Eldritch Horror Theatre

Disbelief also required a reason, especially from Classmate Liushuang, who had just answered the question.

As an established member of the Academy, much like Professor Lisa, the probability that her assigned role intersected with his own was clearly higher than the others'.

In other words, even if she had appeared here solely because of him, without any premeditated plan to rescue or silence him, Classmate Liushuang's relationship with him should still be relatively deep.

For her to show such obvious distrust toward his statement under these circumstances struck Fu Qian as a clear anomaly.

So why the disbelief, especially when the speaker's past track record was verifiable? Because that very person had told her not to believe it.

Fu Qian had thought up the first two questions well in advance, but asking the third in such a manner had been a spur-of-the-moment decision based on the answers he received.

Classmate Liushuang's answer in particular had taken a previous conclusion and deepened it a step further.

Since the social relations among these people seemed to have been forcibly erased, deducing that their presence here stemmed from their bonds with Professor Fu was entirely reasonable.

But was it possible that this bond was far more specific than imagined? What if they all shared some sort of prior agreement with Professor Fu, or even a past conversation?

...

Yes, it was just that straightforward.

Seeing Classmate Liushuang answer so decisively, this was Fu Qian's immediate reaction.

No one could negate him more easily than himself. The simplest explanation was that a deep-rooted phrase had been planted in Classmate Liushuang's mind: Professor Fu had once told her that if he later claimed he wanted to go to the Sanctuary, it would be a lie—a mere act—and she shouldn't believe him.

If that were truly the case, he could only conclude that this task had incredibly low standards.

Not only had it haphazardly altered social relationships, but it had also planted a highly subversive mental imprint into key figures ahead of time.

All of his attempts would be misread through a filter. "Professor Fu" was forever sabotaging "Professor Fu's" plans...

Taking it a step further, was Classmate Liushuang really the only one implanted with this mental imprint?

Aside from why they had come, he had previously been pondering another question: as a group each harboring their own motives, what was the current goal of these ladies?

At the start of the task, his identity had been set as a prisoner about to be escorted to the Sanctuary. If everyone firmly believed he didn't want to go there, could their presence here be precisely to stop that from happening?

The ladies were all here to "save" him...

These thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind. When Fu Qian's gaze swept over the group again, all the previous disharmonies suddenly made sense. Even...

Turning his head had already become incredibly strenuous. Fu Qian could only use his peripheral vision to look at the Handcuffs that remained unlocked, and at the silent hunter sitting beside him.

Even Wen Li.

Was she really here to escort him to the Sanctuary?

Or was it exactly as a fleeting thought had suggested earlier—merely protective imprisonment to guarantee his safety to the greatest extent?

After successfully passing through the checkpoints, would she just send her captive somewhere else entirely?

"This is all I can do."

Even so, Wen Li seemed to notice his gaze.

First, she shook her head with some effort, signaling that she couldn't answer the third question. Then, she added a deeply meaningful sentence.

...

You've already done a lot.

Some words were hard to grasp without being personally on the scene. For example, without those earlier counter-intuitive deductions, Wen Li's current statement would undoubtedly seem quite obscure.

But once he put himself in her shoes, he could clearly feel the weight behind it.

She had also received his prior instructions, only that due to the chaotic situation and his continuous performance, she had finally begun to doubt herself.

For a Psychic Type user, that was undoubtedly a painful sensation, to say nothing of the guilt of failing Professor Fu's entrusted task.

Yet while enduring this mental struggle, she had continued to match wits with everyone, eventually adapting to the circumstances to produce the very method playing out before them.

The wantonly flowing pleasure was extremely dangerous, to be sure, but it could slightly lower the barriers between people, helping them discern their true inner feelings, and thereby breaking the Mental Seal.

Putting one's heart and soul into a task was exactly like this...

Additionally, Wen Li's condition did indeed seem quite poor. The way she looked at people was a bit peculiar.

"Feeling unwell?"

Fu Qian offered a word of concern.

"There's not much time left."

Wen Li nodded, continuing to emphasize the point.

Sure enough. Perhaps mortal eyes couldn't see much right now, but his past memories were still there.

As early as when she had advanced to the Mid Tier, Eve, hidden within her, had gazed outward through her eyes, giving off a similar feeling.

So detonating the pleasure really did come with a price? The true self within Wen Li seemed to be awakening faster.

...

So was this why his abilities had been restricted? Because fundamentally, this was a battle between Professor Fu and Professor Fu?

Having his guess faintly verified yet again by Wen Li's reaction, Fu Qian couldn't help but sigh inwardly. As expected, none of the tasks numbered 1 were easy to deal with.

If even this hunter was a loyalist pretending to be a rebel, then there was truly no reason not to suspect the others.

So was it possible that this room full of acquaintances had all arrived carrying the mission to save Professor Fu?

Striving to use every means possible to ensure he wasn't captured and taken into the Sanctuary.

And because their relationships with one another had been atomized, everyone was an object of suspicion; they might even view each other as obstacles to completing their respective missions.

Therefore, everyone was hiding their intentions, and everyone was trying their hardest—except for Excellency Nepheli.

Her relatively transcendent nature made her less invested in what needed to be done, which explained her teasing behavior.

Even Professor Lisa's act of poisoning him without a second word now seemed to have a plausible motive—being trapped in the Dark Sanctuary was still better than being taken to the Sanctuary.

To be honest, this simple, brutal style really was a bit like her.

The problem was that all this individual initiative actually ran contrary to Professor Fu's own goals.

The end result was that the harder they tried, the more tragic it became. Thanks to his everyday teachings to them, Professor Fu would never see the day he arrived at the Sanctuary.

To complete the task, he truly had to eke out an existence in the margins—but there was no rush. He wasn't dead yet, was he?

Even his specially appointed employee from The Bookstore hadn't spoken up yet.

"Do you still have the strength to go out?"

His gaze landing on Su Gao's face, Fu Qian didn't press her for her thoughts on the third question, instead asking a rather abrupt new one.

"Yes, but only me."

For Su Gao, this question actually didn't seem too difficult to answer.

Gesturing toward the doors of the Church, she straightforwardly indicated that going out alone was still something she could manage.

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