Chapter 31: with translation of chapter title

I see you all as pixel blocks.

Man: "......?"

The Judge at the door lost his composure for a second, his shoulder trembling imperceptibly.

The man rubbed his temples, feeling his blood pressure spike suddenly, skillfully began to soothe his emotions, telling himself to stay calm.

Pixel blocks? What does that mean?

Ying Duo was utterly serious, reaching out to point at the man's face.

Your face is a mosaic.

He then pointed at the harsh white light shining directly at him, 'That, is a bright white block.'

The man and the Judge at the door exchanged a glance, both seeing the same conclusion in each other's eyes.

This kid, when he awakened his aberrant arts, his brain definitely went wrong.

And it's a big problem.

This has nothing to do with lacking common sense; it's a perception distortion!

And Yang Yixie behind Ying Duo merely blinked innocently.

Did he say something wrong? Facing the TruthStone, he always spoke the truth; speaking of which, if he directly told NPCs that they are game characters, what would happen?

The man gave up pressing the issue, feeling that if he kept asking, his own cognition would go awry.

He picked up another document, which recorded Ying Duo's 'feats' in the assessment.

You earned as many as 337 points in the entrance assessment, but ultimately had 250 points deducted due to serious violations.

You used non-standard explosives to cause large-scale chaos; what's your explanation? Where did you get the knowledge and ability to make these explosives?

My skill, 【Modification】, has already reached level 2; as long as I have enough materials, I can easily make this stuff.

Skills? The man caught onto this strange wording.

Ying Duo nodded, adding, 'You can still level up by defeating monsters.'

The man was speechless; he of course knew that defeating monsters yields level ups, he's not someone who hasn't played games.

But can game logic be applied to reality?

If defeating monsters could level him up and make him stronger, he'd already be living in an Aberrant Species nest with a backpack.

He could only attribute this to Ying Duo using his distorted cognition to understand his own aberrant arts.

He glanced again at the TruthStone; the stone remained silent.

It seems in this guy's cognitive world, he indeed equated his aberrant arts with 'game skills'.

Hiss, could this kid be suffering from chuunibyou?

The subsequent questioning basically turned into talking past each other.

The man tried to fish for information about 'Invader' or AbnormalTimePoint, but Ying Duo's answers were either 'game CG' or completely off-topic 'game terminology'.

Ying Duo even directly told him that he was merely an NPC in the game world, asking if he should consider giving himself an consciousness awakening to overturn the world.

The man pounded the table several times in response to his words, but seeing Ying Duo's blank expression saying 'I'm telling the truth' and the unchanging TruthStone, he could only suppress his anger.

Finally, after over ten minutes of ineffective communication, the man wearily closed the file folder.

He could now be certain that Ying Duo was definitely not the 'invading soul' they were looking for.

Those invaders, while lacking common sense, at least try to disguise themselves and blend into this world, their logic basically normal.

And this person before us...... his logic is fundamentally from another dimension!

His various abnormalities are best explained by 'his brain is messed up,' which is far more reasonable than invoking OtherworldlySoulInvasion.

He was truly exhausted, waved his hand, let the person at the door swap places with him, and had someone else continue the questioning.

The following questions pertained to his basic knowledge of this world, such as the Church's history, major cities, types of common Aberrant Species, and so on.

Ying Duo, relying on the background introductions and item descriptions he had sporadically seen while playing games before, could answer some, but many details were vague or he'd directly say 'I don't know' or 'I didn't notice'.

They also took out some items and asked Ying Duo if he would use them; Yang Yixie would press the interaction key each time at that moment.

Those invaders will cram common knowledge, but often in finer details of daily habits and cultural background, they easily reveal their flaws.

Good news: although Ying Duo's mental state has serious issues, at least this kid can take care of himself in daily life.

After all examinations were completed, the man returned to face Ying Duo, picked up the file, and wrote the final conclusion on it.

Suspect Ying Duo, his abnormalities likely stem from Aberrant Arts awakening causing severe cognitive dysfunction and behavioral abnormalities; his words and actions are absurd, illogical, and show no signs of disguise.

The possibility of a connection with the Old World Undead is extremely low; recommend transferring him to the Medical Department for evaluation, or placing him under strict supervision by the Academy.

Mitra Academy really picked up a 'treasure' student this time; I don't know who this kid's supervising teacher is.

Tsk tsk tsk.

Alright, the questioning ends here.

The man stood up, his tone carrying a hint of relief, plus a bit of schadenfreude.

"Based on the existing evidence and your statement, we have not found any direct connection between you and the incident for now; you may return to the Academy."

"【Side Quest Completed: Interrogation of the Heresy Tribunal.】"

"【Reward Obtained: Experience +100%, Unlimited Equipment Item Experience Card (3 min) ×1】"

"【Level Raised to Lv. 13!】"

"Ying Duo looked at the task‑completion prompt and the rewards, patted his butt with satisfaction, and stood up."

"When Ying Duo was led away by the Judge and his figure vanished completely at the far end of the corridor, the man finally let out a long sigh, as if he had just finished a grueling battle that exhausted both body and mind."

"He rubbed his still throbbing temples as he walked out of the Interrogation Room, and whispered a complaint to the colleague leaning against the outer wall, whose face wore the same 'survived a disaster' expression."

"\"For future cases that involve suspected Invaders, could the psychological assessment department screen them first? This is practically a limit test of an interrogator's mental endurance. \""

"A brown‑haired woman in the Judgment Court uniform standing nearby happened to come to him, and, hearing this, couldn't help but let out a light laugh, teasing."

"\"Be content, Lao Qi; such situations are still rare. Compared to being sent to clean up the mess for 'that elder', interrogating this game‑loving Chuunibyou teenager is already a heavenly treatment for you. \""

When the "old master" was mentioned, Qi Junyi's face instantly collapsed, as if recalling an extremely unbearable memory; he deeply concurred, and his tone was full of resentment.

"Don't bring it up; going on a mission with that guy would literally cut ten years off my life."

"He never follows orders; to him, the operation plan is just a scrap of paper! He hits wherever he feels like, and each disaster is so huge it could be recorded on the Judgment Court's annual disgrace list!"

"Our Heresy Tribunal already doesn't have a great reputation, and at least most of the damage comes from his 'kill but don't bury' style that has badly tarnished it!"

They grew more agitated as they spoke, and began to count the charges, thumbing their fingers.

"The last time we cleared an Aberrant Species nest outside, we had agreed to infiltrate and investigate first; instead, they drove a SelfDestructTruck straight in. If I hadn't reacted quickly and evacuated the surroundings in advance, it would have almost blown half the sector skyward!"

"And the time before that, when they were tasked with protecting a noble, they were ambushed by Aberrant Species on the road. They actually said their mission target was only that noble, and even planned to knock the noble out and dump them in a corner, caring not at all about the lives of the others!"