Eldritch Horror Theatre

As expected, life is finite, but knowledge is boundless.

His Health Bar had certainly taken a serious beating from his previous confrontation with the sun and his recent Hunger Shuttle.

Even so, Fu Qian was absolutely certain his current mental state was excellent; there was no way he would lose his grip on the situation.

Yet the Lucid Dream from moments ago had shattered, vanishing without a trace—more fragile than a soap bubble.

It was as if some underlying law here dictated that dreams could last no longer than a single minute.

The restriction was precise and absolute, yet so natural that even a Tier 2 would struggle to notice it.

Upon careful reflection, his decision to avoid brute force had been the right one. This place was indeed far from simple.

"So, do you have any more detailed information on me?"

As these thoughts flashed through his mind, the Lucid Dream in Fu Qian's hand Blinked once more.

"More detailed..."

Rafadi, who had luckily escaped the Evil God's grasp, was thrown back into its demonic clutches after a single second of freedom.

This time, his struggle was even shorter. Within seconds, he rapidly divulged a wealth of information, including an age and an address.

Judging by his strained expression, he clearly wasn't familiar with this missing persons case; he had to squeeze his brain cells dry just to manage that much.

"Very good. Thank you."

Fu Qian asked nothing else. After offering his thanks, he simply waited in silence.

...59, 60.

Silently and right on schedule, the Lucid Dream dissipated once again. Confusion washed over Rafadi.

There really was some kind of restriction, and it appeared to be tied solely to duration.

Having verified it a second time, Fu Qian silently cemented his conclusion.

He had even deliberately pulled Rafadi deeper into the dream this time while lowering the intensity of his questioning, yet it had absolutely no impact on when the dream ended.

And even fully on guard, he hadn't noticed a single opportunity at the moment of collapse to exert his strength and delay the dream's shattering.

Of course, that didn't mean he had gained nothing.

The more exaggerated the effects of this bizarre restriction, the higher the likelihood it was tied to the painting before him losing its magic.

He didn't repeat the process a third time to ask more questions; more than one set of footsteps was already echoing from the stairs Rafadi had just climbed.

"That's right, I remember now. I really am Anke."

Stowing everything away, Fu Qian pointed at Rafadi's hand, his tone like someone awaking as if from a dream.

"Anke..."

Rafadi was clearly a little bewildered. His gaze shifted back and forth between the photograph and Fu Qian several times, the two identical faces rapidly activating his imagination.

Compared to last time, the extra photograph had naturally been picked out by Fu Qian and placed in his hand.

Fu Qian didn't want to waste the identity concocted with the help of a professional, meaning this man would still need to vouch for him.

"What's going on?"

Before Officer Rafadi could even respond, three figures came up the stairs.

Two men and a woman, all wearing the same uniform. One man was visibly much older, his gaze somewhat sluggish. The one who had spoken was the lone woman.

"...I think I've found a missing person."

Comfortingly, Rafadi's thought process had clearly rebooted and reconnected. After a brief hesitation, he handed the photo over.

"Anke?"

The older officer didn't even look at the photo. His eyes immediately fell on Fu Qian's bare feet.

"Yes. I believe that should be my name."

Fu Qian gave a slight nod.

"Should be?"

The group frowned in unison.

"I don't know. My mind is a mess... It feels like in another world, I didn't go by this name."

Fu Qian flawlessly replicated the mixture of confusion and pain Rafadi had just displayed.

He didn't say this out of some twisted sense of humor. Investigating carefully was one thing, but he couldn't afford to waste time and energy fully immersing himself in character.

Diving headfirst into roleplaying whenever handed a persona was pure Edral behavior.

After all, his main reason for setting out immediately without waiting to recover was the feeling that the Pope might not have much time left to wait.

"It's not strange. Sometimes I want to change my name and escape to another world, too. Though before you do that, we'll need to make a trip downstairs, Mr. Anke."

Faced with Fu Qian's claim, the old officer at the center of his colleagues' attention finally spoke, his words brimming with weary life experience.

Without even waiting for Fu Qian to respond, he turned and headed downstairs.

"Let's go."

Although his demeanor was the most lackadaisical, the rest of the group clearly followed the old officer's lead.

Immediately, two of them boxed Fu Qian in from the front and back, gesturing for him to follow.

"Alright."

Naturally, Fu Qian had no reason to refuse, and he promptly headed downstairs surrounded by the officers.

Even at the very last moment, he made a point of glancing back at the distant painting one more time, emphasizing his deep connection to it.

...

Including the Underground section, the building had a total of four floors. The group had just been on the top level.

As they made their way down, it was evident that everyone else had already been efficiently evacuated, leaving the floors completely empty.

However, that didn't mean the visitors had gone home.

Passing through a tall archway and stepping outside, they found the crowd gathered on a platform.

The crowd consisted of men, women, and children of all ages, all dressed quite elegantly in a style consistent with his memories.

The only problem... Fu Qian looked around and sighed inwardly.

Their current location was actually a Plaza.

It wasn't particularly large, but it was well-designed, and its overall style harmonized perfectly with the building they had just exited.

He was absolutely certain that the Small Town he had previously stayed in had no such place.

Looking around under the clear, bright sky, there were no buildings resembling the Dark Moon Church in sight, nor was there a single trace of those radiances above.

Compared to the Painting World he knew, this unfamiliar place was visibly much larger, bearing all the hallmarks of a proper metropolis.

Being somewhere other than the Painting World was one thing, but more than one person had claimed that everything outside the Painting World had long since fallen into ruin. So how could a place like this still exist?

...

"Good news. Even though you're a staff member, you won't need to help out."

After arranging for his subordinates to cooperate with the guards and rapidly verify everyone's information, the old officer spoke to Fu Qian with a touch of envy, his tone sounding quite sincere.

"The bad news, of course, is that you'll probably have to wait until we finish checking everyone before coming back with us."

"Understood."

Fu Qian naturally wasn't going to refuse.

He had already scrutinized the painting thoroughly, confirming it held no further information.

Right now, its greatest value lay in tying it to his own abnormal state, which might spark associations from anyone who happened to be in the know.

...

As it turned out, the effect of sparking those associations was quite excellent.

In less than five minutes, Fu Qian became the first person cleared to leave.

Another person, whose uniform resembled the officers' but who clearly possessed a very different aura, quickly arrived as backup.

After a brief conversation with the old officer, the young woman walked straight over to him.

"Anke?"

She scrutinized Fu Qian closely.

"Yes."

As he answered, Fu Qian maintained a melancholic expression, looking as though he were pondering whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was a man.

"There's no need to be nervous. I heard you might have suffered some psychological trauma, so I've come specifically to take you for an evaluation."

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