Eldritch Horror Theatre

”Are you saying someone has been to this Nightmare before, and ultimately died in it?”

The Persuader’s voice carried such world-weariness that Fu Qian played along and asked.

”What else?”

The Persuader snorted softly.

”I said it had been a long time since anyone came here, not that no one had ever come here.”

”I see!”

Fu Qian nodded, looking dead serious.

”I was wondering why this place was so monotonous. It doesn’t suit my temperament at all.”

”It seems whoever came before was completely insulated from the trait known as imagination.”

...His words clearly fell outside the Persuader’s logic circuits. It took him a long while to recover before speaking again.

”If it were you, how do you think imagination would manifest?”

”If this were my dream, this place—”

During the Persuader’s silence, Fu Qian had already walked over to the library. He pointed straight at the dozen-story building, his tone solemn.

”—would be a Miracle!”

”A Miracle? What kind of Miracle?”

Even though he already had a bad feeling about this, the Persuader couldn’t resist asking in the end.

”A gigantic library.”

”That’s not so bad!”

The Persuader inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.

”Everything would be built entirely from transparent materials.”

Unfortunately, Fu Qian wasn’t finished.

”...And then?”

”Its exterior would be shaped like a torch.”

”Huh?”

”Divided down the middle: the library on the bottom, and the world’s largest shit-storage tank on top.”

”What did you say?”

The Persuader seemed to doubt his own ears.

”A giant, transparent shit tank. You’d be able to see it clear as day from the outside.”

Fu Qian confirmed he had heard correctly.

”Then, at the very top of the library, there would be an actual burning torch.”

”The methane fermenting in the tank below would provide an endless supply of fuel, forming an eternal, inextinguishable Lighthouse. Its light would shine through the transparent walls onto every single student.”

”Every student sitting beneath it would feel as if they were bathing in the light of wisdom. And they would know deep down that they had personally contributed to that beacon of civilization.”

After this conversation ended, the Persuader fell into a minute-long silence.

Fu Qian could even faintly feel the tattoo on his arm growing unstable.

”I have seen many twisted Nightmares, but the scene you just described truly leaves me in awe. I sincerely hope I never find myself trapped in such a—”

Halfway through, the Persuader’s voice came to an abrupt halt.

Fu Qian stopped in his tracks at the same time and looked up.

Under the crimson moonlight, a striking mass of bright yellow suddenly appeared at the top of the library.

The bright yellow mass rapidly expanded, quickly stretching beyond the curtain wall.

Golden branches sprouted from it, reaching out in all directions and covering a massive area in an instant.

In just a few short seconds, a Golden Tree appeared at the pinnacle of the library. It contrasted with the eerie moonlight in a dazzling, vibrant display.

”No way...”

Pinching his chin as he stared at this sudden spectacle, Fu Qian seemed to hear the Persuader whisper.

”It looks like a trip up there is mandatory now.”

With this scene playing out before his eyes, no one would believe there was nothing abnormal inside the library.

This wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it could be considered a new clue.

It just felt a little strange that it happened right after he finished speaking.

Obviously, the Persuader felt the same way. The scene before them, coupled with Fu Qian’s recent description, gave him some rather uncomfortable associations.

However, given his current state, his feelings wouldn’t sway their next move anyway.

Fu Qian circled around to the library’s main entrance and walked up the steps without hesitation.

Speaking of which, the library was practically the building Fu Qian was most familiar with during his college years.

He had spent over half of his college life holed up in the library, which was why he considered his college experience so fulfilling.

And from this vantage point, peering through the glass doors, Fu Qian could already see the students inside, buried in their work.

Their violently detached heads were currently set aside, submerged in thick piles of textbooks and notes.

In the previous dream, the library was similarly within Sister Ox-Head’s sphere of influence.

Fu Qian wasn’t surprised by the scene in front of him.

The students showed no reaction to Fu Qian’s arrival. Everyone continued with the tasks at hand, endlessly writing and drawing.

Fu Qian had no intention of disturbing them. In his view, this superficial peace was merely a fragile illusion.

Although Sister Ox-Head was no longer around, startling these people would likely lead to a massive headache.

Very quickly, Fu Qian navigated a familiar path to the office area and headed straight for the same room as last time.

Click!

With a soft sound, the door opened once again.

Sure enough, it wasn’t locked this time either.

Fu Qian pushed the door open and entered. The first thing he noticed was a desk lamp, its dim light only enough to illuminate half the desk.

Other than that, there was nothing unusual. Fu Qian didn’t find his own corpse or anything of the sort here.

”Looks like a meeting still took place here.”

Fu Qian walked over and turned off the desk lamp.

The crimson moonlight shone in, and it actually felt a bit brighter.

”I just don’t know where the other two went. Can you sense their presence?”

”What makes you think my current state still has the ability to sense things?”

The Persuader, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up. He sounded like he had slightly regained his composure.

”I told you before. Even last time, I wasn’t some omniscient, omnipotent being. I merely activated my ability, and the effect was only to nudge the progression of events in a certain direction.”

”Alright then.”

Fu Qian snorted.

”It seems we have no choice. We still have to keep going up.”

”Obviously. Never mind that massive... thing clearly on the roof, that girl most likely ran upstairs too. You wandering around here is a complete waste of time!”

”Great minds think alike.”

Fu Qian fully embodied what it meant to be readily accepting good advice. He opened the door and got moving right away, even offering a rare word of praise.

In truth, his earlier question had mainly been a probe.

Judging by the current situation, the Persuader’s claims were still quite consistent from start to finish.

His ability seemed to influence the momentum of how things operated, rather than locking down specific details.

And what he said about Liu Yi pretty much proved he had been following Fu Qian’s perspective the entire time, like some sort of guardian spirit.

As he thought this, Fu Qian turned down the Corridor, looking for the way up.

He still had some impression of the route Liu Yi had taken when she fled. If he remembered correctly, it should be this way—the next moment, he stopped in his tracks.

”This ceiling height is a bit exaggerated!”

Looking up at a forty-five-degree angle, Fu Qian let out a heartfelt sigh of amazement.