Ms. Gojo thought she was dating an ordinary person's boyfriend.

The system box is stuck in mid-air.

Sumi Kichikawa's gaze lingered for a moment on "expanding" and "rule-oriented" before she couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

This thing is not only more complete than the "little bugs" he has seen before, but it has even evolved rules.

So, did those little insects originally have the ability to evolve?

Sumire Kikawa immediately became interested.

Seemingly sensing a dangerous gaze, the black game console suddenly sprang up from beside the pillow and crawled outwards along the wall like an insect, moving quickly and in a strange posture.

Just as he was about to escape the ward—

"The Infernal Realm."

The shadow beneath Kikawa Sumi's feet suddenly unfolded, and a corner of the ward abruptly folded in, like a page of paper being turned over, revealing an invisible wall.

The black game console crashed into the wall.

The hard impact sound was completely swallowed up, and in the silent space, all that could be seen was the strange thing being bounced back from the wall and crashing heavily to the ground.

It started making a piercing noise.

The child trapped in the dream frowned, his expression growing increasingly pained.

Kikawa Sumi walked over amidst the noise. The black monster sprang up as if trying to dodge, but in the blink of an eye, it was grabbed by a hand.

Suddenly, more hands appeared on the screen—three, five, seven...

They clung tightly to Sumi Kichikawa's wrists and forearms, pulling themselves outwards as if in a struggle.

Kikawa Sumi looked down at her arm, which was covered in black hands, and examined the creature, which was stronger than the previous monster.

This thing felt extremely cold to the touch, and it was wet and slippery when you held it in your hand. Although it looked like a game console, it was surprisingly soft to the touch, which surprised Sumi Kichikawa.

With the other hand, gently tap the edge of the screen.

"The Realm of Myriad Phenomena."

A curtain of water opened instantly in the air, forcing the images on the screen to freeze frame by frame.

In the dark corridor, children run in terror, with arms constantly emerging from behind to grab them. The children who are grabbed are dragged into the abyss and then fall back to the starting point to participate in the competition again.

As the children returned to the starting point time and time again, the entity behind them, which resembled the real person, became increasingly clear.

As Sumire Kichikawa watched these scenes, a hint of interest flashed in her eyes.

This thing is smarter than the little monsters he used to deal with casually. It no longer devours bits and pieces of negative emotions, but instead learns to turn people's fears into challenges, using children's fears to provide itself with power.

Generally speaking, if these aliens have basic learning abilities, they might also possess communication abilities.

Thinking this, Sumi Kichikawa immediately tapped the screen and asked seriously.

Can you talk?

The face on the screen instantly cracked open, emitting a sharp laugh.

The monster swelled up, the pixelated blocks on the screen flickered wildly, and then it suddenly broke free from Sumire's grasp, transforming into an exploding black water ball that hurtled straight at the child on the bed!

With a flash, Kikawa Sumi appeared at the head of the bed and unhesitatingly reached out to block the boy.

"Click."

The black teeth bit down hard on the back of his hand.

The icy touch embedded itself in his skin, the chill piercing his elbow like needles, yet it failed to harm him in the slightest.

Kikawa Sumi looked down at the face biting the back of her hand, and the last trace of gentleness in her eyes completely disappeared.

Faced with this dangerous creature that was clearly only inclined to attack, his research interest, which had initially arisen out of curiosity, vanished instantly.

Amidst the monster's terrified expression, Sumi Kichikawa's knuckles tightened inch by inch. As her fingers exerted force, cracks began to appear on the screen's surface, from which wisps of black mist seeped out.

The black mist tried to escape, but it was sealed off by his fingers.

At the same time, Sumi Kichikawa used her other hand to rip off the thin black thread that was wrapped around the child's dream thread.

The black monster let out a piercing scream.

The child's brow gradually relaxed.

The game console struggled more violently in his hands, and a string of jumbled characters scrolled across the screen.

On the verge of death, it decides to make one last desperate attempt to drag Susumu Kikkawa into its own rules, like those children, using his fear to turn him into the one being chased in the next level.

Black pixel blocks crackled and lit up, forming a corridor, at the end of which shadows were running.

invite.

Forced invitation.

The rules of dream invasion are beginning to cover Sumi Kikawa.

Sumire Kikkawa felt the pulling force and tilted her head expressionlessly.

"Still struggling?"

The Infernal Realm suddenly tightened.

The mirrored corridor shattered silently. The game console let out a short, sharp scream, like the final hiss of an old television before it was unplugged.

It had realized that it had no way to deal with the person in front of it; its rules couldn't break through the person's barrier at all, and it couldn't even sense the person's fear.

Instinct made him start to flee frantically.

It stopped attacking, stopped expanding, and just kept ramming against the wall of the Netherworld. The black hand retracted into the screen, and the face on the screen twisted into a grotesque mess, emitting rapid electronic sounds.

Beep be ...

Kikawa Sumi stood still and did not chase after it, but just lowered her eyes and quietly watched it crash.

After looking at it for two seconds, he squatted down again to look it in the eye.

"Someone has contacted you."

He saw it.

This thing did not evolve naturally.

Someone, or something, transformed it from an unconscious black mist into something that creates obstacles, chases, and learns fear.

He noted down the strange aura.

Then he closed his fingers and crushed the fleeing monster completely.

The little black monster flashed twice briefly at the end. Then, all the pixel blocks went out simultaneously, and all the black hands that had grown out of the screen convulsed for a moment before falling limply and turning into ashes.

Eventually, it slowly dissolved and diluted completely within the walls of the Infernal Realm.

The air in the ward warmed up a bit, the lights returned to normal, and the alarm on the monitor stopped.

The entire process takes no more than three minutes.

The little boy on the bed calmed down, and the rabbit doll in his hand tilted to one side.

He turned over and drifted off to sleep.

The mother asked softly from outside the curtain, "Dr. Qichuan?"

As the grid was removed, the room returned to a regular ward.

Sumiki Kikawa stood up and looked down at the back of her hand.

No wounds were left at the bite site.

His ability, [Boundary Player], grants him one second of invincibility when attacked, giving him enough time to react and counterattack, so the monster had no way to harm him.

But the feeling of being bitten was still strange, because only a very faint coolness remained on that small patch of skin, like the feeling left after holding a metal handrail in winter.

He flexed his fingers before pulling back the curtain.

"He's alright now. He must have had a very deep nightmare. He's stable for now. We'll continue to observe him tonight."

The mother covered her mouth, and tears immediately fell down her cheeks.

"Thank you, thank you so much..."

Sumi Kichikawa picked up the record board at the foot of the bed and wrote down the examination results.

"If he wakes up, don't keep asking him about the dream. Give him some warm water and talk to him about other things."

Miyazawa Chinatsu looked at the child, then at Kikkawa Sumi.

"Mr. Kikawa, that lamp from earlier..."

"It might be circuit interference," said Sumire Kikawa. "Have the equipment department check it again."

Miyazawa Chinatsu nodded, but did not leave immediately.

Sumire Kichikawa put the pen back in her pocket.

"Please keep an eye on the third floor tonight."

"I see."

Outside the ward, night had fallen.

As Sumi Kichikawa walked to the nurses' station, preparing to fill in the medical record, her cell phone vibrated again in her pocket.

[Wu: I've arrived at your house.]

[Wu: But my pajamas don't seem to be dry yet... Can I wear Cheng's pajamas?]

As Kikawa Sumi looked at the screen, the lingering chill in her eyes vanished instantly.

He could already picture Gojo Satoru shuffling around in those oversized gray slippers, peeking out from in front of the wardrobe.

[Sumi Kikawa: I prepared a new one for you; it's in the left drawer of the wardrobe.]

[Wu: Eh—did you put this away specifically for me?]

[Sumi Kawakawa: Hmm.]

[Wu: Little Chengzhen is so sweet~ Can I ask for a midnight snack tonight? I want to eat the pudding from the fridge.]

[Sumi Kawakawa: You can only eat one.]

[Wake-up: Two! Work was super tiring today!]

[Sumi Kawakawa: One and a half. I'll eat the other half when I get back.]

[Wu: That's so unfair...]

Wu: Then I'll wait for you to come back.

Kikawa Sumi laughed silently, then locked her phone screen and put it back in her pocket.

Then he pulled out a chair and quietly continued his work as a general practitioner.