Chapter 99: The Psychiatric Clinic with Lucy
In an entirely different dimension... utterly removed from the alleyways of the Empire and the struggles of Amelia and Albert, a certain entity was enduring a very private ordeal of intense torment...
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
In the heart of a sleek, ultra-modern psychiatric clinic... Cain’s body jolted upright in terror from the leather recliner, his head swaying frantically in the air as he trembled insanely. His eyes darted across the room in sheer panic, cold sweat drenching his garments!
Cain breathed with immense difficulty, his voice ragged and broken: "Where... where am I?!"
Cain was truly terrified to the ultimate degree... In recent memory, he had been subjected to the most vicious, delicious, and prolonged forms of psychological and physical torture within the dimension known as the "Pleasure Paradise" at the hands of "Lucy." It had reached the point where his mind could no longer bear that massive, crushing volume of forced ecstasy!
The Pleasure Dimension was a cursed realm where time flowed at an excruciatingly slow crawl—stretching into eternity compared to the real world...
Compounded by the presence of that cursed, profoundly evil magical flower in that dimension—which amplified nerve sensitivity dozens of times over—every passing second for Cain represented a vast, empty eon devoid of relief!
And with a tyrannical, unhinged persona like "Lucy," who would not permit him to avert his eyes from her for even a fraction of a second... Cain lived through an experience akin to a "sensual hell" that consumed the very soul.
Yet now... he opened his eyes to find himself in a place overflowing with alien unfamiliarity!
A luxurious office, a pristine floor of polished ceramic tiles, modern and elegant furniture... Then his eyes caught something that made him recoil a few steps backward, horror wearing down his heart... There was a valuable, antique wall clock sounding its steady ticks... and the language engraved upon its frame and digits was the sole thing his mind grasped instantly...
It was original English!
In fact, the current date displayed on the clock’s attachment was: April 20, 2234!
The blood froze in Cain’s veins... It was the exact date! The very date on which Cain had been transported from Planet Earth into the other world—the world of the web novel!
As he underwent a hysterical state of insane denial, caught between memories, his eyes fell upon something that amplified his terror; there was a large, silver-framed photograph mounted on the wall... a portrait of a face Cain knew clearly and could never mistake...
"Lucy..." he whispered in a faint, clipped voice.
At that exact microsecond, in a manner he least anticipated, the heavy door of the room glided open with effortless ease! Entering through it was a woman Cain knew all too well... She carried a steaming cup of hot tea in her hand, wore elegant, black-rimmed prescription glasses, and gazed at him with eyes as cold as ice.
She inspected him for a moment, then spoke in a sharp, mocking tone: "Oh... are you finally awake, Mr. Cain? You have slept for an extraordinarily long time! Do you believe this is a place for recreation or that you are in your own home? This is a professional psychiatric clinic, not a hotel!"
Cain opened his mouth, attempting to utter a single word... He tried to summon his vocal cords, yet speech failed entirely to escape his throat under the weight of the staggering shock unfolding before him! Was what this woman saying true? Was he genuinely inside a psychiatric clinic?!
He began looking around with heightened seriousness and growing awareness... He noted a massive, sweeping glass window along the right side of the room. He moved toward it with swift, agitated steps, then leaned his head forward to gaze through the clear glass...
Morning flooded the horizon with light, and through the window, he saw that he was on a towering floor inside a sky-scraping tower! Down on the asphalt below, modern vehicles glided seamlessly along complex, expertly planned roadways...
They were on Planet Earth!
How could this be happening?! Was everything he had experienced over there... the power, the mana, the otherworldly realm, the family, and the supreme authority... merely delusions and a dream within his diseased mind?!
Subconsciously, Cain attempted to summon one of his magical spells, chanting its incantations in his mind, yet he felt absolute emptiness... There was not a single particle of "mana" in the atmosphere around him!
The doctor’s voice shouted at him from behind: "Mr. Cain... will you remain standing there staring out the window for much longer? We need to complete this diagnosis immediately so you may then be free to leave!"
Cain whipped his head around with lightning speed, as if the word "free" had pressed a sensitive button deep within his soul: "Free?!"
The doctor replied, taking a sip from her tea cup: "Yes... Is there a problem, Mr. Cain? You have obtained a conditional release from the prison facility where you were being held, provided your mind undergoes a rigorous diagnosis to determine whether you are fit to re-integrate into society or remain a threat!"
Cain could not believe his ears or his eyes... Everything around him—the walls, the furniture, the scents, the ambient noise—was painfully real and miserable!
Had all his extensive memories in the other world been a mere nightmare or a rosy fantasy experienced during a coma in a prison asylum? The family he loved, the absolute power he wielded, and the exorbitant wealth he possessed... had it all vanished, leaving him to return to the whistling winds of Earth?
The doctor sighed, speaking in a calm tone as she gestured toward the recliner: "Mr. Cain... I do not know specifically what you are undergoing within your mind right now, but you appear to be in a state of extreme tension and disorientation... Sit here, and let us bring this diagnosis to a wise conclusion."
Cain surrendered to his trembling legs, stepping toward the chair designated for psychiatric patients. He reclined upon it, extending his legs—the very same seat from which he had jolted in terror moments prior...
Once his body settled onto the smooth leather, he turned his eyes slightly to the side, noticing a large wall mirror reflecting his form... As he fixated on his reflection, a shiver ran through him; his face in the mirror was his exact former face... his face prior to transmigrating into the novel’s world!
The doctor asked him as she opened a paper file and readied her pen: "Mr. Cain... what causes you to act with such strange disorientation? As though you are lost, or as if you have returned home after long years of absence?"
Cain looked at the doctor—who shared an exact likeness with Lucy, save for her cold-featured therapist attire—and spoke in a hoarse voice: "Has it ever happened... that you dreamed a very long dream? A dream so vast and deep that when you woke from it, you began to doubt that what you lived was merely a dream?"
A slight, almost imperceptible shift crossed the doctor’s cold facial expression. Her hand paused writing for a fraction of a second before she asked: "Was it... a bad dream?"
Cain shook his head in slow denial: "No... rather, it was the most beautiful dream I have witnessed in my entire life... and I am heartbroken and shattered because I woke up and emerged from it..."
The subtle shifts on the doctor’s face multiplied as she attempted to mask her emotion, quickly writing down notes: "Dreams are merely dreams, Mr. Cain... And though that truth is harsh, it is the sole truth we possess."
Cain nodded his head in apparent assent and resignation. Meanwhile, he swept his eyes toward another portrait mounted on the room’s wall... It was a portrait of the late President of the United States of America, with the phrase (Rest in Peace) inscribed beneath it alongside his official date of passing.
Yet... oddly and unexpectedly, his mind locked onto a glaring detail! The date written for the President’s death on the wall... diverged completely from the historical date carved into Cain’s rock-solid memory regarding the actual history of Earth!
At that instant... a cold shiver coursed down Cain’s spine, as if a spark had illuminated the dark recesses of his mind... He had just realized that there was a broken thread in this game!
The doctor interrupted his silence, her pupils dilating as she asked: "Is there an issue with the former President’s photograph, Mr. Cain?"
Cain locked his eyes onto the written date, having finally realized the absolute truth hidden behind this so-called "reality."