Eldritch Horror Theatre

Provoking the wrath of gods and men.

Not only were they withholding his wages, they had even gathered around to mock him for asking. They had absolutely no regard for the spirit of a contract.

Although the door remained shut and no one was in sight, the sudden burst of noisy laughter painted a vivid picture.

Coupled with what the Person Behind the Door had said, it was easy to picture a group of deadbeats lounging around, acting utterly shameless.

This had its pros and cons, of course. The formerly lifeless research institute was suddenly quite lively, for one.

"I actually think you should open the door..."

"And get my brains ripped out? Haha..."

"Why don't you open it? Afraid they'll find out you don't have a brain?"

The mockery wasn't just aimed at the wage-seeker. Even the guy behind the door was catching stray remarks, and the banter soon devolved into mutual attacks.

As for the supposed Scavenger outside the door, they weren't treating him like a peripheral member of the organization at all. They were discussing him as if he were an alien creature.

"I assume you heard that? Apologies, but for safety reasons, I can't open the door right now. Besides, I probably don't have any money for you to take anyway."

After the commotion died down, the Person Behind the Door finally spoke again. He politely apologized to Fu Qian while making it abundantly clear that the door was staying shut.

And that he absolutely did not have any money.

...

See? Whether the work was actually finished didn't matter at all. The guy hadn't even bothered using that as an excuse to avoid paying.

The Person Behind the Door was clearly brushing him off. Yet, Fu Qian didn't rush to resort to violence. If anything, this just validated his earlier work philosophy.

"That's fine. Spiritual wealth works too."

Having read a wide array of abstract literature, Fu Qian was well-versed in parables where twenty years of hard labor were rewarded with a little slip of paper containing life wisdom. He immediately waved off such vulgar, materialistic concerns.

Hmm...

This time, the Person Behind the Door seemed at a loss for words, and even the peanut gallery's laughter completely vanished.

"You really are different from them."

After a long pause, an enigmatic sigh drifted through the door. The Person Behind the Door seemed to have made a decision.

He still didn't open the door, but a nearby lampstand suddenly flared to life.

Considering it was an oil lamp, the light wasn't particularly bright. Still, the fact that it ignited on its own was somewhat magical.

But upon seeing the Silver Dot-Lines on it, it wasn't so hard to understand.

Regardless, the sudden illumination cast a stark light on the wage-seeker, stretching out a long shadow behind him.

"Them?"

Fu Qian watched this and asked casually.

"...What do you think?"

The Person Behind the Door was playing coy. It was exactly like handing someone a slip of paper with a life lesson on it, but demanding they wait until they got home to read it.

"Let me guess. The other Shadows weren't as bold about fighting for their rights?"

Unfortunately for the guy, as an expert who dabbled in a wide array of fields, no question was too abstract for Fu Qian.

He didn't even need time to think before firing back an answer.

...

That was right. The other "Shadows."

People always had a certain inertia to their thinking.

For example, since he had played a Scavenger sent to clean up a Shadow last time, it was natural to assume he was playing a similar role this time.

In essence, this was a form of intellectual laziness.

One might argue: didn't that mean he was being lazy right now?

Not at all. Let's not forget that he was the one who had voluntarily brought up the Scavenger identity in the first place.

The moment he appeared in this place and faced the Person Behind the Door's questioning, he had deliberately spoken in that tone.

But as everyone knew, it was rare for appearances to match reality these days. The more someone claimed an identity, the less believable it usually was.

Fu Qian had merely been testing the waters to see how the other party would react.

The way things had developed was quite interesting. Not only did the Person Behind the Door buy it completely, he even took the initiative to point the way.

Later on, when they discussed the purpose of the Olympiad Mathematics Research Institute, the man expressed shock that a peripheral member like Fu Qian didn't know about it. Yet, he still handed over an important commission without a second thought, asking him to find the lost notes.

While it was true that many people suffering from Etched Intellect weren't in the most stable state of mind, considering how things had progressed, Fu Qian seriously doubted whether those notes even existed.

That was exactly why he hadn't taken the job very seriously while searching the Back Room.

This naturally raised another question. What if the guy behind the door was just playing dumb? What if he was only pretending to believe Fu Qian was the incoming shift Scavenger?

If so, what did he really think Fu Qian's identity was?

Simple. Aside from the cleanup agent, wasn't there also the cleanup target?

...

Aside from researchers and Scavengers, who else would visit such a bizarre place?

In truth, Brother Receptionist had already given him the answer during the previous bout of Etched Intellect.

The cleanup target—the Shadow.

And according to him, it was capable of coming and going like a ghost. Although it was most likely to be found in The Lake, it could appear absolutely anywhere.

Putting himself in the researchers' shoes: an uninvited guest with an unfamiliar face suddenly showed up, and he didn't look like a peripheral member of the organization. What would they naturally suspect?

Of course, there was one glaring detail that made this theory seem completely absurd—he was perfectly fine. He wasn't invisible in the slightest.

Didn't that completely contradict the nature of a "Shadow"?

It made sense on the surface. But his experiences in the Back Room had led Fu Qian to a far more abstract hypothesis—

"Invisible" to whom?

If a shadow possessed free will, would it only see a shadow when it looked at itself?

There was a subtle logical trap here. Just because he could see himself didn't mean others could.

After all, the definition of "self" had always been quite special in the transcendent realm.

As for how the majestic King of the Abandoned Prison had suddenly been downgraded to some random public nuisance without even realizing it?

On one hand, it was naturally because his Transcendent Perception had been reduced to zero. On the other hand, one shouldn't forget a very recent precedent—hadn't His Excellency the Chief Judge also been downgraded?

The precedent had already been set, and that entity's Rank was certainly not low.

In short, Fu Qian had kept the possibility of being the "Shadow" in mind all along.

He had consistently used it as a starting point to deduce the true motives behind the researchers' behavior.

And when he had demanded a "spiritual reward" just now, the Person Behind the Door's reaction had carried the distinct flavor of a mocking hint.

A lit lamp casting a "shadow" on the ground.

"You really are unique... I'm starting to regret this. I should have chatted with you longer earlier."

Faced with his deduction, the Person Behind the Door's subsequent reaction was essentially a blatant confession.

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