Eldritch Horror Theatre

To be fair, she was a bit younger than Mrs. Tracy.

The woman under the light looked to be only in her thirties, her hair even shorter than the Hairpin Woman's.

Paired with her rather regular features, however, the cut didn't look out of place. Instead, it gave her a pleasant, crisp sharpness.

Of course, she might be younger, but in terms of pure looks, she still fell short of Mrs. Tracy.

But that crispness brought an extra layer of approachability, making her hard to dislike.

To think that someone like her would be plagued by a toothache—the contrast was rather stark, making him wonder what extraordinary cause lay behind it.

"Is that not allowed?"

Amid his silent appraisal, Fu Qian smiled and answered Madam Dark Room's question.

"That's your freedom. Who knows, Servis might be thrilled to see you like this."

Yet, the faint, unnatural twitch of her jaw subtly betrayed her.

Furthermore, Fu Qian could guarantee she had already noticed the damage to his clothes, but even now, she hadn't bothered to ask where their original owner had gone.

These reactions alone seemed enough to point toward a rather unusual mental state.

"Servis likes new patients?"

Naturally, what pleased him most was that she had voluntarily brought up the Attending Physician.

"No, he likes new conditions."

Madam Dark Room didn't seem to think much of the man, merely offering a cold scoff.

"If I suddenly swallowed my own fingers, he'd probably be thrilled, too."

...

That sounded surprisingly pure, actually.

Madam Dark Room might have a poor impression of the Attending Physician, but Fu Qian held a different perspective.

He didn't sound like someone just killing time here; rather, he seemed genuinely fascinated by the human mind.

It only deepened the mad doctor vibes.

And a place like this was practically his theme park.

Was Servis really the Director?

Whether he was or not, going by her words, Fu Qian's current situation was exactly what the Attending Physician would hope to see.

He was no longer waiting around in a daze to be spoon-fed, but had suddenly turned into a sociopath.

Madam Dark Room had a point.

"You're not even going to ask about my medical history? Isn't that a bit unprofessional?"

While Fu Qian pondered this, Madam Dark Room sat back down.

After studying his face for a moment, she finally couldn't help but speak up again.

"That sounds reasonable, and I'm sure it would be quite a story—so, did he ask?"

In response, Fu Qian gave a slight nod. Gesturing at his clothes, he took the initiative to bring up their original owner.

"You..."

Describing a medical history as 'quite a story' was more than a little unfriendly, and Madam Dark Room's expression instantly chilled.

"He is one of only two people in the entire Sanitarium who knows my full story."

Even so, her desire for relief granted her extra patience as she explained her connection to Mrs. Tracy's male companion.

"Let me guess. The other person is Tong?"

It wasn't surprising. Rubbing his chin, Fu Qian even offered an additional observation of his own.

"Why not Servis? He's the Attending Physician here."

Now it was her turn to be momentarily stunned, asking the very question that Fu Qian should have been asking.

"But you just said it yourself: he has no patience for boring things."

Fu Qian shook his head.

"If he had been interested in your problem, you wouldn't necessarily need anyone else's help, would you?"

...

That seemed to be the case.

For a moment, Madam Dark Room didn't reply, which Fu Qian took as a tacit admission.

Honesty above all—he really had just been guessing earlier.

Aside from the Hairpin Woman being terribly pitiful, there might be other reasons why Madam Dark Room cared so deeply.

People who knew each other's weaknesses found it easier to pity one another.

Besides, needing to have in-depth conversations with other patients to solve her problem sounded bizarre to begin with; the Attending Physician had likely only recommended conservative treatment.

"You're right. Suddenly, I feel like letting you be the third person wouldn't be so bad..."

Sure enough, a moment later, she spoke up and acknowledged his point.

Not only that, but she also went on to acknowledge Fu Qian's qualifications.

"Why don't you tell me about him first? What kind of person is he, in your impression?"

Unfortunately, this validation immediately ran into an awkward snag.

Fu Qian didn't look particularly eager to become that third person. Instead, he was far more focused on the second person's situation.

"Him? Actually, that's an interesting question."

It made sense, though. After all, Fu Qian was currently 'trying to take over' the man's role.

After a brief hesitation, Madam Dark Room accepted his suggestion.

"Even though he seems shallow, promiscuous, and pretentious, in my eyes, he and Tracy are two completely different kinds of people."

Her answer employed a strong 'criticize before praising' approach; surprisingly, she held him in rather high regard.

"At his core, he is contradictory. He harbors a very deep-seated self-loathing; he hates the way he is."

"It's just that his solution isn't to change, but to make himself even more detestable, feeling his true self through that very disgust."

...

Not bad. Truly, one couldn't judge a book by its cover.

Listening attentively to Madam Dark Room's explanation, Fu Qian let out a heartfelt sigh in that moment.

Because of self-loathing, he wanted to become an even more detestable version of himself?

That was quite a beautiful mental state.

Fu Qian didn't really doubt Madam Dark Room's assessment.

He hadn't forgotten his earlier theory that everyone here was a villain, and looking at things now, it seemed to be constantly validated.

Beneath almost everyone's seemingly normal exterior hid a certain inner darkness.

Why would Mrs. Tracy be the only abnormal one in that pair of illicit lovers he'd first run into?

As for why he was paying so much attention to this issue?

It was simple. If he wanted to avoid an unreasonable phenomenon like the Well of Time, figuring out exactly how it triggered was undoubtedly the right path.

And Fu Qian felt he had already found a lead—did a similar effect occur whenever that dark side was triggered?

Thinking back carefully, he realized that when the time jumped to six o'clock, the Hairpin Woman had been displaying her confusion.

When Mrs. Tracy caused the time to skip straight to the 49th, it was because of her anticipation for that 'one-year promise'.

As for skipping straight to the third day later on, that was the Recorder Old Man piling insane work pressure on his son.

Everyone had an unsolvable knot in their heart, and almost all of these anomalies seemed to occur as those hidden parts were revealed by breaking through their facades.

Wasn't that a bit too extreme?

Though Fu Qian had arrived at an answer, even he couldn't help but marvel at it for a moment.

Was this an inner darkness or an inner black hole? Just getting close to it warped the flow of time itself?

Furthermore, if this theory held true, then holding back from dealing a lethal blow to Mrs. Tracy's companion right at the start had likely saved him from a massive hidden risk.

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