Eldritch Horror Theatre

'This is just too perfect!'

Although Reginald and Amira remained silent, their slipping composure made it only natural for Fu Qian to supply that line for them.

'Hmph. Consider this a little taste of professional shock.'

Looking appropriately haughty, Fu Qian wiped a finger over the wound left by the leech and flashed it at the two of them.

"Want to take a closer look?"

...

Staring at the bead of blood on Fu Qian's hand, Reginald looked so thoroughly appalled that he clearly had no intention of speaking.

"Why would you do that?"

In the end, it was Amira who asked the real question, her voice dry.

'Because you two weren't getting anywhere?'

Fu Qian snorted inwardly.

Since his first contact with the Celestial Sphere Cult, the most gratifying realization was that they shared his exact goal: finding a way into the Painting World.

In fact, his deductions just now had flowed so smoothly precisely because everything he wanted to do had conveniently presented itself right in front of him.

It was a perfect alignment of interests.

And considering the Celestial Sphere Cult's stance, their motives made perfect sense.

The only problem was their lack of urgency. They needed a little push.

"You two seem to lack faith in me."

Gesturing at the open abdominal cavity beside him, Fu Qian answered Amira's question.

"Did you really think that in a place like this, I wouldn't even be interested in cutting open someone's stomach?"

...

Making a volunteer the prime candidate for disembowelment was obviously unreasonable, no matter how you prioritized things.

The only explanation was that Reginald and Amira had sensed something too.

In other words, the moment they walked through the door, they likely already knew this man was afflicted.

That was why they had asked if he could lend a hand.

Their goal was exactly the same as when they asked him to remove his mask—to force him into close contact with the corruption and observe the results.

Unfortunately for them, even with him being so cooperative, Reginald hadn't discovered a single thing after all those maneuvers.

That disappointment was what prompted his personal attack: "Is there something wrong with you?"

'I...'

At Fu Qian's bizarre answer, Amira looked like she was about to suffer a mental breakdown.

However, she was still an elite operative tasked with handling the cult's public affairs. With her vast experience, her psychological resilience was quite impressive.

She quickly realized the reason Mr. Encore was courting death so recklessly—he simply wasn't afraid of death or corruption.

Because in his eyes, both the inside and the outside were merely parts of the Nightmare. Only that cold Painting World was reality.

Therefore, he was treating this entire situation as a game, completely unrestrained.

His words and actions along the way had proven this point more than once.

And just now, not only had he seen through their bait, he had even decided their demands weren't pushing things far enough and voluntarily took it a step further.

Driven by this mad obsession, his behavior could no longer be judged by common sense.

"Apologies, we did indeed hide some things earlier, but since Mr. Encore puts it like that... Yes, we are extremely interested in that Painting World. Unfortunately, we haven't found a way in. Given that you are the only new and unique case to emerge, we decided to bring you in here."

Glancing at Reginald and seeing no objections, Amira finally confirmed Fu Qian's guess.

"Our goal is exactly as you said. We hoped to introduce you to another Nightmare, allowing for various degrees of contact to see if it would yield any new discoveries."

"Now that's more like it. We have a shared goal, so honest communication is best. Think of how much time you could have saved agonizing over things along the way."

Fu Qian looked fairly satisfied with this response.

'A shared goal? Isn't your goal just to have fun?'

"Aside from having a little fun, you want to go to that place, and I want to return to that 'reality.' Isn't that perfectly aligned?"

Sensing that his two companions still didn't quite grasp his absolute sincerity, Fu Qian offered a bit more explanation and flashed his wound again.

"That 'more' you were agonizing over earlier was about whether to push the limits further, right? Seeing you two struggling so much, I decided to take the initiative."

"That should show a little sincerity, shouldn't it?"

'Isn't that a little too much sincerity? If I remember correctly, you let that thing bite you before we even started arguing.'

Despite her repeated shocks, Amira's logic remained intact; she hadn't been completely derailed by Fu Qian.

But that only made things more terrifying. It seemed everything this guy just said was actually the truth.

From the moment they walked in, he had seen through their true motives... and he didn't mind in the slightest.

"Unfortunately, judging by the current situation, we haven't obtained any meaningful results."

The thoroughly shaken Amira took a deep breath.

"I'm completely certain that the Nightmare hasn't undergone any mutations because of your presence. Even after being bitten, your condition is perfectly fine. You don't even have any symptoms of boiling blood disease..."

"It seems our line of thinking was flawed. Still, we had no other options but to try it. Regardless, thank you for your cooperation."

Amira's words were incredibly sincere, and her final expression of gratitude was entirely earnest.

Reginald turned his head away, looking as though he had completely lost the desire to speak.

"No need to be so polite. At the very least, I didn't come away empty-handed. I had fun, didn't I?"

Fu Qian rolled down his sleeve, his smile undiminished.

"But isn't it a little too early to draw conclusions? It was just one bite. Surely we can do more?"

"For example, why not just have me wear those pants?"

"...First of all, it most likely still wouldn't work. From what we've seen, all mediums related to the Nightmare have turned into ordinary items, just like the painting you came into contact with."

That suggestion was clearly a bit too much for her, but Amira's response, though slow, remained resolute.

"Secondly, even if it did work, we couldn't do such a thing. It would likely cause you irreversible harm."

'After triggering the Nightmare, they all lost their power... Is that why the Art Gallery is still open?'

'They can use new visitors to test the Nightmare, and preliminary assessments suggest it wouldn't cause too much chaos either.'

Silently confirming his guess, Fu Qian looked over at Reginald, who was clearly the more ruthless of the two.

"Since it's as ordinary as the painting, how is putting it on any different from visiting the Art Gallery? If it's a matter of policy, I can sign an informed consent form."

'You're a little too extreme!'

Unfortunately, even from someone as hardened as Reginald, Fu Qian could still read that exact sentiment on his stiff face.

"His condition is worsening. We need to deal with it immediately."

However, Reginald didn't even voice that thought. Instead, he suddenly pointed to the side and spoke up.

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