Eldritch Horror Theatre

Calling people over to dream...

It was obvious that Fu Qian’s answer had once again exceeded the Persuader’s expectations.

Bizarre train of thought aside, a cross-dimensional operation like this was truly difficult for him—an entity with no friends in that world—to verify.

”In that world, Gulade is an ancient family stretching back thousands of years. Their foundation is far deeper than you can imagine.”

Letting out a long sigh, Fu Qian put on an expression that said fools are not worth scheming with.

”Do you actually think that, after such a bizarre experience, they have no way to shield their family members from a nightmare’s invasion?”

”Relying on my understanding of Taylor’s personality, I did everything I could along the way to guide him into keeping the secret while leaving behind clues he’d find intriguing, maximizing the chances of him returning on his own.”

”I thought you’d have improved since last time, but you’re still pulling the same old routine of sitting around waiting to be carried—oh right, you did learn the trick of releasing in order to capture, verbally claiming you had no interest.”

”Are you done!”

The Persuader finally lost his patience, flying into a humiliated rage.”Yeah... that’s enough.”

However, this time, Fu Qian gave a slight nod, actually agreeing with him.

”What?”

Clearly confused by this response, the Persuader’s subconscious reaction was to look around, as if worried he had unknowingly stepped into another trap.

Meanwhile, Fu Qian was looking directly above the Persuader’s head.

An Illusory Eye had actually appeared there.

...

’The workplace really is a battlefield. All that talk about being a senior partner is just a scam.’

Faced with this sudden development, Fu Qian felt a wave of emotion.

As an auxiliary indicator provided by the Warehouse, the Illusory Eye represented the depth of one’s immersion in the dream.

And as tools of an evil god invading from within the Nightmare Corridor, he and the Persuader were obviously unique compared to the other characters in the dreamscape.

Back in Taylor’s dream, he had similarly provoked the Persuader, but this dream-waking marker had never appeared above his head—that was proof.

There was also the fact that the Decree of Return had no effect on him.

In Fu Qian’s understanding, due to the Corridor’s corruption, the nature of their existence was like that of native dream creatures.

While walking within it, that place was reality to the two of them; there was no such thing as waking up.

If that was truly the case, the implications behind this suddenly appearing Illusory Eye were rather staggering.

...

Trapped in a predicament where every second of delay sank him deeper, Fu Qian wasn’t bored enough to waste time on mockery.

Especially since Brother Persuader only possessed his Rank abilities; insulting his intelligence really didn’t bring any sense of accomplishment.

After his meeting with Wen Li ended, he had entered this place directly without passing through the Corridor. Fu Qian had never stopped trying to figure out the reason behind this anomaly.

The reasoning was simple. In his view, a higher entity like Arakiel might still feel anger, but the possibility of Him doing something purely to vent it was practically zero.

Especially in this kind of predicament.

That led to a very simple logical paradox: no matter how uncooperative his attitude was, what was the point of having two gatekeepers for a Nightmare when the main target hadn’t even arrived yet?

Given that He could easily block any petty tricks, any attempt Fu Qian made to find an opening should ultimately be beneficial to Him—such as the opportunity to corrupt Wen Li just now.

’No matter how small the mosquito, it’s still meat.’

Reality proved just how precious a skeptical mindset could be.

It was exactly because of this unreasonableness that, despite being unable to pinpoint the exact cause right away, Fu Qian had tried provoking the Persuader to see if there would be any abnormal reactions.

The result was the Illusory Eye representing dream immersion appearing above the Persuader’s head.

’How could a native dream creature enter a dream?’

’Is it possible that his ”true body” is still in Taylor’s residual dream, and he’s simply dreaming this current scene?’

...

That was right. Although everything was exactly the same, and the Persuader had even concocted a theory of maximum attraction...

...the abnormal sight above his head made Fu Qian suspect that this was not the place where he had chatted with Taylor.

Finding the devil in the details—that was the basic literacy of an academic.

’So, following this line of thought, if this isn’t a residual dream, then where is it?’

That question was actually much simpler.

’Inside the Nightmare Corridor, what could absorb and fuse various fragments of information while allowing the Persuader to unknowingly blend into it?’

’The Deity’s Dreamscape Behind the Door.’

’His Excellency Arakiel seems to be angry.’

...

’A tool with too many of its own ideas really isn’t popular, is it.’

Formulating a theory at the speed of light, Fu Qian let out a deep sigh.

If his theory was true, the current situation was that Arakiel had dragged him directly into the Dreamscape Behind the Door that He controlled, right after the exchange with Wen Li ended.

The motive wasn’t hard to guess either.

He truly wasn’t doing it to vent His anger; He was just trying to control the risk.

Because His current

Calling someone over to dream...

Clearly, Fu Qian’s answer was once again completely beyond the Persuader’s comprehension.

Setting aside the bizarre logic, a cross-dimensional operation like this was genuinely hard for a creature with no friends in that world to verify.

”In that world, Gulade is an ancient family stretching back thousands of years. Their foundation is far deeper than you can imagine.”

Letting out a long sigh, Fu Qian wore an expression that said fools are not worth scheming with.

”Do you actually think that, after such a bizarre experience, they have no way to shield their family members from a nightmare’s invasion?”

”Based on my understanding of Taylor’s personality, I did everything I could to guide him into keeping it a secret while leaving behind clues he would find intriguing, maximizing the chances of him returning on his own.”

”I thought you would have improved since the last time I left, but you’re still relying on the same old routine of sitting around waiting to be carried. Oh, right—you did learn the trick of releasing in order to capture, verbally claiming you had no interest.”

”Are you done?!”

The Persuader finally lost his patience, flying into a humiliated rage.

”Yeah... I suppose that’s enough.”

This time, however, Fu Qian gave a slight nod, actually agreeing with him.

”What?”

Clearly confused by the response, the Persuader’s immediate reaction was to look around, as if worried he had unknowingly stepped into another trap.

Fu Qian, meanwhile, was looking directly above the creature’s head.

An Illusory Eye had actually appeared there.

...

The workplace really is a battlefield. All that talk about being a senior partner is just a scam.

Faced with this sudden development, Fu Qian was filled with emotion.

As an auxiliary indicator provided by the Warehouse, the Illusory Eye represented the depth of a person’s immersion in the dream.

And as the tools of an evil god invading from within the Nightmare Corridor, he and the Persuader were obviously unique compared to the other characters in the dreamscape.

Back in Taylor’s dream, he had provoked the Persuader in the exact same way, but this dream-waking marker had never appeared above its head. That alone was proof.

There was also the fact that the Decree of Return had no effect on him.

In Fu Qian’s understanding, the corruption of the Corridor made the nature of their existence similar to native creatures of the dream.

While walking within it, the dreamscape was reality to the two of them; there was no such thing as waking up.

If that was truly the case, the implications behind this suddenly appearing Illusory Eye were rather staggering.

...

Trapped in a predicament where every second of delay dragged him deeper, Fu Qian wasn’t bored enough to waste his time on mockery.

Especially since Brother Persuader only possessed raw Rank abilities—insulting his intelligence brought absolutely no sense of accomplishment.

After his meeting with Wen Li ended, he had entered this place directly without passing through the Corridor. Fu Qian had never stopped trying to figure out the reason behind that anomaly.

His reasoning was simple. A higher entity like Arakiel might still be capable of anger, but the possibility of Him doing something purely to vent it was practically zero.

Especially in their current predicament.

That led to a very simple logical paradox: no matter how uncooperative his attitude was, what was the point of having two gatekeepers for a Nightmare when the main target hadn’t even arrived yet?

Since He could obviously block any petty tricks, any attempt Fu Qian made to find an opening should ultimately be beneficial to Him—such as the opportunity to corrupt Wen Li just now.

No matter how small the mosquito, it’s still meat.

Reality proved just how precious a skeptical mindset could be.

It was exactly because of this inconsistency that, despite being unable to pinpoint the cause right away, Fu Qian had tried to provoke the Persuader to see if it would trigger any abnormal reactions.

The result was the Illusory Eye, representing dream immersion, appearing above the Persuader’s head.

How could a native dream creature enter a dream?

Is it possible that his ”true body” is still in Taylor’s residual dream, and he’s simply dreaming this current scene?

...

That was it. Although everything was exactly the same, and the Persuader had even concocted a theory of maximum attraction...

...the anomaly above his head made Fu Qian suspect that this was not the same place where he had chatted with Taylor.

Finding the devil in the details—that was an essential quality of an academic.

So, following this line of thought, if this isn’t a residual dream, then where is it?

That question was actually much simpler to answer.

Inside the Nightmare Corridor, what could absorb and fuse various fragments of information while allowing the Persuader to unknowingly blend in?

The Deity’s Dreamscape Behind the Door.

His Excellency Arakiel seems to be angry.

...

A tool with too many of its own ideas really isn’t popular, is it.

Formulating a theory at lightning speed, Fu Qian let out a deep sigh.

If his theory was correct, Arakiel had dragged him directly into the Dreamscape Behind the Door that He controlled, right after his exchange with Wen Li ended.

The motive wasn’t hard to guess either.

He truly wasn’t doing it to vent His anger; He was just trying to control the risk.

Because His current top-tier tool not only possessed a bottom line, but also liked to control the pacing himself.

If he really managed to save himself by secretly advancing through Chencang, there would be no show left to put on.

Ultimately, Arakiel chose to forcefully drag him into the Divine Dream, even creating a one-to-one replica of the scene and pulling in a guest star to make everything as unsuspicious as possible.

The purpose of such a painstaking arrangement was obvious: to maximize his immersion, erode his will, and control him more deeply so His tool would be more obedient.

Fu Qian thought for a moment, then pressed a hand to his remaining left eye.

The next moment, under the Persuader’s bewildered gaze, he applied force and viciously gouged out this final window to his soul.

”Fuck!”

Witnessing this scene, questioning if Fu Qian was a psychopath seemed too polite; the Persuader simply cursed out loud.

Coupled with the flickering eye above his head, the outburst genuinely reflected his sheer inability to understand—how could someone so utterly despise having their workload arranged for them?

”Aren’t you making too much of a fuss? Did you forget our identity as dream masters?”

As the person in question, however, Fu Qian—with two bloody holes in his face—remained extremely calm. He even turned the eyeball in his hand to face the entity, fulfilling the polite etiquette of looking at someone when speaking to them. And he could, indeed, still see.

That was right. Compared to the right eye from before, he couldn’t feel anything physically abnormal about this one’s shape.

But the moment he tore it completely out of its socket, Fu Qian immediately realized that, even without a physical connection, he could still ”see.”

His field of vision even shifted along with the movement of the eyeball in his hand.

This was obviously not something an ordinary body of flesh and blood could achieve. Aside from his left arm and right eye, the corruption had unknowingly intensified.

And that wasn’t even the most important part.

Ignoring the Persuader—whose wings had flared out again from the shock—Fu Qian turned the eyeball in his hand, ”scanning” the room before finally resting his gaze upon himself.

He had thought it was strange just a moment ago—the style of his shirt had changed.

It was the one he had worn during that dinner with Young Master Qin and the others, an item that absolutely shouldn’t exist in the transcendent world.

The information in his mind seemed to be ”seeping” out, just like the countless dreamwalkers who had perished here before.

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