Eldritch Horror Theatre

It was looking more and more humanized.

Faced with the unexpected prompt, Fu Qian gave it a good review.

The Mist Door close at hand was shrouded in a gentle, warm orange glow.

Although it was merely an illusory image, a single glance still conveyed the nourishing warmth of life.

As for Reassignment after his authority upgrade, did this mean he could turn a blind eye to it now and practice passive slowdown until midnight?

Speaking of which, because he had always been overly professional, he had never tried quitting halfway to see the consequences.

Judging from this description, the most likely outcome was that no matter where he hid, he would be dragged here at midnight and forced to work.

No wonder his predecessors had looked like there was nowhere to run.

An image of a certain Demigod named Liliana surfaced in his mind as Fu Qian reached out and touched the Mist Door.

[Name: Hotbed, ID: 1-039][Today’s work details have been updated. Enter the 1-039 Containment Scenario and complete Containment once again.]

[Consume 1 point of SAN Value to begin?]

[No]

Fu Qian transmitted this thought quite decisively.

The next moment, he was indeed still standing in the Warehouse. The mission had not started.

He was truly much freer now. From now on, he could practically pause time wherever and whenever he wanted without worrying about being disturbed.

As for now?

It was still early. A passive slowdown was a natural human right.

Fu Qian had always been a man of action. After refusing the prompt, he didn’t even linger in the Warehouse.

After confirming his condition was stable, he directly activated the Imprint on his wrist.

There was no rush. Time for a reverse The World.

...

The feeling of coming home.

Leaning back on his familiar sofa, he noticed the sun outside the window hadn’t even reached its peak yet.

After lounging in incredible comfort for half an hour, Fu Qian expressed sincere satisfaction with his good habit of taking out the trash on time.

Despite being gone for so long, aside from the air being slightly stuffy, there were no strange smells in the room.

[...Your account ending in 1269 has completed a transfer transaction of 30,000 yuan. Balance...]

...

...

After his bout of self-praise, Fu Qian found his phone, which had long exceeded its standby limit. Following a quick series of taps, a succession of physically and mentally soothing notification chimes rang out.

Clearly, his pay hadn’t been withheld.

Of course, other than that, the vast majority of the notifications were still sketchy links for GG Loans.

Once the phone finally quieted down, Fu Qian picked it up and scrolled through. Unsurprisingly, he found messages from Young Master Qin and the others.

Of course, given his previous ”disappearance,” the group was clearly much calmer about it now.

After failing to find him initially, Young Master Qin’s final message asked him to give a squeak whenever he got back. Others had sent similar messages.

Classmate Tan Ying, however, was keeping a very low profile. He wondered if the last incident had traumatized her too much.

It couldn’t be helped. Making reckless wishes always came with side effects.

After all, even winning the lottery after praying to the God of Wealth would leave a person questioning their reality.

...

Unfortunately, people always seemed to appear the moment you thought of them.

Just as Fu Qian tied an apron around his Demigod Physique to boil himself a pot of smooth, chewy noodles, the first call to come through was actually from Tan Ying.

Surprised, Fu Qian immediately chose to let it ring out.

Given how much time had passed, there were no fresh vegetables left in the house, so he ultimately chose to add an egg.

After wolfing down the pot of egg noodles, Fu Qian finally felt completely satisfied.

A sense of ritual was still very important.

By this time, Tan Ying’s calls had escalated to a voice call.

Was Eldest Miss Tan really this impatient?

Looking at the number on the screen, Fu Qian frowned slightly and pressed the answer button.

”Where are you right now?”

Faced with this treatment, Tan Ying on the other end of the line was clearly taken aback for a moment, but she quickly adjusted her mindset.

”At home. Do you need something?”

”When did you get back? Qin Mingze has been looking for you for ages.”

After a brief silence, Tan Ying spoke up again.

”Just now.”

Fu Qian kept his expression neutral, but his premonition that something wasn’t quite right grew heavier.

”That’s good. I’ll let him know.”

Tan Ying hung up the phone with a hint of coldness.

That was still a bit strange.

Because of his previous actions, her cold attitude was understandable, but her emotions somehow felt contradictory.

Normally, given her personality, her last sentence would most likely have been, ”Call Young Master Qin and tell him yourself.”

Tapping lightly on the table, Fu Qian unplugged his freshly resurrected phone and strolled out the door.

...

Even though it was Saturday, the outside world was as quiet and peaceful as ever.

As mentioned before, the neighborhood Fu Qian lived in was quite old.

Most of the residents were elderly, and their grown children mostly lived elsewhere, with at most a few young grandchildren sent over to be looked after.

Without a doubt, Fu Qian once again garnered numerous stares, rapidly activating the drowsy neurons of the neighborhood’s uncles and aunties.

This was mainly because Fu Qian, who had slipped right into homebody mode the second he arrived, had been too lazy to even change his clothes. He was still wearing the outfit he had swiped from Dancy.

Although it was relatively plain, at first glance, it still looked a bit overly slick and dapper.

Some nosy aunties were already looking at him with expressions of pity, itching to march over and give him a piece of their minds.

Of course, facts proved that Young Master Qin actually shared their sentiments.

”Did you go off to protect Rich Woman Wen’s safety again?”

First he had called, and then he had personally rushed to the outside of the neighborhood, catching Fu Qian red-handed while he was drinking a cola.

Faced with Fu Qian’s attire, Qin Mingze was shocked, but he couldn’t help winking and making faces.

Hmm...

Fu Qian carefully recalled his recent experiences and that suitcase full of wages from Su Gao.

”This time I was accompanying a rich woman surnamed Su on vacation.”

”...Take care of your health.”

”Understood. By the way, it’s been a few days. How is Young Master Qin’s career going?”

Fu Qian thought for a moment and asked.

”With your tone acting as if the seas change into mulberry fields, it hasn’t even been half a month. If I said I was already world-famous, would you believe it?”

Qin Mingze sighed.

”I originally thought I’d seen enough of the dark side, but only after truly getting involved in conflicts of interest did I realize how terrifying the human heart can be.”

You probably don’t know enough yet. Also, there’s no need to underestimate yourself; your reputation has long since spread to a world you don’t know about, loud as thunder, Fu Qian mused inwardly, keeping a straight face.

”By the way, what’s going on between you and Ying?”

Right at that moment, Qin Mingze suddenly remembered something.

”What do you mean?”

Fu Qian looked innocent.

”When she called me just now, I asked her to come over together, but she said she had things to do and refused. It felt really weird.”

Qin Mingze frowned in thought.

”Could it be that she’s genuinely busy?”

”She had enough free time to call you.”

As a future shyster, Young Master Qin’s logical reasoning skills were clearly up to par, and he immediately refuted Fu Qian.

”Although that girl is a bit spoiled, she has always been straightforward and never coy. Her attitude this time just feels abnormal.”

It was very likely truly abnormal.

Hearing Young Master Qin’s analysis, Fu Qian mused inwardly.

Even you are.