Eldritch Horror Theatre

'So it worked? Not bad.'

The plan had worked almost too well. Fu Qian marveled as he looked around.

A good number of the Dolls surrounding the Tower had already been heavily damaged, including the three belonging to the Native, Hilaria.

Even the flesh and blood of the newly upgraded living version had completely desiccated. It looked like a long-weathered corpse, save for a faint glimmer of light still lingering in its eyes.

"You're pretty lucky."

His gaze finally settled on Dorian, who looked like a lamp on the verge of burning out. Fu Qian offered a mysterious smile and gestured to the extra Doll now resting on the ground.

"Make sure you keep this safe. It'll do you some good."

...

Before Dorian could voice his relief over surviving the life-and-death ordeal, Fu Qian's journey to Akons came to an abrupt end. He found himself back in the Warehouse, sitting in his usual seat.

Stopping the Bitter Fruit from maturing didn't necessarily mean destroying it; ensuring it could never finish growing was enough.

Without a doubt, the White-Faced Man was the key to completing the mission. He was the exact element Fu Qian had been looking for—something that could affect the growth of the Bitter Fruit without having to pass through the glass.

But the execution didn't involve simply killing him, nor did it require damaging his core essence through a Visceral Attack or similar means. It just meant keeping him there.

True, becoming a Doll was a state stripped of all freedom. But its primary purpose wasn't destruction; it was a method to ensure that guests who had traveled from afar could never leave.

The White-Faced Man wasn't a constant presence in Akons. That much was practically certain.

But now, just like those outsiders, he was there to stay.

It might not be the real Akons, but this single factor made the maturation of the Bitter Fruit an absolute impossibility.

As for why a temporary file could have such a massive impact?

For one thing, in Fu Qian's estimation, that place wasn't necessarily temporary anymore. His parting words to Dorian hadn't been empty talk.

Why did temporary files fail to last?

Simple. It was created because of him, the exile. The moment he left, it would simply vanish.

So, theoretically, his conversation with Dorian was meaningless. The real-world Dorian wouldn't retain a single thing from it.

But what if the exile didn't leave?

For example, even though Fu Qian had left, the White-Faced Man remained behind.

If his theory was correct and the White-Faced Man had also been exiled, then in the eyes of Akons, the man shared similar properties with Fu Qian.

And after being transformed into a Doll, he was essentially stuck in a state of permanent existence, entirely unable to leave.

This meant that the Dorian Clinic Branch would no longer be a temporary construct.

Taking that logic a step further, Fu Qian could imagine an even more bizarre resolution to the mission. If the constant presence of the White-Faced Man's Doll prevented the Bitter Fruit from maturing, what if Fu Qian himself had stayed indefinitely?

If the Bitter Fruit was busy converting all of Akons, then due to their unique constitutions, he and the White-Faced Man were like two unyielding stones that couldn't be enlightened. They could only be temporarily quarantined.

But as long as those stones remained, the process could never truly finish.

In that scenario, the only reason the risk of the fruit maturing still existed was because he and the White-Faced Man would eventually leave.

Whether through death, color loss, or some other reason, Fu Qian would fail the mission. The White-Faced Man's departure was even simpler—he vanished the moment daylight arrived.

So, if he managed to stay alive inside and never leave, would the mission never fail either?

Although, in that case, he would just become a pure tool for the Warehouse, throwing himself on the grenade to plug the hole.

But then again, maybe in some unknown corner, a senior colleague of his was out there playing exactly that role?

Of course, that was a wildly divergent train of thought. Regardless, despite lacking crucial information and being forced to diagnose the problem completely blind, he had flawlessly completed the mission.

It was a victory for logic.

As for the finer details, he might as well listen to the Warehouse's summary to verify his conclusions.

[Mission Rating: Rotten Root]

Sure enough, right as he stretched his limbs, the mission summary arrived on schedule.

...

[Across the long span of time, the mind has been the sole path for humanity to draw closer to God.

Though no one knows why such feeble worship holds any meaning for God.

Yet, even the firmest faith must one day collapse.

Akons fell during a long night. The abandoned believers discovered in absolute horror that they had completely lost the favor of the God of Insight and Wisdom.

And ultimately, consumed by that immense terror, they all perished in the freezing darkness.

But therein lies the wonder of faith. As the final radiant glory of the God of Insight and Wisdom, the ruined Akons was permanently imprinted into the depths of the human mind just before its destruction.

A few exceptionally lucky souls were able to take refuge within it and wait until the night finally ended.

Over the long years, this forbidden realm—so difficult for ordinary people to reach—would still occasionally receive lost outsiders.

They arrived through the exploration of their own minds, yet never possessed the luck to leave.

Until one day, a pure and exalted power followed the name of Akons and arrived as well.

Unlike the rest, this entity treated this Small Town—and every lingering will within it—as a reflection of its own foolishness and spiritual impurity, thereby seeking to purify itself.

As long as these foolish minds realized the tainted nature of their own wills, all distress would cease to be distress, and the very essence of Akons would be irrevocably altered.

Unfortunately, an unenlightened yet eternally persistent delusion ensured that this process could never be completed.

In the end, Akons was never purified. This was humanity's good fortune.

Because this accumulation of debris, buried deep within the soul, forms the barrier between fragile human wills and the realms where gods have fallen.]

[Kills: None]

[Reward: SAN Value +20]

[Special Reward: Entwined Umbilical Cord]

[Current SAN Value: 117, Current inspiration: 99]

[Would you like to play the event replay?]

Aha, the wreckage of an ancient faith buried deep in the human mind?

So Akons really did exist as something akin to a collective subconscious?

And this time, the trouble was caused by some grand master trying to achieve enlightenment?

Judging by the description, even the Warehouse referred to it as a "pure and exalted power." This entity he'd never managed to cross swords with had to be at least on the same level as Yasui Tokiyuki, didn't it?

It didn't let Fu Qian down; this mission summary was incredibly detailed. It was safe to say that it had answered quite a few of his questions.

There was also one other small detail. While that entity clearly possessed some sort of authority over the domain of the mind, it had specifically tracked this place down using the name "Akons."

That seemed to imply a distinct level of proactive intent.

Was it using the mind to hunt down these remnants of ancient faith, defining them as its own spiritual impurities, and then seeking to purge them to achieve Transcendence?

He had to admit, that was a highly unusual approach. Was it some kind of specialized cultivation method?

Regardless, an entity like that had to know a ton of ancient secrets. If the opportunity ever arose, he definitely needed to have a chat with it.

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