Eldritch Horror Theatre

Phew—

Though the sound was extremely faint, the old man clearly breathed a slight sigh of relief as he took in the bar's orderly interior.

He had clearly braced himself for a Mental Shock before opening the door. Finding such an ordinary scene was a profound relief.

He didn't turn on the lights, however. Peering into the gloom, he remained cautious, keeping his gun drawn.

Click!

Not only that, but a moment later, he stepped inside and reached back to shut the door behind him.

Still, nothing moved. Hake's pace wasn't fast, but it was steady as he searched his way inward.

Fu Qian naturally knew the bar's layout by heart. He could easily calculate that the old man would reach the Old Hunter's seat in just a few more steps.

Phew—

That was right. The Old Hunter wasn't there. He hadn't hidden, nor had he dissolved into Hake's subconscious to temporarily merge with him.

Fu Qian was so certain of that last point because, from his perspective, he could clearly see the Old Hunter still sitting right where he had been, wearing a look of sheer astonishment.

The very moment Hake had entered the door, the two worlds that had drawn so close suddenly peeled apart into distinct layers, creating an intense sense of temporal and spatial Dislocation.

And that wasn't even the only change. At the exact moment the Old Hunter's ability failed, Fu Qian seemed to hear the walls shattering.

Everything rapidly grew fragile and brittle, quickly turning illusory.

The Inner World was collapsing.

...

He really was just a tool. It seemed he hadn't even been notified that the match was over.

It wasn't surprising that the Old Hunter had followed them all the way here. If Hake could do it, why couldn't he? Especially to these kinds of special locations.

Don't forget that from the Old Hunter's perspective, Fu Qian was still just helping him out as a hired hand.

That was why Fu Qian had waited until they left the vicinity of the Art Prison before asking Dennis where their car was.

It was just a pity that despite tracking them all the way here, he clearly still hadn't found anything, leading to his slightly extreme reaction.

This was also why Fu Qian had deduced earlier that if Hake were truly pulled into the Inner World, things might not go too well for him.

He could, for example, have some overwhelmingly strong mental brand forced directly into his mind.

Fortunately, it now seemed that threat had left him—permanently.

As the Old Hunter abruptly stood up, the state of the Inner World became increasingly abstract.

Not only did it seem impossible for their paths to intersect again, but even the structure of the Inner World itself was plunging into chaos.

Overlapping illusions made it feel as if one could take in everything at a single glance.

And the most visually striking thing among it all was a colossal tree.

It was magnificent, hideous, reaching from the heavens to the earth... but none of that was particularly special.

The most eye-catching feature was its long, slender roots, which grew wildly like branches and leaves as they stretched into the sky.

It really was an Inverted Tree?

For Fu Qian, it was as if a picture from his imagination had finally been rendered into reality.

Furthermore, he could easily confirm that the giant tree was growing right over by the Art Prison, which seemed to verify his earlier speculations about the theme of this world.

The Inverted Tree was the root of it all. There truly was such an entity, one that had triggered the tragedy of this decaying town.

Everything had warped and rotted around it, right up until two ignorant youths stumbled into this place.

...

He had to admit, this way of summarizing things wasn't bad. Mere words would have a hard time conveying it so vividly.

Offering this generous appraisal, Fu Qian, who was quietly watching everything, soon noticed another anomaly—the Old Hunter was staring blankly at something.

That spot was indeed a bit bizarre. Compared to everything else, it possessed an unusual clarity—a car?

Fu Qian easily recognized it, finding it incredibly familiar.

Pink, neat, and exquisite... that's right, it was Rachel and her husband's car.

By contrast, however, its interior was far less pleasant.

A familiar face lay slumped inside, utterly devoid of life.

Rachel... so her Inner World counterpart had died after all?

And it didn't even look like she had died from being caught up with Yi Wen or the Old Hunter.

Although the car was indeed located near the Art Prison, compared to the other bizarre things in the Inner World, Rachel's corpse had distinctly few inhuman marks on it.

It gave the impression that she must have found release much earlier.

Most importantly, the corpse was sitting in the passenger seat.

Ed?

In that moment, Fu Qian easily pictured the scene—two wills trapped in the Inner World, still instinctively locked in a love-hate relationship.

To the point that Ed had even driven his wife to the place where she pursued her dreams, but ultimately couldn't suppress the surging resentment of the Inner World, leading to an explosive conflict where he killed her.

So that was why Rachel subconsciously didn't want to go home? Because of certain Shadows reflected in her subconscious?

As Fu Qian recalled his earlier doubts regarding Rachel's behavior, he felt as though they had finally been answered.

Of course, those were just details. The next question was, why was this place so special?

Everywhere else was blurry, yet this spot was clear? And the Old Hunter was staring at it blankly—the Key.

At a certain moment, Fu Qian noticed a familiar glint.

Compared to the pristine car, the key inserted in the ignition seemed excessively worn, and it was even more familiar than the car itself.

That's right, it was the key to Dennis's beaten-up car. Fu Qian was confident he wouldn't mistake it.

So this was why, as everything collapsed, only this spot remained clear?

Just like a game ending and revealing the answer to the loser?

As for why the key was inserted there?

Faced with this unbelievable scene, Fu Qian simply gave a slight nod.

That young woman named Emily seemed to have quite a flair for art as well.

...

Unlike the outside, there was no passage leading out of the Underground in the Inner World, which meant that if Emily wanted to leave, she could only retrace her steps...

And if she walked into the courtyard and saw such a scene, how would she feel?

On one hand, under the influence of that tree, she might not necessarily feel much fear. On the other, would she relate it to herself and realize the immense futility of life?

And she just so happened to be holding a key she didn't know what to do with.

Pulling out the original and replacing it with her own, completing a piece of performance art?

Although it was abstract, Fu Qian could easily imagine the sequence of events, clicking his tongue in marvel.

Of course, whether that was actually the case or not didn't affect the Old Hunter's mood.

The answer had been right in front of him, yet he had completely failed to notice it—just like when Fu Qian first entered Rachel's studio.

The core of this competition really seemed to lie in empathizing with the minds of the youth.

Additionally, that Emily really was ruthless. She had likely been tortured after being caught, yet despite knowing exactly where the key was, she stubbornly toyed with her tormentors.

She was truly rebellious to the core, full of defiant energy.

Creak—

While he pondered, the Old Hunter's regrets—and everything else in the Inner World—vanished without a trace.

The last image Fu Qian saw was Hake standing frozen in front of an open wardrobe, seemingly lost in bewilderment at the world.

Neat and conservative, it clearly held a set of women's clothes hanging inside.

Perhaps he recognized something that reminded him of the scene from this morning?

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