Chapter 1680: with translation of chapter title

Zheng Ren and Su Yun were changing clothes in the changing room, Zheng Ren remained silent throughout.

"What are you thinking about?" Su Yun asked.

"The children's illness."

"Do you have no shame?" Su Yun asked scornfully: "You've only been out of school a few years, and you're already calling them 'kids, kids'—is that something you're allowed to say?"

"After being an inpatient chief for a year, I feel like I've aged a lot." Zheng Ren said.

"It's only been a few months, less than half a year." Su Yun corrected Zheng Ren's wording.

"Stop it, you say there's nothing wrong, yet you're nauseous and vomiting—have you seen similar cases?" Zheng Ren asked.

"We've both seen it alone— isn't it just hysteria?" Su Yun had obviously thought a lot about it.

"When chatting with Zheng Ren, any wild idea can be spoken. If said in front of others—even if it were Zhou Litao… or even Director Pan—he wouldn't say it."

"Hysteria, also known as conversion disorder."

"It is a mental disorder caused by psychological factors such as life events, inner conflict, suggestion, or self-suggestion acting on susceptible individuals."

"The main manifestations of hysteria are dissociative symptoms and conversion symptoms; its symptoms are functional, so psychotherapy occupies an important position."

"In the emergency department, hysteria patients are frequently encountered, such as the girl in Haicheng who imagined she was pregnant."

"But even two or three people experiencing it simultaneously is rare, let alone hundreds of students at Capital Medical University doing so at the same time."

"After Su Yun finished speaking, she took out a cigarette and threw it to Zheng Ren."

"Don't think about it; let's just see how things go as we walk." Su Yun said.

"But the cigarette he threw, Zheng Ren didn't catch; it landed on him, fell to the ground, and rolled to the side."

"What are you thinking about? Why do you keep zoning out?" Su Yun frowned.

"Hysteria? Mass hysteria—have you studied it?" Zheng Ren suddenly asked.

"……" Su Yun was stunned for a moment, then shook her head.

"Don't move, I'm thinking." Zheng Ren entered that state of searching for cases again, his whole body looking like a stone statue.

"Sand sculpture." Su Yun scoffed: "Don't even think about it—mass hysteria, do you think it's a ghost pressing on the bed? Or some kind of collective thing?"

"That's not the case." Zheng Ren said: "Historical records show that in the summer of 1518, a dancing plague suddenly broke out in Strasbourg, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. Do you recall it?"

"A woman suddenly started dancing in the street. After dancing continuously for four days, the number of participants reached 34, and the streets began to crowd. Within a month, over 400 people in the city were happily swaying, causing gridlock." Su Yun frowned: "Are you talking about this?"

"Hmm." Zheng Ren bent over, searched, picked up the cigarette that had fallen on the ground; he seemed to have formed an idea.

"I think the historical accounts are questionable; such attention‑seeking stunts were likely fabricated by minstrels of the time to deceive people." Su Yun dismissed it: "Like nuns learning to meow—these stories are all the same."

"In medieval records, an even more shocking scene is the collective of Parisian nuns learning to meow."

"It all began when one nun let out a 'meow'; afterward, the surrounding nuns, as if infected, gradually joined her in meowing."

"The nuns' meowing was regular; all the nuns would meow for several hours each day during the same time period."

"According to analysis, mass hysteria often occurs in places with strict discipline and high environmental pressure, such as schools, factories, monasteries, and military barracks."

"Zheng Ren knew what Su Yun was referring to, and he had thought of it too. Facing Su Yun's dismissive attitude, Zheng Ren smiled and said, 'Forrest Gump—have you seen it?'"

"Sure, it's a masterpiece. It's a shame that The Shawshank Redemption ran into Forrest Gump." Su Yun said, and the conversation turned toward another unknown direction.

"Forrest Gump's long‑distance run, one of whose real‑life models is Louis Michael Figueroa, who ran across the United States three times. Well, we won't talk about that—many people followed Forrest in running; don't you find that strange?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Boss, that's just an artistic vibe."

"No, I don't think so." Zheng Ren said firmly: "Sometimes, strong psychological suggestion combined with certain factors' imagery can produce a bizarre result."

"For example?"

"You're right; medieval cases are more entertaining. Let's talk about a more recent example." Zheng Ren said: "Pokémon—have you watched it?"

"That comment reveals your age." Su Yun said scornfully.

"I haven't seen it either; I only know that later, according to this animation, Pikachu appeared." Zheng Ren lit a cigarette, took a puff, and the blue smoke rose straight without any curve.

"Boss, using fine control of turbulence for smoking—don't you think that's wasteful?" Su Yun asked.

"When thinking about a problem, I unconsciously do this, just like performing surgery. Ding the ox—this time it's pretty advanced, huh?" Zheng Ren laughed.

"Getting back to the point, what happened with Pokémon?" Su Yun asked.

"On December 16, 1997, at 18:30, Japanese viewers were watching the hot‑aired 38th episode of the Pokémon anime—'Computer Warrior 3D Dragon.'" Zheng Ren said.

"This time, Su Yun was serious."

"The events of 1997 aren't that far away."

"Moreover, the timing is detailed down to the day and even the minute."

"But how come I have no memory of this?"

"However, around 18:50, a large amount of bright, flashing special effects appeared. Soon after, children began showing symptoms ranging from rapid breathing and nausea to convulsions and hallucinations."

"Within half an hour, over 600 adolescents were sent to hospitals for treatment. Among them, 208 were unconscious, three were deeply unconscious, and most were middle‑ or primary‑school students."

"At the time, these children were diagnosed with 'photosensitive epilepsy,' the cause being the light‑and‑shadow effects in the animation." Zheng Ren said slowly, as if thinking while speaking.

"Su Yun immediately spotted a loophole in Zheng Ren's words and interrupted him: 'Wait a minute! Your statement has several problems.'"

"I know, hear me out. This diagnosis isn't very convincing." Zheng Ren laughed: "Photosensitive epilepsy has an incidence of about 0.02%; for hundreds of people to fall ill together, the likelihood is smaller than that of a meteor striking Earth today."

"Furthermore, similar flashing images have been commonplace in anime over the past 20 years. This is a technique called paka‑paka: simply alternating different colors of light repeatedly to create a sense of tension."

"Are you trying to say this?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Su Yun nodded; although she didn't care much for Zheng Ren's argument, she found this gossip too amusing."

"I just wanted to retort that guy, and he ended up saying it all—does he really think things through that thoroughly?"

Impossible, it absolutely won't be some damned mass hysteria.