Eldritch Horror Theatre

It truly was a fitting gift from Servis to the Director. Things had finally taken a turn for the mysterious.

The office remained quiet. The dim light was barely enough to make out the contents of the notebook, but Fu Qian had no intention of turning on the lights.

Was another copy of the Abyss Notes locked inside the safe in the Head Physician's Office?

Even considering all the supernatural scenarios he had imagined before opening the safe, this was an absolutely wild development.

For one thing, it subtly shattered the scientific atmosphere that had been maintained up to this point.

Granted, he had encountered a slew of outrageous things since entering the task.

But setting aside the Well of Time that no one else was aware of, the problematic individuals he had encountered could still be explained away as simply having a few loose screws.

Mrs. Tracy and her companion, the Hairpin Girl, Madam Dark Room, Buyiren, and even the Recorder Old Man...

Although their behavior was each more bizarre than the last, strictly speaking, their actions hadn't required introducing supernatural elements. They could still fall within the scope of pathological research.

However, the Abyss Notes Supplement in his hands inevitably pushed things toward the mystical side, as if the darkness enveloping him had come alive.

As for the second reason, just as previously stated, the Abyss Notes wasn't just a powerful supernatural artifact—it was an artifact powerfully connected to him personally.

It was no longer just the scientific atmosphere being shattered; the very atmosphere of the story itself had been broken.

Originally, in the story of this task, the Director was supposed to be the protagonist connected to the Abyss Notes, while he was just a role-player mingling in the background.

But faced with this situation, could he really brush it off as pure coincidence?

Was the notebook locked in this safe truly not prepared specifically for him?

This play-within-a-play feeling couldn't help but make one feel... exhilarated.

Clicking his tongue in marvel, Fu Qian reviewed his past history with the Abyss Notes, his interest in the current task soaring to a whole new level.

Indeed, even though the Abyss Notes was no longer in his possession, its unique nature had certainly left a lasting impression.

Unfortunately, apart from knowing it was ancient, he had actually learned very little about its true origins.

If he had the chance to explore it a little further through this incident, it would be a welcome, unexpected harvest.

Beyond that, if it truly retained its magical properties...

A cold, impartial notebook capable of verifying truth... he had to admit, placing it here seemed perfectly fitting.

It could point the way for the lost souls trapped deep in the Sanitarium, dispel the darkness in their hearts, and illuminate their true selves.

That aside... this didn't seem to be his own authentic handwriting?

...

The "Abyss Notes" in his hands seemed to focus more on the content rather than the form.

Reminiscing did not slow down his hands. Fu Qian quickly skimmed the contents of the notebook. While he confirmed that the text was identical word-for-word to what he had seen before, he noticed a minor detail.

The content was right, but the handwriting was wrong.

The entry regarding Jia Keke had naturally been written during their first encounter on the cruise ship.

As a special envoy secretly guarding the voyage's safety, she had noticed his extraordinary temperament—along with his hands full of rings—and disguised herself as a young married woman to try and get close to him.

Unfortunately for her, he had seen through her disguise at a glance and casually verified it using the Abyss Notes.

He was confident that no one besides him would ever use it so wastefully.

Yet this casual note was now reproduced here without a single error, while the handwriting itself had been completely altered. It looked entirely unfamiliar.

The same went for the rest of the contents, including the little life hacks from the Blood Clan seniors. The writing was noticeably different from what he had originally seen.

In the blink of an eye, the magical index of the artifact in his hands had continued to climb.

Was this a copy of the Abyss Notes? Had someone transcribed it by hand for no reason?

To be honest, it was hard to believe it was that simple, because there was even new content added to the notebook—

[This is the Head Physician's Office]

Yes, flipping to the newest section, Fu Qian saw an entry that hadn't been there before he handed the original notes over to Su Gao.

Considering where the notebook was found, this statement was certainly accurate.

He could easily picture the scene of someone writing that sentence to test the notebook's properties.

Nodding to himself, Fu Qian flipped straight to the latest page.

[Lasik cannot leave the Sanitarium]

...

So he really did come here? The Recorder Old Man was an honest fellow after all.

The writing on this final page seemed to pulse with intense emotion.

Specifically, the handwriting grew increasingly erratic, eventually deteriorating into wild, unbridled scribbles. It was so visceral that one could almost see the author's face on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Lasik... this name that had previously spanned an entire task was indeed far from simple. To think he had also played an important role on Demon Mountain, having genuinely braved its depths.

It was obvious that these last two entries were written by the same person. Did that mean Lasik had also opened the safe and used the Abyss Notes here?

Easily picturing that scenario in his head, Fu Qian found he wasn't entirely surprised.

He shouldn't think of himself as too special. The Key might not have been given exclusively to him.

If the Director was truly being forced by Servis to constantly find substitutes to enter this place—as he had theorized earlier—then Lasik being chosen as another intruder made perfect sense.

It even perfectly matched the information the Recorder Old Man had provided: the last place Lasik had been seen was the Head Physician's Office.

Furthermore, according to Madam Dark Room, the Lasik in her memories had been in a terrible mental state, eventually reaching a point where he "didn't trust anyone."

If a man in that state of mind had been guided all the way here, only to open the safe and see this...

No matter how suspicious he was, he wouldn't have been able to resist taking it out to test it, right?

But testing it led straight to his demise. It seemed his final ending had been rather grim.

After all, [Lasik cannot leave the Sanitarium]. Just looking at that final sentence was enough to feel the sheer despair—the very image of a completely shattered dao heart.

And since it hadn't been erased, it was an undeniable truth acknowledged by the Abyss Notes.

In summary, that senior of his—who might not have even been an outsider—truly seemed cursed to play the tragic victim, getting screwed over wherever he went.

What was even more tragic was that screwing him over didn't seem to have achieved anything.

It had been over a year, yet the Director was still pressing people into service. Didn't that suggest that Lasik's ordeal hadn't provided the Director with the help he needed?

Shaking his head slightly, Fu Qian toyed with the pen in his hand. After verifying that it worked perfectly, he pressed the tip toward the bottom of the final page, as if preparing to write an epitaph for Senior Lasik.

However, moved by the man's arduous struggles and tragic end, he found he couldn't bear to put pen to paper—

"Why don't you try it? You don't look like such a coward."

Unfortunately, his heartfelt moment of mourning seemed to have been profoundly misunderstood.

As the pen hovered hesitantly over the page, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him, sounding as if its patience had finally been stretched to the limit.

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