Eldritch Horror Theatre

‘Starting with the date? Truly the style of a master.’

Everyone knew that ambiguity was the most crucial part of making prophecies; anything quantifiable had to be avoided at all costs.

Yet without a word, the Harbinger firmly established the time right out of the gate.

It seemed somewhat off-topic, but in essence, it demonstrated true perspective.

Watching what the Harbinger wrote down, Fu Qian felt no disdain whatsoever; instead, he was full of praise.

The man clearly had no intention of hiding anything, writing every stroke in full view of his two spectators.

Now that the sentence was finished, it showed no signs of fading, remaining clearly on the notebook.

Theoretically, if things were working normally, this meant the True Word Notebook had judged it to be the truth.

From Fu Qian’s perspective, this was a highly significant sentence.

It proved that a certain hidden danger he had worried about along the way had, thanks to various stopgap measures, temporarily maintained a fragile balance.Ever since they entered this office, time had stopped silently skipping forward. Judgment Day was still seven days away.

[This is the Attending Physician Servis’s Office.]

Just as Fu Qian marveled at this, the Harbinger—who lacked the miserly attitude toward words so typical of his peers—went on to write a second sentence.

...

‘The two key elements of time and location?’

‘He isn’t just a master; he practically feels like a Columnist.’

The second sentence was undoubtedly the truth as well, remaining on the notebook without the slightest distortion.

Faced with these writing habits, Fu Qian felt more than just admiration; he was practically ready to hand over his own professional title.

In any case, directly locking down the space-time coordinates first showed a remarkably pragmatic attitude.

Moreover, establishing the dual elements of time and location at the start of any event was a simple yet powerful principle.

It allowed a bystander to eliminate many unnecessary doubts right away, letting them deduce things based on fundamental information—

Today was the 54th, Servis was indeed the Attending Physician, and this was Servis’s Office.

The only pity was that space-time coordinates didn’t seem entirely reliable in this Sanitarium.

Recalling everything he had seen along the way, Fu Qian seemed to sense the Harbinger’s sincerity once more. He continued to watch quietly, without interrupting.

[Tong’s eyes are bleeding.]

It turned out the man really wasn’t slacking off; after establishing the time and location, he introduced a character.

And it was even a character that the Columnist knew.

...

‘Hairpin Woman? Madam Dark Room’s roommate?’

Although the phrasing was somewhat strange, Fu Qian immediately associated that rather unique name with a face.

Even though it had been a brief chance encounter, that ultimate face-blindness patient had undoubtedly left a deep impression on him.

Given that particular trait of hers, the phrase ‘her eyes are bleeding’ made him wonder if actual blood was flowing out or if it was merely a metaphor—regardless, the words still didn’t disappear.

As it turned out, under their gaze, even such an abstract sentence remained steadily on the page.

It almost made him doubt if the True Word Notebook was actually working, or if the man had just grabbed a random notebook.

”Is it because her roommate hasn’t been back in a long time?”

Naturally, Fu Qian maintained his excellent professional habits. While asking this question, he didn’t miss a beat in his analysis: if that was the case, what could be the reason?

”I only look at the results. I never analyze the reasons.”

The Harbinger’s charlatan-like demeanor was finally on full display.

Faced with Fu Qian’s inquiry, he didn’t pretend to be aloof by ignoring him, but the content of his response carried a different kind of arrogance entirely.

‘Looking only at appearances? Truly, emptiness is form.’

As an expert who was open-minded as an empty valley, Fu Qian naturally wouldn’t stoop to bickering. Instead, he nodded, faintly grasping the other man’s train of thought.

He wasn’t just being pretentious; in his eyes, this method of prophecy was actually quite good.

Presenting exactly what one saw with absolute precision, without mixing in a shred of personal interpretation—wasn’t that the highest realm of keeping a prophecy free from interference?

”How is the blood flowing?”

But since that was the case, asking for a few more details shouldn’t hurt, right? Fu Qian quickly followed up.

”Falling from above, piling up in her field of vision like snow.”

It turned out that when it came to descriptive questions, the Harbinger was quite forthcoming.

”Every day, during the time when the light is brightest, it snows inside Tong’s eyes.”

Before Fu Qian could even ask anything else, he volunteered more details.

...

‘Snowing on the dot every day at the brightest moment? So it’s a highly stable weather phenomenon?’

‘No wonder they say you shouldn’t ask questions recklessly—you never know what kind of answer you might get.’

The Harbinger’s description instantly elevated the situation to a whole new level of abstraction.

First, it practically confirmed that the earlier mention of bleeding was indeed a metaphor; she wasn’t actually losing red blood cells.

Hairpin Woman’s mental state was poor, just as expected. She was already exhibiting signs of visual hallucinations.

Second, this was apparently a daily occurrence, one that strictly depended on the metric of light intensity.

Incredible as it sounded, it faintly lined up with her habit of returning to her room promptly at six o’clock every day.

Of course, the most incredible part of all was the professional aptitude the Harbinger was displaying.

‘He can even prophesy something like this?’

It wasn’t just him blowing hot air; everything had to pass the True Word Notebook’s verification—and it had actually passed.

”Interesting. But at this rate, it doesn’t seem like a prophecy anymore. It’s more like a weather forecast, isn’t it? As long as you calculate the time right, you can easily deduce what’s currently happening.”

But when it came to nitpicking, Fu Qian was second to none. Without batting an eye, he immediately found an angle of attack.

It was quite a severe angle, directly questioning the very nature of the man’s prophecies.

”You could indeed say that. And it looks like I have no way to prove otherwise.”

Despite this unfriendly jab, the Harbinger’s reaction was relatively calm. He even earnestly agreed with Fu Qian’s assertion.

From this alone, it was clear he wasn’t letting his guard down just because of their previous cordial chat.

An intruder questioning the nature of a prophecy was perfectly normal behavior.

After all, based on what they’d overheard earlier, the man in front of him had promised the Attending Physician to provide help in the patient’s treatment. Questioning him was only his duty.

[Tracy is lying on her lover’s bed, watching the sleeping woman in the Chair, and once again feels the Heat Current in her body.]

With the poise that came from this realization, the Harbinger didn’t even pause to rest before writing down a fourth sentence—wasn’t this getting a bit perverted?

Sweeping a glance over the sentence, Fu Qian felt the backlash of possessing too strong a reading comprehension.

‘Madam is lying in her lover’s bed, and feeling her own desires because of a sleeping woman?’