Eldritch Horror Theatre

Inside the classroom, Fu Qian quietly examined himself.

There was a reason for his earlier conclusion.

Setting aside the bizarre sensation from earlier, he could still feel a certain stiffness in his limbs, as if a thin layer separated him from his own flesh.

And if his guess was right, the nature of his mission had undoubtedly changed.

Had it gone from hiding an anomaly within himself to hiding his anomalous self?

He previously thought he would be fighting through an illness, forced to complete a task while parasitized. Now, it seemed things were far worse than he had imagined.

[Current mission updated: Maintain a normal state. Survive within the school until sunrise the following day.]

The mission prompt chimed again, presenting a new objective.

Maintain a normal state? Did that mean acting exactly as he was now?

Fu Qian subconsciously glanced out the window.

Unfortunately, it was pitch black outside. Coupled with the glare on the glass, he couldn't see a thing from where he sat.

Fu Qian withdrew his gaze, tried to relax his body, and quietly observed his surroundings.

The blackboard, the podium, the unpainted wood-grain desks.

No matter how he looked at it, this was a perfectly normal university study room. Aside from being a little dated, nothing seemed out of place.

There were even lecture notes open on the desk in front of him. Everything appeared completely ordinary.

Furthermore, it had to be summer. The heat was unusually stifling, and the ceiling fan whirring overhead provided almost no relief.

Wait, what was this?

Fu Qian suddenly noticed something tucked beneath his notebook.

He pulled it out and found a thick hardcover book.

The black cover was heavily battered, and the pages were yellowed and brittle. The title was so faded it was entirely illegible.

It was clearly quite old. There was even an old-fashioned Library Card tucked between the pages as a bookmark.

What was this?

Fu Qian flipped straight to the bookmarked page and found a striking black-and-white illustration.

The drawing depicted what looked like a centipede. Formed from numerous segments and sporting long, slender legs, its body twisted into an S-shape.

The linework was incredibly simple, yet at a glance, it looked inexplicably lifelike.

Could this be me?

The thought instantly leaped into Fu Qian's mind.

There was definitely a reason the bookmark had been left on this page. And if his earlier guess was right—if he truly was a pest occupying this body—then the possibility was quite high.

"Insect of filth... source of impurity..."

Fu Qian carefully deciphered the faded text beside the image, managing to make out only a tiny fragment.

Recalling the description in the mission briefing from earlier, there seemed to be a similar phrasing.

If that were true, it was quite terrifying.

This meant... Fu Qian flipped to the end and found that the book was several hundred pages thick.

Just how many species were in here?

Could it be that reading this book will cause the corresponding pests to grow inside the body?

Fu Qian suddenly formed a bold theory.

To test his idea, he flipped to a few random pages and deliberately stared at each one for several minutes.

No unusual sensations arose.

Perhaps it's because I'm already infected?

Fu Qian silently guessed.

"Excuse me, could you not read that kind of thing in here?"

Someone spoke up from beside him, her tone tinged with displeasure.

Fu Qian turned around to see the female student sitting next to him frowning, her eyes glued to the book in his hands.

The currently open page displayed a creature resembling a snail. It possessed a spiral shell and a lamprey-like mouth at the top, devoid of any visible eyes.

In short, it was incredibly grotesque!

Fu Qian courteously closed the book.

Judging by how the counselor had addressed her earlier, her name seemed to be Liu Yi.

Like the others, she wasn't very old. Her features were sharp and clean, but the youthful naivety between her brows hadn't completely faded; she clearly didn't yet know how to mask her emotions.

Seeing Fu Qian close the book, Liu Yi's expression softened slightly, though she still looked somewhat indignant.

She has sharp eyes, but unfortunately, some things just shouldn't be stared at so carelessly.

Fu Qian ignored her. He first tested his body's flexibility, then braced his hands on the desk and hopped right out of his seat.

Under the watchful eyes of the classroom, Fu Qian pulled open the door and stepped out into the Corridor.

Based on the mission details, he was certain this night would not be peaceful.

He hadn't been able to see outside clearly from the classroom, but as he pressed his face to the glass in the Corridor, Fu Qian found that it really was unnaturally dark out.

Not only was there no moonlight or starlight, but a thick, heavy fog even seemed to be rolling through the darkness.

This building was an old-fashioned academic hall. The windows were high and small, and the hallway lights cast a dim, sickly yellow glow.

Coupled with the fact that there wasn't a single soul in the Corridor right now, the clear echoes of his footsteps made the entire hallway feel inexplicably eerie. It felt as though the darkness outside was already seeping in.

Staying out here was not a good idea.

Fu Qian silently made his judgment and turned back to reenter the classroom.

Though he had only been gone for a few minutes, the classroom seemed even quieter than before.

Everyone was methodically going about their own business, completely ignoring Fu Qian's coming and going. Not a single person raised their head.

"Where did the counselor go?"

Frowning slightly, Fu Qian suddenly posed the question to a student near the door.

He had originally intended to return straight to his seat to pack up, but the scene before him felt inexplicably wrong.

"Out."

The person he addressed was a short, chubby male student. Hearing the question, the boy looked up at Fu Qian and answered in a completely flat tone.

"Which way did he go?"

"To the right."

The student, who had already lowered his head again, looked back up with a wooden expression upon hearing Fu Qian's second question.

Something was definitely wrong!

Not only was this boy's tone so flat it lacked any emotion, but the people around them also showed zero reaction to their conversation. Everyone was still engrossed in their own tasks, which completely defied common sense!

From beginning to end, only Liu Yi, sitting not far away, had glanced up twice, seemingly puzzled by their exchange.

In the entire classroom, she was actually the only one behaving somewhat normally.

However, she clearly hadn't noticed the abnormality yet, merely turning her head back to continue studying.

He needed to get out of here right now!

Seeing this, Fu Qian quickly made up his mind.

It was true that there were a lot of people here, but if the problem lay with the people themselves, then the most crowded places were undoubtedly the most dangerous.

Not to mention the risk of being discovered.

Fu Qian grabbed his bag and quickly packed his things, tossing the black-covered book inside as well.

"Are you heading back?"

Liu Yi, who had been paying attention to his movements all along, couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah. Didn't the counselor say earlier that I could go back and rest?"

Fu Qian slung his bag over his shoulder. He glanced at her and, after a moment of thought, added one last piece of advice.

"I just took a look outside, and the weather isn't looking too good. Honestly, you should head back early yourself."

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