CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 10: ROMAN IMPERIAL PALACE

Shawn slept until three in the afternoon.

He was awakened by Knowledge.

"Master, it’s time to get up." Knowledge whispered in his brain.

Shawn felt a bit groggy; he got up, washed his face, made himself a strong cup of tea to wake up, and then said coldly, "Shut up, stop bothering me."

In front of the mirror.

A young and handsome man with slight dark circles appeared before him, his hair messy, looking a bit lethargic, with slight eye bags. His complexion was normal, but his eyes were filled with bloodshot streaks. He felt like he had slept deeply, but in fact, the quality of his sleep was quite poor.

"The master is still so handsome!..." Knowledge retreated into his brain, muttering quietly.

Shut up.

Shawn rubbed his temples, sat on the balcony in silence for a while before slowly getting up to change clothes.

Rationality had already touched the mental threshold.

"Transcendents’ madness is divided into three states: temporary madness, indeterminate madness, and permanent madness."

The last one is almost incurable.

In Shawn’s understanding, permanent madness is basically equivalent to being completely out of control and no longer considered a human, as humanity has completely disappeared.

This situation can be viewed as completely becoming a ’bizarre creature’, the anchor point of self-awareness is no longer human, but a monster.

"I should be showing signs of temporary madness right now."

"Because of sudden exposure to too many bizarre existences, rationality has drastically declined, perception has touched some kind of madness inherent in the Bizarre Realm."

Shawn’s brain began to operate, analyzing his current situation.

Temporary madness is not scary; it can only be considered a bit neurotic. After understanding the nature of the Professional’s Promotion Sequence, Shawn has realized that it’s normal for Transcendents to occasionally go a bit crazy.

Shawn also guessed why ordinary people are restricted from being promoted to Transcendents; this path is indeed not something ordinary people can continue walking.

"Temporary madness is the first mental threshold."

"When rationality decreases to a certain extent, it will result in auditory hallucinations, paranoia, mania, hysteria, and other negative mental states."

Shawn took out paper and pen to analyze his current mental state.

He didn’t really want to see a psychologist.

In his previous life, Shawn had read some psychology books, and he plans to rely on his own will to adjust and recover. It’s impossible to always have a psychologist around; sometimes, you can only rely on yourself to get through it.

"No one knows exactly how much rationality they have."

"But according to one’s current state, you can estimate the decrease in rationality value."

It’s acceptable.

If anyone else had gone through as much as Shawn, faced even a formless and ancient Evil Object, they would probably have gone mad long ago.

Yet he persisted until now, only showing one sign of temporary madness, auditory hallucinations.

"Everyone should have some mild mental pollution, only that Transcendents, on their journey, have much stronger willpower than ordinary people, so they can endure a higher mental threshold."

"As long as I don’t touch the second mental warning line, I should be able to recover quickly."

If you cross the second warning line, it’s indeterminate madness, similar to some mental illnesses, occasionally having sudden attacks, and showing self-destructive tendencies. Once this situation occurs, the Investigator must be suspended for a leave of absence, the Night Watcher will arrange for long-term recuperation, and a psychologist must be provided until the mind slowly recovers to normal.

However, the shadow of the past will not completely fade away.

This also involves a blind spot in self-awareness, which is that some people may already be mad, but are not aware of it themselves.

"This is the real reason for the high suicide rate among Investigators." Shawn murmured.

The madness of ordinary people is more apparent.

The madness of Transcendents varies somewhat due to different sequence paths, with those enhancing flesh more prone to self-harm and mania, while those enhancing spirit are more prone to auditory and visual hallucinations.

Auditory hallucinations are not severe, but visual hallucinations are very serious.

Investigators, being highly perceptive individuals, are more easily polluted than ordinary Night Watchers, and the higher the inspiration, the more madness they perceive.

A knocking sound came.

Shawn got up to open the door and saw Benjamin and Daisy.

Benjamin merely glanced at Shawn, his expression serious as he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I’m fine." Shawn nodded, "It doesn’t affect me much."

At present, he was quite normal, just a bit annoyed by Knowledge’s constant whispering.

This negative state was affecting his mood.

Benjamin did not relax, instead, he softly asked, "Should I arrange a psychologist for you?"

Shawn shook his head, "No need for now."

Daisy raised her little head, looking at Shawn with a slightly indistinct worry, and said, "When I couldn’t sleep in the past, and my mind was messy, hearing animals talk, I would run wildly in the forest."

"Running from sunrise to sunset, thinking of nothing until I was exhausted."

"Then, after a sleep, I’d feel better the next day."

Huh?

Could that work?

Shawn had a thoughtful expression, unable to resist reaching out to rub Daisy’s little head. She instinctively bared her teeth, but didn’t dodge, just looking at Shawn with a slightly angry expression.

"Sorry. I apologize." Shawn quickly withdrew his hand, his expression showing a little fear.

Daisy huffed proudly.

Benjamin pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "You should rest for a while. I’ll apply for a leave of absence for you."