Eldritch Horror Theatre

He was certainly dedicated.

If he wasn't a veteran chuunibyou, his line delivery was genuinely astonishing.

Faced with Oz's seemingly malicious reply, Fu Qian freely offered his silent praise.

Everything he had experienced so far today felt like the classic origin story of a Savior.

A Key that peeled back the world's mundane veneer to reveal its hidden truths, thrusting the heavy burden of saving existence onto his shoulders.

The only problem was that this world already had a surplus of Saviors.

With an organization like the Night Watchers standing openly on the world stage, even the most delusional chuunibyou would have a hard time believing they were the only ones capable of saving the world.

Because of that, Oz's current performance felt exactly like a chuuni club trying to recruit a new member—especially since the man driving the car was, in fact, a completely ordinary person.

Of course, as the one being recruited, Fu Qian didn't look down on the act.

...

Under the watchful eyes of the Night Watchers, certain domains were incredibly sensitive.

If his recent experiences and the gold coin in his hand were truly connected to Old Man Sage and his group...

And if they had genuinely acted on their stated ideals, establishing an organization dedicated to using "knowledge" to allow a Mortal Body to wield Transcendent power...

Then there was a question Fu Qian had pondered as early as his time in the Underground Ruins: with such grand ambitions, how exactly did they plan to recruit people to expand their ranks?

Their philosophy was far more prone to spiraling out of control than limb grafting. It would be entirely too easy for the Night Watchers to exterminate them in passing.

Unless, of course, they didn't look dangerous at all.

In Fu Qian's eyes, their overly idealized philosophy gave them one massive, inherent advantage: their members were genuinely ordinary people.

As long as they leveraged that fact and dressed their actions up in a different context, they could easily appear completely harmless.

Then, let alone recruiting members, they could probably open a branch office right next door to the Night Watchers.

Take the current situation, for example. A group of chuunibyou obsessed with the grand delusion of being chosen by fate to save the world. On the surface, there wasn't a single trace of anything connected to the Transcendent Tier.

Picture three or five of them, wearing matching insignias and waving their arms in the middle of the street as they loudly discussed how to slay the demon king. To the Night Watchers, they wouldn't pose the slightest threat—right up until the exact moment they donned their Sacred Cloth.

It was a multi-layered game of deception: I tell you I'm going to liberate all of humanity; you dismiss it as a joke; but in reality, I actually am going to liberate all of humanity.

It was a solid strategy. Furthermore, this layered perception didn't just apply to their cat-and-mouse game with the Night Watchers; it could work just as well within the organization itself.

Of course, this was all just speculation. He couldn't rule out the possibility that he was overthinking things, and had simply stumbled into a group with an unusually low mental age.

"Is that so? What a pity. I've been to The Abyss, and you weren't there."

Keeping the virtue of adapting to local customs in mind, Fu Qian offered a cold scoff, matching Oz's grandiose phrasing.

Even if that impossibly edgy line happened to be the literal truth.

...

Clearly, his level of chuuni surpassed the other man's.

In that moment, Oz's feelings were visibly conflicted.

This was evident when he could no longer settle for glancing through the rearview mirror and physically turned his head to size Fu Qian up.

"Eyes on the road."

Unfortunately for the dramatic tension, considering the sheer density of pedestrians on the street, Fu Qian immediately offered a cold reminder.

"What do those patterns mean?"

Having successfully proven his aptitude as a chosen one, Fu Qian pressed the newly silenced recruiter on the one question he actually cared about.

"...They guide you to the gold coin. Is that not meaning enough?"

His dramatic momentum thoroughly derailed, Oz was clearly unwilling to show weakness and opted to answer a question with a question.

"So it's just an initiation test..."

Fu Qian muttered to himself, before slowly shaking his head.

"Sorry, but I fail to see the value in passing a test like that. It's just a boring pattern-finding game."

"Boring? Do you have any idea how many people walk right past them without seeing a thing?"

"Though I suppose I must admit, your speed was astonishing... especially at night."

Oz was visibly taken aback by the critique, and finally offered genuine acknowledgment of Fu Qian's performance.

"So a lot of people have received a similar Key?"

Refusing to let the compliment inflate his ego, Fu Qian caught the slip in phrasing as his eyes flashed.

"What did you think?"

Sensing an opening to counterattack, Oz let out a low, gravelly laugh.

"Everyone hopes to sit back and do absolutely nothing while remaining the one and only chosen Savior."

"Yet they never bother to ask themselves why they were chosen in the first place."

"That's right. I can tell you quite clearly that there are many similar Keys, and just as many corresponding gold coins. You aren't even the first person to take one from that spot."

"Though the vast majority of people ultimately just write the whole thing off as a prank."

...

Exactly as he had suspected.

This particular theme park was still very much in operation.

Faced with Oz's explanation, Fu Qian "fell into silence."

Special patterns hidden in the walls waited quietly for those who were Fated to see them, guiding them to a hidden gold coin and covertly recruiting new members in the process. It was a convoluted method, but a solid strategy.

And since the patterns themselves weren't original, they possessed no Transcendent effects. If they had, the Night Watchers would have definitely found them first.

But that didn't mean the exercise was meaningless. Broadly speaking, being able to pick the patterns out of a chaotic jumble of shapes was a talent in its own right.

Oz was being mostly honest, though he was clearly holding back regarding the true source of those patterns.

That was perfectly understandable. To the starry-eyed youths answering the call, concepts like destiny and passion were all the motivation they needed.

"So, you took a gold coin from there as well?"

After a moment of thought, Fu Qian broke the silence, deliberately dropping the topic of what the patterns actually meant.

"I took a gold coin, yes. But not from there."

Oz seemed satisfied with the reaction, flashing a smile as he fully embraced his role as a riddler.

"We're here."

He even threw in the classic dramatic cliffhanger, turning the wheel and driving the car directly toward an Underground parking garage.

So that spot wasn't the only place calling for Saviors? It made sense. Relying on a single barracks to churn out troops was terribly inefficient.

Without pressing the issue, Fu Qian pulled the gold coin out again, flicking it so it danced across his fingertips.

"Much as it pains me to admit it, I have to praise your taste once again."

Oz brought the car to a halt and finally pulled off his sunglasses, turning around to carefully inspect the object in Fu Qian's hand.

"Out of all the gold coins, that one's design is by far the most unforgettable... So, are you ready to lose it?"

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