Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps outside intensified.

The group quickly turned off their lights, and the archive room returned to silence. Soon, voices discussing could be heard outside.

"Did you see anyone?"

"No, but the leader said they might have run this way."

"Tsk, those rioters..."

"Do you think they might already be in the archive room?"

The players and Lanen inside exchanged glances and, without a word, began to hide.

The sound of unlocking came from the door.

The door opened from the outside, and a figure peeked in, sweeping the room with a flashlight. "Seems like no one's here."

"Be cautious, check inside."

Two more people walked in behind the first, starting a thorough search of the archive room.

If this continued, Lanen and the others hiding in the corner would eventually be discovered.

What should they do?

Archie and Lanen, hiding together, exchanged glances when they suddenly noticed someone standing motionless beside a row of bookshelves.

That's where...

Lanen's heart skipped a beat; it was the area Druid and the others had previously searched. Could it be?

"Look here, someone has tampered with these files!"

Indeed, the searchers discovered something, pointing to the obviously disturbed area: "They've been here!"

"They might have left, or maybe..."

The person didn't finish speaking before Archie, who had stealthily moved into the shadows, sprang into action. Without hesitation, he raised his gun and fired a silenced bullet, piercing the person's limbs. Then, Archie lunged forward, knocking the person to the ground with a punch.

This seemed to be a signal. Druid and Black Cat, hiding near the other two searchers, pounced like predators. Fortunately, after continuously undertaking missions, the players had reached level 20, and their proficiency in close combat skills was nearly at 45 points for the highest.

Skill advancement became more difficult later on. Druid's combat skill was stuck around 40 points, and Black Cat was slightly weaker at 32 points, but that was enough!

With the advantage of a surprise attack and familiarity with the dark, Druid quickly floored his target, and Black Cat did the same. However, he was a step slower, and the man he overpowered pressed the alarm, filling the archive room with a loud noise.

Black Cat knocked out his opponent in the brawl, but it was too late; they heard heavy footsteps rushing their way.

"Run," Lanen said. As soon as he spoke, the group swiftly headed towards the corridor outside.

The pursuers were close behind. A security guard with a flashlight let out a roar, his shirt tearing open at the back to reveal a pair of bat-like wings. His eyes turned blood red, and horns protruded from his forehead.

Black Cat glanced back and almost stumbled in fright: "Oh my God!"

[Sanity Check: Successful]

"Don't stop, don't look back, there's more than one pursuer behind us!"

As if to prove Druid's words, multiple footsteps emerged from the hallway behind them. Black Cat dared not look back, fearing a failed sanity check would be his undoing.

"But where should we run to?!"

"To the inpatient building," Lanen stated succinctly. "One of the hospital's rules is that they can't forcibly enter against a patient's will."

So, Druid and the others immediately headed towards the inpatient building. Luckily, it wasn't far from the administrative building, just down a floor and a right turn, with no security guards blocking their path.

...Because all the guards were chasing them!

They burst into the inpatient building, but the swift footsteps behind them were too close. Archie, realizing they couldn't escape, stopped and turned, drawing his gun to shoot at the pursuing creatures.

The creature's bat wings were pierced with several bloody holes, but at the same time, several guards arrived. Black Cat and Druid had run a distance, just passing the stairs, but then realized Lanen and the others hadn't followed. Druid cursed under his breath and was about to run back when urgent footsteps sounded from the inpatient building's staircase, and a scar-faced orderly looked up, locking eyes with them.

Player: ...Run!

The orderly roared and chased after Black Cat and Druid.

Thus, Black Cat and Druid, pursued by the scar-faced orderly, split from Lanen and the others.

Meanwhile, Archie, after briefly holding off the guards with gunfire, was soon overwhelmed by their large figures. The young doctor seemed so small in comparison, as sharp nails left trails of blood on his arms. Some guards, their mouths morphed into canine forms, lunged at Archie's shoulder with gaping jaws.

Archie felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as the monstrous face loomed larger in his vision...

Is this where it all ends?

Suddenly, a forceful pull from behind saved Archie. Lanen fiercely elbowed the creature in the face, causing it to release its bite. Seizing the moment, Lanen dragged Archie into an open hospital room nearby.

Bang!

The door slammed shut in front of them, with Archie and Lanen leaning against the wall, gasping for breath.

Archie looked particularly bad; his arm bore deep claw marks to the bone, and his shoulder was gruesomely wounded. The creature had loosened its bite but not completely let go, tearing away a large chunk of flesh, soaking half of Archie's clothes in blood.

The monster outside hadn't given up yet and was furiously pounding on the door.

Lanen wasn't sure how the rule that prevented the creature from barging into hospital rooms worked, especially since this room was a randomly chosen vacant one. It was uncertain whether the rule would still apply.

Fortunately, despite the intense battering, the thin door managed to hold, but it was unclear for how long.

After catching his breath, Lanen checked Archie's condition and found his face as pale as paper, his lips even turning a faint shade of purple.

Could this be a sign of poisoning?

Lanen hurriedly examined Archie's claw wounds and noticed they were starting to turn black.

Were those creature's attacks venomous?!

"Lord Lanen..."

"Don't speak," Lanen said quietly, examining Archie's wounds, contemplating how to treat them. They were in a hospital; surely there must be specific medicines and bandages available.

But with the monster guarding the door, they couldn't leave.

"Lord Lanen... please, listen to me."

Archie weakly lifted his hand to grasp Lanen's fingers.

No one knew better than he did about his own physical condition, and therefore, he knew he might not last much longer.

He had thought he would die at the hands of those monsters, but unexpectedly, Lann had not left.

At that moment, whether Lann was sealed or the monsters posed a threat, Algie didn’t care much anymore.

The balance in his heart had already shifted.

"Lord Lann, please listen to me. I will enter the second layer of the Rift of Dreams here."

Lann paused, looking at Algie with a strange expression: "You should know better than anyone the cost of entering the second layer."

"I know," Algie said. "Once entering the second layer, if one doesn't wake up in time, they'll fall into perpetual madness."

"The reason I haven’t entered the second layer is because of the high risk of getting lost, waking up is all down to luck, and I never leave my future to so-called fate."

Algie's voice grew weaker, but his eyes shone brighter, the sharp gleam never fading when he spoke about his expertise.

"The breakthrough in the Rift of Dreams is linked to one's mental state, and that, precisely, is my field."

Lann looked astonished, already guessing what Algie was about to say.

"I have a preliminary idea. There's a good chance of regaining sanity even in a state of complete madness. Before entering the second layer, I'll find a 'anchor point' for myself – a final anchor of my sanity and a point that can bring my consciousness back to reality. The only issue has been choosing the right person to be my anchor," he said.

"But now, it seems I don't have much choice."

Lann looked at Algie, his eyes half-closed, in shock. A memory flashed in his mind of a paper he had seen on a professional website. "Did you write that paper?" he blurted out.

Lann remembered being impressed by the paper on that website. Although he had been a psychologist, his talent in psychology was mediocre at best, nowhere near capable of writing such a remarkable article.

He had been curious about the author of that paper, never imagining that the author was right before his eyes, though seemingly far away.

Hearing that Lann had also read the forum, the corners of Algie's mouth lifted slightly: "To be precise, it was based on notes left by my father. He had considered this aspect as well... but the theory was underdeveloped and he didn't have enough time to refine it."

His voice grew weaker and weaker, pausing for breath after every few words.

Outside, the monsters were pounding on the door, leaving Lann little time to think. He quickly asked, "What should I do?"

"Could you... keep holding my hand?" Algie asked.

Was it really that simple? Lann didn’t hesitate to take Algie's hand.

The vision before Algie blurred to the point where he could barely see Lann's face, but he knew Lann was right there in front of him.

In fact, there was an important detail he hadn't disclosed.

That was, his real hesitation stemmed from the fact that choosing this anchor point would inevitably lead to a short-term psychological dependency.

Although he was confident in his ability to gradually overcome this dependency in subsequent treatments, the uncontrollable nature of this feeling was something Algie, with his typically aloof demeanor, found hard to accept.

In the current situation, it seemed he had no other option.

Algie closed his eyes and stepped into the Rift of Dreams. As he descended the stairs, the candle in his hand flickered, and finally, upon entering the second layer, the flame extinguished completely.

Everyone who enters the Rift of Dreams knows a warning: once your light source is extinguished in the fog, you must exit the Rift immediately.

Otherwise, something terrible will happen.

However, the trial of the second layer begins with the extinguishing of the light source that represents one's sanity.

The eerie fog gradually enveloped the figure of the young doctor.

Then, he opened his eyes.

……

The guards continued to batter the door, appearing like gargoyles from legends – with horns on their foreheads, bat-like wings on their backs, and fierce, distorted faces, relentlessly slamming their bodies against the door.

At that moment, the door suddenly opened from the inside.

The gargoyle-like guards were startled, unreactive, when suddenly a hand reached out from the room, grabbing a guard by the wings and body.

Amid the guard's anguished roars, he was torn in half!

The gargoyle's blood sprayed like a fountain at the entrance of the ward and on the other guards rushing in. The frenzied gargoyles froze, witnessing their prey, who had just been fleeing, now sporting a devilish grin and eyes filled with endless madness.

The roles of hunter and prey instantly reversed. Algie, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, savagely smashed the gargoyles that had been chasing him. Unable to escape, they were brutally torn into strips by Algie’s hands.

The scene was unbearably gruesome.

Lann's eyes widened in shock at the scene, uttering an amazed 'wow'.

Although he had heard about the surge in combat ability of NPCs during the 'madness' phase of the second layer, the terror of physically tearing apart several D-class anomalies was beyond expectation.

According to the previous world’s combat system, five or more D-class anomalies could pose a threat to a C-class anomaly. By that measure, Algie's current combat ability could easily overpower weaker C-class anomalies, and perhaps even match the stronger ones.

Was the enhancement from entering the second layer of the Rift of Dreams this significant, or was this just a temporary boost during the madness phase?

While Lann was lost in thought, Algie had already eliminated all the gargoyles, turning the short corridor into a scene resembling hell.

The corridor was almost entirely stained with blood, with Algie standing amidst a heap of gargoyle corpses. He stood still for a few seconds before abruptly turning around, staring intently at Lann.

His body was smeared with copious amounts of blood, and his shoulder wound sprouted wriggling flesh, making him resemble a demon from hell.

Lann's breath hitched, nearly succumbing to an urge to flee.

But he resisted, recalling Algie's earlier words. Under Algie’s intense gaze, Lann moved forward.

Step by step, he approached the demonic figure at the heart of this hell.

Algie, devoid of reason and consumed by madness, tensed up like a wild beast, growling threateningly. His fingers twitched, as if ready to tear Lann apart at any closer approach.

Lann's steps faltered momentarily. In that second, he moved again, covering the distance in two strides and quickly grasping Algie's hand.

At that moment, Algie's agitated demeanor suddenly calmed, like a fierce animal tamed at the sight of its keeper, obediently retracting its claws and fangs, allowing Lann to lead him away.

Lann quietly breathed a sigh of relief, internally admiring Algie's ability.

He really succeeded.

Although not fully awake yet, controlling the descent into madness was already a step ahead of the traditional inspectors and investigators.

What remained was for Algie to fully regain his sanity, but it was uncertain how long that would take.

Wait, hold on.

It was then that Lann suddenly realized, based on information from his past life, that in the absence of the boss, the strongest anomaly in this hospital was merely C-class.

So, now with Algie's combat abilities massively enhanced from entering the second layer of the Rift of Dreams, couldn't he easily suppress the anomalies here?

Thinking of this, Lann couldn't help but ponder:

Why not try it?

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Black Cat and Druid initially wanted to turn back to support Algie, but faced with the threat of the pursuing nurses, they had to split up from Lann and the others. Remembering Lann's instructions, they found an unlocked ward to hide in.

The good news: it seemed the nurses really couldn't enter.

The bad news: they couldn't leave either.

The nurses outside were quite clever. After the players hid in the ward, they notified the patrolling guards to watch the windows. Now, while the monsters couldn't get in, the players couldn't get out.

In the process of escaping here, both of them inevitably got injured. Druid and Black Cat struggled to use their limited first aid to stop the bleeding, grimacing, "What do we do now?"

"You're asking me? How would I know," sighed Black Cat. "We can't stay here forever. The main mission is timed, and it's likely, like the previous bonus pool mission, to fail if we exceed the time limit."

Druid replied, "Would it be that severe? We’re just in beta testing. Surely, they wouldn't scrap this map if the main mission fails, right? Would that not drive the programmers insane?"

[Yeah, they can't just abandon such a big map after beta testing, right hhhh]

[Planner: If the main mission fails, the whole map is sacrificed]

[Programmer/Artist/Modeler: Say that again? I'll sacrifice you]

[LOL]

However, Black Cat said, "Have you forgotten this is an extremely capricious game? It relies solely on word-of-mouth by players, NPCs are scarily intelligent, and they don’t even promote the 'Cthulhu' element openly. Most of its features are the opposite of what’s on the market in other role-playing games."

"Do you think a game company that’s so 'capricious' wouldn’t have the audacity to unleash an Arkham Doomsday when you fail the main mission?"

Druid opened his mouth, struggling to find a response.

Even the chat was shaken.

[Yikes, thinking about this game's nature, it actually makes some sense.]

[No, please qwq, don’t tell me when I log in next time, even the sacred Cthulhu land, Arkham map, will be gone!]

[You never know with this game. They even got rid of Miskatonic University early.]

[I’m starting to get scared now. Time to log in and save the world!]

"So, what do we do next…"

Black Cat hesitated but then gritted his teeth: "We break out. Even if we're attacked, it's worth a try. We run in different directions; one of us getting away is still hope! Whoever gets left behind should try to buy as much time as possible."

Druid looked deeply at Black Cat and said, "Alright."

The two approached the ward's door, listening to the sounds outside.

Both tried to listen attentively, but heard nothing unusual. Black Cat wondered, "Could they have left?"

The experienced Druid shook his head vigorously: "No, no, no, it's not that easy. The monsters in this instance are too clever; they must be waiting outside the door."

As soon as he finished speaking, they heard noises at the door. Druid said, "See, I told you they're at the door."

"Wait, this sound..." Black Cat sensed something amiss. The noise outside was unusual, seemingly a battle. He could discern the sounds of bodies falling to the ground or hitting the walls, and the monsters' pained groans.

"It sounds like a fight outside!"

"It must be a trap!" Druid said without hesitation, recalling the torment from their last hospital instance.

"No, it seems like a real fight." Black Cat crouched to peer through the door crack, unable to see clearly. Biting the bullet, he stood up and, to Druid's shocked gaze, turned the doorknob.

"What are you doin—"

Druid lunged to stop him, but it was too late. Black Cat was already staring in astonishment through the small opening of the door.

Druid, sensing something amiss as well, hesitated for a moment before moving behind Black Cat to also look outside the door.

At this moment, there are indeed no nurses or security lurking outside.

Because they've been attacked by a bigger monster.

But... why does that monster look so familiar???

From the perspective of the Druid and the Black Cat, the true form of the caregiver, now revealed, is cloaked in wolf skin. With a mouth resembling that of a canine, standing nearly three meters tall, red eyes and fang-like teeth, and sharp claws capable of easily tearing human flesh.

Yet, such a creature is being overpowered by a human, significantly shorter, fighting like a wildman - no, a wild beast, with no human technique, relying solely on monstrous strength, speed, and reflexes, and the ferocity to trade wounds for a kill.

He seems impervious to pain and fear, attacking the werewolf nurse relentlessly despite the huge size difference, grabbing its snout and ripping its mouth apart!

"Al... Archie?!"

The Druid and the Black Cat watch in shock at that crazed face, unable to reconcile it with the cool and sarcastic Dr. Archie they knew,

What has happened in this short period? Weren't they all just fleeing in disarray before, how did Archie become so fierce???

[Holy crap, what did I miss!?]

[Archie, that’s Archie? Isn't he a psychologist, a mental healer? When did he switch to being a berserker?!]

The werewolf nurse is clearly no match for the frenzied Archie, who, after tearing its limbs apart, leaves it whimpering and motionless.

Archie, panting heavily, turns his blood-stained, murderous gaze towards the only two survivors in his sight, the Black Cat and the Druid.

The two players sense the danger, as Archie seems ready to attack them next.

"Enough."

A sigh comes from behind Archie, and a hand reaches out to lower his raised hand.

Under the astonished gaze of the two players, Archie visibly calmed down, his once ferocious and crazed face returning to tranquility, like a wild beast tamed and returned to its cage.

And the one who tamed him could only be one person.

Lann, holding his hand, emerged from behind him. Among everyone present, he was the only one without a trace of disarray. The Druid and the Black Cat were injured, Archie was even worse, almost a bloodied figure, but Lann remained as pristine as ever, walking through the hospital as if strolling in his own backyard, walking a dog.

His gaze swept over the Black Cat and the Druid, and he smiled slightly: "I'm glad to see you're alright. It seems we arrived just in time."

The Druid and the Black Cat murmured, unable to articulate words. Finally, the Druid regained composure first, asking somewhat bewilderedly, "What's happened to Archie...?"

"He's broken through to the second layer of the Dream Gap, now experiencing... well, a bit of a side effect," Lann said, "Nothing serious."

Side effect?

The Black Cat and the Druid looked at Archie, who seemed to have lost all reason, leaving only sheer madness. His body was bathed in blood, with visible wounds sprouting ghastly flesh buds, disgusting like wriggling maggots, flesh-pink in color.

"Gross." The Black Cat was about to vomit, but was abruptly silenced by the Druid covering his mouth.

The Druid forced a laugh, close to tears, "Ah, indeed, it's not a big problem."

[Mad, I've never been as certain as I am at this moment that Lann is a malevolent god.]

[Sorry Lann, I doubted you before, thought you were too gentle and kind. My mistake.]

[So brutal. Did he turn Archie into something like a favored being?]

[To the comment above, do you even need to ask? Think about it, Archie was fine before, and then he changed so much after leaving the main group.]

[I can't even imagine what happened before.]

[I naively thought Lann really had no power here. I was wrong. He might be like this, but the methods of a malevolent god are not limited to this…]

[Ultimate evolution of the Cat! Malevolent God Cat Worm!]

[No, my poor Archie, wailing]

Hm? Lann, noticing the fear and horror in the players' eyes, saw his smile slowly fade: "Wait, are you misunderstanding something? This was Archie's own choice."

The Druid nodded vigorously: "We understand, we understand. Respect individual fates and let go of the urge to help."

The Black Cat shrugged off the Druid's hand, forcing a smile uglier than crying: "Exactly, we won't harbor unnecessary sympathy."

Lann: ???

Lann opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but from his past experience, he knew that speaking more often leads to more mistakes, so he remained silent.

At this time, just smiling is best.jpg.

Seeing Lann's meaningful smile, the Druid and the Black Cat shivered, fearing they would end up like Archie.

Lann turned away, not wanting to see their cowardly states any longer: "Let's go back."

"Oh, okay."

The Black Cat and the Druid quickly followed.

On the way back, they no longer hid or disguised themselves, boldly returning to the psychiatric care area. Of course, they encountered security and patrolling nurses along the way, but each time, Lann would calmly release Archie's hand.

Thus, the players saw that whenever Lann let go of Archie's hand, he would fight the monsters like a mad dog. After the monsters were dealt with, Lann would approach and take Archie's hand again, and he would become docile as if a wild beast returned to its cage.

The barrage of comments never ceased along the way.

[Feels like a cat turning into a tiger, but it's pretty awesome.]

[I remember Archie used to struggle even with one enemy, but now his combat strength has skyrocketed unbelievably.]

[Wonder what kind of transformation Lann did to Archie, it's a bit heartbreaking yet so fascinating. Every time Lann holds his hand, he becomes so obedient, ahhh]

[You find this shipworthy? Maybe get your brain checked.]

Despite such comments in the live chat, the rising popularity of the stream showed just how much the audience enjoyed this spectacle. Archie's battles were bloody and filled with a raw, primal beauty, a style of combat trading blow for blow that roused a sense of exhilaration.

After each fight, Lann would leisurely walk over to Archie and take his hand, as if leashing a frenzied beast that had lost its mind.

In short, it was a miraculous scene.

None of the security guards and nurses along the way were a match for Archie. Under Lann's lead, the Druid and the Black Cat marched indifferently, epitomizing the phrase 'borrowed courage from a powerful ally'.

As cautiously as they had arrived, they now returned brashly and boldly, striding through the main entrance into the psychiatric care area.

And then, they were dumbfounded.

The Black Cat and others finally understood why they had caused such a commotion in the residential building without being besieged by the staff.

The reason was simple.

Because the chaos here was even greater.

As they approached, they could see the entire psychiatric care area plunged into disarray.

The monsters they had seen in the third-floor rooms were now unleashed, engaging in a chaotic brawl with the doctors and nurses. Just a glance from the Druid triggered a system notification.

[Sanity Check: Successful]

Druid: …

However, the Druid also got a full view of these monsters. He had thought that mental patients in this world would look like normal people, like those on the second floor.

But he was wrong. These monsters were uniquely grotesque. Some appeared to be made of blood, with unsettling dark red plasma growing eyes all over, exuding a stench of decay. Others had hollow bellies yet kept stuffing themselves, and some had only one gigantic eye as big as a normal human's head, emitting childlike wails while attacking doctors and nurses.

It was a scene of utter chaos.

The real mental patients were clapping and cheering nearby, as if watching a rare spectacle. Some even brought stools, just short of holding a bag of sunflower seeds.

Eating popcorn.jpg

Lann's gaze swept over the crowd of onlookers, not surprisingly failing to find a certain 'director'. He took a deep breath: "Let's go, we need to stop them."

"Huh, shouldn't we wait for them to fight to a mutual downfall?" the Druid asked curiously.

"Given the situation, it's clear that the doctors will be the ones killed in the end," Lann said.

He had been observing the situation for a while and noticed something odd. The psychiatrists, especially the chief resembling Frankenstein's scientist, were mostly resisting and dodging, hardly fighting back. The nurses from the residential section were less cautious, but their strength was insignificant compared to the united front of the aberrations.

This attitude said it all.

The vague suspicion in Lann's mind was now becoming clearer.

The arrival of Archie and Lann in this chaotic battlefield was like tigers entering a flock of sheep. Unlike the doctors, Archie had no concept of holding back. Once Lann let go of his hand, it was as if the last restraint on a wild beast was removed – he attacked anyone in sight!

The already divided battlefield instantly became more chaotic, with the nurses and staff glaring at the disruptor, yet powerless to stop him.

Lann had been worried that Archie's arrival might cause the opposing sides to unite, but he soon realized he needn't have worried.

Because those patients from the third floor seemed to be afraid of him.

To confirm it wasn't just his imagination, Lann took a step towards them.

The menacing-looking aberrations collectively stepped back in unison.

Lann: ?

Suddenly realizing something, Lann approached the creatures from the third floor, halting them with his gaze.

"Dare to take a step and see?"

The aberrations on the third floor obediently stayed put, not daring to move an inch. Lann approached them, and Archie, seizing the opportunity, turned and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the opposing doctors and nurses.

With the help of the aberrations, Archie, already stronger than any present, fought with added ferocity. Just as he was about to defeat the chief physician, Lann timely grabbed his hand: "That's enough, let's stop here."

The battle was no longer sustainable; both sides were reduced to weakened forces, especially the doctors who were in a dire state. Lann, however, only intended to halt the conflict to reason with them, not to annihilate them.

Besides, Lann speculated that in this nocturnal hospital, doctors and nurses might not actually die, considering the earlier appearance of the red-haired head nurse. They might 'die' but would resurrect, or else the hospital by day would be in complete chaos. That's why the chief physician allowed the patients to attack him.

...Out of a sense of guilt.

Archie calmed down somewhat after Lann grabbed his hand, and the heavily beaten doctors and nurses had no intention to continue the fight, only casting uncertain glances at Lann and his group.

Seeing no more spectacle to witness, the psychiatric patients from the second floor expressed their disappointment with boos and calls for a refund.

Lann asked, "What's going on here? Why did this fight start?"

Before the chief physician could respond, a nurse eagerly answered: "We didn't want to fight, but the patients from the third floor were suddenly released, causing the chaos. We had no choice but to respond."

The chief physician shot the nurse a glare: Always talking too much.

The nurse shrank back a bit, defiantly sneaking a look at Lann.

Who could blame him for being so handsome.

Hearing this, Lann had a hunch and to confirm, he inquired, "Where are Old Luke and the 'director'?"

Neither of these two individuals were among the onlooking psychiatric patients, and just as Lann found this odd, a commotion erupted behind him.

He turned around and was surprised to see the Black Cat pinned to the ground by a shabby old man. Despite resistance, the Black Cat's meager combat skills of under 40 points were no match for the elderly man, who swiftly overpowered him.

"Don't move!" Old Luke shouted, "Unless you want him to lose something."

He pressed a sharp piece of glass against the Black Cat's neck, his movements swift and precise, contradicting his disheveled appearance.

Lann stared intently at Old Luke, recalling the mysterious investigator from the original plot who provided hints and assistance to players. After Old Luke's sudden offer of help earlier, Lann connected him to the figure mentioned in Archie's father's notes.

As expected, he was likely the same person who had hypnotized Archie.