Eldritch Horror Theatre

Standing back up after being shot was one thing. Standing up after taking a bullet to the head was entirely another.

Not to mention still being able to speak.

Through the bullet hole in the door, Fu Qian could clearly see Brother Peeker's face again. He confirmed that it was a bloody red mess, even riddled with fine wood splinters.

This proved the shot had landed perfectly, and that the gun even packed a decent punch.

Yet this exact detail quickly gave the entire situation a surreal tint. The victim would likely realize this soon as well.

"That hurts!"

Sure enough, before he even got a response, Brother Peeker froze. He subconsciously reached up to touch his head.

Thanks to that efficiency, he successfully felt a bloody hole in his face.

Judging by its healing speed, the wound would likely close up in the time it took to speak at most two more sentences.

"How... what's going on? I was definitely shot."

The victim was clearly stunned. He touched his face and body in disbelief, and at one point even looked up at the hole in the door, forgetting to take cover.

"Am I dreaming—"

Bang!

Unfortunately, this confusion was interrupted yet again. With another gunshot, his left shoulder was reduced to a bloody mess.

"Think again. Why do you have the Key?"

Having finished his assault, Fu Qian emphasized a different question this time.

...

This was the Inner World.

As the other side of the door fell silent once more, Fu Qian silently provided an answer in his mind.

Exactly. With such high-purity Transcendent Tier, what else could it mean?

Falling back on habitual thinking was indeed a mistake.

Most likely, he hadn't triggered any changes this time. Instead, from the very moment he arrived at this Art Prison, he was already inside the Inner World.

Forcing Brother Peeker to tag along certainly wasn't out of some twisted sense of humor, or just to maintain his villain persona.

His time was precious. How could he waste it on something like that?

He had brought along the only living person he had encountered so far in the Art Prison to explore for one reason—he was the only living person.

If he finished investigating this place and found nothing, what then?

Without enough information to go on, this was a guaranteed possibility, and Fu Qian never ignored such things.

As for the answer to that problem—just leave? Move on to the next location?

It seemed reasonable enough, like carefully avoiding danger while investigating the truth.

But he couldn't forget the task requirement: he had to do it before the Old Hunter.

This was a racing game. Based on his previous investigations, he knew his competitor had a high probability of finding ways to maneuver in the Inner World.

Under these circumstances, if he merely followed the routine Hake had imagined for him, no matter how meticulously he searched, he would theoretically still be missing an entire dimension of information.

Exactly. If his competitor could obtain extra information from the Inner World while he couldn't, how could he possibly get ahead?

Rely on luck?

It wasn't impossible, but such wonderful, naive imagination shouldn't exist in a professional task runner.

That was why the question Fu Qian had been thinking about on the way here was, if necessary, who could help him enter the Inner World.

Avoiding danger because there was danger was a choice even a paramecium would make. This trip would very likely require pulling chestnuts from the fire.

What was comforting, however, was that the moment he entered this place, not only had he locked onto a suspicious location, but a volunteer had even delivered himself to his door.

Forcing Brother Peeker to follow him the entire way had been for this exact purpose: to apply a stimulus when necessary, and try to have him help switch scenes.

This was also why he had maintained an unfathomable image the entire time, without asking too many detailed questions that would reduce his mystery.

He hadn't forgotten that based on previous experience, once he successfully entered, he would still be in the state of an ordinary person. When that time came, what would he use to keep the man under control?

Especially since his earlier guess was clearly correct. The gun had already been proven quite ineffective—in just this short span of time, the wound on Brother Peeker's face was practically healed.

As for the hole in his shoulder, it wasn't growing back quite as fast. Instead, a tiny hand as skinny as a chicken claw squeezed its way out from it...

In summary, life indeed always brought surprises. It seemed there was a very high probability he wouldn't even need to make a move; he had stepped right into the Inner World from the very beginning.

"I, I don't know... it was right in my pocket—ah!"

Unfortunately, despite clearly having gained super strength, the victim's acceptance level was still a bit lacking at the moment, his voice full of terror and bewilderment.

And that final scream seemed to be because he had successfully discovered the little hand on his shoulder.

"You don't have pockets."

Yet even though he was already this miserable, Fu Qian still did not let him off, instantly pointing out the loophole in his words.

...

This wasn't nonsense.

Perhaps it was a special artistic style, or perhaps to act like a gecko, but Brother Peeker was wearing quite a tight-fitting outfit.

It was visibly quite elastic, so it shouldn't be too uncomfortable.

But honestly, looking at it, there really wasn't any place to store things.

This was also why Fu Qian had been so curious about the Key from the very start.

Having a desire to resist was completely normal. Given his own actions, even if he were truly trapped to die down there, it could only be called serving justice on behalf of heaven. Therefore, Fu Qian did not mind Brother Peeker's approach.

What truly warranted attention was the increasingly bizarre sights along the way, making him start questioning the nature of the world.

Perhaps Brother Peeker's reaction was very normal, but he hadn't forgotten Jean in the previous Inner World. She had displayed the same mindset of a normal person and hadn't realized she was in a deeper world.

Therefore, he still had to rely on his own sensitivity. Ultimately, by risking getting his head blown off, Brother Peeker had helped prove a certain suspicion—that the Transcendent Tier had actually been present the entire time.

"Right... I don't have pockets."

Enlightened by these words, the victim finally seemed to realize something. While muttering to himself, he could be seen examining his own body.

After some fumbling yielded no results, Brother Peeker suddenly seemed to grasp something at a certain moment, and his sharp fingers forcefully dug deeper into his own flesh and blood.

Clatter...

Amidst that peculiar sound, an entire ring of keys was actually torn right out from within.

A human inventory? To think he had even mastered a trick like this.

As a flesh and blood professional, Fu Qian watched in continuous admiration for a moment.

The only pity was that, in that fleeting glimpse, he hadn't spotted a single white key among them.

But that didn't matter.

"What on earth is going on? What on earth is going on—"

On the other side, Brother Peeker, who was currently excavating himself, already appeared somewhat crazed, as if he might tear his surroundings to shreds at any moment.

Crash!

Amidst a piercing sound, that door really was ripped to pieces, though Fu Qian remained completely unharmed.

A moment earlier, he had already turned around to head deeper inside.

"Keep Overthinking. Take your time."

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