Rhodes Island's Psychologist

Ch 126: The Surface

*Cough*

Orchid glares at Lin Yie, "Did you mean the Skadi on the fourth floor?"

Lin Yie nods and pretends to be confused.

Orchid says bluntly, "Are you crazy?"

"I'm a psychologist. How can I be crazy?"

"That's hard to say," Orchid's expression seems complicated. She says, "You should have heard about her already."

"Um, I did," Lin Yie nods, "But I think she's pretty nice."

"But the bathroom blew up?"

"Uh, that was an accident," Lin Yie smiles awkwardly, "But we resolved our disagreement."

"Wait..." Orchid frowns, "Skadi talked to you?"

"Yeah?"

"That doesn't make sense," Orchid taps her desk lightly and mutters, "I haven't seen her talk to others, not even Amiya. Why did she talk to you? Did your strange talent work on her?"

Lin Yie shrugs, "I don't know, but I think she's quite sociable."

"But the bathroom blew up?"

"Can you stop? The bathroom didn't blow up. There's just a hole in the wall now."

"Just? I don't know what to say," Orchid shakes her head helplessly, "I don't know why she agreed to be your assistant, but I do know that she's very dangerous. For your own safety, you should stay away from her. Also, her situation is very special. If you want to hire her, you will need Dr. Kal'tsit's direct permission first."

Lin Yie thinks for a moment. Then, he says, "I'll wait for her to come back to tell her in person then."

"You'll also need to fill a form and have her sign it."

"I'll get that done," Lin Yie makes a mental note and says, "When will Kal'tsit come back?"

"About a week later."

...

One week.

Two weeks.

Three weeks.

It's almost the fourth week now, but Kal'tsit still hasn't returned.

Lin Yie purses his lips as he stares at the ceiling.

In the nursing room, Nightingale just woke up. Hibiscus and Nearl have been taking care of her, while Lava records the lab results. Ptilopsis is typing on her computer, compiling all the information Lin Yie has collected so far.

Shining gives him some water.

Lin Yie sighs softly, "I reached the surface today."

Everyone stops in their tracks. They stare at Lin Yie blankly.

Even Ptilopsis turned her head to look at him, albeit her head made a 180-degree turn.

"One hour and twenty minutes," Ptilopsis types up the time in her file without turning her head back, "Based on calculations---"

"Wait," Shining cuts her off and stares at Lin Yie, "Are you sure you reached the surface?"

Lin Yie nods.

For the past twenty days, he had been entering Nightingale's dream. At the beginning, he had no idea what the dungeon looks like, but after all these trips, he has memorized where he should go and where each object is. He knows which barrel has shit, and which barrel has food. But the main objective he had been trying to achieve for the past few days was to reach the end of the secret passage. After so many tries, he finally succeeded.

He reached the end of the tunnel and opened the gate.

"Grass," Lin Yie looks at Shining nervously, "I saw grass. There were mountains and trees. When I got out, it was still nighttime, but there were no guards."

Ptilopsis stares at Lin Yie with her usual disapproving look.

Lin Yie shrugs helplessly, "You woke Liz up before I could take a closer look."

Nearl turns to Shining, "Can you confirm what he said?"

Shining tilts her head slightly, "He reached the surface."

"So you don't remember?" Nearl seems hesitant to celebrate, "Maybe we should have Lin Yie check the surface again. It seems suspicious that there were no guards."

Ptilopsis interjects, "Ptilopsis disagrees. The dream world does not follow the rules of reality. If Ms. Liz believes the surface has no guards, then the dream world won't have guards on the surface. If Ms. Liz thinks that she can gain freedom by escaping the dungeon, then bringing her out will save her."

Shining looks at Nightingale, whose head is still lowered.

Even with Ptilopsis's method, the longer Lin Yie stays in Nightingale's dream, the more fatigued she becomes after each visit. Her mental state is still getting worse.

"We can't wait," Shining brushes Nightingale's hair gently. She turns to Ptilopsis, "Can you make a plan?"

Ptilopsis nods, "If the objective is the successful extraction of Ms. Liz from the dungeon, Ptilopsis is capable of forming a solution tonight."

Shining turns to Lin Yie and says, "Lin Yie, tomorrow might be the last treatment."

When Lin Yie sees how exhausted Nightingale is, his heart can't help but skip a beat. Then, he turns to Shining again and sees the resolution in her expression.

He takes a deep breath and nods.

"I understand."

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Draft by Demo

Proofread by PanzerComrade56