Eldritch Horror Theatre

Nine times... you're ruthless!

Mousse's answer made Fu Qian's eyelids twitch.

In that case, if he hadn't stopped her just now, wouldn't she have triggered the Hidden Thread's psychological parasitism?

Things were already chaotic enough. If the side effect of a transcendent item was added to the mix, she would be completely beyond saving.

"Of course, only I know this number—the current me."

Seeing Fu Qian remain silent, Mousse continued to explain.

"The sensation of a tearing mind is agonizing. After five consecutive times, I finally began to grow suspicious and faintly realized how I had been misled."

"It was precisely under that suspicion that I rolled my first six."

"Unfortunately, my mind had already suffered too much damage by then. I could only rely on the Hidden Thread to forcibly strip away the false cognition and obsession, forming a new personality—the one you were just talking to."

"I never expected that to happen. In the end, to prevent myself from getting us killed, I used everything I had to make her completely ignore the matter on a cognitive level."

"But she still used it three times in a row after that," Fu Qian said calmly.

"I couldn't help it. I was no longer in control of our actions at that point, so all I could do was mask her cognition after the fact."

"But thankfully, right before the final roll, the perfect opportunity presented itself. The polluted personality took a series of mental blows and began contradicting herself, allowing me to finally seize control once again!"

"I see. That explains why the other one—let's call her Su Gao to keep things straight—insisted she had only used it five times."

Fu Qian rubbed his chin, looking deep in thought.

"Was the password found in Soufflé's dream your doing as well?"

"Yes. Although they are pure, that 'Su Gao' had the upper hand. They wanted to escape their mental cage, and six was the only key."

"If they successfully escaped and mended our mind, my own sense of self would be strengthened, giving me a slightly better chance at reclaiming control."

"Still, there was only so much I could do. My self-awareness as Mousse was incredibly weak. The actions I managed to guide were scattered and disordered, lacking any clear, active consciousness. Does that make sense?"

"More or less."

Fu Qian nodded.

Clearly, in Mousse's version of the story, everything that had happened up to this point had a completely different explanation.

And purely from a logical standpoint, there were no glaring holes in it.

This was likely the reason she was able to seize dominance after Su Gao suffered her mental breakdown.

However, just because something was logical didn't make it the truth.

For example, according to Mousse, she had rolled the Die nine times in total. Four of those rolls were a six, and five were not.

In her eyes, the first five rolls were fine, while the latter four were flawed due to her coexisting state with Su Gao.

That made sense, of course, but a moment's thought easily offered an entirely different explanation.

For instance, the first five rolls could have been the real problem. After entering this forbidden zone, Su Gao's mind might have been dragged by a special power, causing it to spontaneously fracture.

After consecutively splitting off five different personalities, she might have achieved a temporary stability, which was why the subsequent rolls landed on a six.

In that scenario, the personality known as Mousse wouldn't have existed at all during that entire process.

It was only just now, when he shattered Su Gao's psychological defenses, that the identity of Mousse split off to forcibly rationalize her current predicament.

Everything that happened, from start to finish, was simply a battle inside Su Gao's head—a Rashomon of Thought, and nothing more.

At its core, it would all be the lingering aftereffects of the fragmentation and fusion caused by drinking the Fool Tree Sap Fluid.

See? That explanation was equally reasonable, and it didn't require him to assume his opponent was a criminal mastermind.

Unfortunately, given Su Gao's stubborn personality, getting her to change her mind when her logic felt perfectly sound was going to be difficult.

Of course, it wasn't completely impossible.

The simplest method? Fu Qian was certain that if she rolled the Hidden Thread one more time, the result likely wouldn't be a six—just like when she had split off Violeta and the others.

The problem was that she had already used it nine times. A tenth roll would trigger psychological parasitism. Unless he was truly out of options, that was a path he couldn't take.

But if he did nothing, Su Gao currently had two personalities rattling around in her head. Under the influence of this place, it was hard to imagine what might happen.

Most likely, either the Mousse in front of him or the Su Gao from earlier would die, leaving the survivor to spiral into even deeper paranoia.

What a headache.

Fu Qian sighed repeatedly, his fists itching for action.

This kind of delicate eggshell-carving psychological work was far more troublesome than a simple brute-force approach.

As expected, it was always easier to just eliminate the person causing the problem!

Fortunately, this entire exchange hadn't been completely fruitless.

After all, whatever else she might be, this Mousse easily held the most information. He now had a fairly solid grasp of their current situation.

"I think I understand now. Looking at it like this, your job really is perilous!"

Fu Qian looked at Mousse with an enigmatic smile.

"But I still have one question."

"Go ahead, Mr. Fu."

"Do you think the me standing in front of you right now is a hallucination?"

"Of course not!"

Mousse replied almost instantly, her tone absolutely firm.

"In that case, hand that over to me."

Fu Qian pointed at Mousse's hand.

"The Hidden Thread?"

Mousse looked startled. She didn't quite understand what Fu Qian wanted with it, but she handed the Die over anyway.

"How do you use this thing?"

...

"Cut open a wound and completely submerge the Hidden Thread in your blood. Then, try to establish a mental connection with it. It'll automatically start rolling."

"When the Hidden Thread stops tumbling in your blood, the number it shows is your locked result."

Even though she didn't know what he was planning, Mousse answered in total earnest.

"Perfect."

Without any intention of explaining himself, Fu Qian sliced a gash directly into his own hand.

Blood surged out, instantly submerging the Die resting in his palm.

Willing the wound to stop bleeding, Fu Qian closed his eyes and focused his mind on his palm.

Soon, an invisible ripple surged through his mind. He could sense the Hidden Thread forming countless intricate ties with him.

By the time he opened his eyes, the Die in his palm had stopped turning. A single, distinct dot was glaringly visible—a one.

"Is that it?"

Fu Qian looked at Mousse.

"Yes."

"That's surprisingly convenient."

Praising the item, Fu Qian picked up the Die with his other hand.

"So, what do you think I'll roll now?"

Convincing someone required presenting the facts and reasoning with them.

Considering how much effort Mousse had just put into making her story perfectly logically consistent, he figured he might as well throw another glitch into her reality.

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