Chapter 11: Gaze and Psyche

"Grrr!" The boy's face turned ashen, and he violently coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Enduring the excruciating pain, he spoke into the phone, "Tony, close your eyes... The things behind you are just perceptual distortions. They won't hurt you..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the boy collapsed to the side, dead.

The Black Goat looked at the shocked expressions of the students. While wiping the blood off its hands with a handkerchief, it explained, "That's the rule. How much information you can convey before you die depends entirely on how long you can hold on."

Having said this, the Black Goat turned its head to look at the live stream.

Seeing Tony's actions, it shook its head in resignation.

With a sigh, the Black Goat murmured, "Alas, it seems this student's sacrifice was in vain after all..."

At this moment, in Player 2 Tony's eerie game:

He received the information relayed by his classmate and, in despair, closed his eyes.

Tony was running so fast that he tumbled down the stairs, hitting his head and passing out.

Player 2 Tony has died. Lives remaining: 1.

Tony's classroom erupted in wails of despair. On the very first day, their player was already down to his last life.

Player 4 wasn't doing much better. The girl named Helen was now lying in bed.

Her poor constitution had led to a persistent high fever.

Player 3 Leon, on the other hand, seemed to be faring quite well.

He hadn't encountered any serious trouble. Being naturally timid, he had simply hugged his dog and walked into the cellar with his eyes closed, inadvertently overcoming the perceptual distortions.

Leon frowned at a jar of pickles and some smoked meat and said, "No way, these are way too salty."

Having four dogs at home, he knew a lot about pet care.

He found a note in the kitchen for making dog food, which suggested feeding the dog pickles and smoked meat—foods that could easily cause kidney failure in dogs if eaten regularly.

Leon concluded that this rule must be false.

Suspecting that "it" had tampered with his grandmother's message to make the dog, which could protect him, sick.

He glanced at a large bag of dog food in the corner and went over to inspect it.

Leon grabbed a handful and sniffed it. Although the dog food was expired, it hadn't gone bad.

This would definitely be better for the dog than pickles.

"Woof woof! Arf arf!"

The dog, smelling the food, squirmed anxiously in Leon's arms, clearly starving.

Leon placed the dog on the ground. "Buddy, go ahead and eat. You must be starving."

He started feeding the dog the handful of dog food. The dog ate happily, its tail wagging furiously as it devoured the food from Leon's hand.

Leon looked down at the dog, a gentle smile on his face.

He failed to notice that the dog's canine teeth seemed to have grown sharper.

...

Unlike the dire situations of Players 2 and 4.

Jon's cabin was a scene of warmth and tranquility.

In a cozy cabin nestled in the winter forest, a man sat in a chair by the fireplace. The hanging pot of water had come to a boil, releasing warm white steam into the air.

Jon used a wooden spoon to ladle some hot water and made himself a cup of tea.

He blew on it and took a sip, feeling the warmth spread throughout his body.

Next, Jon took the pre-sliced smoked meat from the table and added it directly to the pot for a simple warm-up.

The rich aroma of fruitwood-smoked meat filled the entire room.

Stirring the pot, Jon remarked, "Hmm, smells pretty good, doesn't it?"

A small dog lay expectantly at his feet, waiting patiently for the food.

Jon opened a glass jar containing pickles.

As soon as the jar was opened, a strong garlic scent wafted out, which struck Jon as odd.

It was his first time encountering pickles marinated with garlic.

He poured the pickles out and found an entire clove of pickled garlic, now a pale yellow color.

Holding the clove, Jon began to analyze.

In various legends, garlic is often considered a tool for warding off evil.

Creatures like vampires supposedly suffer greatly if they consume garlic, potentially weakening them.

The pickles with garlic were something both he and the dog needed to eat daily.

Perhaps after eating them, they would carry the scent of garlic, which might deter "it" from approaching them.

Jon clearly remembered that garlic was not safe for dogs.

The sulfur compounds released by garlic could destroy a dog's red blood cells, leading to anemia and symptoms like lethargy and weakness.

Jon sighed, "No wonder the dog is picky with its food."

"But..." His eyes narrowed as he glanced at the dog sleeping by the fire.

Maybe Grandma intended to poison the dog?

Jon distinctly recalled that when he first entered the game, the dog had behaved strangely, peeking at him from behind the door.

If the door hadn't been locked, the dog should have come in directly.

Why was it standing outside, watching him through the crack?

If human cognition can be polluted or interfered with...

Could the same not apply to the dog?

Jon suspected that "it" had some way of controlling the dog, using it to monitor the player from the start.

No, monitoring wasn't "its" intent.

"It" could move freely through the house, always watching the player.

But this surveillance didn't seem to harm the player. "Its" true objective must be something on the player's person!

In the beginning, the dog stood behind the door, silently gazing at the player, not attacking.

Could it be that merely through this gaze, some form of energy was being absorbed from the human body?

Jon felt a chill as he pondered further. Could his cognition be polluted because he had seen "its" form in the mirror?

From the moment the player entered the game, "it" had been using the dog's gaze to absorb some of their energy.

When Jon entered Grandma's room, the dog had barked at the mirror first, and only then did "its" form appear in the mirror.

The dog must have gazed at the mirror, transferring part of the absorbed energy to "it."

Indeed, the cognitive pollution had started from that moment.

So, could the dog actually be "its" accomplice?

Jon shook his head. Grandma's rules mentioned the dog frequently, so not all of them could be wrong.

The dog should be able to protect him at times, but it could also be controlled by "it" to indirectly harm the player.

But why did the dog show no signs of being controlled right now?

Jon looked down at the dog, and the dog wagged its tail, looking back at him.

Jon could clearly feel that the dog's gaze now was entirely different from the cold, eerie stare he had felt before.

That unsettling gaze had only appeared once today.

Maybe it was because the dog had rubbed against him?

Jon hadn't yet figured out the exact answer. Perhaps both the dog and "it" needed some kind of energy from the human body.

"It" was stronger, capable of easily controlling the dog when it was in a low-energy state.

Once the dog absorbed some of the player's energy, it wouldn't be controlled by "it" for a while.

With this thought, Jon's mind suddenly cleared.

That's why Rule 12 emphasized eating well and resting.

It was a way to restore some internal energy. If this energy was too low, stronger cognitive pollution would occur, and he might even lose himself.

At that point, he would never be able to escape the cabin.

Just as Jon realized this, a note appeared out of thin air in his hand.

He unfolded it in surprise. It read: "Congratulations, you have discovered the existence of soul energy, 'Psyche.'"

Meanwhile, in Jon's classroom.

Black Goat glanced at the live feed, a slight tremor in his pupils. "Hmm, a talented player indeed." As the proctor, he could clearly sense each player's progress, and Jon's speed was somewhat terrifying.

Black Goat couldn't help but praise him, marking the score sheet filled with player names.

Exam Room 42, Candidate 1 Jon, Performance Score: +10 points.

Reason: The first player in this exam to deduce the existence of 'Psyche' through personal reasoning.

...

Back in the cabin, the grandfather clock struck ten times.

Jon stood up and placed the dishes in the sink, dumping the remaining dog food into the toilet.

The tomato soup left in the dog bowl turned the toilet water a blood-red hue.

The dog truly didn't like pickles and garlic. Even when it was extremely hungry, it refused to eat them, so Jon tried adding canned tomatoes.

After that, the dog finally started eating obediently.

At that moment, Jon suddenly noticed a note stuck to the bottom of the dog bowl.