Am I Mentally Ill?

Zhou Meng slowly woke from the darkness.

He rubbed his aching, throbbing head, struggled to prop himself up, and looked around.

It was dim all around him. The ceiling was white, the curtains were white, and the sheets and bedding were white.

There was no doubt about it. He was in a hospital.

A hospital? How did I end up in a hospital?

Zhou Meng tried to remember what he had done before losing consciousness, but whenever he tried, his head hurt terribly. He could only give up on the idea.

Apart from his name, Zhou Meng could remember nothing about his identity or why he was here.

Shaking his head, Zhou Meng sat up in bed and walked over to a mirror.

His reflection wore a long black robe, with a mess of curly hair piled atop his head and a rather gaunt face.

Hmm, not bad. My face is pretty handsome, though I do look a little pale. Maybe I'm hungry?

Although Zhou Meng had no memory of his identity, he was certain that the person in the mirror was what he looked like.

Looking around, he became even more certain that he was in a hospital ward. It was spacious and tidy, but there was no one there but him.

Since he was in a ward, he supposed he must be a patient. But when Zhou Meng checked his physical condition, he found that he did not seem sick at all.

No fever, no cough, no sneezing, all four limbs intact, and a clear head. By all appearances, he was a perfectly normal person.

Could it be some kind of internal disease? Surely not?

After thinking it over, Zhou Meng had begun to consider certain male dysfunctions, but he had no way to verify that.

Oh! Right, this is a hospital. Why not find a doctor or nurse and ask? Maybe they're right outside the door!

With that thought, Zhou Meng turned the ward's doorknob.

It was not as if he had not considered the possibility that this was the kind of hospital that appeared in many novels, where everyone but him was a monster. But for no particular reason, he felt that, first, the hospital was very safe, and second, even if there were monsters, they could not hurt him.

Standing in the corridor, Zhou Meng found that the hospital hallway was just as deserted.

Forget people, there was not even a chair for patients to sit on! A faint mist even hung in the corridor.

"Where the hell have I ended up? Is this even a hospital? Is anybody there? Doctor! Doctor! Nurse!" Zhou Meng shouted toward the end of the corridor.

No one answered.

Not even a patient came out of the neighboring wards.

Seeing that no one was responding, Zhou Meng took a closer look at the rather strange ward corridor.

Unlike an ordinary hospital, this one seemed to have only one floor, with no stairs leading up or down. And on this floor, including his own ward, there were only seven rooms.

Walking down the corridor, Zhou Meng noticed that every door was covered in densely packed, strange symbols and patterns, like some kind of seal.

On the doorplate of the first door, the one closest to the ward he had come out of, was a black circle.

On the second door was a magic wand.

The third door—

A hospital, seven doors, mysterious symbols?

Zhou Meng felt as though he remembered something. This setting, these doors! Isn't this the Gods’ Psychiatric Hospital from the novel Slay the Gods?

I woke up in a ward. Could I be a patient in this psychiatric hospital too?

Zhou Meng hurried back to the door of his ward. Sure enough, his door had the same kind of ancient doorplate, but on it was a huge... question mark?

What's a question mark supposed to mean?! That's no help at all in figuring out who I really am!

Although Zhou Meng could not figure out his own origins, the contents of the novel Slay the Gods were perfectly clear in his mind.

The psychiatric hospital was actually the projection of a Lego brick from a higher-dimensional world. A little girl from that world, Ji Nian, had brought it into this world and locked the souls of six gods inside.

And this psychiatric hospital was inside the mind of Lin Qiye, the protagonist of Slay the Gods, who was also its second director.

The six gods were Nyx, the Greek Evernight Goddess; Merlin, the great magician of British legend; Bragi, Odin's ninth son in Norse mythology; Sun Wukong, the Victorious Fighting Buddha who had trampled the heavens; Gilgamesh, the Demigod hero king of Sumerian mythology; and Nyarlathotep, who had disguised himself as Yaland, the creator god of the Western Church.

Of course, the psychiatric hospital also had two hidden patients: Lin Qiye himself and An Qingyu, whose true identity was the Key of the Door.

The Gods’ Psychiatric Hospital only accepted patients who met two conditions: first, they had to be gods; second, they had to have mental problems. Those who cheated and took someone else's place were exceptions.

But Zhou Meng felt that he clearly met neither condition.

First, his body was in perfect condition, but he could not sense any special powers at all.

Second, he was mentally sound and had no strange mental illnesses.

How could I possibly be a god with a mental illness?

Zhou Meng could not make sense of it, no matter how hard he thought. Since he could not figure it out, he might as well look around. He remembered that the psychiatric hospital had a main gate. What if he could simply push it open and walk out?

Passing through the gloomy ward corridor and the turnoff leading to the activity area, Zhou Meng followed the corridor, from which glowing balls of fire emanated, until he came to a huge door.

Sure enough, this is the main gate of the Gods’ Psychiatric Hospital!

Zhou Meng pushed hard, but the gate did not budge.

Immediately afterward, several large words suddenly appeared on the door.

"Cannot be opened from this side."

Fine, fine, fine. So that's how you want to play it!

Sure enough, the psychiatric hospital would not let its patients leave as they pleased. For anyone other than Lin Qiye, leaving was not so easy.

Still, Zhou Meng's attempt had revealed something: he was indeed subject to the psychiatric hospital's rules. That meant he really was a god with a mental illness!

But what are my divine powers, and what's my mental illness? I'm clearly just a normal person with amnesia! Was I some kind of god before I lost my memory? This hospital is far too disorganized. Don't they have something like medical records I could look at?!

At that thought, Zhou Meng suddenly had an idea. He remembered that whenever Lin Qiye entered a ward for the first time, he could see information about the patient on the wall. As long as he helped the patient recover from their mental illness, he could obtain the corresponding abilities from them.

What if I can see my own medical records on the wall too?

With that thought, he hurried back to his ward.

Sure enough, when Zhou Meng focused his attention, several lines of writing appeared on the wall above his bed.

[Ward 0]

[Patient: Zhou Meng]

[Divinity: God of Theft]

[Trait: Petty Theft]

[Current mental illness index: 100%]

[Only when the mental illness index drops to 0 can the patient be discharged]

Unlike the patient information Zhou Meng remembered Lin Qiye being able to see, this showed only his name, with no task objectives or rewards, but it included things called a mental illness index, divinity, and trait.

To hell with that! Your mental illness index is 100%, and your whole family's mental illness index is 100%!

Zhou Meng ignored the mental illness index entirely and looked at his divinity and trait instead.

I'm the God of Theft? Impressive!

Does that mean no other god is better than me at stealing?

But Petty Theft? That doesn't sound like it really suits my divinity as the God of Theft. What exactly can I steal?

Oh! Aren't there a few other gods in the neighboring wards? Let me try out my ability on them and see how it works!