112: I'm not crazy, I'm really not crazy!

“I’m not sick!”

“I’m really not sick!”

Sword River Fish’s voice was sharp and hoarse, like glass ground with sandpaper.

His furious roar was particularly jarring in the overly quiet white room.

He gripped the armrests tightly with both hands, his body leaning slightly forward from agitation, almost springing up from the soft sofa.

His bloodshot eyes stared fixedly at the man in front of him.

The man wore a pristine white doctor’s uniform, gold-rimmed glasses, and a professionally impeccable gentle smile.

His name was Dr. Liu Wenbo, the most renowned psychological counseling expert in this hospital.

“Young man, please don’t get agitated. Sit down, we’ll talk slowly.”

Dr. Liu’s voice was light and soft, like a feather trying to smooth his ruffled fur.

But this “gentleness,” to Sword River Fish at this moment, was more grating than any mockery.

This was the appeasement of a “madman.”

This was the pity for a “patient.”

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to lean back into the sofa.

He knew that the more agitated he became, the more he would confirm the “label” they had placed on him.

“I’m not agitated.”

He tried to make his voice sound calmer, more rational.

“I’m just stating a fact. Sending me here is a mistake. The person you should be catching isn’t me.”

Dr. Liu adjusted his glasses and glanced at the notepad in his hand.

“According to police records, you made 23 emergency calls in the past 72 hours.”

“The first time, you said someone broke into your rental apartment, but nothing was stolen.”

“The second time, you said your computer was hacked, and your novel manuscript was tampered with.”

“The third time, you said you smelled burning corpses and suspected your neighbor was murdering and dismembering someone.”

“...”

“The eleventh time, which was 3 AM this morning, you said… the characters in your novel came to life, and they were in your room, trying to kill you.”

“Everything I said is true! I’m not sick!” Sword River Fish said, biting his lip.

“Alright, Mr. Jian, we all know you’re not sick.”

Dr. Liu interlaced his fingers and placed them on the table.

He straightened his back slightly and spoke in a soothing, almost indulgent tone.

“We’re just having a routine chat.”

“After all, you made multiple emergency calls last night. That put quite a bit of pressure on our police system, didn’t it?”

A chat?

Sword River Fish wanted to laugh, but his lips could only manage a curve uglier than a cry.

If the two uniformed police officers “inviting” him into the car, one on each side, counted as “chatting.”

“I’m not crazy!”

He pointed at his temple and roared.

“I saw it with my own eyes! I really saw it with my own eyes!”

“That man, that man named Chen Yuan, he was standing in my room! Covered in blood, holding a dead girl, and he was crying!”

“I smelled blood! I heard his cries! Those weren’t hallucinations! They were all real!”

He stopped there, staring intently at Dr. Liu, as if trying to discern even a trace of “belief” on the other man’s face.

However, he was disappointed.

Dr. Liu’s face only showed “focus” and “listening.”

The kind of routine “focus” a doctor gives a patient.

Sword River Fish’s heart sank little by little.

But he kept talking.

Because this was his only chance to prove his “innocence.”

“They don’t believe me… They all think I’m crazy…”

“Just last night.”

His body began to tremble violently, uncontrollably.

It was a fear that originated from the depths of his soul.

“I turned off my computer, unplugged the internet cable. I wanted to completely isolate myself from that ‘story.’”

“I lay in bed, pulling the covers over my head.”

“Then… I heard it.”

“Heard… their voices.”

“‘Chen Yuan’… ‘Gu Yanci’… ‘Ye Ningxue’…”

“Those names I created with my own hands, they echoed in my ears, over and over again!”

“Sometimes, it was the dying whisper of a young girl.”

“Sometimes, it was the desperate roar of a man.”

“And… and there was another, the coldest, most indifferent voice. It said…”

Sword River Fish’s pupils suddenly constricted to their extreme!

“It said… ‘The performance ends here.’”

“Then! I saw a huge figure projected onto my curtains! A figure dressed in ancient armor, holding… a scythe!”

“I was terrified! I was truly terrified! I grabbed my phone and called the police!”

“I shouted into the phone, I said, He’s here! He’s here to kill me! Come save me quickly!”

“Then… then, by the time the police broke down the door, that figure had vanished.”

“Only I was left in the room.”

Sword River Fish’s voice rose several degrees again.

He knew that to others, he must look like a complete madman.

But he didn’t care!

He had to say it!

Even if only one person believed him! He had to speak!

The entire counseling room fell into a dead silence.

Sword River Fish was panting heavily, cold sweat already soaking his back.

Dr. Liu pushed up his glasses, his gaze behind the lenses as calm as water.

“Mr. Jiang, according to police records, when the police received your emergency call and arrived at your residence, there was no one else in your room besides yourself.”

“Perhaps it’s a hallucination caused by excessive stress recently?”

“This isn’t your fault, it’s just an illness, like a cold or a fever, and it can be treated.”

“As long as you cooperate with us, take your medication on time, and receive treatment, you’ll get better very quickly…”

“Treatment?”

Sword River Fish laughed.

His laugh was uglier than a cry.

“Your ‘treatment’ is to give me sedatives, to give me pills that will make my mind go blank?”

“Your ‘treatment’ is to lock me in this white cage, where even the windows are welded shut, until I admit I’m a ‘madman’?!”

“No! I’m not crazy!”

He pointed out the window, at the gray, segmented sky.

“I’m not crazy! This world is crazy!”

“You’ve all been deceived! You know nothing!”

“That story is real! Chen Yuan is real! Gu Jianghan… Gu Jianghan is also real!”

“He’s right there! He’s watching me! He’s laughing! He’s mocking my incompetence! He’s turning me into a pathetic worm in his story!”

Sword River Fish slumped back into the chair, powerless.

He felt like a moth caught in a spiderweb.

No matter how he struggled, how he roared, he could only be entangled tighter and tighter by the vast net woven from “science,” “rationality,” and “logic.”

He remembered the looks the two police officers had given him a few hours earlier.

He had called the police then.

Over the phone, he incoherently described the “ancient man” who had suddenly appeared in his room to the dispatcher.

When the two young police officers, with grim expressions, rushed into his rental apartment, which was less than twenty square meters.

All they saw was a man pointing at an empty corner, trembling and acting like a madman.

“He’s right there! Can’t you see him?! He’s crying!”

“Sir, please calm down, there’s nothing here.”

“No! You’re lying to me! You must be in league with him!”

“…”

“And… ”

“My novel, the web novel I’m writing, it… it’s updating itself!”

A flicker of knowing certainty, a diagnosis, passed through Dr. Liu’s eyes.

He picked up his pen and subtly wrote a few words on the medical record in front of him: [Delusional disorder], [Stress-induced mental disorder].

“Can you elaborate, Mr. Jian?”

His tone remained gentle.

“Just like I told those police officers yesterday!”

Sword River Fish took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and described the fear that was driving him mad in the clearest language possible.

“I only wrote ninety-something chapters, but my author backend shows one hundred and eight chapters!”

“The extra chapters, the plot is similar to what I envisioned, but the writing style, format, and details are completely not my style!”

“My paragraphs never exceed three lines! But it, those chapters, are full of long descriptions at every turn!”

“My location naming is just ‘XX Country, XX City’! But it, it uses ‘[Human Emperor · Sin Ranch · Blackrock City]’! This is not my habit at all!”

“And my readers, my readers are all praising my progress, praising my improved writing, and more rigorous settings! Some even joked that I might have been possessed by AI!”

“Dr. Liu, do you understand? They're not praising me at all! They're praising that monster that's 'eating' my story, 'eating' my life!”

He spoke quickly and urgently, spitting as he went.

Dr. Liu listened quietly, the smile on his face unwavering.

Only when Sword River Fish stopped, gasping for air, did he slowly begin to speak.

“Mr. Jian, from what we understand, you are a full-time online writer, correct?”

“Yes…”

“In your writing, you've created a very grand world, with gods, demons, a Human Emperor, and various characters with world-destroying abilities, correct?”

“Yes…”

“Have you been under a lot of pressure to update recently? Or perhaps, have you encountered a creative bottleneck?”

“I haven't!”

Sword River Fish immediately retorted.

“My inspiration has been great recently! I'm about to write a major climax for the protagonist, to let him…”

“To let him turn the tide in adversity, marry a beautiful and wealthy woman, and reach the pinnacle of life, is that right?”

Dr. Liu interrupted him, a hint of deeper meaning in his smile.

“Mr. Jian, have you ever considered that this might actually be your own subconscious at work?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have excessively projected yourself onto the characters in your writing.”

Dr. Liu picked up his pen and lightly tapped the table.

“You yearn to be like them, to possess great power, to have rigorous logic, to have 'writing' that is adored by thousands.”

“Therefore, your brain, in order to satisfy this 'yearning,' unconsciously 'played' a more perfect 'you' to 'optimize' your work.”

“In psychology, this is called 'creative personality dissociation.' It's a very common psychological phenomenon among high-pressure creators.”

“You're full of shit!!”

Sword River Fish suddenly stood up, his chair sliding backward with a harsh screech due to his movement.

“This isn't my imagination! All of this is real!”

“In my home! Things from my novel have appeared!”

“The night before last, I found a bell under my pillow! That bell was exactly like the token of love between Su Ke Ke and Zhang Wei, spanning ten thousand years, from Chapter 32 of my novel! My novel is invading my life…”

“Yesterday morning, someone delivered takeout to me! It was a private dish that the female character in my novel loves most! But I never ordered it! I don't even know where that restaurant is!”

“And my cat! My Hakimi! It used to love sleeping on my lap!”

“But now, every day it hisses threateningly at the corner of my study! There's clearly nothing there!”

“It's scared! It's scared of that thing that's in my house, spying on me!”

Sword River Fish's emotions were completely out of control.

He pointed at his chest, roaring desperately at Dr. Liu.

“I'm not crazy! Everything I'm saying is true! Why won't you believe me?!”

Dr. Liu looked at him and slowly shook his head.

A trace of pity appeared in his eyes.

“Mr. Jian, based on our interviews with your neighbors…”

“You don't own a cat at all.”

“The 'Hakimi' you're talking about is just a stray cat doll you picked up from the roadside three days ago, too dirty to tell its original color.”

Boom—!!!

These words, like a clap of thunder, exploded in Sword River Fish's mind!

The color instantly drained from his face.

He suddenly remembered something.

Three days ago, after finishing his writing, he went downstairs to throw out the trash and indeed saw an abandoned cat doll next to the trash can.

At the time, he seemed to have felt a little sorry for it, so he picked it up… No… That's not right!

That wasn't a doll!

That was Hakimi!

It could move! It could meow! It could eat! It would rub its fluffy head against his palm!

“Mr. Jian?”

Dr. Liu's voice pulled him back from his chaotic thoughts.

“How about this, I'll prescribe some medication that can help you relax and improve your sleep. We can have a more in-depth discussion next week, how does that sound?”

Sword River Fish didn't answer.

He just lowered his head, staring blankly at his fingers, which were slightly deformed from long-term typing.

He knew that anything he said would be useless.

In this “real” world.

He was already a “madman.”

“No… you're lying to me!”

Sword River Fish's body began to tremble violently.

“You're all lying to me! You and that monster are in cahoots!”

“Mr. Jian, we also understand that you are an orphan, raised in an orphanage since childhood, correct?”

Dr. Liu ignored his roar and instead posed another seemingly unrelated question.

“You have no family and few friends. The only place you find solace is the 'world' you've created in your writing, and the 'readers' who follow your story every day.”

“The world in your writing, those individual characters, are your 'family,' your 'spiritual sustenance.'”

“When you 'kill' them for plot reasons, the pain you endure is much more intense than for an ordinary person. This also exacerbates your condition.”

“When your 'world' is no longer under your control.”

“When your 'readers' start to adore a 'you' that isn't 'you.'”

“You feel an unprecedented 'fear' and 'sense of abandonment.'”

“Therefore, your brain, in order to protect you, began to develop 'stress-induced disorders.' You confuse reality with fantasy, you start seeing things that don't exist…”

“Shut up!”

Sword River Fish let out a beastly roar!

He didn't want to listen anymore!

Not a single word more!

He suddenly turned and rushed towards the closed door!

He wanted to leave this cursed place!

He wanted to go home!

He wanted to prove! Prove that he wasn't crazy!

However, he hadn't even touched the doorknob.

The door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Two burly orderlies in white uniforms blocked the doorway.

Behind them were the two police officers who had “invited” him over yesterday.

“Dr. Liu, how is the situation?”

One of the police officers asked with a frown.

Dr. Liu stood up, adjusted his glasses, and said in a tone full of regret.

“The patient's condition is much more serious than we anticipated.”

“He has developed severe persecutory delusions and contact reality disorder.”

“I recommend immediate mandatory hospitalization.”

Hospitalization… treatment… These four words, like four sharpest daggers, fiercely pierced Sword River Fish's heart.

He slowly turned around.

Looking at the “white coats” who were approaching him step by step.

Looking at the tranquilizer syringes in their hands, gleaming with cold metallic light.

An unprecedented, bone-chilling despair overwhelmed him.

He remembered his helpless childhood.

He remembered the days in the orphanage, being isolated and bullied.

He remembered how he relied on one “story” after another, conjured from his own imagination, to endure those long and dark nights.

Stories were his only “salvation.”

And now… even his last “salvation” was about to personally push him into an abyss of eternal damnation.

“No…”

He retreated desperately until his back hit the cold wall, with nowhere left to go.

“Let go of me!”

Two orderlies grabbed his arms, one on each side!

The cold needle pierced his skin!

A strong sense of dizziness instantly swept through his brain!

His vision began to blur.

His consciousness began to sink.

Just before he was about to lose consciousness, he used his last bit of strength, roaring continuously, letting out wave after wave of desperate wails!

“I'm not crazy!!!”

“What I wrote… it's all real!!!”

“That world… it really exists!!!”

“Why… why won't you believe me?!!!”

“Yes… it must be…”

“It must be you! It's you who are crazy!”

“You're all fake! You're all characters from the story!”

“You're not Dr. Liu! You're an NPC sent by Gu Jianghan to hypnotize me, aren't you?”

“This isn't a mental hospital! This is a new dungeon! It's the 'World of Fear'!”

“Hahahahahahaha.”

“I'm telling you! You can't trap me! I am the author! I am the god of this world!”