Chapter One: Resonator of the Spiritual Realm

Ron was ill.

A grave illness, indeed.

As he went about his daily life, another set of experiences would always unfold in his mind, running parallel to reality. Officially, it was called Resonance Syndrome; folk simply dubbed it Resonance Psychosis.

A patient’s consciousness, in resonance, exists simultaneously in the real world and the spirit realm with which it resonates. Experiences in the spirit world appear in their mind as if lived firsthand.

This is not mere hallucination; everything they do in the spirit world truly exists. This peculiar affliction has emerged in recent years, accompanied by the constant threat of spiritual incursions that could destroy the real world at any moment.

Lately, Ron’s consciousness drifted restlessly between reality and the mountains.

The mountains there were immense, ceaselessly shifting, squeezing him until he could barely breathe.

He was certain they lived.

The whole mountain was alive!

The sensation was so real that Ron felt suffocated even in waking life.

“Your rating is in—you’ve met the criteria for treatment,” the doctor in a white coat said, glancing at Ron’s medical file. “You’re fortunate to have come in time. Had you waited any longer, you might have entered the Door-Opening state. Then, you wouldn’t be speaking to me at all.”

Because consciousness exists in both reality and the spirit realm, most sufferers of Resonance Syndrome develop some degree of psychological disturbance.

When a resonator’s mind and reason shatter, they enter the Door-Opening state, becoming a gateway for spiritual creatures to invade the real world.

Since the illness has no obvious outward symptoms, by the time many resonators are detected by the authorities, they’ve already crossed into Door-Opening or even degenerated into a spiritual replica.

Resonance Syndrome is both disaster and opportunity. Resonators can, through certain means, gain power from their spirit realm counterpart, making them the main force against spiritual invasions.

“This is your stabilizer,” the doctor handed Ron a watch. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought your symptoms would trigger the alert threshold.”

“You don’t know how terrifying it really is,” Ron’s voice rasped; he was here for the stabilizer. Just moments ago, the familiar suffocation of oppression had struck him again.

His consciousness was shrouded once more in the night.

Ron felt trapped in hell.

Towering mountains blotted out the sky.

Most of the day, that place was cloaked in darkness, followed by brief sunrise, then swiftly back to night.

The night was the hardest—always the time when the suffocating oppression was at its peak. It felt as though the entire mountain pressed down upon him, fully immersing him in the sensation of being crushed beneath the Five Fingers Mountain.

Do not think sunrise brings relief.

At sunrise, the oppression of the mountains vanished, but what replaced it was relentless, torrential rain, as if Ron were thrown directly into a river and forbidden to surface.

Each day, Ron endured torment, desperate to escape this damnation, even if accepting the official stabilizer meant becoming a warrior against spiritual invasions, entering the spirit realm’s replicas to fight.

“You can use it now,” the doctor led Ron into a room filled with monitoring equipment. “Your assistant will explain further soon. You know, stabilization treatment is free, but there’s a price—you’ll be forcibly sent into spiritual incursion zones…”

Before the doctor finished, Ron impatiently activated the stabilizer.

As it powered on, lines of text appeared before him.

[You awaken once more from unconsciousness. The pale mountains remain before your eyes.]

[The familiar oppression makes you nearly suffocate.]

As the words appeared, the suffocating sensation that always haunted Ron vanished instantly.

The stabilizer narrates the wearer’s spirit realm experiences in text, relieving the brain’s workload.

Now, Ron could simply read about his consciousness’s journey in the spirit realm, no longer forced to endure it firsthand.

Relief! Instant relief!

The unprecedented ease was like the sudden clearing of a blocked nostril; his soul seemed to ascend.

Ron breathed deeply, savoring the fresh air, and gazed at the textual interface.

With the stabilizer venting pressure, his consciousness was finally under control.

He had tried many times to leave the mountains, but every attempt ended in failure, as if fate’s invisible thread always pulled him back to the start.

Now, Ron resolved to try again—to escape the mountains and see what lay beyond!

After all, his survival in spiritual replicas depended on whether he could gain power in the spirit realm.

Sadly, his awakening this time had left him in a poor location; he found nothing valuable to grant him supernatural abilities, or he’d have long since escaped suffocation.

[You attempt to climb the mountain, desperate to flee this hell of suffocation and water torture.]

[Yet the smooth, snow-white mountain is your greatest obstacle.]

[The mountain before you seems made of a special jade.]

[It possesses a distinct elasticity, as if it were flesh.]

[Your knowledge holds no record of such a mineral.]

Your repeated attempts end in failure; the trembling earth sends you back to the valley time and again.

Damn it! Is escape impossible?

[Despair once again envelops your heart.]

Seeing this, Ron grew agitated.

Although it appeared as mere text, these words reflected Ron’s conscious actions in the spirit realm.

So, when Ron, frustrated, decided to act recklessly, the text faithfully followed his intent.

[You begin to ram your body against the mountain.]

[You use all your strength, refusing to relent even as the mountain repels you.]

[Suddenly, a surprised girl’s voice rings out from above.]

["Oh! What is that?"]

[You see a ray of sunlight at the end of the valley.]

[Why is sunrise so early today?]

[As you ponder this, a giant hand bursts from the dawn, grabbing you.]

This scene sent a jolt through Ron’s spirit.

Damn! Is this the start of a hellish plot?

But reading the next lines, his mouth twitched, numbness settling over him.

[After adjusting to the blinding light, you finally see the owner of the hand—a beautiful girl, her golden hair stirring in the breeze.]

[Only now do you realize: you are a stone, fashioned into a necklace.]

[At last, you recall your identity.]

[Once ruler of the world—the Mad King, Ron Brand.]