Before going to bed that night, Chi Ting lay on it and stared at the ceiling.
The missing rabbit gentleman in the closet, the poster on the bulletin board, the thing that should’ve been in the back seat of Chi Yuan’s car when he returned home… Even though he couldn’t remember what it was specifically, he could clearly feel that in this endless cycle, something was changing completely bit by bit.
This change didn’t make him forget the past. However, the memories after he entered this instance started to be subtly distorted bit by bit.
What was the significance of such an arrangement?
These thoughts lasted until the new day came.
This time, Chi Ting put on his clothes and went to read the contents of the diary as usual. However, he discovered that the diary was missing.
The original location was empty.
There were no traces of the diary that should’ve been placed there.
Chi Ting looked at the empty space calmly and suddenly smiled.
It was really interesting.
No matter how his experiences up to today had changed, all the changes seemed to be only related to his original instances. The disappearance of the diary meant that the things that belonged entirely to this instance had also started to gradually change.
Chi Ting turned around and looked at the closet behind him. He walked over to open it and casually caught the orange doll that fell out. For a moment, he couldn’t remember what the doll inside was supposed to look like.
He instantly guessed that the same thing as the recruitment poster had happened. He smiled silently, put on his tie, and went out.
After that, he followed the original pace. The neighbor after going out was no longer Gloria, but a girl who looked very familiar to him. He could even call out her name directly, Xiao Si.
The owner downstairs was still walking the dog, but the paw was empty. All pets had a safety collar neatly put around their necks.
Later, Chi Ting looked up when he was about to reach the school gate and saw that the building, which was supposed to be pink, had completely turned into an ordinary bright yellow.
The vague memories that still existed told him that in this instance, all traces of the instances he had experienced seemed to have been completely erased.
The car stopped, but Chi Ting didn’t get out. He sat there and suddenly asked, “Sister, can you take me to see a doctor again?”
No matter how hard she tried to conceal it, a look of surprise clearly flashed across Chi Yuan’s face when the words came out.
She cautiously asked, “Why are you saying this so suddenly?”
Chi Ting stared straight at her and recalled Chi Yuan’s suggestion the day before. “Let’s go to the hospital again.” He slowly revealed a harmless smile. “I’ve been feeling a bit strange lately, so I want to go see a doctor. What’s wrong? Is it inconvenient? We should’ve been to see the doctor before, right?”
Chi Yuan hesitated for a moment before finally making a decision.
This should be the first time that Chi Ting didn’t spend the day in school since entering the instance.
On the way to register for the consultation, he made a special observation and found that Chi Yuan took him to the psychiatric department.
It was the first time he met this attending doctor, but the feedback from his mind made Chi Ting feel that it wasn’t the first time Ah Ting had met this person.
Chi Ting was quite cooperative during the questioning process.
He clearly told the doctor everything about entering the instance, including waking up on the same day every day, the rabbit doll that turned into an orange cat, the changing neighbor, the strange dog-walking owner downstairs, and the new apartment building that was supposed to be pink…
The attending doctor quickly gave a diagnosis. “In short, you have recently started to have large-scale delusions again. It can only be said that the previous treatment has gradually lost its effect. What you need to do now is accept your situation positively and actively participate in the next treatment…”
At this point, he raised his head, stared directly into Chi Ting’s eyes, and said slowly, “But you don’t seem to believe me.”
Chi Ting wondered, “Why do you say that?”
“From the moment I started the diagnosis, you were also… examining me.”
Chi Ting sat there with a gentle smile on his face, and didn’t comment on this statement.
Indeed, from the moment he entered the hospital, he had clearly memorized everything around him. This included every question the doctor asked and every reaction after hearing his answer.
He wondered if the person sitting in front of him could be ‘it.’
But judging from the current situation, it didn’t seem like it.
This discovery made Chi Ting feel a bit regretful, but he still smiled slightly on the surface. He directly skipped such a topic and asked sincerely, “Since treatment is required, how do you need me to cooperate?”
The doctor frowned at the seemingly insincere attitude. “I have already prescribed the medicine. Remember to take it on time every night. Don’t stop taking it again.”
Such words made Chi Ting smile.
Don’t stop taking it again. The word ‘again’ really sounded like it had a deeper meaning.
Chi Yuan didn’t say a word all the way back from the hospital.
From her expression, it could be seen that his sister was indeed very worried about Ah Ting’s condition. It was precisely because she was too worried that she didn’t know where to start for a moment.
It wasn’t until they got home that Chi Yuan hesitantly said, “Ah Ting, actually…”
Chi Ting understood it at a glance. “You want to say that I’m actually not mentally ill?”
As expected, Chi Yuan was slightly stunned by the straightforward statement. Her tone slowed down a bit. “It is just a bit of a problem with your nerves. Of course, it can’t be considered a mental illness. The doctor already said that as long as you take the medicine and cooperate with the treatment, you will get better soon. Then you can return to normal life and won’t see things that shouldn’t exist anymore.”
Chi Ting blinked calmly.
Something that shouldn’t exist.
Was she referring to the memories related to the so-called doomsday world and the instances of the unlimited world?
He looked down at the bag of medicine he was holding. Without waiting for Chi Yuan to say anything else, he slowly said, “Don’t worry, Sister. I will take the medicine well.”
Chi Yuan’s expression also relaxed. “That’s good. You can return to normal life as long as you take the medicine.”
Chi Ting looked up at her and smiled at her. Then he turned around and went back to the room with the medicine.
Chi Ting did take the medicine properly at night.
The medicine took effect quickly. He opened his eyes again to the familiar sound of the alarm clock. After getting up, he finally understood what Chi Yuan meant by a normal life.
The calendar on the table showed the date was December 30th.
The page he tore off and threw away yesterday was lying quietly in the trash can. The cycle of staying on the 29th had finally officially ended.
Chi Ting turned around and looked at the bottle of pills placed beside the bed.
So, was this the key to breaking the cycle?
It was the first December 30th after entering the instance. Chi Ting still remembered that he could clearly find traces of the original instances before, but at the end of an ordinary day, there were no additional discoveries.
He always remembered that something had changed, but he couldn’t remember what it was. He also had a vague feeling that what he thought he remembered might not have existed in the first place. What he was experiencing now might be what life should really be like.
It must be admitted that everything here did perfectly meet the wonderful life that Chi Ting wanted.
It was a peaceful era where he didn’t have to struggle to survive. As an ordinary human being, he had a family who cared about him, and lived a routine life. In this peace, he was filled with a strong sense of happiness.
The treatment with the pills made him feel that his tense nerves were clearly relieved. There was a satisfying sense of familiarity everywhere. It told him over and over again that his name was Ah Ting, and he was an ordinary high school student who once suffered from delusions. Everything here was his real life. The so-called Captain Chi, Dawn, and the instances were nothing but groundless fantasies generated during his illness.
But was that really the case?
He stood firmly in front of the table and looked at the figure in the mirror. Chi Ting vaguely felt that his gaze seemed to pass through the figure in the mirror to something hidden behind it.
This was undoubtedly a state of madness that even he felt was a bit too divisive. However, after staring for over ten seconds, he slowly smiled.
Was the instance trying to make him believe that he suffered from a mental illness, or was he really a patient?
Was he really in an instance now, or were the previous instances and the current sense of crisis all just his imagination as the doctor said?
In fact, it was very simple. He would know after a little test.
On this day, Chi Ting didn’t choose to take the medicine but went straight to bed.
He woke up the next day and found that it was still December 30th.
Chi Ting still chose not to take the medicine.
Another December 30th, and it was still the same.
After two days of not taking medicine, Chi Ting finally chose to take the pills and was able to welcome a brand new December 31st.
He woke up and looked at the scarlet calendar page. Then a smile gradually appeared in his vaguely empty eyes.
Very good. Wasn’t this the result of the test?
It seemed that he had finally figured out what type of existence this instance was.
Nightmare City.
All life here was just a dream.
In the dream, everything in this city was truly heart-stirring and made people want to stay.
All he had to do was remember to take the pills every day, and all his troubles, his worries, and even the past could be completely put aside. This was indeed a huge temptation that was very difficult to resist.
No one knew better than Chi Ting what he was looking forward to deep down in his heart.
So if he wasn’t mistaken, the person who created this dream was probably—himself.
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