Ultimately, You Will Disappear

[I watch them come happily from outside, then I grab them, kill them, dissect them, and keep them as souvenirs, representing another addition to my collection. It's wonderful.]

[I had a very happy week, but it seems someone is targeting me. Who is he? A Doctor?]

[The Doctor said he would conduct psychological intervention on me starting today. On what grounds?... I know what I've done cannot be exposed. I absolutely cannot let him find out.]

[Damn it, he found out anyway!]

[This Doctor is so annoying. He actually said I have delusionary disorder. Does he know what he's talking about? I'll show him how ridiculously wrong he is. Starting today, I will follow him. I will definitely kill him.]

[It's been half a month, and I've finally found an opportunity. Two days from now, April 19th, is his birthday. He'll drink a lot. I plan to take advantage of his drunkenness...]

[The plan failed. His vigilance is too high. But it's okay. I can feel it. He's been suspicious and paranoid lately, his mental state is getting worse and worse. I'll have another chance.]

[Hahahaha, I succeeded! I killed him today! No, why isn't he dead? (A burst of chaotic scribbles), I know! It's actually... it's actually like this (Another burst of chaotic scribbles). Then I'll change my approach, forever! I'll kill him forever! It's either I die or he dies!]

The diary was nearly half full, its contents often jumping around, suggesting it wasn't written every day.

Yu Xing ignored the diary entries bragging about his dissection skills and directly found the more important pages.

After reading the diary, a small slip of paper fell from the last page.

[Do you know how much I hate you? When it was your birthday, so many people celebrated for you, but you didn't let me kill anyone. When it was my birthday... you won't see the day of my birthday. I bet you don't even know my birthday. Why aren't you dead yet? In just over two hours, you will die forever. Hahahahahaha]

"Oh, you hate me," Yu Xing said, looking at the note, his smile gradually deepening. "Pathetic."

The books in the bedroom couldn't be opened, and he didn't find any clues related to numbers. The diary couldn't possibly be just to showcase a killer's twisted inner world; the clues should be within it.

Having already guessed the relationship between the killer and the Doctor, Yu Xing's gaze settled on the word "birthday."

"The password for the main door is four digits, so the answer should be..."

Flipping through the diary again, Yu Xing softly uttered a set of numbers:

"0324."

He put down the Notebook and turned to open the bedroom door.

He encountered no resistance all the way to the main door. Only when he entered the numbers into the password lock and it displayed [Password Correct] did the atmosphere around him suddenly turn cold.

The door could now be opened.

Yu Xing reached out—

Ding—

As soon as his hand touched the doorknob, a whistling sound came from behind him. Yu Xing reacted instantly and didn't move. A scalpel, appearing from nowhere, brushed past his ear and sliced into the metal door with a sharp, vibrating shriek.

Yu Xing turned his head and saw a blurry Black Shadow standing behind him, still holding a dripping scalpel.

He leaned casually against the door, smiling as he pulled the knife, which was now halfway into the door, out. Adding it to the one he had "borrowed" from the dissection room earlier, he twirled both in his hands with a flourish. "It's no use, friend. You're destined to be the one who's screwed."

"How do you know my birthday!" the Black Shadow exclaimed, disbelief evident. The only part of him that was clear, his eyes, were bloodshot. "You couldn't possibly know!"

"You're so stupid," Yu Xing's smile faded. "I don't like talking to stupid people. It's a waste of breath. I'm leaving now."

Just then, a piece of information suddenly appeared in his mind.

[Deduction prompt: Stating or writing the deduction process in any way can increase the deduction evaluation.]

The words that were about to leave his mouth took a sharp turn. Yu Xing put on an exceptionally pure and bright, wide smile. "But I think since there's plenty of time, it wouldn't hurt to be merciful and tell you~"

The Black Shadow looked at this person whose expression changed unpredictably and who had just snatched two of his scalpels. The bloodshot color in his eyes deepened.

"Where should I even begin for you to understand..." Yu Xing was actually thinking: Where should I start for the system to give me the highest score?

"Let's start from the root.

"You and I are using the same body.

"We are actually two personalities. ①

"--You know this, and I know this."

Regarding this point, Yu Xing had deduced it from the details. He was not unfamiliar with this aspect of knowledge, so his reaction was quicker.

The killer not killing the Doctor, but insisting on mentally crushing him—if viewed as a struggle between two personalities, it made sense.

The spatial logic was also flawed. The corpses that sometimes existed and sometimes disappeared, the constantly updated notes—these also had an answer.

This was a world imagined by the killer personality. The corpses, the dissection room, the jars covering the walls, none of it existed. Perhaps only this bedroom had some connection to reality.

He had originally wanted to check the wardrobe for clothes befitting a Doctor's demeanor, but the system didn't give him the chance. Fortunately, after reading the diary, he was completely convinced.

"This so-called secret garden doesn't exist in reality, but in 'my' mind, or rather, in this body's mind—an area you've conjured," Yu Xing said with a smile to the killer personality. "Not only are you a recently emerged alter ego, but you're also an alter ego who was mentally ill from birth. You see the real world outside through this window every day, believing you truly exist, and thus fantasizing about killing and dissecting again and again." ②

Yu Xing paused here. He had been thirsty since he came in but couldn't find any water. Now he had to say so much. "Dual personalities usually don't know about each other. Coincidentally, your dominant personality, which is me, happens to be a psychologist. I spent a week discovering my own abnormality and learned that I had dissociative identity disorder. I then decided to proactively find you and attempt preliminary treatment—"

"The first step is psychological intervention, to correct your distorted thinking, encourage cooperation, and slowly assimilate you, until you eventually disappear." ③

Hearing this, the killer personality became agitated, his black body seeming to evaporate. "I knew you had ill intentions!"

"You don't have good intentions either, same here." Yu Xing didn't know what his doctor character was originally thinking, so he retorted casually.

"Besides, today, you wanted to kill me when I was mentally exhausted, but then you found out I was immortal. As a result, the problems that had been lurking in your subconscious erupted, you realized you were just a sub-personality, you got even angrier, and decided to bring the main personality into your delusional world, which is also your greatest weakness.

"This radical approach has only two outcomes: one, I have a mental breakdown and shatter and disappear, or two, I stay here for three hours and am assimilated by you. Or, you fail to keep me and instead discover your most vulnerable mental part. With my abilities as a doctor, you'll be the one disappearing. Before that, no matter what you do, you can't hurt me.

"Because I am the main personality, and you are just a delusional patient."

Yu Xing grinned, then suddenly flicked his wrist, and the scalpel in his right hand unexpectedly pierced directly through the killer personality's heart.

"See, I can't hurt you either, because this is your mental world."

The killer personality touched his chest, which had been pierced but showed no trace of injury. He paced back and forth in a rage, his hoarse voice tormenting Yu Xing's eardrums, "No! I admit I'm a sub-personality, but I don't have a delusionary disorder! These—these! They are all my collection!"

He was likely referring to the corpses and the organs in jars, but unfortunately, Yu Xing wasn't interested in discussing it with him.

"Your birthday... is even simpler. The day you were born is your birthday." Yu Xing played with the remaining scalpel in his hand. "Your first diary entry was written on the day you were born, so... elementary school math problem?"

"7 + 1 + 1 + 15 + 2 = 26 days. Count back 26 days from my birthday, and that's your birthday, March 24th."

After explaining this, Yu Xing felt he had made himself clear enough. It was just a matter of reading comprehension of the diary entries, determining the valid number of days, and then adding them up. It was very simple.

With that, the deduction score should be in by now...

His objective achieved, and relying on the fact that the killer personality couldn't harm him at all, Yu Xing turned and pulled open the door, walking leisurely out into the vast expanse of black mist outside.

The black mist obscured Yu Xing's vision, making it impossible to see anything.

He walked a few steps aimlessly, feeling his eyelids grow heavy, sleepiness washing over him.

"Doctor Zheng... Doctor Zheng!"

A clear, gentle voice sounded by his ear. The darkness before Yu Xing's eyes gradually receded, and he once again felt a connection to his body, so he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was an arm wrapped in the sleeve of a white hoodie. He tried moving it and realized it was his own arm, but it had gone numb from being pressed.

"Hiss..." He sat up and stretched his arm, feeling only the heaviness in his eyelids and fatigue in his body.

"Are you too tired? You fell asleep at your office... Everyone went to lunch just now. I saw you sleeping, so I didn't disturb you, but you can't skip lunch. You have patients to see this afternoon."

A woman in professional attire stood beside him, her hair tied up, wearing light, approachable makeup. Her hip-hugging skirt accentuated her curves.

At this moment, she looked at him with concern and placed a freshly brewed cup of coffee on his desk.

Yu Xing opened his mouth, but before he could form a sentence, a phrase escaped his lips, and the voice was clearly not his own: "Okay, you go ahead. I'll eat later."

Huh?

I can't control myself anymore?

Yu Xing realized this and, after a moment of surprise, calmed down.

The deduction game was almost over. This was likely the stage for explaining the aftermath or refining the details, right?

He watched the woman nod and leave, sighing involuntarily.

His gaze swept across the desk, where a business card lay. It read:

[Amrolan Psychological Counseling Center Physician, National Second-Class Psychological Counselor, ACI International Psychological Counselor: Zheng Song]④

Yu Xing watched as he opened the right-side cabinet of the desk and took out a paper document.

The document was in a transparent file bag, allowing the first page to be seen directly.

"Zheng Song, after various tests, diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder."

"Sub-personality Xu Jian, diagnosed with delusionary disorder, early treatment recommended."

"... " Yu Xing just wanted to see what this doctor was up to now.

The doctor remained silent, seemingly lost in thought. After about two minutes, he took out his phone and sent a message to a contact named N.

- Are you free for a call?

Two minutes later, the other side replied: Now I'm free.

So Doctor Zheng made a phone call.

The other person answered, and a somewhat lazy voice reached Yu Xing's ears, "Yo, what brings you to call me today?"

"I have a mental health issue I'd like to consult you about."

"Oh? That's strange. What kind of problem requires me, someone who has long been stripped of his psychological counselor qualifications?"

"Ning Feng, perhaps... I'm starting to understand you a little. I can't explain this matter with my current understanding; maybe only you can shed some light on it. Have you ever experienced... in a dream, being controlled by another consciousness, and then waking up to find... the second personality has disappeared?" Zheng Song hesitated, but finally asked.

Another consciousness? Does he mean me? Yu Xing raised an eyebrow in his mind.

On the other end of the line, the man named Ning Feng was silent for a moment, seemingly processing the information in his words. Yu Xing could feel Zheng Song's hand trembling slightly from nervousness.

"Interesting." After a while, the other side uttered this, then said, "You know, when this kind of situation occurs..."

"I'll resign." Zheng Song's tone was firm. He raised his hand and rubbed his temples. "I have some things to confirm, and it's indeed not suitable for me to work. But I still want to understand the reason for this..."

"Fly over to see me when you have time." After receiving Zheng Song's answer, the other side seemed to chuckle lightly, his tone still casual, yet with a sense of leisure.

The conversation ended here, and a new prompt appeared in Yu Xing's mind.

``` [Deduction prompt: Persona mask evaluation game has ended]

[Judging]

[Judging complete, you now possess the identity of a formal deducer]

[Case Truth Restoration: 93%]

[Personality Assimilation Degree Growth: 0]

[Rating: S]

[Title Acquired: Terrifying Newcomer]

[Deduction Points Acquired: 233 (Speed Clear) (Plot Knowledge) (Rating Bonus)]

[Persona Mask Generation Complete]

[Persona Mask • Xing]

[Holder: Yu Xing]

[Basic Information: Male, Height 185cm, Weight 65kg, Age #€# (Error)]

[Identity: Junior Deducer (233/1000)]

[Mask Proportion: Calm 18%, Madness 20%, Kindness 10%, Gentleness 10%, Indifference 10%, Evil 8%, Casual 2%, Laziness 1%, Tenacity 7%, Chaos 13%.]

[Holder Description: You are seriously not right.]

[Persona Sacrifice: &#|^ (Data Error) (Equipped 1/6)]

[Personality Assimilation Degree: 50% (A Personality Assimilation Degree exceeding 20% will negatively impact the deducer's personality. Your Personality Assimilation Degree is too high, please suppress the evil.)]

[Deduction Mall: Select to enter]

[Wishlist: To be entered]

[Deduction Game Direction Selection Market: Select to enter]

[Prompt: You have not yet participated in the main story game, click here to learn more]

ps:

① I read the chapter comments from a few days ago, and a reader had a brilliant idea and guessed it directly. Damn it Ծ‸Ծ

② Schizophrenia is different from dissociative identity disorder. Most people's understanding of dissociative identity disorder symptoms actually falls under schizophrenia. Dissociative identity disorder is currently not considered a mental illness.

③ This method is a real dissociative identity disorder therapy, primarily psychological treatment, focusing on eliminating cognitive conflicts between personalities.

④ National Psychological Counselor certifications for levels 2 and 3 were canceled in 2017. Currently, there are ACI Registered International Psychological Counselor and ACI Registered Senior International Psychological Counselor. Readers interested in this can try to learn more.