Eldritch Horror Theatre

The progress was ideal, but the situation was dire.

If it truly was the latter possibility and they were already standing in the Inner World, then his competitor might be a bit inflexible, but he had to admit that the other party had retained their Combat Power remarkably well.

Executing a seamless shift between the Real World and the Inner World—while flawlessly playing the part of a teenage girl—proved that his competitor was not only in good shape, but also had a firm grasp on traveling between dimensions.

As for why he was so certain they were currently in the Inner World?

Aside from his earlier deduction that the Real World exerted a massive suppressing effect on the supernatural—without which this task probably wouldn't even exist—he actually had a secondary detector. Even though he had left Rachel behind, that dangerous gamble of pulling chestnuts from the fire back at the Art Prison was finally paying off.

The hand he had just shown Tina was far from feeling as fine as he made it look.

If the pain from before had made him want to chop the hand off entirely, the current sensation had completely surpassed the realm of ordinary discomfort.

It felt as though the neural signals he sent it were being intercepted. While it wasn't paralyzed, the sheer effort required to make the hand perform a basic movement was on a completely different magnitude.

If that could still be chalked up to a case of "if left untreated, it will only worsen," the sensory feedback he was receiving was even more bizarre.

If he kept avoiding treatment like this, he felt he might just evolve into a legendary treant.

And this strange sensation had appeared the moment they stepped into this place.

"I understand how you feel. Please believe me, I'm just as eager to find him."

Having swiftly deduced the dire situation they were in, Fu Qian finally responded to the determined "Emily," nodding as he made the promise.

"So, are you coming with us?"

...

"Of course she's coming. Were you planning to just leave her here?"

The solemn promise from a police officer seemed to touch Emily deeply, and she stared at him in silence for a moment.

Tina, however, clearly found the question strange and couldn't understand why Fu Qian would even ask it.

They had gone through so much trouble to find her. Was he seriously going to let a girl this young keep running around on her own?

Coming to a place like this and doing the things she did—her mental state was already alarming enough.

"No need. And it's best if you don't follow me, either."

Yet right after speaking, the girl in question proved Tina's point once again.

Staring intently at Fu Qian, Emily flat-out rejected the invitation and turned to leave.

Huh?

Tina clearly disagreed and almost reached out to grab her, but froze a second later, pinned in place by the girl's piercing glare.

"Aren't you going to do something?"

Helpless, she looked over at Fu Qian, gesturing for him to actually fulfill his duties as a police officer.

"It's understandable. Even the police aren't always reliable. They might just talk a big game and then brush you off the moment you turn away."

To her shock, Fu Qian casually delivered a scathing critique of his own profession.

"Besides, since you two ran away, I'm guessing you aren't in any rush to go back."

Nodding slightly, Fu Qian seemed entirely sympathetic to Emily's choice.

"Can I ask why the two of you decided to sneak out in the first place? Was it your idea, or Dennis's?"

Not only that, he actually began probing into the runaway teenager's state of mind right there on the spot.

"It's nothing... I just think everyone is a piece of shit."

Logically, she seemed like the last person who would accept a makeshift therapy session. Yet Emily, who had looked thoroughly impatient just a moment ago, hesitated briefly before answering.

"Including myself."

And unlike most people, while she despised everything around her, she didn't shy away from her own self-loathing.

He had to admit, a mindset like that made her bizarre behavior seem much more reasonable.

"What about Dennis?"

With no hint of doubt or mockery in his voice, Fu Qian's next question was rather pointed.

"Him? He doesn't know a thing."

Even though this was the companion she had just sworn to bring back with her, Emily couldn't help but roll her eyes at his mention. It wasn't a glowing review—but at least he wasn't a piece of shit.

Good and bad were relative. Strictly speaking, this evaluation was actually higher than Emily's self-assessment.

It was a perfectly vivid portrayal of a rebellious teenage girl's mindset—which meant the Emily of the Inner World had likely met a grim end.

As he silently applauded the performance, Fu Qian couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He wasn't bored enough to start playing the role of a spiritual mentor, of course. He was merely giving his competitor a chance to perform.

For a police officer, asking those questions earlier was indeed a bit strange.

But for a "White Key Searcher," wasn't it entirely reasonable?

There was a reason for Emily's strange reaction.

In that moment, the person playing her might have experienced a brief lapse regarding their identity.

As for why he would invite disaster when he clearly knew how dangerous the situation was?

Staying true to one's original aspiration wasn't just empty talk.

For Fu Qian, his objective had never wavered: communicate with his potential competitors and extract any information that could help him find the White Key—even at the risk of helping them find it first.

It was an open scheme against an open scheme. The Old Hunter had gone to great lengths to set up this reception desk, and there was no way it was just a simple ploy to mobilize the police.

He was certain that no matter who stepped into this place, the Old Hunter would heavily suspect their true identity.

And for Fu Qian, playing the role of a rookie cop flawlessly was easy, but the other party would inevitably react to him as they would a rookie cop.

That was why he hadn't minded exposing the issue with his hand right from the start.

On one hand, if the injury truly possessed a supernatural nature within the Inner World, he might not have been able to hide it from the Old Hunter anyway.

On the other hand, what he truly wanted was a deeper level of interaction.

Of course, he still needed to carefully moderate his approach.

After all, based on the information he currently had, there was no guarantee the other party hadn't received hints similar to his own.

Indeed, given that he had been through this more than once, Fu Qian harbored his own suspicions regarding the Old Hunter's true identity.

If the man was truly another senior capable of receiving "guidance," then exposing himself would undoubtedly be highly dangerous.

As everyone knew, if you wanted to win a competition, you could be faster, higher, and stronger—or you could just shoot your opponent, which was far more efficient.

In summary, it was best to increase the "Depth" of their interaction one step at a time.

For example, he had first arrived under the guise of a police officer, and he hadn't been killed on the spot.

To a certain extent, that proved the other party hadn't set this "trap" solely to lure and kill victims.

Extorting information, driving others, and then using them to track down the "White Key"—there was a high probability that this more fundamental goal was part of the plan.

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