Eldritch Horror Theatre

Was she really a nurse?

Her eyes heavy with sleep, the newly awakened woman clearly hadn’t rested well the night before; the gaze she turned on him was slightly vacant.

Meeting that gaze, Fu Qian openly looked her up and down.

Red lips and green eyes; she couldn’t be older than thirty.

Her slightly wavy, dazzling blond hair was likely dyed.

Her appearance perfectly matched the voice from earlier. The person guarding him this time was unmistakably a young woman, and quite a pretty one at that.

As for why his first guess was a nurse, the reason was simple—the classic swallowtail cap. She hadn’t even taken it off to sleep, and she was wearing a white uniform.

Everything was different, yet everything seemed identical, just with a swapped texture.

If his experience in Manyuan Garden was some sort of cult-classic thriller, what he was seeing now was definitely a sunny reboot.

Or perhaps a risqué one.There was a reason he was now reconsidering his judgment about her being a nurse—

The cap on her head was fine, but a closer look revealed that her uniform was rather unorthodox.

She was tall and slender with a narrow waist, yet the uniform clung tightly to her, accentuating every curve of her body.

While ill-fitting uniforms were common, this level of exposure didn’t meet standard regulations no matter how one tried to justify it.

The considerable amount of bare thigh on display was enough to prove this wasn’t proper professional attire; it leaned much more toward cosplay.

He had to admit, it made things even weirder.

”Ah—!”

As Fu Qian examined her, she seemed to come to her senses, subconsciously following his line of sight to look down at her own body.

What followed was an excessively ear-piercing scream.

...

As it turned out, the wearer’s reaction was even more dramatic than he had expected.

”Seven fifty-five.”

Faced with such noise this early in the morning, Fu Qian remained emotionally stable, even casually answering her earlier question.

At the same time, he took the opportunity to observe the entire room.

The layout was clear at a glance.

Aside from the Deck Chair beneath him, a simple coat rack in the corner was practically the only furniture.

As for the mattress the uniformed woman had been lying on, it was placed directly on the floor.

It was minimalist to the extreme; the art of decluttering had truly reached the state of perfection.

However, didn’t this somewhat contradict the persona from the mission briefing at first glance? It seemed a bit too passive.

”Where are my clothes? Why am I wearing this?”

The woman on the mattress had already sat up. After frantically trying to cover herself up, she finally realized she had nothing to work with, and immediately demanded in a hushed voice.

”Good question. Actually, I’d like to know too. Also, that’s probably your coat.”

Hearing this, Fu Qian finally withdrew his gaze, gave a slight nod, and pointed at the coat rack in the corner.

Her reaction was undoubtedly strange.

Not only was she unaccustomed to wearing this kind of outfit, but she also genuinely seemed to have no idea why she was wearing it in the first place.

Furthermore, she didn’t seem very familiar with the role she was currently playing.

”How is this possible... did I drink too much?”

Following Fu Qian’s finger, the uniformed woman quickly spotted a brown overcoat on the rack. She immediately scrambled up and rushed over to put it on.

Wrapping it tightly around her body, she settled her nerves slightly. Scrunching up her face, she instantly began second-guessing herself.

”No, it’s obvious you didn’t drink. I did.”

However, Fu Qian shook his head again and pointed at himself.

Although it had only been a brief moment, it was enough time for him to check his own physical condition.

First off, even without a mirror, just looking at the bronze skin on his arms told him that he wasn’t carrying out this mission in his original appearance.

Furthermore, apart from the neck and shoulder ache he’d noticed earlier, the most glaring detail was the stench of alcohol on him. He must have consumed a substantial amount the night before.

In contrast, the woman was much fresher.

Aside from that, there was another theoretically important discovery—while sleeping in such a posture all night was indeed uncomfortable, how could the King of the Abandoned Prison possibly suffer from a sore neck and shoulders?

Not only had his appearance changed, but his constitution was currently that of an ordinary person.

...

What a pleasant surprise.

It wasn’t the first time he had selected skills only to enter a mission and find himself an ordinary person.

But one mustn’t forget that things were constantly evolving and changing.

Judging from the Warehouse Principle he had puzzled out earlier, any mission that restricted his abilities likely meant that, in Its judgment, powers would only have negative side effects. The success rate of brute force was far lower than outsmarting the problem.

Right now, although there was a slight issue with his character save file, his actual strength was thoroughly formidable. It should be rather difficult for the Warehouse to conclude that brute force was impossible, especially after It had just gone through the trouble of letting him select his skills.

Taking all of this into account, there seemed to be only one highly probable explanation—it wasn’t the Warehouse restricting him. Someone else had gone to the trouble to do it.

It might be hard to pin down the identity of whoever was capable of restricting the King of the Abandoned Prison to this extent right now, but it certainly made him look forward to whatever show they had prepared next.

With that in mind, the probability of this iconic opening scene being a mere coincidence seemed to subtly drop a fraction.

”Then why am I wearing this? It’s obviously not mine!”

While Fu Qian was feeling deeply satisfied, the uniformed woman became even more agitated by his words, glaring at him with indignation.

”It’s probably not mine either. But I was just thinking—could it be that you put this on to give me an injection?”

It was understandable to be emotionally unstable in this situation, so Fu Qian merely gestured calmly at his own body and offered a somewhat abstract explanation.

The clothes were only one of the bizarre elements; there had to be some explanation for the current situation.

Someone was getting an IV drip, and someone was a nurse. Putting the two together made perfect sense, right?

”Bullshit! Do I have to wear a work uniform to give an injection? Besides, I don’t remember you having any illness—”

The more she listened, the harder she frowned. Finally, unable to hold back, she marched over to take down the already empty IV bottle, only to freeze the very next second.

”I remember now... I really did come over to give you an injection... You mentioned you had something to do today and needed to alleviate your hangover...”

As she muttered to herself, it wasn’t just the bizarre outfit—even blacking out, a standard symptom of drinking, was manifesting in her.

And the contents of her memories actually confirmed Fu Qian’s overly crude hypothesis from earlier.

It looked like she really was a nurse.

In response, Fu Qian glanced at the back of his hand, faintly confirming another suspicion.

The bad habit of cognitive inertia was undesirable. Even though he had realized earlier that the uniform was a novelty costume, he hadn’t ruled out the possibility that she was actually a nurse.

Because the needle and tape on his hand were clearly applied with precision, looking like the work of a seasoned professional.

”So did I say what exactly I have to do today?”

”No, but you said it was at eight o’clock.”