Chapter Thirty: Reclaiming My Own Body

"Doctor An's private consultation room has independent surveillance. The officer can go and ask his assistant."

"She should know."

The security guard was quite helpful in offering a solution.

However, it was now the middle of the night.

Only the staff on duty remained in the entire hospital; everyone else had clocked out and gone home. If one wanted to find An Shi's assistant, they would have to wait until tomorrow.

After thanking him, Wen Ke left the hospital.

Shortly after Wen Ke departed, a stealthy figure appeared on the surveillance monitor, flashing across the screen for a brief moment.

The security guard, still dozing off, failed to notice it.

...

"Ten o'clock every night."

"Not a minute early, not a second late."

Lu Yuan woke up from the bed once again, his expression one of resignation. He had now more or less grasped the patterns and rules of this world.

Ten o'clock at night was Lu Yuan's reset time.

Once this time arrived, regardless of whether Lu Yuan felt sleepy or had taken sleeping pills, he would inevitably enter the dream.

The location where he woke up was also fixed: on the bed in the villa's bedroom.

A thought stirred in Lu Yuan's mind.

If he didn't get out of bed and simply closed his eyes to sleep, would he wake up back in the real world?

The time of entry into the dream was fixed, but the time of waking was random. This meant that this strange dream world could control when Lu Yuan fell asleep, but it could not control when he woke up.

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan closed his eyes and pulled up the covers. "I'll just pretend I'm sleeping in a different place. The bed is actually quite comfortable."

Half an hour later, Lu Yuan opened his eyes wide, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He couldn't sleep!

He couldn't sleep at all!

He didn't feel a hint of drowsiness.

That long-lost symptom of insomnia had returned, only before it had been in the real world, and this time it was in the world of the strange dream.

Lu Yuan sighed. It seemed his wish to exploit a bug had been shattered.

Lu Yuan sat up in bed.

Just then, the television, which had been showing a black screen, lit up with static. The ghostly white light hit Lu Yuan's face, making it look as if he were posing for a funeral portrait.

[Respected Psychologist, the principal of Mingzhi Elementary School has extended a sincere invitation to you and hopes to arrange an interview for the position as soon as possible. Please head to Mingzhi Elementary School within three days.]

Lu Yuan shook his head.

As expected!

This ghostly television had no good intentions; it was constantly forcing Lu Yuan to leave the villa and explore the outside world.

Lu Yuan turned his head to glance out the window.

The outside world was permeated with a grey, heavy mist, with occasional faint green lights flickering and then vanishing.

There was no daylight in this strange dream world.

Lu Yuan even suspected that the villa was the only place in this world with light, while everywhere else was a murky darkness.

Human instinct is to fear darkness and the unknown. Lu Yuan certainly did not want to leave the villa; at the very least, the villa was safe for now.

But the television clearly did not want Lu Yuan to settle down, pushing him to go out and explore other regions of this world.

"In any case, I have three days. I'll wait a bit longer."

Procrastination was the best strategy.

Lu Yuan looked back at the television screen.

The text on the screen had changed: [Respected Psychologist, thanks to your cooperation with Zhuo Yan last night, you prevented a malicious incident. You have gradually gained the recognition and affection of others.]

[You have successfully unlocked the Favorability display. You can now view the favorability rating between yourself and any strange entity.]

Lu Yuan's eyes flickered.

Favorability.

What could this be used for?

The television sensed the doubt in Lu Yuan's heart and took the initiative to explain: [The higher the favorability with a strange entity, the more willing they will be to help you.]

[Favorability is divided into five levels.]

[Level 1: Stranger. Favorability: 0-20. When encountering such entities, try to increase your favorability. If you cannot, for the sake of your safety, it is recommended to run.]

[Level 2: Acquaintance. Favorability: 20-40. You have successfully established a foundation of friendship with the entity; you may request their help (the entity may refuse).]

[Level 3: Familiar. Favorability: 40-60. The entity's hatred for you is greatly diminished, and they are willing to listen to you; you may request their help (there is a certain probability the entity will refuse).]

[Level 4: Close Friend. Favorability: 60-80. Your friendship with the entity deepens; you may request their help (the entity has a small probability of refusal), and in times of danger, there is a fifty percent chance they will block a fatal blow for you.]

[Level 5: Sole Companion. Favorability: 80-100. You are the entity's only friend; the entity will not allow anyone to harm you and will never refuse your request.]

A large amount of text appeared on the television screen all at once.

Lu Yuan's eyes felt a bit strained from reading it.

After a moment, Lu Yuan finished reading the text on the screen word by word.

"This favorability seems quite important."

Lu Yuan rubbed his chin.

After all, this was the world of strange entities. No matter how capable he was as a living human, he couldn't possibly be more terrifying than the entities themselves.

But if Lu Yuan had a group of strange entities as friends, the situation would be different.

However, Lu Yuan was a bit puzzled—how was this favorability to be increased?

This time, the television screen did not answer.

Lu Yuan pondered it himself. This would require slow exploration, but he did have a good test subject at the moment.

That was Zhuo Yan.

As far as he could tell, Zhuo Yan did not harbor deep hatred for Lu Yuan, and she would not attack him when they met.

Lu Yuan could study the concept of favorability bit by bit through Zhuo Yan.

Lu Yuan actually found this somewhat novel.

It felt like playing a very innovative game, combining simulation-style mechanics with a horror setting.

Purely from a gaming perspective, this strange dream world was undoubtedly a great success.

Its immersion and realism were unparalleled.

But precisely because the realism was so high, encountering danger here would cause a chain reaction in his physical body in the real world.

Lu Yuan had thought the content on the television screen was over, but to his surprise, a new change appeared: [Respected Psychologist, only by possessing a healthy body can you better serve others. Please retrieve your own body as soon as possible.]

The television was reminding him.

He was still using An Shi's body, and he felt uncomfortable in every respect. If he could swap back to his own body, that would naturally be for the best.

The next second, Lu Yuan realized the problem.

If the map of the strange dream world was a one-to-one recreation of the real world, then An Shi's villa was a full four-to-five-hour walk away from Lu Yuan's psychological clinic.

This meant that Lu Yuan would need to accurately distinguish the direction of his clinic amidst the vast, foggy wilderness, and he would have to spend four or five hours outside before rushing back to the clinic.

Spending four or five hours outside...

To be honest, Lu Yuan didn't want to spend even a single minute out there.