Eldritch Horror Theatre

As everyone knew, the exhaustion of traveling for a business trip was one thing, but that didn't mean you could skip handing in your reports.

Although there was still a bit of time before midnight, considering the Warehouse had been quite cooperative lately, Fu Qian had no intention of making things difficult for no reason.

Taking advantage of the free time, he might as well knock out the first task of the week.

Not to mention, this task looked quite friendly.

Standing in the Warehouse once again, Fu Qian sized up the three illusory concentric circles appearing before him. They spun around a central axis in different directions, which he found deeply interesting.

'What is this, the power of rings within rings?'

[Name: Inviolable, Code: 3-399]

[Today's workload has been updated. Enter the Containment Scenario for 3-399 and complete the re-containment.]

[Consume 1 point of SAN Value to start?]

The name was a bit peculiar, making it hard to grasp its exact nature; it gave off a faintly abstract vibe.

[Yes]

But that was fine. Fu Qian never wanted his aesthetic tastes confined to a single corner. Amidst his musings, he chose to accept.

Besides, it felt like the Warehouse was slowly getting used to the changes in the administrator.

As this task began, it surprisingly didn't react much—

[Entering the 3-399 Containment Scenario.]

[Current SAN Value: 130]

Facts proved that one really shouldn't be popping champagne at halftime.

Before he even officially entered the task, anomalies had already appeared.

Listening to the prompt in his ear, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

Strictly speaking, the situation with his SAN Value was actually about the same.

During his previous exchange with Master Yuhun, he had used Pseudo-God Incarnation several times. Although he was far from being completely drained and exhausted like he had been on Ye Island, it had indeed caused a certain amount of consumption.

In fact, after losing Transcendent Perception, Fu Qian was already quite gratified that the SAN Value attribute could still be read in a relatively normal state.

After all, there was another thing here to compare it with—where was his inspiration?

'Where are this seat's 99 points of rare rewards?'

In the past, these two had always appeared together.

However, that attribute, which seemed to have been maxed out, was nowhere to be seen this time.

It hadn't even become zero; it had simply vanished altogether.

...

Sure enough, compared to the outsider from before, he had entered some kind of even stranger state.

Faced with the abnormality right at the start of the task, the first thing that surged into Fu Qian's mind was his numerous past gaming experiences, along with the concept known as a corrupted save file.

As everyone knew, in certain classic games, even without using cheats, save files would sometimes experience all sorts of bizarre glitches.

Especially when your actions didn't quite follow the designer's intended path.

Judging by the Warehouse's previous reactions, his situation was already somewhat beyond its control.

He had originally thought it could just grit its teeth and bear it, but at this moment, the issue was directly reflected in the data.

It wasn't a sharp drop or a massive spike, but rather the outright absence of a certain attribute.

As for the resulting impact, looking at it now, it was already present—hadn't Transcendent Perception also returned to zero?

Inspiration, perception... it all sounded quite reasonable.

He just didn't know if there would be any other negative effects, or if he would be given inspiration again after the task was completed.

After all, a corrupted save file didn't necessarily mean the game couldn't run, but the probability of strange errors occurring often increased greatly.

[Select your skill]

Facts proved that some things really shouldn't be muttered about; sure enough, another anomaly quickly appeared.

The good news was that this task starting with a 3 didn't look like it could only be solved with brains—the bad news was, where were his Items?

The preparation phase noticeably lacked the equipment option as well.

Even the skills section was very different from before.

[King of the Abandoned Prison]

The previously familiar row had now dwindled down to a single option, and it was one he had never seen before.

It made it somewhat hard to determine whether he would only be able to maintain things related to his Divine Station, or if his entire current state was collectively referred to as the King of the Abandoned Prison.

[Due to capacity limits, you cannot carry any additional Items.]

In the next moment, the Warehouse actually provided an additional explanation.

'So is it ultimately because the level of my save file character is too high?'

Fu Qian felt he understood this perfectly—sorry, dragging your main body in already took too much effort; you can't bring anything else.

Moreover, he had previously deduced that in past tasks, the reason he could blindly select all his skills and Items was likely related to his inspiration. His stats were a bit excessive compared to other administrators.

The appearance of this unpredictable situation might also have an impact on carrying Items.

Of course, even so, entering the task in his current state was already outrageously brutal compared to before.

For the moment, Fu Qian didn't have too many complaints and selected the only skill.

[Due to capacity limits, most damage will no longer be repaired after the task is completed.]

Though another prompt immediately followed.

...

'So you even want to save on repair fees?'

'I know the higher the gear level, the more expensive it is to repair, but Warehouse, aren't you being a bit too tight-fisted?'

This line was even easier to understand. Unlike before, you wouldn't just come out perfectly fine regardless of whether the task succeeded or failed.

Now, it was highly likely that any health lost during the task would have to be handled on his own after he got out.

'Is this the legendary paying to go to work?'

Amidst his complaints, the task officially began.

[...8%...13%...21%...34%...55%...89%...100%, Containment Scenario loading complete.]

[White stone, golden sands, high walls... named Lanphilai.

This place once witnessed the rise and fall of an empire, the annihilation and Rebirth of hope.

Now, it seems to be in its twilight years, its strong muscles reduced to dry kindling.

Yet, every day of the year, it attracts countless people drawn by its reputation.

Aside from the magnificent scenery and surviving historical landmarks, perhaps it's this twilight weariness that allows people to feel an extraordinary sense of peace when walking through it.

As one of these many seekers, you were lucky enough to draw a cloudy but rainless day, along with a meticulous tour guide.

Hopefully, this will maximize your chances of harvesting what you seek.]

...

"Alright, you can get off the bus now."

Almost as soon as the task introduction ended, a voice called out.

It was accompanied by the heavy inertia of a sudden stop.

Screech—

This kind of thing naturally couldn't stump Fu Qian. Long before he had turned into a Thug, his balance had already been thoroughly tempered by the bus drivers of Lincheng.

Amidst the screech of the brakes, his view of the scenery through the window didn't waver in the slightest.

At the same time, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted another figure whose balance was only slightly inferior to his own.

She had shoulder-length hair, short sleeves and long pants, fairly obvious freckles on either side of her nose, and a blue-and-white backpack slung over her shoulders.

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