Rhodes Island's Psychologist

Ch 134: Welcome Back, Liz

With power surging throughout his body. Lin Yie swings his sword in quick succession, each slash cutting down a foe. Even the Sarkaz warriors known for their fighting prowess cannot take one hit from him. Their Centurion didn't last more than three rounds before Lin Yie cut him in half.

...

Lin Yie walks past the piles of corpses and returns to Liz's side.

When she called out his "name," his strength doubled. Whenever he asked her if she woke up, Liz just called his "name" again.

He honestly thought her two personalities had fused together.

But that doesn't seem to be the case.

Liz is hugging her knees and sobbing. Other than muttering "Pineapple Bun," there's nothing about her that resembles Nightingale.

What's going on?

He's already this powerful, so why?

Lin Yie sits down and thinks about the situation carefully.

Liz has two sets of personalities. Her personality in the real world thinks the weakest being Lin Yie is invincible, while her inner self, the personality in the dream world, thinks she will never be able to leave the dungeon, but the former managed to influence the latter, which enabled her to make Lin Yie stronger. In other words, her inner self manifested the endless stream of enemies as a result of her assumption, while Lin Yie's newfound strength is the result of her personality in the real world influencing the dream world.

That means, Lin Yie fighting the Sarkaz warriors is actually Liz's personalities fighting each other.

At this very moment, Liz seems to be suffering from schizophrenia.

But Lin Yie doesn't think this is bad.

Since the beginning, everyone has struggled with whether they should preserve the current Liz or wake the real Liz up, but now, the two personalities have managed to manifest themselves at the same time. That means it's possible that they can coexist with each other.

"I can't do it!" Liz cries in her monologue, "We can't leave!"

Right after her saying that, a Sarkaz warrior materializes behind Liz and slices Lin Yie's right arm open. Lin Yie clenches his teeth as he turns around and cuts the Sarkaz down.

Lin Yie's expression turns grim.

It's obvious that her inner self is overwhelming her outer self. Even though her outer self has managed to influence her inner self, it's nigh impossible for the outside force to overcome the host's home advantage. Lin Yie knows if this goes on, he will lose.

After cutting down several more Sarkaz warriors that materialized out of thin air, Lin Yie picks Liz up with one hand and rushes back toward the passage.

...

Even though he managed to reach the entrance, his body had been cut several times already.

Lin Yie clenches his teeth and throws Liz inside. Instead of going with her, he closes the door.

He can hear Liz pounding on the door from the other side.

"I'm Lin Yie," Lin Yie turns his back to the door and points his sword at the approaching Sarkaz's, whose number has been increasing steadily, "Why can't you remember my name?"

"What are you going to do?"

"Listen," Lin Yie cuts another Sarkaz down, blood spilling onto his face, "Don't run. Don't open the door, or at least, not yet."

"I don't understand."

"It's simple, Liz," Lin Yie says, "If you believe this is just a dream if you believe the outside is not hell, but a world basked in sunlight, then you can open the door. I'll be waiting here for you."

"There is no surface, can't go..." Liz sobs.

"No, Liz, believe in yourself," Lin Yie says, "You can feel it too, right? Like you are living in a different world when you are here, but that world is the real world. It has sunlight and feelings, and pine---"

His body is sliced open again.
Lin Yie doesn't even bother to look at his body anymore. From his excruciating pain alone, he can feel how mangled and torn his flesh is. If it weren't because of Nightingale's "blessing," he would have died already.

Honestly, he doesn't want to be the protagonist anymore.

He wants to close his eyes and go back.

But... when he thinks about what would happen if he gives up now... the dread and despair of coming so close to the good ending, yet to fail in the last moment, his grip on his sword becomes even harder.

He really is doing his best.

But it's simply not enough.

"I can't imagine that kind of life."

Lin Yie parries another strike and cuts his enemy down.

He knows it's over. He can't win, or rather, it doesn't matter whether he wins or not, because this battle's main character is Liz, not the Liz he knows, but the Liz who survived Sarkaz's civil war and became strong and optimistic. However, her past self knows no light of the future, just like her current self doesn't know where she came from.

This is her battle and hers alone.

But...

Lin Yie believes in her.

"You braved the dark and witnessed the sun," Lin Yie whispers, "It's time to wake up, Liz."

He sighs softly. If he's going to fail anyway, he will do his best to provide her one last moment of peace, as her psychologist. If that means more blood and death, then so be it.

With his last bits of strength, Lin Yie lowers himself into his battle stance and faces the sea of enemies head-on.

...

How long have I fought?

Lin Yie can't tell if he's hallucinating, but the Sarkaz's faces have blurred, and their personalities disappeared. It's like all that remains of them is their purpose, that is, erasing the intruder and returning this world to its original state.

Ten minutes? Twenty minutes?

Or longer?

When Lin Yie is about to collapse, the door is opened.

At the same time, all the Sarkaz's warriors freeze.

Lin Yie props himself up with his sword. He can feel someone hugging him. He can hear their sob. But there's no need to turn his head around. It can only be her.

"What should I say now?" Lin Yie smiles weakly, "Welcome back, Liz."

Right after him saying that the world starts shaking. The earth breaks apart, and the sky splits into tiny pieces before raining down on the world's host and her doctor.

Lin Yie closes his eyes, as light pierces through the night and washes the darkness away from this wretched world.

Finally, it's over.

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Draft by Demosama

Proofread by PanzerComrade56