Eldritch Horror Theatre

Had Emily left? As if.

The fact that Rachel couldn't see her proved nothing. After all, there was a high probability they existed in entirely different dimensions.

But putting himself in her shoes, it was hard to imagine walking away after crossing paths with someone so bizarre.

That was why his conversation with Tina along the way had practically assumed a third party was listening in.

As for the little coin-flipping game just now, its main purpose had been to test whether that listener was still around.

How exactly had the Old Hunter managed to pull him and Tina into the Inner World without them even noticing?

At first glance, it might have seemed similar to the situation at the Art Prison. But after observing the area, there was a clear reason for the prison's uniqueness: the Inverted Tree grew there.

Just like in so many disaster stories, the Art Prison could be considered, to some extent, the source of everything—the reason this "dying" town was exhibiting such bizarre anomalies.

A mad artist had inadvertently brushed against something unimaginable—or at least believed he had.

The difference between the Real World and the Inner World was simply a matter of success versus failure.

Consequently, the residents of each world suffered different effects.

The Inner World was already utterly devastated, like a toilet that had violently exploded after someone played around with it.

Meanwhile, because the Transcendent Tier was strictly suppressed in the Real World, the place hadn't been physically stained by the filth. However, the adverse mental influences had still bled through via the Anchor Point.

The most direct result was that right at the start of his task, he had been saddled with a sexy nurse straight out of an adult movie.

For Fu Qian, this was his most plausible theory regarding the relationship between the two worlds.

Operating on that logic, it made sense for the Art Prison to be uniquely affected, given that it was the source.

In contrast, the Old Hunter's seamless manipulation was an entirely different beast.

The exact mechanics were hard to fathom, but if the Old Hunter had genuinely been clawing his way through the Inner World, mastering such a technique wouldn't be all that surprising.

What really intrigued Fu Qian was the flawless execution—it was simply too natural.

After all, he had stepped into the Art Prison alone; there had been no point of reference.

The underlying reason he had brought Tina along this time was to ramp up the difficulty for any potential traps.

Yet they had still transitioned seamlessly. Their coordinates, their expressions, their clothes—nothing had changed.

It was the kind of development that would make anyone doubt a trap even existed in the first place.

While he had successfully proven that "Emily" was likely an imposter, that raised another question: did his previous Anchor Point theory still hold up?

Since the two worlds operated relatively independently, what were the odds that the Inner World's Tina just so happened to be in the exact same place at the exact same time?

Then came the most fatal flaw. He had previously assumed that, due to his unique constitution as a task runner, he could enter the Inner World without an Anchor Point. But from the perspective of the ambushing Emily, wouldn't he have simply popped into existence out of thin air?

If that were the case, why would she bother probing and testing him? She could have immediately realized something was wrong, turned up the pressure, and resorted to torture.

Exactly like what she had likely done to the real Emily.

In short, the psychological game surrounding this "trap" was far from over.

For one thing, there was a high probability the opponent wouldn't just leave. For another, they were clearly operating on a deeper level. There was a very real possibility that their previous display had just been them playing with him.

He might have appeared to be pressing the offensive, but in reality, he had been the one being strung along.

And under these circumstances, Rachel became a very interesting variable.

"If it's heads, you'll need to go inside and watch."

Fu Qian didn't rush to open his hand. Instead, he gave Rachel a wicked look, explicitly laying out the nerve-wracking consequences.

"But don't worry, I'll take you inside with me."

...

What would happen if he brought Rachel into the Inner World as well?

There were a few possibilities.

First: the transition would be as seamless as it had been with Tina, and nothing overtly strange would occur.

That was actually the trickiest scenario because it pointed to multiple conclusions. For instance, it could mean his earlier battle of wits had been directed at thin air, and he had been dealing with the real Emily all along.

Or, it could mean the Old Hunter truly was operating on a higher level—bold enough and smart enough to decisively disarm the trap and feed him this crude misdirection.

Or perhaps his entire theory regarding the Anchor Point was completely wrong, and the Old Hunter could pull anyone into the Inner World at will. If that were the case, the ensuing illusions and tricks would be incredibly difficult to see through.

Regardless of the explanation, the situation would become vastly more complicated.

The second possibility: Rachel would disappear halfway there, proving his earlier theory correct. The trap would be exposed, forcing a complete showdown.

The third possibility: they would walk in seamlessly, only to find the perpetually absent manager sitting right there, perfectly fine.

Both of the latter scenarios meant that "Emily's" performance had been for nothing, and her plan to play the oriole behind had failed. If that happened, her best option would be to simply kill him on the spot.

However, the ability to kill someone consisted of two parts: power, and the will to wield it.

It was highly likely the Old Hunter had the power to crush him directly, but Fu Qian doubted he had the nerve to make that call.

This was the conclusion he had reached after relentlessly pushing his luck, inch by inch.

Thus, when the coin was flipped, if the Old Hunter could observe the Real World across dimensions to some extent, he would most likely want Rachel to win—but she lost.

Generally speaking, that meant the coin had landed on heads.

Slowly opening his hand amidst the silence of the two women, Fu Qian revealed the final answer.

He had seemingly probed the limits of his opponent's abilities. The Old Hunter was either completely unable to observe the Real World, or he could observe it but lacked the power to influence it.

"Excellent."

Fu Qian was very satisfied with this outcome, though the two unwilling participants strongly disagreed.

"Stop messing around. I surrender," the winner, Tina, immediately protested, strongly demanding a surrender button.

"Alright."

Surprisingly, her request was instantly approved.

Ping—

Fu Qian flicked the coin into Rachel's hands and strode ahead.

"Your Lucky Coin. Don't lose it."

...

"We're going straight to my place?"

Rachel hadn't managed to catch it. After frantically picking the coin off the floor, she hurriedly chased after him.

Once she was in the driver's seat, her question sounded a little odd.

"Sure."

Fu Qian answered casually, his gaze fixed out the window.

So the mechanism behind this trap really was special, wasn't it?

Did it mean that any character from the Real World who entered would be forcibly positioned at their current location, regardless of where their Inner World counterpart had originally been?

Otherwise, it couldn't explain why his sudden appearance hadn't triggered any alarm bells.

If so, the Inner World's very existence leaned heavily toward the abstract, pushing its surreal nature to new heights.

"Keep going straight. We're heading to the prison first."

The car sped down the road in silence. At a certain point, Fu Qian suddenly turned his head to look at Rachel's pitiful side profile and signaled for a detour.

"I forgot something."

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