Eldritch Horror Theatre

Fascinating.

Judging by the force behind these strikes, even a full recovery should have left glaring scars.

In the photos, Joshua was smiling even more brightly than he had been just moments ago.

As a flesh-and-blood expert, Fu Qian was absolutely certain that the wounds depicted in these photos would severely threaten a normal human's life.

The locations of the injuries varied, too; one photo showed a hole pierced clean through his palm.

Yet not only was their friend Joshua currently alive and kicking, two consecutive autopsies had also confirmed that he possessed absolutely no scars in those corresponding areas.

Barring some absurd plot twist like a secret twin, the only logical explanation was Transcendent power.

That added another bizarre element to this All Fools' Day scenario. It seemed Joshua, for all his honest-looking features, had also discovered his "true self."

Comparing the photos to the real person, the Transcendent power that had Awakened within him strongly resembled a flesh-and-blood specialization.

But that raised a question: why was Joshua carrying these photos around?

Taking them made sense as a way to verify his abilities, and keeping them out of excitement was perfectly normal. But wasn't he afraid someone would find them on his person? Unless... they were meant to be seen by someone else?

It seemed he hadn't gotten his sleeves wet in the freezing cold for nothing.

Not only did this validate his deduced method for "correctly" completing the script, but he also seemed to have found the answer to why the body lying in the party's basement had been a real corpse.

...

Why would a volunteer actually end up dead in what looked exactly like a prank?

And why were the two people confirmed to be Joshua's close friends searching the school for a "living him" after the party?

Furthermore, the time of death for Joshua's corpse in the storage room hadn't seemed to line up.

The most abnormally behaving person so far, along with all the related anomalies, became much easier to explain once this Transcendent element was factored in.

Joshua's newly acquired bizarre ability allowed his injuries to heal rapidly, and he clearly enjoyed testing it repeatedly.

Was it possible that, just like the others, this "gift" had messed with his head to some extent, prompting him to entertain far bolder ideas?

Like rising from the dead, perhaps?

Without knowing if he had received some kind of special revelation, this hypothesis was admittedly a bit wild.

But the goal of this trip was to "correctly" complete the script. That meant as long as the logic was somewhat internally consistent, it was enough.

And once that premise was established, the photos and the reactions of his two accomplices made perfect sense—they were in on Joshua's audacious plan.

Whether they supported him or not, they at least knew what he intended to do.

The photos on Joshua's person were likely meant for them, laying out the "bloody" truth to convince them to offer their assistance.

Consequently, during the prank targeting Mister Wolf, Joshua had pulled a prank on everyone else.

Whether he used poison or something else, while everyone was helping him pretend to be a corpse, he had actually killed himself.

The two friends who had seen the photos had probably been instructed by him beforehand: if this happened, they shouldn't panic, but rather help find a quiet place for him to resurrect in peace.

That was why, compared to the others, those two had maintained a much more serious demeanor and held higher expectations for Mister Wolf's performance.

The prank itself didn't matter. If Mister Wolf was truly as miraculous as the rumors claimed, it would undoubtedly save them a lot of trouble.

Wasn't this all a bit too festive? The Containment target this time around seemed rather sinister.

As he organized his thoughts, Fu Qian grew increasingly curious about this Item designated with the number 3.

After confirming there was no more information to glean, he even gathered the photos back in their original order and turned to open the bedroom door once more.

If he wanted to guide the situation toward the logical conclusion he had just mapped out, it was obviously necessary to ensure Joshua didn't realize the photos were missing.

...

Ah, the vigor of youth. The two on the bed were now completely lost in their passion.

Salma was clearly very confident in the effects of her saliva. When the person in the closet stepped out and turned off the light earlier, she must have assumed that he had finally stopped resisting her commands.

Amidst his quiet admiration, Fu Qian quickly located Joshua's jacket and slipped the photos back into their original pocket.

Oh?

At that exact moment, a light suddenly snapped on in front of him, illuminating a bloodstained jacket and a lifelike face.

The starting point of the mission? Not bad at all.

Having experienced this multiple times, Fu Qian naturally didn't panic in the slightest. He even gave his hand a shake, inspecting the Lighting Equipment he was holding.

Indeed. The moment he returned the photos to the pocket, he had been thrust back into the party's basement—and it was still that very same night.

The face lying in the pool of blood before him belonged to none other than Joshua.

The timing was perfectly seamless; at a glance, it was the exact moment he had left earlier.

It wasn't too strange. The script had already featured a scenario where, after the Old House exploration, he had gone to Salma's place to find someone according to plan. It was perfectly normal that he would ultimately have to return and resolve the trouble at the party.

All in all, in this trial-and-error horror story, he had finally cleared another stage without any real danger.

Moreover, thanks to all his summarizing and exploring along the way, Fu Qian already had a plan in mind for how to preserve Mister Wolf's prestigious reputation during this tricky basement situation.

"How is it?"

The previous silence seemed to have finally been broken by Fu Qian's sudden movement. Butters's hushed, highly anxious voice drifted down from above.

Speaking of which, this guy was quite the oddball.

Cowardly yet greedy. He had caused a massive mess with his idea about the Old House, and even though he had most likely failed to find Wen later on, he somehow still had the mood to attend a party.

Furthermore, whether he was in on the prank targeting Mister Wolf or had genuinely gotten too drunk and accidentally killed someone, both possibilities proved he was partying pretty hard.

As for why he was so confident he could trouble Mister Wolf?

Perhaps their shared secret regarding the Old House and Wen gave him more certainty that Mister Wolf would help?

Or perhaps he just wanted to use this to finish the prank, slightly chipping away at Mister Wolf's aloof persona to ease his own inner frustration?

For a restless youth, it was somewhat understandable, though sympathizing with him wasn't exactly easy.

But that didn't matter. Good stories always ended in unexpected and beautiful ways.

Hearing his call, Fu Qian didn't rush to answer. He took one last look at Joshua's remains, then casually tossed the bloodstained jacket back over his face.

And in the very next moment, he directly switched off the Lighting Equipment.

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