Eldritch Horror Theatre

'Isn't this path to freedom a little too dark?'

There was no free fall. Fu Qian realized he was still standing firmly on the ground; he had simply lost his vision.

Crystal was right. The moment he fully stepped through the door, the change happened instantly.

He didn't feel any real discomfort. Everything was simply submerged in darkness.

Considering his ocular structures were perfectly fine, Fu Qian leaned toward the explanation that he was in some sort of dark room.

Of course, he wasn't going to hastily jump to the conclusion that this was the Witch's Lightless Night.

Jumping to grandiose conclusions when a simple lack of light could explain things was a severe waste of mental resources.

He didn't even try to turn on a light. Instead, he took a few steps, strolling through the darkness guided only by the feeling beneath his feet.

It was an undeniably unpleasant sensation. His Transcendent Perception was already isolated, and now he had lost his sight on top of it.

Indeed, the enlightenment seemed to have been a success. After crossing the Gate of Freedom, the goat-headed demon had genuinely gained its freedom, vanishing in an instant.

The Amber gifted by Excellency Crystal was still there, however, showing no strange reactions.

Tap!

At a certain point, Fu Qian's empty hand knocked against something, and he immediately stopped walking.

The texture was quite ordinary, but he could tell from the sound that it was made of wood. Even the shape—Tap! Tap!

Fu Qian tapped his fingers through the dark, knocking twice more.

It was indeed a Deck Chair.

Sighing inwardly at the discovery, Fu Qian simply continued forward, following a specific layout from his memory.

After taking another ninety-degree turn, his hand pressed accurately against a wall.

'Is it really Room 802?'

The layout perfectly matched his memory. Fu Qian took a few more steps, and the next moment he sank into something soft; he had even found himself a sofa.

It was a pity, though. In the end, the Prophet didn't step forward for a friendly chat.

Indeed, this place seemed to be the very Prophet's Residence that had disappeared.

He had clearly stepped outside the door, yet he had somehow arrived inside? The situation was growing increasingly bizarre.

...

Crystal and the others might be anxious about whether the Gate of Freedom was real.

But for Fu Qian, he never really had that doubt.

After all, he had once been the Attending Physician for Ji Feng, the master of the Unseen Hill.

And the final treatment plan last time had been very clear: through talk therapy, make Ji Feng accept the premise that the new era was just an illusion, and the essence of Unseen Hill remained the same.

Therefore, Fu Qian had known from the start that there was no new era. He was merely curious about what kind of deception lay behind the door.

As well as the true intentions of the person who wrote that line.

[Containment Fulfillment Conditions: End the Darkest Night]

Facts proved that deceptions weren't always entirely bad. Just as Fu Qian sat quietly pondering on the sofa, a sound broke the tranquility.

...

'Is it finally here?'

The Containment Fulfillment Conditions for this mission had taken an excruciatingly long time to appear.

Moreover, their content didn't look simple either.

'End the Darkest Night?'

It was quite fitting for the pitch-black darkness around him.

But Fu Qian wasn't naive enough to think that switching on a lightbulb would solve it. It would likely require world-altering methods.

Besides, that wasn't what interested him the most. What Fu Qian was actually curious about was why the Containment Conditions had appeared at this specific time.

It might seem like a boring question, but he had somewhat figured out the Warehouse's habits by now.

Some things appeared random, but they essentially followed certain patterns, such as the designation number of the Containment Object this time.

And for Fu Qian, a certain question had been on his mind for a long time—what exactly was the reason for these situations where the prompt was delayed after entering a mission?

The Warehouse had clearly sent the person in. Yet in a situation where every second counted, it often allowed them to move freely for a while.

Was it under some restriction? Or was it to save energy?

Just like how mission summaries required more exploration to be detailed, did the administrator need to touch upon certain elements during the mission to naturally draw out the prompt?

This explanation sounded reasonable enough, but it inevitably raised a question—what if he never encountered those elements?

Take the current situation, for example. At first glance, the trigger conditions didn't seem harsh.

After all, this door was so conspicuous in the Unseen Hill. As long as one's strength permitted it, stepping inside to take a look was just human nature.

But he couldn't forget a minor detail.

He had actually been inside for a while, yet the mission prompt had only just appeared.

Even though his Mechanical Ring couldn't be brought in for timing, Fu Qian was still very certain that exactly one minute had passed since he entered.

With such an overly precise timeframe, it was hard not to interpret it as one of the trigger elements.

'So the prompt appears after staying behind the door for one minute? What meaning could that have?'

'It can't be that the Warehouse needs time to calculate, right?'

'Or perhaps—the trigger condition is staying in the absolute darkness behind the door for a full minute?'

Exactly. A professional always paid attention to details. Although stumbling around in the dark was an impromptu act, Fu Qian still didn't forget to take it into consideration.

'But if that is really the reason, wouldn't it be a bit too harsh?'

'It's hard to imagine anyone else sharing my refined tastes. Wouldn't that mean most people wouldn't even be able to trigger the Containment Fulfillment Conditions?'

'Or I could introduce another explanation: there is more than one trigger point, and the Warehouse flexibly calculates based on the administrator's actions...'

"Let there be light."

Amidst his thoughts, Fu Qian snapped his fingers, activating the Commandment Residue.

Surging radiance instantly swept away the darkness, illuminating his vision.

...

Just as he'd thought, he wasn't blind. Furthermore, it really was the Prophet's apartment.

The effect was outstanding. Highly satisfied, Fu Qian looked around.

The floor, the sofa, the Deck Chair... It really was the place he had visited twice before.

And although the Deck Chair was completely empty, the lake-view window beside it had impressively reappeared.

That's right. Not only was the Prophet absent, but even the door on the wall had disappeared.

'So what is this? Have I arrived in a lightless Unseen Hill?'

Fu Qian had already stood up and walked to the window, observing the outside through the somewhat dirty glass.

It was indeed a scene of darkness. He seemed to be the only light source in this entire world.

At the same time, he could clearly see that this room wasn't isolated; it was still firmly embedded in a building.

Except for being as dilapidated as the end of time, it was exactly the same as the place he came from.

'Is this really another Unseen Hill? One drowned in eternal darkness?'

Considering that this place was already suspected to be the materialization of Brother Ji Feng's will, this kind of nesting doll setup wasn't too bizarre.

However, Fu Qian still thought of a small problem. No matter what, he wasn't the first to enter that door. Where did the others who longed for freedom go?

Like the enlightened goat-headed demon, for example.

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