Chapter 517: Chapter 338: All Is Illusion_2
"No...that’s not right...I’m not sick...I’m not crazy..." Cold sweat broke out on Su Mo’s forehead. He stared intently at Dr. Chen, with wide eyes, saying, "The technology of you constructs is really amazing...the illusion is so realistic that it’s indistinguishable..."
He looked up and screamed hoarsely at the ceiling, "Future! Initiate the emergency plan! Wake me up! Future!!!"
There was no response.
Only his own voice echoed in the ward, accompanied by his mother Li Huishu’s increasingly sorrowful cries.
"Son...Mom told you long ago, you can’t play games every day, and you insisted it was fine...these computer games really cause harm!!!"
Su Mo shouted at Li Huishu, "Stop it! Don’t try to deceive me! This place is fake, Dawn Realm is a real place, I’m a Transmigrator, my companions are still waiting for me to go back!"
Dr. Chen held his forehead, sighing helplessly, obviously troubled by this situation.
Suddenly, as if thinking of something, he felt around in his pockets and said, "Oh right, speaking of this ’Dawn’... I usually don’t play games, but you talked about it so much, so I looked it up online."
He took out his phone, tapped a few times on the screen, then handed it over, "This ’Dawn’ you mentioned, it should be this, right?"
On Dr. Chen’s phone appeared a news article about the gaming industry:
[The domestic AAA title "Dawn" ended its beta, sold over 8 million copies on Steam in just one week, with more than 2 million concurrent players, making it one of the most popular buy-to-play games recently!]
Just as Su Mo stared blankly at the familiar screen and logo, Dr. Chen swiped with his finger and opened a live stream video.
This was a major streamer with over ten million followers, live streaming "Dawn," controlling the protagonist in a battle with a white-haired, red-eyed female boss.
"Pour Big Bai a cup of cappuccino, start your second phase show. I still have 17 health bars; can you one-hit kill me? If you manage to one-shot me with 17 health bars today, I’ll eat this controller on the spot!"
The screen flashed red, and Nuobai, entering the second phase, used her signature supersonic slash, instantly emptying the protagonist’s health bar.
A big [DEATH] appeared on the screen.
The last thing the audience saw was the streamer’s dazed and bewildered expression.
Dr. Chen swiped with his finger, switching to the next streaming room.
The female streamer was going through a plot, and on the screen, a delicate and handsome young boy was chatting with the protagonist.
The female streamer covered her blushing face, giggling infatuatedly, "Kbao is too cute! Heehee, this soft and fragrant little male dame~ Can you pursue this character later in the game? I’ve already turned this game into a dating sim, in this life I’ve been ruined by pretty boys~"
Dr. Chen swiped again, switching to the third streaming room.
The streamer was also going through a plot; the screen showed a vast desolate landscape of ruins, the view filled with the broken remnants of a city.
A severely wounded pink-haired loli was lying on the ground, giving the protagonist a bleak smile, "The thing I regret most in this life is following you..."
The protagonist raised his hand, stabbing a long knife into Dongdong’s throat, ending her life.
In the small window at the bottom right, the streamer was holding his forehead, eyes red, hoarsely saying, "My brothers, this demon ending on the evil path is too tragic... I really can’t take it, I’ll stop the stream here today, I need to watch something healing to recover..."
Dr. Chen put the phone away, solemnly saying, "Xiaosu, I heard from your parents that you used to love playing games... There is currently no recognized standard for internet addiction, and it’s generally not acknowledged in clinical practice."
"But there are still many blind spots in the field of medical science, I can’t definitively say your mental disorder isn’t related to gaming, especially since you’ve developed such an obvious inclination towards hysteria."
"You must realize that the ’Dawn’ is just a game, there’s no transmigration, it’s all just delusions under your mental disorder. If you can’t understand this, you will never get better."
Su Mo’s breathing became heavy and trembling, his speech falteringly unclear, "Impossible... absolutely impossible..."
He stared round-eyed, looking around, and suddenly fixed his gaze.
One of his hands had been released by Dr. Chen earlier, and now he suddenly grabbed the vase on the bedside table, smashing it hard against his own head amidst several people’s screams.
"Bang—" The vase shattered into pieces.
At first, a cool sensation came to his head, then it became increasingly scorching, a violent pain exploded.
Warm blood flowed down from his head, some even into his eyes, turning his vision blood-red.
"Quick, quick, tie his hands! Aye... his condition is unstable, still can’t release him easily..."
"Son... mom begs you, please don’t do this... sob..."
Dr. Chen, along with the nurses, pinned down Su Mo’s hand, retying him to the bed.
Su Mo blinked hard, squeezing the blood out of his eyes, hazily looking at the ceiling.
Even with such intense pain, the surroundings showed no signs of distortion, only a bloody reality remained.
"Impossible... I really transmigrated into Dawn... I’m a Transmigrator... this place is fake... it’s all fake..."
Just as Su Mo was muttering nonsensically, Su Xun, with reddened eyes, rushed over, pulling at the restraints with force, cursing under his breath, "Dawn, every time you wake up it’s Dawn, transmigration... you love transmigration so much, I’ll let you have a good look!"
Dr. Chen came over to persuade, "Su Mo’s dad, please don’t get agitated."
Su Xun forcefully rubbed his eyes and continued untying the restraints, "It’s alright, doctor, I’m not doing anything, I just want to let him see himself."
Su Xun untied Su Mo’s hands, pulling him up, then tore his hospital gown with effort, saying heavily, "Look at yourself! Take a good look!"
Su Mo looked down dumbfounded, seeing his arms covered in many wounds, some fresh, some old, some looking like scratches, others appeared to be cuts from some sharp object.
Su Xun, gripping Su Mo’s shoulder tightly, tearfully choked, "Every time you wake up, you don’t believe this is reality, insist we are fake, that you want to return to some Dawn Realm, just a few words and you start hurting yourself like this again!"
"It’s been so long, son, you keep doing this every time, hurting yourself all over, dad is heartbroken! Dad is heartbroken..."
This old father seemed to have his backbone removed, hanging his head down, curling up there, tears streaming down as he sobbed.
Dr. Chen gently wrapped an arm around Su Xun’s shoulder, softly comforting, "Su Mo’s dad, why don’t you and Su Mo’s mom step out for a bit, I’ll have a chat with the child."
The couple wiped each other’s tears, supporting each other as they left the ward, leaving only Su Mo’s lonely and desolate silhouette.
Dr. Chen sat down by the bedside, looking at the dazed Su Mo, smiling wryly, "Xiaosu, you saw it too, your parents are very upset."
"Honestly speaking, they love you very much. In my decades of work here, I’ve seen too many patients abandoned by their families."
"But your parents have never thought of abandoning you, because you are their only son. To treat you, they’ve sold their car and their house."
"Your mother was originally a housewife with a leisurely life. Now, to pay for your treatment, she works as a cleaner, enduring foul odors to take out trash and clean toilets every day."
"And your father, at his age, to earn a bit more money, works at his unit during the day, and after work delivers takeout, doing so till one or two in the morning every day. A few days ago, he even got hit by a car, luckily he wasn’t injured."
At this point, Dr. Chen scooted closer to Su Mo, taking the iodine and cotton from the nurse, patiently wiping Su Mo’s bloodied head.
"About that Dawn Realm, every time you woke up, you’d talk to me about it, and I listened very earnestly. The stories you told, the things you went through, the people who accompanied you, I remember them all."
"They were wonderful, truly, very wonderful. Sometimes I even think, if I one day developed hysteria and saw such an amazing world, I probably wouldn’t want to return to reality either."
"But, Xiaosu, you must understand, no matter how beautiful the illusion, it’s still false."
"Your world is here, with your parents, your classmates and friends, this is your real world."
"For your own sake, and for your parents’ sake, you have to fight against it, you mustn’t blur the line between the two."
"That Dawn Realm, if it’s a game, it should come to an end. If it’s a novel, it should reach its conclusion."
"Let this journey that shouldn’t exist, end here."
