Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After the interrogation, Lann didn't go back immediately but stayed to sort out the interrogation records with Archie, assess the suspect's psychological state, and even conduct a personality test based on the interrogation.

Though he didn't understand why this was necessary, he believed in fulfilling his job since he was paid for it. Lann was committed to his role.

While working on the tests, Archie initiated small talk with Lann, leaving him quite perplexed and somewhat flattered.

Everyone knew of Dr. Archie's aloofness in the previous world's player groups. Unless someone was his patient, a week's worth of casual conversation with him wouldn't exceed ten sentences, eight of which were scoldings for players who pestered him needlessly.

Now, Archie was actually the one initiating a conversation with Lann, which Lann guessed might be due to the recent interrogation.

Strangely, Archie didn't mention the interrogation at all, instead dragging Lann into various topics. Lann was puzzled but seized this rare opportunity for professional exchange.

By the time they finished compiling the data, Lann couldn't help but feel that Archie might not be as indifferent as depicted in the forums of his former world. Maybe it was because his close friend was still around?

"Are we done here?" Albert entered the room.

"Yes, we're done. I can handle the rest of the work myself," Archie said calmly.

Albert immediately understood and smiled at Lann, "Then Lann, let me drive you back."

"No need, I can walk back on my own."

"That won't do. It's already dark outside, and I'll be worried and unable to sleep tonight if you walk back alone," Albert joked. "Besides, you're the hero of the day. Let me give you a ride."

Lann didn't insist further. Who would refuse a free ride? He nodded and got into the car with Albert.

"Here, your payment for today."

As soon as Lann got in the car, Albert promptly handed over the payment. Lann counted it and was surprised to find two more bills than initially agreed upon.

"Albert, you've given too much."

"No, it's what you deserve," Albert said, looking straight ahead. "If it weren't for you, the interrogation wouldn't have gone so smoothly, and we wouldn't have obtained such valuable information."

Lann shook his head and handed back two bills: "I can't accept this. You already offered more than the market rate."

But Albert refused to take them: "You've been busy all day, and look, it's already dark. Consider it overtime pay. The department will reimburse it."

Lann still insisted on stuffing the money back into Albert's pocket. Albert, busy steering the wheel, couldn't use his hands to refuse and could only protest with his eyes.

"Albert, I appreciate your care, but there's no way your department will reimburse this," Lann knew better. His predecessor had no medical experience, let alone expertise in the field. The police department, desperate as it might be, wouldn’t just let him try his hand, as Archie's initial attitude had made clear.

The only explanation was that Albert was looking for a reason to give him money.

Previously, Albert had mentioned in the hospital that Lann could ask him for a loan, but at that time, Lann was preoccupied with the events of the evening and didn't react. Albert might have misunderstood something and never brought up the loan again.

Maybe Albert had learned about Lann's financial difficulties through other channels, hence this gesture today; otherwise, Albert's surprise at Lann's success with the suspect couldn't be explained.

Albert probably hadn't expected him to succeed, and no matter how Lann performed, Albert would have found a way to make him accept the money.

But Lann couldn't comfortably accept such generosity.

"Because I am not actually 'Lann'."

"I appreciate the help you've given me, but I can't in good conscience accept any more."

The car abruptly halted as Albert turned to Lann with a serious expression: "I'm not trying to pity you. You deserve this payment because you're worth it."

"I know," Lann softened his eyes, "but it's alright now, I have a way to keep the therapy clinic running."

"Are you sure?" Albert asked, surprised. He knew from Archie that someone like Lann, freshly graduated and lacking connections or experience, would find it nearly impossible to sustain a psychology practice.

"Well, I'm not 100% certain, but at least it won't shut down immediately," Lann replied with a smile.

This had occurred to him during his meeting with Archie. He was currently the most popular NPC on the player forums, and once the game inevitably opened, many players would surely visit his clinic.

After all, he, a psychologist, charges by the hour for consultations!

Wouldn't this be a perfect opportunity to 'shear some wool' from the players?

Moreover, Lann wanted to test if his psychotherapy could effectively impact the players.

"But I still owe you thanks."

Regardless, he had genuinely received and appreciated the indirect care and help from the other party. Meeting Archie here was an unexpected bonus.

Archie had given Lann hope, the hope of surviving the impending doom, the future destruction. If Dr. Archie could survive such a catastrophe, then by closely following his lead, Lann could find the right moment to leave the city with his friends.

The hope of survival had significantly increased, greatly uplifting Lann's spirits.

The young man in the passenger seat smiled, a genuine smile reaching his eyes. It was different from his usual ones, especially now that his heart was filled with the confidence of surviving in this world, the vibrant hope making his eyes sparkle like jewels.

Albert was completely captivated by this smile. He somewhat lost his composure and extended his hand, seemingly wanting to caress Lann's face, his eyes flashing with an extremely complex emotion.

"Beep beep—"

Both of them jolted back to reality, realizing that cars had lined up behind them due to Albert's sudden stop, almost causing a traffic jam.

Albert quickly started steering again, and the faintly romantic atmosphere that had just arisen in the car dissipated completely.

The atmosphere in the car turned silent for a moment, as both men seemed to reflect on the recent awkwardness. Albert was annoyed with his momentary distraction and rash actions, while Lann silently breathed a sigh of relief, also puzzled by the emotion he had seen flicker in Albert's eyes.

He seemed to be feeling guilty, but about what?

"By the way, Lann, you should be careful these days. Try to avoid going out if possible."

Albert's words made Lann turn to him: "Why?"

"Just as a precaution. The bald man you interrogated today disclosed a lot of information about the Black Spades, which might provoke their retaliation," Albert said, frowning slightly with a look of helplessness in his eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't expect you to go this far. But now that it's done, if they find out about you, they might come after you. Of course, I'll protect you. You have my number in your phone. If you sense any danger or something feels off, make sure to contact me."

Albert spoke very seriously, prompting Lann to nod in acknowledgment: "I understand..."

Speaking of contact methods, Lann remembered Dr. Archie and asked, "Are you and Dr. Hayes close?"

"Hmm? Yeah, we grew up in the same block, childhood friends. But we've had some disagreements lately," Albert said, slightly tense, thinking Lann might still be upset about Archie giving him a hard time earlier, "Actually, Archie is a good person, just a bit cold."

"Yes, I know, he's a good person," Lann said with an embarrassed smile, "Can I have his contact details?"

Albert: "…?"

……

Archie was in his office alone, sorting through the interrogation data. He tossed aside the bald man's personality test and compared it with another character test that had been subtly conducted during their conversation.

As he compared the results, Archie breathed a sigh of relief. From what he could see, Lann didn't have any mental disorders, nor did he show signs of common post-disaster PTSD. In fact, Lann could be described as having a gentle and stable personality, the kind unlikely to encounter problems.

So, his earlier feeling was just an illusion.

Relaxed, Archie made himself a cup of coffee, then began examining another file prepared in advance by Albert, containing similar tests Lann had taken during his student days.

Although Archie felt Albert was overreacting a bit, as a professional psychologist, he carefully reviewed the test papers from the file.

His eyebrows began to rise as he read.

Wait a second.

He picked up the personality test he had just reviewed, put down his coffee, and compared it, frowning, to the student test.

Cold sweat gradually soaked through his back.

They were different.

Two similar personality tests taken by the same person, yet the answers varied significantly.

It was as if they were tests taken by two different people.

But how could that be possible...

Archie sat in his office for a long time as the night deepened. A few on-duty officers glanced in his direction. Before they could say anything, they saw Dr. Archie stride out of his office.

"Hey, Dr. Archie, you're off for the day?"

Archie hurriedly made his way, not even sparing a glance at the police officers, who shrugged to their colleagues in resignation: "He's definitely professional, but too proud."

"Maybe he's got some urgent business," another officer suggested.

"Urgent business? He just doesn't regard us small cops highly, that's all."

However, they were mistaken this time. Archie indeed had urgent matters to attend to. He drove rapidly, almost running a red light on his way from the police station to his rented apartment, managing to get home within an hour.

By the time he reached his apartment, it was nearly midnight.

Without even taking time to drink water, Archie hurriedly set up candles and a cup of water on the table, then lay down on the sofa, fully clothed.

He was very familiar with this routine, and as he lay on the sofa, he quickly calmed his emotions, closed his eyes, and sank into a state of deep tranquility, almost like sleep, delving into the depths of his consciousness.

At that moment, the clock was just about to strike midnight.

In a haze, he found himself standing in a space filled with gray mist, holding a candle whose faint light flickered in the air, barely illuminating the small area under his feet.

He was on a tiny platform, only about two or three square meters in size, with an abyss below and everything else shrouded in fog, utterly silent. Holding the candle, Archie found a staircase heading downward at a 45-degree angle to the northeast.

The staircase appeared out of nowhere in the mist, its destination unclear, as was the depth below. Archie focused his mind and began to descend step by step, holding the candle.

The initial part of the staircase was just quiet, but after the fifth step, Archie started to hear calls from familiar voices. He didn't lift his head but continued to walk his path, step by step.

The voices behind him grew more urgent, followed by indistinct whispers that seemed right in front of him. Archie's forehead began to sweat, he gritted his teeth and walked faster, until after descending ten levels, the scene before him suddenly changed.

It was a platform similar to the one before but much larger, about the size of a room. In the center of the platform was a table, and sitting opposite was a figure cloaked in a black coat.

If one approached, they would discover that the person under the black coat had no face.

Archie Hayes is an ordinary psychological consultant, albeit with an unusual secret.

Every midnight, he can enter a special space where he communicates with a faceless, heartless entity through a question-and-answer game to obtain information.

So far, the information obtained from these sessions has never been wrong. Not even once.

The difficulty of the question-and-answer game fluctuates based on the value of the information from the previous session. If Archie answers incorrectly, he pays a certain price.

Archie silently walks to the table and sits down.

"I want to know something."

"Ask your question," says the faceless being with its nonexistent mouth. "A man often takes his girlfriend to the hospital, and then the man commits suicide. Why? You have ten chances."

Archie asks, "Is the man's death related to his girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"Is the woman sick?"

"No."

……

After using all ten chances, Archie answers, "The man often took his girlfriend to the hospital because she was pregnant. Their family disapproved, so they didn't marry. The child in the girlfriend's womb had a hereditary disease, treatment was expensive, and the man, unable to bear the pressure and the despair of falling in love with his own sister, committed suicide."

"Correct," says the faceless being. "Next question."

The faceless being asks a total of five questions, each with a varying number of chances and different levels of difficulty. Archie answers four correctly but fails one.

As a result, he loses his left ear, and the faceless being gains a left ear on its face.

But Archie breathed a sigh of relief, as losing his left-side hearing for just 24 hours was a price he could bear.

"Ask your question." After the faceless being had asked its five questions, Archie eagerly took his turn. "What is Lann's true identity?"

However, the faceless being did not respond.

Archie frowned and was about to repeat his question when the faceless being raised its arm, stiffly extending its index finger.

The finger was held up to where a mouth should be, a universally understood gesture for silence.

—Forbidden to ask, forbidden to mention.

Such is the unknowable mystery.