The first direct encounter with the Shadow King ended with Raymond almost suffering a memory loss.
But at least he made it through safely. For now, the Shadow King probably won't appear again anytime soon.
It makes sense—if the Shadow King could take control of David's body whenever he wanted, he wouldn't have spent thirty years lurking in the shadows, slowly influencing David in secret.
Clearly, he doesn't want David to know that he exists.
Because once David becomes wary of him, anything he does afterward could alert him, making it much harder to break down David's mental defenses.
And if it came down to a direct battle for control of the body, the Shadow King probably isn't confident he could win.
After all, David is a level 5 mutant. Even if his full potential hasn't been unlocked, taking over his body isn't something that can be done so easily.
If it were that simple, the Shadow King wouldn't have wasted thirty years waiting.
Considering all this, it's obvious that he won't appear too often, so Raymond isn't worried about that.
Besides, this encounter wasn't a total loss.
Aside from the wake-up call that shattered his false sense of superiority, he also earned [50 Exploration Points].
Even after spending [10 Points], he still had [40 Points] left—a nice little bonus.
The only problem was that his plan to get David released was clearly doomed.
With the Shadow King watching him closely, David would never pass the so-called recovery test.
The doctors at the hospital, including Dr. Beth, had probably been manipulated by the Shadow King long ago. No matter what, they wouldn't let David leave.
"Am I really going to have to pull a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?" Raymond rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
Having David around, who could lose control at any moment, was bad enough. Now, with the Shadow King stirring up trouble, Raymond felt a growing sense of unease.
It was like sleeping with a grenade next to his pillow—even if he knew it wouldn't explode easily, he couldn't help but feel on edge.
Forcing his way out of the hospital with brute strength was a last resort, but staying here didn't seem like a good option either.
"If there's no other way, I might have to do it…" Raymond thought to himself.
He decided to give himself a few more days to figure out a better solution. If he couldn't come up with anything, he'd just escape.
Being labeled a runaway mental patient was better than sitting on a ticking time bomb.
Having made up his mind, Raymond spent the whole morning racking his brains for a better solution, but no stroke of genius came to him.
David, on the other hand, seemed to have completely forgotten about what happened that morning—he was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn't until lunchtime that Raymond finally ran into him in the cafeteria.
But when they talked, David didn't mention the test at all.
Raymond subtly probed him, only to confirm that David had no memory of what happened in the morning.
Realizing this, Raymond decided not to bring it up again.
Even if he wanted to help David, he had no way of doing so right now.
If he recklessly told David about the Shadow King, it might cause some trouble for the Shadow King, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't just erase David's memory again.
And if that happened, Raymond would become the Shadow King's number one target.
Being hunted by a level 4 mutant that even Professor X couldn't easily kill?
Not exactly the best way to stay alive.
So for now, the best he could do was play clueless.
After all, in the original timeline, the Shadow King never really managed to take control of David.
With the mutant organization Summerland about to step in, the Shadow King's exposure was inevitable. Raymond didn't have to get involved.
As for the memory loss he almost suffered in the morning, Raymond was confident he'd get his chance to settle the score—sooner or later. There was no need to rush.
After finishing lunch, Raymond planned to head back to his room for a nap.
But just as he stepped out of the cafeteria, a young nurse stopped him.
"Dr. Raymond, a friend of yours is here to see you. Would you like to see her?" The nurse's tone was polite—completely different from how regular patients were treated.
It wasn't surprising.
Because of Raymond's achievements in psychology, the hospital's resident doctors all respected him—especially Dr. Beth, who openly considered him her idol.
Since even the doctors treated him with respect, it was only natural for the nurses to follow suit.
Even the original owner of this body wasn't considered a real lunatic. Before his personality split, he had been relatively normal.
"My friend?" Raymond raised an eyebrow, pointing at himself in surprise.
"Yes, a woman. She didn't give her name, but she asked me to tell you that if you want to live somewhere else, she might be able to help," the nurse relayed.
"Oh?"
Raymond was surprised.
It wasn't strange for the original owner's friends to visit—his fragmented memories included instances of family and friends coming by.
But the message this woman sent was odd.
"If you want to live somewhere else, maybe she can help?"
Wasn't that just another way of saying, I can help you leave the hospital?
And what kind of friend wouldn't give their name but would instead pass on such a cryptic message?
Raymond wasn't overthinking it—this situation was clearly suspicious.
He was at least 70% sure this visitor wasn't actually a friend of the original owner.
Something was definitely off.
Still, after a moment of thought, he decided to meet this so-called friend.
No matter what her real motives were, and whether or not she could actually help him leave the hospital legally, there was no harm in hearing her out.
Even if she turned out to be an impostor, what was the worst that could happen?
With that in mind, Raymond smiled. "Sure, take me to her."
"Alright, please follow me." The nurse, not thinking much of it, led the way.
Before long, they arrived outside a visitor's room.
In North America, psychiatric hospital visiting rooms were somewhat similar to those in prisons—small private rooms equipped with cameras and a staff member to monitor visits.
Of course, hospitals weren't as strict as prisons.
Visitors and patients could talk face-to-face without a glass partition, and staff usually didn't eavesdrop on conversations.
Most of the time, they provided some privacy for the patient and their visitors.
Their main job was to ensure two things: that the patient didn't suddenly become violent and attack the visitor, and that the visitor didn't bring in any prohibited items.
In psychiatric hospitals, everything from cutlery to furniture was custom-made to prevent patients from harming themselves or others during an outburst.
So outside items—especially potential weapons—were strictly controlled.
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