Eldritch Horror Theatre

Climbing through the window?

Buyiren's action was so easy to understand that Fu Qian instantly caught on.

Right, this finally felt like a proper infiltration. The vibe earlier had been far too relaxed.

The double wooden windows were high and small, but Fu Qian didn't hesitate. He effortlessly hoisted himself up.

Furthermore, based on his continuously updated sense of direction, he was completely certain that Buyiren wasn't lying: the end of the Corridor really did lead to the stairs down to the Head Physician's Office.

He had to admit, the man was quite familiar with this place. They had strolled the entire way without running into a single person.

It was as if he had walked this path countless times over many long nights.

Thud!

Amid his musings, Buyiren landed smoothly behind him.

It was a casual reminder that they didn't need to be too careful.

"Any particular reason for that?"

Fu Qian responded instantly, keeping up the casual chat from earlier.

...Aren't you being a bit too careless? I told you to relax, but not this much.

Buyiren was momentarily speechless.

"Nothing too special, really. Mainly, it's just that Servis rarely comes here."

Despite that, after a brief pause, he still tried to answer Fu Qian's question.

"Interesting. So because he rarely visits, everyone's actually worried about him dropping by on the off chance and catching them slacking?"

At first glance, Buyiren's explanation didn't make much sense.

If the boss rarely showed up, this should logically be the perfect place for the staff to slack off. Yet no one wanted to stay here?

But when Fu Qian put himself in their shoes, he felt a sliver of sympathy.

There was a phrase for this: a sword hanging overhead. A threat that never materialized but was always present could create immense psychological pressure.

At the core of it all, the Attending Physician's movements were simply too erratic. According to Mrs. Tracy, he practically respawned at random coordinates.

With no way to predict his arrival, it made perfect sense that the staff preferred going out on field tasks to avoid being caught slacking.

...

"I'm starting to feel more and more like you really suit this place."

Having failed to keep Fu Qian in suspense even once from start to finish, Buyiren's reaction in that moment was quite unique.

Rather than being surprised by the man's performance, he looked at him with complex emotions, as if looking at a veteran patient.

"You flatter me. That's why I said earlier that I like this place. Being here feels just like going home."

Fu Qian looked as if he couldn't tell a compliment from an insult, thoroughly savoring the many bizarre mentalities they had encountered along the way.

"Great... So, who do you think you'd prefer to see standing behind that door?"

Buyiren finally seemed overwhelmed and had no choice but to steer the conversation back to business.

Chatting and laughing, the two had already reached the end of the Corridor. Through the half-buried windows, they could even see silhouettes moving outside.

Finally stepping onto the stairs leading to the Head Physician's Office, descending step by step as if walking into The Abyss, he asked a question that Fu Qian should have been asking him.

"No one."

To what should have been a very difficult question, Fu Qian instantly provided an answer.

...

"You want there to be no one behind the door?"

The shock of this was clearly immense. Buyiren missed a step and almost tumbled down the stairs.

The key was that Fu Qian answered without the slightest hesitation, as if he had prepared the response long ago. It made it hard to suspect he was joking.

"Yeah. Otherwise, it'd ruin the vibe of this place."

In contrast, Fu Qian's steps remained leisurely. Not only did he confirm his answer, he even gave a reason.

"I'm very interested in this place precisely because of this special ecosystem built around His Excellency Servis... If it changed just to welcome me, it would ruin the mood."

The reason was simple but abstract—it was exactly because the office was empty that he was more interested in this place.

If someone was really standing inside to welcome him, regardless of whether it was Servis himself, it would feel a bit cheap.

"So you think I was just joking with you earlier?"

But the abstraction wasn't even the main point. After taking a moment to digest the meaning behind Fu Qian's words, Buyiren realized an even more outrageous subtext. His eyes filled with disbelief.

If there was no one behind the door, it meant his previous claim about "someone waiting for a meeting" was a lie. Consequently, the idea that "the game is over" was no longer credible.

"Is that not allowed?"

Fu Qian seemed to think he was making a fuss over nothing. He turned to stare at him, asking out of curiosity.

...

Staring straight back at Fu Qian, Buyiren's gaze grew somewhat wooden.

However, Fu Qian, who had previously rated him quite highly, didn't think the man had truly crashed. He figured a massive amount of calculation was frantically taking place inside Buyiren's head, causing his monitor to enter screensaver mode.

It wasn't even his fault; it really wasn't easy to keep up with this rapid flip-flopping pace.

[Is it not allowed if there's no one behind the door?]

The moment this question was asked, it meant he didn't want this to end just yet. He was ready to play another round with the Director, pulling another 180-degree turn—Buyiren actually still held justice in his heart; what he said earlier might not have been a joke, but it wasn't the truth either.

It was just a probe.

After all, Fu Qian was an unidentified intruder with whom they hadn't interacted much. Before expending resources to send him away, Buyiren was testing his true intentions in this manner.

If he didn't meet the expected standards, there was no need to waste the effort.

In short, the situation was about to be rewritten once again.

Although Buyiren had performed well the entire way, based on earlier judgments, Fu Qian leaned more toward him being a capable subordinate of the Director.

Because of Fu Qian's aggressive pacing, Buyiren had been hastily pushed out to deal with him.

Even though his performance had been outstanding, unless he himself was the Director, it would obviously be very difficult to adapt on the fly to such a massive change without asking for instructions.

"Is it that door?"

Fu Qian didn't rush him. Instead, he looked down and casually confirmed.

Standing at this point on the stairs, one could already see a bit of the layout on the next floor.

He had to admit it had plenty of style. Both the flooring and the decor were distinctly different from the rest of the facility.

Coupled with the completely enclosed view, it gave off the strong vibe of a horror laboratory.

And right by the door of the first room, he could see an inconspicuous brass plaque hanging there.

Although the words on it were illegible from this distance, it was still eye-catching.

Hmm...

Unfortunately, Brother Buyiren still looked like he was under too much pressure.

He didn't even take the opportunity to relax through casual chat. At a certain point, he seemed to remember something. Reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, he pulled out an item.

It was a pale gold sticky note, folded neatly, looking as if it had never been opened—and now he opened it.

Just as Fu Qian instantly recognized it as the exact same kind of note the female staff member had been holding, Buyiren didn't hand it over, but instead opened it to read it himself.

"Yes... There really is no one in the office."

After carefully running his eyes over it twice, he looked up and actually agreed with Fu Qian's statement.

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