The office remained silent for a long time.
Still, every shift in Ian's expression had been noticed by Dr. Hannibal.
"You're deeply wary of me... though that's normal. After all, this is our first meeting. Trust takes time to build."
"For today, let's stop here. I also need some time to properly study your situation," Dr. Hannibal said to the boy in the same calm tone as before.
"My condition is that unusual?"
Ian could not help asking.
"No. It's just severe psychological stress. It doesn't really count as mental illness, so don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Dr. Hannibal set down the notebook and pen, then stood up and straightened his clothes.
"I recommend that you try writing. Painting would also be a good choice. Express the stories from your dreams. That may help reduce their influence on you."
"Being troubled by nightmares may not necessarily be a bad thing. It could even be a talent. It may help you become a great creator. Quite a few famous literary classics were born from dreams shaped by the subconscious."
In the end, Dr. Hannibal offered a very professional suggestion.
"Maybe. I'll give it a try."
Ian lifted a brow. He had thought before about becoming a copycat author, but he had never found the right opportunity.
"Excellent. I look forward to our next meeting."
With a gentle smile, Dr. Hannibal personally walked Ian to the door. Outside, his adoptive father and mother, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, had already been waiting for quite a while.
"Ian, how did it go?"
Lois had the capable air unique to a strong career woman, but when facing her family, she was nowhere near as forceful as she was at work.
"It was... okay?"
Ian accepted his mother's hug, then looked past her at his father.
Clark Kent.
This man, who possessed the power of a god walking among men, did not look particularly imposing while wearing glasses. If anything, he seemed refined and scholarly. If he walked into a gym, the old hands there would probably take him for a complete beginner.
"Why don't you two come into my office and speak with me for a moment?"
Dr. Hannibal looked at the scene before him, gave the two adults a meaningful glance, and gestured toward the waiting area outside for Ian.
"It won't take long, Mr. Kent. You can go play with some toys over there."
That suggestion made Ian roll his eyes internally. He was not actually a little kid. He was already fourteen in this life. How could he possibly like playing with building blocks?
Ridiculous.
Even so, he still walked over. Looking back, he saw Clark and Lois enter the office, and then Dr. Hannibal shut the door behind them.
"Is something wrong with Ian?"
Clark looked at the doctor closing the door and immediately showed a somewhat worried expression. He had clearly realized that the situation might not be simple.
"It's serious."
Dr. Hannibal's response made Lois's heart leap into her throat.
"What kind of problem?"
She hurriedly pressed for an answer.
Dr. Hannibal walked over to the desk where his notebook rested.
"First of all, a lot of what he said indicates that he believes there is a real world existing inside his dreams."
"And he also thinks both his dreams and the world we live in are extremely dangerous..."
The doctor truly was professional. He had caught the details hidden within Ian's words.
"Maybe it's because both of us are reporters and often write negative news stories at home, so little Ian ended up absorbing that anxiety?"
Lois could not help feeling guilty when she heard that.
Beside her, Clark gently wrapped an arm around his wife and looked at Dr. Hannibal with obvious concern.
"If we're more careful from now on and stop exposing him to that kind of information, will his condition improve?"
Clark's voice carried the deep resonance unique to a mature man.
"That is something you absolutely must do, and it will help to some extent. But treatment with medication is still necessary. He's already in the stage where persecutory delusions are progressing toward schizophrenia."
Dr. Hannibal pulled out a prescription sheet and rapidly wrote down several kinds of medicine he thought were appropriate.
He had clearly already noticed the boy's fear of him.
"You can find a way to mix it into his food so he takes it. That will help him avoid resisting it or developing unnecessary psychological pressure."
Dr. Hannibal handed over the prescription he had written.
"All right. We'll follow your advice, Doctor."
Lois took the prescription and carefully tucked it into her handbag. She exchanged a glance with her husband. Both of them hid their worry, put on smiles, and stepped outside to pick Ian up.
"Time to head home, little guy."
Clark patted Ian on the shoulder.
Ian, who had been using building blocks to make a Gundam model, quickly stood up and dusted himself off.
"What did the doctor say?"
He immediately tried to fish for information.
"The doctor thinks you shouldn't keep yourself so tense over studying all the time. Tonight, you need to do something unrelated to school," Lois said with the polished acting skills of a famous reporter.
She reached over and straightened Ian's collar.
"That's right. Maybe you could learn how to repair cars with me, like your two brothers do," Clark added, leading his wife and youngest son back out onto the street.
Metropolis was prosperous.
Skyscrapers stood everywhere, and traffic flowed nonstop. But the people living there also seemed a little impatient, perhaps because Metropolis was not that far from Gotham, a city famous for producing all sorts of exceptional characters.
"Honk! Honk! Honk!"
A large freight truck passed by, blasting its horn several times.
Ian's body instantly stiffened.
"What's wrong?"
Clark, who had been keeping a hand at Ian's back the whole time, immediately noticed his reaction.
"Nothing. It just startled me a little."
Even after fourteen years, Ian still had a bit of a stress response to large trucks.
The reason, of course, was the way he had transmigrated.
Anyone with transmigration experience knew that the cause of it was usually unforgettable. Ian still remembered the last sentence he had heard before waking up in this world.
"I thought it was just a speed bump, officer. My whole family is trying hard to survive, so you can't impound my truck. Please trust my insurance company!"
Having gone through something like that, Ian had indeed been left with a deep psychological shadow.
"Sweetheart, you really do need to find something to do besides studying."
Worry flashed through Lois's eyes. Neither she nor Clark really understood some of Ian's strange reactions.
"Mm-hm. The doctor already gave me a suggestion."
That answer finally made the couple relax a little.
Soon, the three of them returned home.
It was not a particularly large house, but it was still a standalone home with a small yard. Since school was still in session, his two older brothers, Jonathan and Jordan, had not come back yet.
"I still have a report to finish, so I need to head back to the office. Can I leave dinner to you tonight?"
As a top reporter, Lois was usually extremely busy with work.
Compared with her, Clark had clearly sacrificed part of his career for the sake of the family.
"Of course."
The mighty Superman kissed his wife goodbye, then tied on a cooking apron. He had originally planned to ask Ian what he wanted for dinner that night and whether he wanted to help make it together.
However...
The moment he knocked and entered Ian's room, he saw Ian writing something.
"Didn't you promise us you wouldn't push yourself so hard with studying anymore?"
Clark frowned, and his voice took on a slightly stern edge.
"I'm not studying, Dad. I'm following the doctor's advice and trying some literary creation instead."
Ian turned to look at Clark over his shoulder.
He deliberately shifted aside, opening up the space in front of his desk.
"Oh?"
Curious, Clark stepped closer.
He had originally wanted to offer a few words of praise.
But the instant his eyes landed on Ian's so-called literary work, his expression froze.
The Overbearing Superman Is in Love With Me
What kind of cursed title was that?
"Next I'm planning to write The Overbearing Batman Is in Love With Me, and then The Overbearing Aquaman Is in Love With Me. I think my Overbearing Trilogy is definitely going to become a classic of the age and make me financially free."
Ian felt he was actually being quite cautious, choosing a starting point that could, in some ways, avoid copyright disputes involving real characters.
"???"
Clark's face was full of question marks. He had never told any of his three children that he himself was Superman, so under normal circumstances, he should have felt happy that one of his kids liked Superman on his own.
However, after seeing that title, his instincts were telling him with absolute certainty that this was not going to be anything respectable.
"Why don't you try painting instead? Comics are doing pretty well these days too."
With a strange look on his face, Clark offered a suggestion, his expression almost comically dramatic.
"Uh..."
Ian thought about it.
"That works too!"
The boy eagerly spread out some drawing paper.
Unfortunately, he had only written down the title of the artwork. Before he could even mix paints or start drawing, Clark abruptly slapped a hand down and pressed the sheet flat against the desk with trembling fingers.
The old father's voice even carried a note of panic.
"Forget it, forget it, Ian. I think writing books is a much better way for you to relieve stress."
Clark's attitude had shifted again and again for good reason.
Because he truly did not want to find out what something called The Overbearing Superman Claims Me was supposed to mean.
That was even more of a shock to his super heart than The Overbearing Superman Is in Love With Me.
(End of Chapter)
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