Chapter 253: I, The Clown (3)

Words : 1343 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

Chapter 253: I, The Clown (3) "How do you feel?" Schiller asked, standing by the table. "What do you mean?" Schiller took a sip of his drink, placed the glass on the table, and made a crisp sound. He looked up at the other Schiller next to the table and said, "That guy wanted to escape again but got played, right?" "It's quite funny..." Schiller took a few steps back and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. He said, "But what I'm more curious about is why he keeps climbing up, just to go out and play?" The seated Schiller didn't move, but stood up instead. The light focused on the glass, and a bubble emerged from the bottom of the transparent glass, floating upward. Just as it reached the surface, it froze and turned into a solid pearl. As he took a step forward, the frozen Joker maintained his posture. Together with the chair, they moved backward, the table slid to the left, and the cabinet slid to the right. The whole room seemed to be rewinding the construction process, with everything being removed, leaving behind a vast empty space. Then, a light bulb above Schiller lit up, and the black floor extended from under his feet. In a trance, he looked down at the railing of the deep well, where the other Schiller, who had been standing next to him, had already reached the lower floors. "Do you know where I'm going?" Schiller asked. "Aren't you planning to take the elevator to the 300th floor first?" "You guessed it right. You know me quite well." "Thanks, we are the same person after all." Schiller quickened his pace, walked down and stood shoulder to shoulder with the other himself. They held onto the handrail and descended the spiral staircase together. The other Schiller spoke while walking, "Seriously, when can we switch places? I also want to spend a few days in the DC universe." "Do you think this is a vacation? Never mind other things, are you sure your mental stability can handle all these patients here?" "Are you treating this like dealing with Peter Parker over in the Marvel universe? It's the first time I've seen someone complain about their job being too easy." Schiller shrugged and said, "Don't say that. There are plenty of headaches over there too. And don't forget, the whole Asgardian family affair is far from over." After walking down for a long time, Schiller turned right, and there was only one corridor in front of him. The corridor had only one room, and after Schiller walked over and knocked on the door, his own voice came from inside, "Come in." The two Schillers entered one after another and saw the other self buried in a pile of documents. The Schiller inside put the stack of documents aside when he saw someone coming and said to the two of them, "Why are you both here together? Don't tell me there's something else to handle." "No, nothing. We just wanted to borrow the elevator for a bit." Schiller rubbed his forehead helplessly and said, "What's been happening recently? Why does everyone like taking the elevator? It's suffocating to see you two come in." "Who made you the 'self'? You're simultaneously the steward and gatekeeper of the Chamber of Thought..." "And the elevator administrator," Schiller said irritably. Then he waved his hand, and the two of them appeared in a somewhat cramped room. A little boy was holding a lump of gray slime, kneading it back and forth. One of the Schillers walked up, crouched down, and rubbed the boy's head, asking, "Do you know where the one with green hair went?" The boy shook his head silently, but the gray slime in his arms made a "gurgling" sound. Schiller took the soft blob of slime and touched what seemed to be its head, asking, "Gray Mist, did you see anything?" The gray slime made two "chirping" sounds. Schiller held it in his hands and moved it away a little, looking somewhat puzzled as he said, "What's wrong? After spending so much time with the 'Id', you can't even speak anymore?" The gray slime paused for a moment and said, "Oh, I can speak... He seemed to have gone to the lower level, with another person with green hair." "He claims he's an ordinary person. Hahaha, that's the funniest joke I've heard recently..." Schiller sighed and said, "Can you imagine how I climbed up to over 190 floors? If it weren't for the Elevator Administrator giving me a back door, I would still be struggling to climb the Staircase..." "Let's not talk about that. Do you know where the other me is?" Jack asked him. "How would I know? I thought it was Evans, but Batman didn't choose him, so it seems he's not the one. The remaining one can't possibly be inside Batman, right?" Jack's expression suddenly darkened, and he said, "It's better not be. Otherwise, I'll tie the bat here, open up his mind, and drag that damn guy out..." "I haven't looked into the one who fell into the chemical pool and the one from the circus, but it's probably between these two situations. If you find him, what are you planning to do? Kill him?" Jack stared into Schiller's eyes and said, "If it weren't for your troublesome situation, I would have killed you a long time ago." "No need for that." Schiller concluded, "If you don't kill me, I can't do anything either. I still have over 100 floors to climb and over 200,000 steps to take. By the time I reach the level of conscious awareness, Batman might already be dead." "But I might not be the most miserable one..." Schiller said with a bit of schadenfreude, "What do you think would happen if some poor soul was born from Batman?" The corners of Jack's mouth slowly drooped, but Schiller laughed and said, "Why so serious?" "There's another you, merging with the one you love the most. Why don't you feel happy? After all, it's still you." Jack said unhappily, "Merge with the bat? Don't make me laugh. The ones who dress up as bats are the freaks!" "Alright, I'm going back to climb the Staircase. Good luck to you. Seriously, my house is really big. Aren't you planning to stay for a while?" Jack rolled his eyes, finished the last sip of his drink, and said nothing. Schiller leaned back in his chair, turned to the other Schiller who was standing beside him with his arms crossed, and waved his hand, saying, "I think I can work a little longer. What do you think?" "Superego told you to go back, or else you'll be kicked back down a level." "Alright, it's troublesome. See you later." Schiller pushed the chair forward a bit, looked at the completely empty bottle of wine, and said to Jack, "Thank you for the drink, but I have to say, this low-quality wine you bought is really hard to drink." Jack covered half of his face with one hand, and the other half revealed a slightly crazy smile, saying, "What did you put in the wine?" "What?" "Don't play dumb... I feel like every neuron in my brain is boiling. Don't you feel the same?" Schiller paused for a moment, then said, "Well, it's not some poison, on the contrary, it's also wine..." Schiller took out a small bottle and placed it in the center of the table. Both Jack and Schiller's eyes focused on the small bottle, and then Schiller reached out, pushed the bottle towards Jack, and said, "...and it's the best-tasting wine in the world." [Read /shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]

Chapter 253: I, The Clown (3)

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