obsessions of hundreds of patients!
Lu Yueqi's face turned deathly pale instantly. She felt as if her consciousness was a lone boat that could be capsized by the raging waves at any moment.

No... I can't keep sensing things aimlessly like this!

She immediately withdrew most of her mental energy, leaving only a slender tendril like a blind cane to search for that unique aura in this chaotic ocean.

She didn't know where Bai Yu was, but she knew that Bai Yu's mental strength would be the most resilient, carrying a hint of fragility like ancient, cold iron. That was something this chaotic "information soup" could not imitate.

Her spiritual tendrils struggled through this chaos, sensing the broken souls one by one.

She sensed an old man's deep longing for his grandson, a man's hatred for having his looks taken from him, and a child's fear of a doctor in a white coat...

Just when she was about to fail due to excessive mental exhaustion.

Her antennae finally caught a faint but incredibly familiar fluctuation.

It was a similarly cold force, but unlike the chaotic and disordered fragments of despair around it.

It carries a sense of "tranquility" and "sorrow," like an ancient glacier that has never melted in the depths of this raging ocean.

It is the power of "deep cold"!

It was the power I left in the core of that nightmare in the toy factory!
Bai Yu... Bai Yu also inadvertently absorbed a portion of it after he came into contact with it!

A surge of joy welled up in Lu Yueqi's heart.

She found it! She found the "beacon" for tracking the Bai language!
Without hesitation, she focused all her consciousness toward the source of the fluctuation.

The surrounding darkness began to fade rapidly, and some blurry outlines and colors began to appear in her field of vision.

"Wow--"

As if breaking through a layer of water, her consciousness finally broke free from that chaotic ocean and regained control of her body.

She suddenly opened her eyes and gasped for breath.

She found herself in a small, dimly lit room. The air was thick with dust and the smell of decaying old things.

The room was filled with all sorts of odds and ends: a rusty iron bed frame, a mattress with holes, a chair with missing legs, and box after box of the patient's belongings.

The relics were all covered with yellowed labels bearing unfamiliar names.

She successfully entered this world. And because her purpose was to "search" and "empathize," this world did not judge her as a patient in need of "correction," but instead threw her into this forgotten "dumping ground."

She stood up and cautiously looked around.

There was no one else in the room except her, and the door was locked from the outside.

She walked to a box of belongings and gently stroked an old, faded sweater on top.

In an instant, a wave of longing washed over her. She "saw" a young woman sitting by the window, knitting the sweater while thinking of her husband far away.

Lu Yueqi quickly withdrew her hand, a wave of fear washing over her. Even inanimate objects in this world were fraught with danger.

She dared not touch anything again and began searching for an exit in the room. Finally, her gaze fell on a vent in the corner of the room that was blocked by clutter.

It took her a lot of effort to move the heavy clutter. The iron grille of the ventilation vent was so rusted that she easily pried it off.

She took a deep breath, curled up, and struggled to crawl out of the narrow vent.

Outside was a similarly dark and deathly silent corridor.

Unlike the "clean" world Bai Yu had seen, the corridor before her was dilapidated. Large chunks of plaster had peeled off the walls, revealing the dark red bricks underneath; the floor was covered with dried, unidentified stains; and on the ceiling, a broken chandelier swayed gently with the wind blowing in through the broken window, making a creaking sound, like a lullaby played for the dead.

This is the "inner world" beneath the glamorous exterior of this world.

Lu Yueqi leaned against the wall, trying to calm her racing heart. She felt like a spy who had infiltrated an enemy base, and every step she took had to be taken with extreme caution.

Her goal was clear—to find the Bai language.

She closed her eyes again, releasing her spiritual tentacles to search for the familiar fluctuations of the "deep cold" power.

This time, the fluctuation was much clearer than it had been in the Sea of ​​Chaos. It was right there... on the left!
Without further hesitation, Lu Yueqi crouched down, using the clutter piled up in the corridor as cover, and silently crept towards that direction.

She walked through one similar corridor after another, surrounded by a deathly silence, with only the sound of her own heartbeat and the faint sound of the wind.

Just as she turned a corner, a suppressed groan of pain suddenly came from a half-open door not far ahead.

Lu Yueqi's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately hid behind a pile of old cabinets, holding her breath.

She cautiously peered through the crack in the cabinet at the door.

She saw a man in a white hospital gown being held down on an operating table by two "doctors" in white coats. One of the doctors was holding a large syringe, about to plunge it into the man's neck.

"No... I'm not sick... Let me go! You devils!" The man struggled and screamed frantically.

“Quiet down, number thirty-four,” one of the doctors said in a cold, emotionless tone. “You just had a bad dream. Sleep it off, and you’ll forget everything when you wake up.”

The needle plunged in without hesitation.

The man's struggles weakened instantly, his eyes began to glaze over, and finally became completely empty.

Lu Yueqi covered her mouth tightly to keep herself from making a sound. Her whole body was ice-cold, and anger and fear were intertwined in her chest.

This is the world's "healing"!
Bai Yu... Is he... going through the same thing right now?
This thought was like a red-hot branding iron, burning fiercely into her heart.

She can't wait any longer!

She forced herself to calm down and focused her mental energy once again to sense the exact location of that "deep cold" power.

Getting closer...

It's right ahead! Behind that dark red door painted with funny smiley faces and balloons!
She bypassed the terrifying "treatment room" and silently arrived at the door.

The door was ajar, and dim light shone from inside, along with some strange noises.

She could clearly sense Bai Yu's cold yet resilient spirit behind that door!
Her heart leaped into her throat at that moment.

(End of this chapter)