Chapter 65: A Sea of White (2)

A deep kind of loneliness that seemed to stretch as far as the snow itself.

Dr. Rory slowly looked back at the small cabin behind her. For some reason, it suddenly felt less like a home and more like the only safe place left in an empty world.

Then, far in the distance, she noticed something dark standing in the middle of all that white.

At first, Dr. Rory thought it was just a rock. But the longer she stared at it, the more certain she became that it was something else.

She started walking toward it. The strange object slowly became clearer as she got closer, and after several minutes, Dr. Rory finally stopped in front of a huge metal box standing alone in the snow.

It looked completely out of place. The metal surface was dark, cold, and covered in scratches.

Dr. Rory raised her hand and touched it carefully. The moment her fingers made contact, an uncomfortable feeling spread through her chest.

It was not exactly fear, but it felt more like a warning.

She pulled her hand back and studied the box again.

There was a door on one side, but the strange feeling coming from that thing made Dr. Rory hesitate for a moment.

She knew she should probably stop there and report what she had found. However, this was also the first time she had ever seen something like this inside a Guide’s mental sea. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

People often said that curiosity killed the cat, but Dr. Rory had spent her whole life as both a doctor and a scientist, so it was impossible for her not to be curious.

In the end, she reached for the door and slowly pulled it open. To her surprise, something dark suddenly surged out of it.

It had no real form, almost like a burst of dark mist, but it was enough to make her feel suffocated, as if something was choking her.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the black mist began to change.

The shadows twisted into monster-like shapes and spread across the snow. Their bodies stretched and bent in ways that should not have been possible.

Dr. Rory was immediately filled with a kind of fear she had never felt before.

More shadows moved toward her, reaching for her with their long claws. Dr. Rory raised her mental barrier just in time, but the impact still sent a sharp pain through her head.

The shadows surrounded her from every direction, clawing at the barrier as if they wanted to tear her apart.

Outside the mental sea, Summer’s body suddenly tensed. She could feel Dr. Rory’s fear through the connection, so she immediately woke up.

Without thinking, she grabbed the helmet and pushed Dr. Rory’s consciousness out of her mental sea.

Dr. Rory was thrown out of Summer’s mental sea so suddenly that the chair swayed backward and nearly fell to the floor.

Summer caught her in time and asked, "Dr. Rory?" She stared at the doctor’s slightly pale face. "Are you alright?"

For several seconds, Dr. Rory said nothing, but then she slowly looked at Summer with fear in her eyes. "What exactly is inside your head?"

"I’m... not sure either," she admitted. "This is new to me too. I swear, it wasn’t like that before."

She was not lying.

Her mental sea already looked completely different from the one that belonged to the original Summer and whatever had been locked inside that metal box was something Summer had never seen before either.

Dr. Rory slowly steadied herself and took a few deep breaths.

The fear in her eyes was still there, but after a moment, she finally managed to sit properly again.

"I think... I think I’ve seen enough for today," she said, her voice still a little shaky. "The results from your mental evaluation will be combined with the rest of your test results."

Summer frowned because, unlike Dr. Rinko, Dr. Rory did not seem to have any desire to explain what she had just seen or try to convince her to undergo more tests.

If anything, it felt like Dr. Rory just wanted Summer to leave the room as soon as possible.

And judging from the way she kept avoiding the helmet on the floor, she probably had no intention of entering Summer’s mind again anytime soon.

"Do you have any idea what my rank will be?" Summer asked curiously.

Dr. Rory swallowed hard and cleared her throat before answering.

"You have a very strong mind, Miss Beaumont," she said. "I don’t think your final rank will be lower than A-Rank."

After that, Dr. Rory quickly told her that the session was over and that she had another patient to evaluate.

However, when Summer walked out of the room, she didn’t see anyone on the top floor except for a few nurses and the receptionist.

Summer took a deep breath and decided not to think about it too much.

She said goodbye to the nurses and the receptionist before stepping into the elevator.

As the doors closed and the elevator started moving down, Summer pulled out her terminal and sent Ilya a voice message.

"I’m done," she said. "How about you?"

Summer did not expect an immediate reply, so she didn’t look back to her terminal again.

The elevator continued moving down. A soft sound played when it passed each floor, and Summer leaned against the wall, finally allowing herself to relax after everything that had happened today.

Then her terminal buzzed, and Ilya’s message appeared in front of her.

[Ilya: I’m done too]

[Ilya: The case is complicated, but the decision is finally official. The former Defense Minister has been found responsible for selling illegal drugs and abusing his own son]

Summer looked at the screen for a moment before finally deciding to call him.

"Are you okay?" Summer asked the moment Ilya picked up the call.

Ilya took a few seconds to answer, but when he finally spoke, he sounded deeply relieved. "I feel like... one of the heavy boulders in my heart has finally been lifted."