Eldritch Horror Theatre

This guy was even more of a Passerby B.

They say people accustomed to the dark often struggle to look directly at the light. At that moment, Fu Qian deeply understood the sentiment.

The figure stepping forward under the lamplight, staring intently in his direction, had a layer of grease on his face so thick it was practically dripping. It was almost unbearable to look at.

It was obvious this guy was under a lot of pressure... and just as taciturn as ever.

That was right. Not only was his face uncovered, but he also looked familiar. The newcomer was one of the two assistants from the party—the one who hadn't made a single sound from beginning to end.

It seemed this School of Twilight incident once again saw the supernatural weakened and reality strengthened. Everything could now be explained by human factors.

Although he couldn't be absolutely certain yet, the probability that this man was the humanoid shadow chasing them was quite high.

And his head-on collision with the guy standing nearby was exactly the meetup Fu Qian had hypothesized.

As for what he was doing here?

"Tell me, what is the final outcome you're trying to achieve?"

Giving a slight nod in greeting, Fu Qian ignored Passerby B, who clearly had no idea how to react. Fully adopting his Mister Wolf persona, he immediately prompted them to choose their ending.

"We... want to find Joshua."

The student with the prominent nose was visibly stunned. He vaguely remembered that this wasn't what he had asked earlier, but after a moment of hesitation, he finally stated his wish.

In doing so, he successfully revealed that Passerby B shared his objective.

Oh...

Fu Qian nodded slightly, his expression noncommittal.

"Dead or alive?"

...

Evidently, the extra options Fu Qian provided delivered quite a Mental Shock.

It struck the two assistants with a sudden bout of indecision. They stood there, big eyes staring at small eyes, remaining completely silent for half a minute.

Passerby B couldn't help but take a couple of steps closer, trying to look down through the open window.

"That's not him."

Fu Qian didn't try to stop him; he casually offered the information to save time.

"How can you be so sure? We clearly followed him up here."

This time, Passerby B finally couldn't hold back and broke his silence.

And the sheer amount of information packed into those words was significant.

It wasn't just that they had been misled by a certain troublemaker into thinking the person who fell was their target.

Rather, it was the fact that they actually believed Joshua—who was as dead as could be, whether at the party or in this building—was capable of climbing the stairs alive and kicking.

It was truly bizarre.

"So your choice is alive? That's certainly the more thorough option. After all, if you don't need him alive, killing him is easy enough."

Amidst his praise, Fu Qian seamlessly steered the conversation back to his original topic.

"...This isn't a matter of dead or alive! Why are you here?"

Unfortunately, his analysis seemed a bit too logical. The student with the prominent nose, who had been facing him the longest, felt his features twist as he finally couldn't help but growl.

"I'm under no obligation to answer that. If you're that curious, you can check the restroom over there."

Fu Qian just shook his head, gesturing toward the area he had just finished exploring with an emotionless expression.

...

At the end of the day, they were still just teenagers. Though they appeared fierce and stern in this situation, they were actually hanging on by a thread.

This was best demonstrated by the fact that the moment Fu Qian pointed the way, the two assistants immediately scrambled over, leaving absolutely no one behind to keep an eye on him.

If they had been a bit more rational, they would have known it was best to leave someone behind to watch an uninvited guest like him.

Of course, this wasn't entirely a bad thing.

If only one of them had gone over, they might have been terrified by the scene.

Ah—!

Although, just a moment later, a scream still rang out.

It was a woman's scream, and the voice was one Fu Qian was quite familiar with.

It seemed Eva was rather courageous after all. Not only had she followed them up here, but she had even decided on revisiting an old haunt to check out the place that had originally sent her fleeing homeward.

As for whether that scream was triggered by seeing Salma in the stall or by seeing the other two guys, it was hard to say.

Stirring the pot had indeed been his intention, but for everyone to coincidentally gather together at once? That could only be chalked up to the will of heaven.

And the results were quite excellent.

Ah! Ah—!

It was as if a long-suppressed impulse had finally been unleashed. Immediately following her scream, two more shrieks erupted from the assistants.

This was accompanied by chaotic footsteps and the sound of a door crashing against the wall.

"Over here."

However, none of that could drown out the greeting from Mister Wolf.

Taking a few steps forward to stand under the light, Fu Qian waved in the direction of the restroom.

...

His motives were unknown, and his movements were bizarre.

Theoretically, no matter who bolted out of the restroom first, none of them had any reason to respond to Fu Qian's call.

Yet, in a situation maddening enough to drive anyone crazy, both his calm composure and his eternally emotionless tone carried an immense allure.

After only a split second of hesitation, a relatively petite figure came sprinting over. It was Eva, running around in just her socks.

Her shoes seemed to have been left behind in the restroom, though she still wore her red-and-white bag over her back. The moment she came to a halt, he could see her eyes had completely glazed over.

"Sal... It's Salma..."

Staring at Mister Wolf with that vacant gaze, she gasped violently, her chest heaving like a bellows.

"Yes."

Fu Qian nodded, not showing the slightest hint of shock.

"This afternoon... it was just the two of us here... I thought she had gone home long ago... Yes, just us..."

Receiving Mister Wolf's confirmation seemed to calm Eva's emotions slightly.

However, she had just witnessed the corpses of two acquaintances in quick succession. A single glance revealed large patches of bright red smeared across her jacket and hands; it seemed she had tripped earlier and landed directly on Salma's corpse.

Under such intense Mental Shock, the rest of Eva's words devolved into near-incoherent mumbling.

But regardless, she had managed to convey the crucial information—

It turned out he wasn't the only one working hard over the weekend; Salma had also come in to practice.

And the blood pouring from Salma's murdered body had been interpreted by the rather imaginative Eva as some form of supernatural evil, prompting her to immediately flee in terror.

That explained the scene in the elevator at the very beginning.

"What was that?!"

"That had nothing to do with us!"

As he silently pondered this, the assistant duo scrambled over one after the other, proving once again just how effective Mister Wolf's rallying call was.

The very first thing they did was try to clear their own names. Scared out of their wits, they were terrified of being blamed.

"Were you close with Salma?"

Fu Qian simply made a gesture signaling them to calm down, then looked back at Eva.

"We were okay."

"So you know her boyfriend?"

"...Wen?"

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