Eldritch Horror Theatre

So that’s how it is. Truly an eye-opener.

Fu Qian nodded thoughtfully, though his mind drifted to the Nightmare Corridor he had seen before.

The more he heard, the more similar it sounded!

Especially the door he had just seen.

Could Loretta and the others have actually connected to the Nightmare Corridor? And was the Nightmare he needed to resolve right now formed by a reverse pull from that very Corridor?

Just what kind of constitutions did those two have?

”Do you know why I’m telling you this?”

As he pondered, Nivalis suddenly asked from opposite him.

”You have been rather chatty. But given how calm you look, it probably isn’t just out of a desire to show off.”

Fu Qian offered this solemn analysis in response to Nivalis’s question.”Speaking of which, you aren’t the real Nivalis. You’ve already killed the original, haven’t you? What should I call you?”

”Heh. You’re actually thinking about that at a time like this?”

Nivalis looked somewhat surprised.

”Of course. If you’re the type who insists on dying with absolute clarity, you can call me Yuer, or address me as ’Duke’.”

”Duke?”

Fu Qian repeated.

”A transcendent?”

”What are you basing that deduction on?”

Yuer asked with a hint of curiosity.

”Being too arrogant is a good way to get a beating. It really isn’t wise for an ordinary person to flaunt such a flashy moniker these days.”

”Besides, listening to your description just now, neither those tests nor crafting the Golden Needle are things an ordinary person could pull off.”

”Spot on. I am indeed a transcendent! In fact, my Rank is quite high.”

Hearing Fu Qian’s analysis, Yuer burst into laughter.

”The question is, aren’t you one as well?”

His tone abruptly shifted, his unblinking gaze locking onto Fu Qian’s face.

”I know you were just probing me. The name ’Duke’ is probably on the Night Watchers’ radar, isn’t it?”

Fu Qian waved a hand dismissively, looking completely unbothered.

”Relax. While I am a transcendent, the Night Watchers don’t know about the situation here yet.”

”You really are a smart one!”

”So by your own account, your presence has nothing to do with the Night Watchers, and you just stumbled in here by accident?”

”You could say that.”

Fu Qian nodded, though another thought occurred to him.

”I’m undeniably a completely ordinary person right now, yet you still suspect I’m a transcendent. Can I assume that anyone who enters here loses their original power, and that this is completely normal?”

”Furthermore, what you just displayed seemed more like a degree of control over this Nightmare rather than the physical invulnerability of transcendent power. So you must be restricted to a Mortal Body right now as well. Is that why you didn’t dare let a bullet hit you?”

”Partially right.”

Surprisingly, Yuer began to clap.

”First off, you’re correct. Everyone who enters here becomes an ordinary person. But my reluctance to get shot just now wasn’t out of a fear of death. It was because I didn’t want to miss this conversation.”

He pointed at the gun in front of Fu Qian.

”Even if a bullet shattered my head, I wouldn’t truly die. In fact, that applies to everyone in this Nightmare, including you.”

”Even if you sustain fatal injuries, you will be reborn in a special state, reappearing in a random time and space.”

So that was it...

Fu Qian caught a whiff of something foreboding from this mastermind’s description.

Though he’d had a premonition, if this claim was true, it likely spelled bad news for him.

Setting aside the potential drop in his SAN Value with every death, which could leave him trapped here until his mind was ground into mush...

...even if it didn’t drop at all, if he was stuck in a death loop right under this guy’s nose, his chances of taking him out were undeniably slim.

”Of course, it isn’t entirely without a price.”

Yuer had already stood up, his voice tinged with callous amusement. His towering frame exuded intense pressure.

”Every death erodes your sanity just a little bit more. After too many times, you won’t even be certain of the form you’ll take when you’re reborn. You might just turn into a mute beast, crawling around on all fours.”

”You sound so full of expectation.”

Fu Qian sighed and shook his head.

”So you sought me out to chat, partly to test my background and see if the Night Watchers had discovered the anomaly here, and partly to play a game of cat and mouse?”

”Exactly. In fact, I’m quite curious to see how many deaths it will take before you break down completely... I’m going to thoroughly enjoy this process. I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

”Don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”

Fu Qian replied casually. The next moment, he saw Yuer step forward, a cold light flashing in his hand.

At such close range, he could see it very clearly. A crescent scimitar had silently appeared in the man’s right hand.

The scimitar’s curve was severely exaggerated, forming almost a perfect semicircle. It gleamed under the starlight, looking incredibly sharp.

Bang!

Confronted with this, Fu Qian didn’t hesitate. He snatched the gun off the table and fired his final shot head-on.

Yet the Duke’s body merely blurred for a moment.

That last bullet still failed to inflict any damage.

What an unfair fight. The enemy practically possessed a one hundred percent dodge rate.

With a mental sigh, Fu Qian casually tossed the empty gun aside and threw himself backward.

The door was right behind him. Though his transcendent power was gone, he was still an agile young man. Pushing off backward, he propelled half his body out the doorway.

Faced with this fluid escape, Yuer simply stood in place. He lazily stroked the blade of his scimitar, not looking rushed in the slightest.

A moment later, Fu Qian’s vision swam. He had clearly escaped through the door, yet found himself standing right back in the middle of the room.

”Did your previous experience not make you realize that I can randomly toss you wherever I please?”

Yuer flashed a cruel smile. As if deliberately trying to increase Fu Qian’s terror, he aimed the scimitar at his neck and brought the blade forward, inch by inch.

However, a split second later, this strike slashed through empty air. The prey right in front of his eyes had vanished into thin air.

...

Hoo!

Fu Qian let out a long breath and tried to move, only to find his body was still bound tightly.

”Are you... okay?”

Kelly’s tense, confused voice came from in front of him.

That was right. In that critical instant, the one-hour delay he had them coordinate had finally taken effect, teleporting him into this Mind Space at the very last second.

”Pretty good!”

Fu Qian glanced down at himself.

”Can you untie me?”

”Don’t push your luck.”

Before Kelly could respond, Brooke was already snapping at him from the side.

”Did you get anything this time?”

Kelly hesitated and stayed where she was, simply furrowing her brows in question.

”Quite a lot, actually. For instance, I met another one of your patients.”

Fu Qian didn’t seem particularly upset about his bindings.

”Nivalis? You had better explain exactly what happened.”

Brooke shot him a sharp, threatening glare.

”And if I refuse?”

”Then I can only assume you’re refusing to cooperate.”

Brooke’s tone was thoroughly hostile.

”So you—”

He only got halfway through his sentence before the rest of his words caught in his throat.

A razor-sharp scimitar emerged from behind him, slicing his neck in two with incredible, silky smoothness.