C1 Who Should I Scold?

At Sunlight Psychiatric Hospital in Yunhai City, a fresh-faced nurse sat on a bench in the patient activity area, answering her phone.

"Hello? Mom, is everything okay at home? I've heard the Cat-faced Lady has been seen near our place these past few days."

A voice tinged with panic came through the line.

"Sweetheart, please stay inside the hospital. The entire Eastern Bridge District is overrun with supernatural occurrences. The Supernatural Bureau has instructed us to keep our doors and windows shut tight and not to venture outside."

"Just last night, I personally witnessed the family across the street open their door to the Cat-faced Lady. They were all murdered, their bodies horribly mutilated! You mustn't come home!"

The call ended abruptly.

A look of concern washed over the nurse's lovely face, her eyes brimming with tears.

Nearby, on the stoutest trunk of a large tree, sat a young man in a blue and white hospital gown.

Ye Cheng had dried saliva at the corner of his mouth, a gray bedsheet draped over his shoulders, a washbasin on his head, and was brandishing a clothes pole he'd pilfered from who knows where.

His gaze was vacant as he bellowed, "I am Zhao Zilong of Changshan. Meet your doom!"

With that, he gyrated his hips against the tree trunk, dislodging numerous leaves and even one of his socks.

Beneath the tree, a middle-aged man in a matching hospital gown, sporting a receding hairline and a prominent belly, noticed something.

He treasured Ye Cheng's foul sock as if it were a rare find, sniffing it deeply before slipping it onto his hand and beginning to twist his hefty frame to a rhythm in his head, declaring with conviction, "Let's all wipe the windows together!"

Just then, two doctors in white coats arrived at the base of the tree, their faces filled with alarm.

Ye Cheng was one of the most severe patients in their care, often climbing trees and assuming the persona of Zhao Zilong.

"General Zhao, please come down at once; it's far too risky up there!"

One doctor cautioned his colleague in a hushed tone, "Don't be foolish. When you speak to psychiatric patients, you must go along with their reality. That's the only way they'll cooperate. Watch and learn."

A colleague frantically waved his hands and yelled, "Zhao Zilong, the Lord summons you to the grand hall for a military council!"

Perched in the tree, Ye Cheng paused at the shout, a sneer spreading across his face. "What a pair of fools, cracking me up. Do they think they're in an asylum? Do they actually believe I'm Zhao Zilong?"

With that, he pulled a soap box from his pants and held it to his ear with grave solemnity. "Headquarters, this is T300, the future warrior. I've infiltrated the ranks of the present-day humans. They're completely bamboozled, ready for extraction back to the modern era at any moment!"

But the soap box remained silent. Ye Cheng's brow furrowed as he mulled over the silence. Maybe headquarters thought the timing wasn't right yet. Sighing, he realized he'd have to keep up the charade of madness.

With resignation, Ye Cheng shoved the soap box back into his pants and bellowed, "My Lord, Zhao Zilong has arrived!"

The next instant, he braced against the tree and swung down as if dismounting a horse, only to find nothing but air beneath his feet. "Ouch!"

He plummeted from the tree, landing with a thud on the grass, his vision fading to black.

Two stunned doctors rushed to his side, ready to whisk him back to his room. "Little Zhang, you idiot, that kid took your advice, sought out the Lord, and fell from the tree again. You're in for a pay cut!"

"Bro, how was I supposed to know he'd go that far..."

In Room 13, Ye Cheng's eyes fluttered open, his head throbbing. "Cursed modern medicine, they must've drugged me in my sleep again."

But T300 wouldn't surrender. "I'll tirelessly pursue the mission, ensuring the headquarters' agents make it through!"

Suddenly, a robotic voice echoed in his mind: "Congratulations, you have been chosen by the Heavenly Master System. You are now bound to the Heavenly Master System, embarking on an extraordinary life!"

A prompt chimed in, "Severe mental illness detected in the host. Initiate treatment?"

Ye Cheng stared blankly ahead, absentmindedly picking his nose and smearing the find beneath the bed.

"It's over. These foolish modern people went ahead and implanted chips in my brain while I was asleep. T300 will surely stay true to its core!"

System: …

[Host has been detected to have a severe mental disorder. Would you like to initiate treatment?]

Ye Cheng retorted, "You're the one with a mental disorder. Your whole family has mental disorders, hahaha!"

System: …

[Host, please reconsider. This system can offer you a life experience akin to having an unfair advantage!]

Ye Cheng, with a stern expression, declared, "T300 isn't human and has no need for life experiences!"

Forget it... For now, this system will merely ensure the host's life safety. We'll discuss treatment later...

"Hahaha, T300 has lived up to the high expectations of the headquarters, triumphing over the chip modern people implanted in my brain!"

Ye Cheng's face lit up with delight, and he abruptly sat up in bed.

Bang! He hit his forehead again.

"Ouch..."

System: What kind of psychotic host have I ended up with...

Outside the ward.

The director, Chen Yangguang, with his graying hair and over fifty years of age, remained dedicated to his frontline duties in the ward.

His dream was to heal every psychotic patient in the world.

"Doctor Li, has Ye Cheng's condition worsened again?"

Li Gang observed Ye Cheng alternating between tears and laughter and nodded.

"Director, we've identified two distinct states in Ye Cheng. In one, he climbs trees, imagining himself to be Zhao Zilong. In his usual state, he believes he's a T300 warrior from the future, with delusions of contacting headquarters to rendezvous with future operatives."

Chen Yangguang exhaled deeply, "Let's continue with the conservative treatment, and make sure he doesn't climb any trees again."

"Yes, Director."

After they left.

At midnight.

A mysterious visitor made their way through the dimly lit corridors of the psychiatric hospital.

A wraithlike figure drifted in.

Dressed in white, his long hair obscured his face.

A sinister, scarlet tongue peeked out from the tresses, adding to his eerie presence.

He tapped on the doors of the wards one by one.

But everyone was asleep, paying him no mind.

Only Ye Cheng was awake, sitting cross-legged on his bed, bathed in moonlight.

Muttering under his breath, he recited, "Absorb the essence of heaven and earth, the radiance of the sun and moon, to awaken your abilities swiftly. Open the Gate of Time and Space to rendezvous with my colleagues."

Ding! The Heavenly Master System has detected imminent danger. Host, please be vigilant!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The sound of knocking echoed.

Ye Cheng turned around, his face alight with surprise. "It worked! Could it be my colleagues from the Supernatural Bureau coming for me?"

He flung open the door without even bothering to slip on his shoes.

Standing outside was a figure in white, with black hair obscuring their face.

As Ye Cheng watched, the figure's pale hands slowly lifted the veil of hair, revealing a face of utmost horror. The features were grotesquely twisted, the skin deathly pale, and the eyes bulging as if they were about to explode!

'Extreme danger!' The system has identified that the entity before the host is a Beginner Rank ghost. The host must close the door immediately, without delay!

Ye Cheng's gaze locked onto the ghost, his mouth twitching slightly.

Then, with a look of melancholy, he lifted his gaze to the window.

"Why do the colleagues from the Supernatural Bureau... look so hideous?"

The system was on the verge of despair.

'For heaven's sake! You idiot, that's a ghost! Close the door now!'

Once again, Ye Cheng heard that annoying voice in his head.

Without a second thought, he retorted.

"Who are you calling an idiot?"

'The idiot is you! You... Wait, what?'

The system's metaphorical brow furrowed, sensing that the situation was far from straightforward.