Eldritch Horror Theatre

What a coincidence.

Fu Qian realized he actually did know a woman named Lasik.

The Recorder Old Man's voice remained emotionless, sounding even stiffer than during their earlier chat.

Yet this very robotic tone subtly confirmed that he no longer knew what he had recorded, relying entirely on his son to retrieve and dictate the information for him.

Combined with the phrase he had repeated earlier—"following in the footsteps of an old friend"—it was hard to believe this was a pure coincidence.

A figure with brown hair and a wide-brimmed hat naturally surfaced in Fu Qian's mind.

It was also one of the rare instances where the task summary hadn't been in text, but was presented as a real video recording.

That was right. 2-205, Virtue.

The task where he had incarnated as one of a group of young people, throwing away a perfectly good vacation to seek thrills.

She was like a character trapped in a movie, trying over and over to break free, only for all her exhaustive efforts to be in vain.

In the end, her very existence had completely collapsed, reducing to spots of mold on the videotape—which in turn had given him the chance to escape.

Had she actually been here before falling into that desperate situation?

If that were true, the underlying implications were staggering.

Was there a connection between this Sanitarium and that old mansion... or between this Containment Object and the Nightmare Corridor?

He hadn't forgotten that when he first returned from the Witch and broke through the Nightmare Corridor with the Warehouse's help, it proved that the reward he obtained from that task—the Decree of Return—was also a product of the Nightmare Corridor.

Working from that premise, the Virtue task had similarly restricted his abilities at the time.

Even the beginning of it gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Back then, he had opened his eyes trapped inside an Iron Maiden; this time, he was tied to a Chair. In both cases, he had lost his freedom and his vision...

Things really were spiraling out of control.

"What did she do?"

Setting his thoughts aside, Fu Qian pressed on.

Hmm...

This time, however, the father and son seemed to encounter some difficulty, remaining completely silent for a moment.

"Her record is lost."

Only after Fu Qian demonstrated plenty of patience did they finally give an answer, and a thoroughly unsatisfying one at that.

...

Lost? That sounded a bit too perfunctory.

Did that mean there was nothing left besides the date and the name?

Faced with the Recorder Old Man's answer, Fu Qian marveled inwardly, though he wasn't in a rush to express any dissatisfaction.

He had to look on the bright side. This might not have met his expectations, but it did evoke a faint sense of familiarity.

Based on his rich life experience, Fu Qian knew that when the atmosphere was built up only to come to an abrupt halt, the very next thing to pop up should be a prompt to pay for an unlock.

"Only a name? There's nothing else?"

But as a veteran gamer, Fu Qian obviously wasn't the type to be easily baited into mindlessly opening his wallet.

Raising an eyebrow, he indicated that the other party needed to show a bit more sincerity and let him inspect the goods first.

"Why? Why would it be lost?"

Yet the merchant's—bah!—the Recorder family's reaction was shocking. They sounded even more agitated than the customer whose appetite had just been whetted.

Shedding his rigid, mechanical tone, the old man sounded as if he were grinding his teeth, his voice carrying the despair of someone who had lost a single piece from a prized screwdriver set.

"Don't get so worked up. I can still take a look at the first-time top-up discount."

Since harmony fosters wealth, Fu Qian, as the customer, couldn't help but offer a word of comfort.

"Impossible! I definitely recorded it!"

Unfortunately, the merchant was already lost in his own world, turning a deaf ear to him.

"It's you! You definitely just haven't found it—could it have been placed somewhere else?"

The next moment, the old man's tone shifted. Seeming to realize something, he demanded an answer with unprecedented severity.

...

Sure enough, even a biological father and son couldn't avoid passing the buck at work.

Theoretically, there were only two conscious people in this room, and his own behavior had been far from friendly along the way.

Yet Fu Qian still didn't interpret the old man's words as a question directed at him.

As long as one had been paying attention to the context, it was easy to realize the old man was yelling at his own son.

The ghost who had died young, whom he had dredged up from the endless records.

Despite his own failing eyesight, he had decisively entrusted the young man with heavy responsibility, making him the retrieval officer of the Mind Library.

The old man had even been proudly praising him just a few sentences ago.

"Don't make excuses, this is the only possibility!"

Listening further, he could hear that the two were actually arguing.

The retrieval officer believed there was no issue with his work; the item was simply missing.

But the old man clearly couldn't accept such an excuse, even from his beloved son.

"I should go look for it myself? Is this your attitude? Just like when you went off to die on your own back then?"

As the argument continued, it became apparent that the young man couldn't bear the grievance and was ready to throw in the towel on the spot.

Faced with this irresponsible display, the strict father grew even more displeased.

His disappointment in his son was so profound that he dragged up ancient history.

"I'm sorry—I'm sorry, I'll look for it..."

However, it only lasted for a second. That sharp reproach seemed to hammer into his own heart, and the old man's momentum, which had peaked just a moment prior, collapsed entirely.

Not only did he apologize repeatedly, but his voice suddenly sounded decades older.

So it was suicide? That made the old man's reaction far more understandable.

Watching this scene unfold, Fu Qian felt almost embarrassed to be the information consumer.

It was as if his reluctance to top up his account had caused the merchants to turn on each other and flip their own stall.

Cough, cough—

In light of this, he cleared his throat, deciding to involve himself at least a little.

"How about I look for it?"

...

"You'll look for it?"

It was obvious that the Recorder Old Man froze for a moment before processing what Fu Qian had said.

His incredulous tone instantly reflected his attitude toward the idea.

"Since it's lost, it must have gone somewhere. Is there a problem with me looking for it?"

Completely unbothered by the other party's dismissiveness, Fu Qian scoffed, the corners of his mouth curving into a long-awaited smirk.

"Absolute nonsense. That's impossible—"

Unsurprisingly, even if he had been momentarily taken aback, the old man quickly declared that he was dreaming.

"Never mind that. Just tell me, if I find it, what kind of reward are you willing to pay?"

Unfortunately, he was instantly interrupted. Sitting with his back turned the entire time, Fu Qian could no longer conceal his aura; he cared only about the price they could offer.

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