Bai Gujing had a flashback of the young boy's memories when he suppressed all his Energy. The last memory he had was of a dark castle. What stood out most from that dream--or memory--was the woman at the end.
While listening to the system, he realized what that scene must have been. The maid in the dream was a User. He had probably lost to her. It was no wonder he didn't dare look anyone in the eyes. Even as far as being mistaken as autistic. If he met their eyes, he might have to enter a Combat Area. For the timid adolescent, it would have been a terrifying experience. No wonder he had PTSD.
[...]
He was literally scared for his life anytime he came in contact with humans. He could not sleep. If he didn't separate the bodies in the two worlds, more people would find out he had a system and duel him to steal his points. The points he wanted to use to save his family. He had to live on the edge of death during the day and suffer the stress of the world on his shoulders at night. He never got a break. A system that was created to help humans survive dungeons was used as a torture device.
[...]
'Poor baby, he was so pure. I shall call him Xiao Bai. What a pitiful child. It's too bad I can't do anything for him anymore. I can only live out my own life as a two-in-one. Whatever I do now won't only be for his sake, but also for mine. There's nothing left that I can dedicate to him. If I could bring his family back, I'd at least promise him that, but, unfortunately.' Bai Gujing sighed and pushed his head through the neck hole of his shirt.
'Huh? The shirt?' He noticed he was being dressed by the talkative old man. He looked around. The food had a few bites out of it and had been rolled to the side. Bai Gujing was standing next to the bed with his pajamas already in the laundry basket.
His jaw dropped. He hadn't even noticed. Maybe the old man was onto something when he guided his hand to the muffin. It seems he'd picked up Xiao Bai's habit of tuning out the world around him.
At least his survival skills from the academy were still present. He would be able to pass through the areas like a breeze.
Wait, why was he in the hallway now? Where were they going? He should have listened more to the old man's ramblings. Now, he was being pulled by the wrist by a man who could barely walk himself. Was it alright for him to speak up? Did Xiao Bai talk to the old man? How did he talk? Should he speak casually or formally?
As Bai Gujing pondered, he stared at the back of the old man's head as he duly followed along. A servant passed them by following a young woman.
"Leecher." She sneered as she passed.
Bai Gujing looked over his shoulder as she passed. That Office Lady did not like him. His status should be a young master, but was he disliked for his mental illness or something else?
When he looked back there was a maid with short-cropped hair that passed by the corner. Shivers ran down Bai Gujing's spine and his body broke out in a cold sweat. He jumped to hide behind the old man unconsciously and snapped his eyes to his feet. He felt as if he'd been frozen into an icicle and tossed into a volcano both at once. What was it? What was that reaction? He couldn't stop shivering. He was shivering so badly all the muscles in his body ached.
[That is the User the Host had previously had the most duels with.]
It seemed to feel that wasn't enough to explain the situation. It paused and added another sentence.
[All of them ended with the Host's loss.]
He leaned into the old man. The old man seemed familiar with the situation and held him calmly. He continued chattering on as if nothing had happened, but he kindly didn't continue pulling Bai Gujing towards their destination. Bai Gujing had never felt like this before. He wanted to cry. His eyes did wet slightly.
He focused on his breathing and closed his eyes. He listened to the surroundings. He made out every whisper and footstep within range. There were a couple of disapproving servants chatting about his unseemly actions behind a door. One was spraying and wiping things down while the other fluffed pillows or something. One of them had passed them by in the hallway when he went into the room. The servant may just be hiding out in the room until Bai Gujing calms down so the fourth young master doesn't lose face in front of a servant.
There were other people in the direction they'd been heading at the bottom of the stairwell beneath them. He could vaguely hear people moving about downstairs, but couldn't make out anything in particular. The woman and the bob-cut maid had long since left.
Bai Gujing spent several minutes calming down before he could finally let go of the old man. He still shook slightly, and his muscles ached, but his mind was in a much better state.
'Turn off the auto dueling feature.'
[Understood.]
[Action completed. Automatic Dueling turned off. Dueling can now be carried out only when Host accepts another's duel request through the pop-up or informs the system of Host's intent. Due to special circumstances, resetting Duel loss count.]
The system didn't need to inform him so explicitly, but maybe it was being kind. It was just like those other times it had spoken softly to him when he was in a bad state. Bai Gujing felt bad that Xiao Bai wasn't able to appreciate having such a good caretaker at his side.
Resetting the count meant that Bai Gujing would have to loose 10 times before getting a combat training penalty. Although it wasn't something Bai Gujing needed anymore--now that he was merged with the outstanding combat specialist Valnr--it still settled him to know that. Although if it weren't for Xiao Bai's PTSD he would be itching to test out the dueling function. If it was Valnr, she would probably turn on the auto dueling on purpose. Though, she wouldn't use it like that maid did.
'How many times did Xiao Bai loose to her?'
The system seemed to not to want to answer.
[Eight hundred and seventy-three losses.]
This time he really did cry.