Eldritch Horror Theatre

"This description... looks incredibly vicious!"

Fu Qian flexed his hands, clicking his tongue in admiration.

It was worth burning so much SAN Value.

True, the Warehouse's barrier had significantly reduced the rate of his SAN loss, but thanks to his persistent recklessness, he had still bled dozens of points.

And that wasn't even the worst of it.

At the final moment, Fu Qian had clearly felt that thing lock onto him. His intuition warned him that if it traced their connection to corrupt him in reverse, the consequences would go far beyond just losing SAN Value.

Fortunately, it had been worth the risk.

As his most lethal execution skill, Visceral Attack's activation conditions were undoubtedly strict.

And just as he'd worried earlier, many of his current opponents no longer feared mere physical damage.

Now, although its description was somewhat vague, taking it literally, Visceral Attack seemed to have become a conceptual one-hit kill.

It ignored all defenses and could damage any form of existence.

This was undoubtedly no ordinary enhancement.

If it kept developing like this, who knew if one day he could directly rip out the kidneys of the True Gods with his bare hands.

Unfortunately, it wasn't an easy thing to test. For now, he would just have to wait for the next lucky contestant.

Overall, today's mission had been easy and pleasant, and the harvest unexpected. Fu Qian was quite satisfied.

Riding this good mood, he activated the Imprint.

...

"Didn't I say you didn't need to come over?"

Half an hour later, inside a fairly popular coffee shop, Fu Qian stared blankly at the person across from him.

He had just returned home via his Imprint when he saw the annoying message.

"To show my sincerity! Just talking about it isn't enough."

Sitting across from him was a guy in his thirties with black-rimmed glasses and slightly thinning hair.

His name was Jiang Yuanliang, an old acquaintance of Fu Qian.

Or, more accurately, a former business associate.

As mentioned before, as a freelancer, part of Fu Qian's income came from writing copy for indie games that might never even see a release.

Given that many developers were running on passion alone, it was undeniably hard work for little pay.

Fortunately, Fu Qian had done it mostly out of interest; he hadn't planned to make much money from it anyway.

And this Jiang Yuanliang was doing reasonably well among that crowd.

Through a few scattered collaborations over the years, Fu Qian had earned enough cash from him for a few buckets of instant noodles.

Recently, however, Fu Qian had rejected several of his collaboration requests, leaving the man deeply frustrated.

That was why Jiang Yuanliang had contacted Fu Qian multiple times before coming to Lincheng on a business trip, hoping to meet up.

"I think I made myself very clear,"

Fu Qian said slowly.

He had chosen to meet with him this time for two main reasons.

First, the guy possessed some business ethics. Though the pay was low, he paid on time and never defaulted.

Second, because of the guy's lingering resentment over being rejected, a voice had occasionally been nagging in Fu Qian's mind. It was so incredibly annoying that it nearly sparked murderous intent, so he had decided to deal with it.

"Looks like you aren't under much financial pressure lately."

Jiang Yuanliang just chuckled in response.

"Can't you at least hear my terms first?"

"Speak."

Fu Qian waved a hand, gesturing for him to continue.

"I know the compensation we offered before wasn't much, and it did a disservice to the quality of your work, but our resources are limited, after all. We have to consider the reality of the situation!"

"And I really came with sincerity this time. I want to completely change how we collaborate and officially invite you to join our team."

"Got it."

Fu Qian wore a look of sudden realization.

"Considering you gave too little before, you're planning to just give nothing at all this time, right?"

"...You can't interpret it like that."

"Then how should I interpret it?"

Fu Qian shook his head.

"To be frank, writers have never been worth much throughout history. If you were willing to spend a few extra bucks, you'd definitely find a bunch of people scrambling to write until they went bald."

"If worse comes to worst, just have them each write a trial segment, tell them they failed, and get the work for free."

"Brilliant!"

Jiang Yuanliang's eyes immediately lit up, though he hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

"We are game developers with aspirations."

"To be frank, those aspirations probably aren't on a moral level, are they?"

"They really aren't. Actually, after you refused to work with us, I looked for quite a few people, but without exception, none of them satisfied me. None of them could capture that kind of twisted flavor."

"I'll take that as a compliment for now."

Fu Qian nodded.

"However, I've gained quite a few insights in my cultivation lately. The level of twistedness is no longer something mortals like you can endure, so I definitely can't share it."

After speaking, Fu Qian openly checked the time.

"Alright, I think I've spent eight minutes fully explaining my stance."

The next moment, he stood up and offered his hand, forcing an end to the conversation.

"I hope we've reached a consensus on this."

As they say, courtesy before force. If he kept nagging him every day after this, he shouldn't blame him for unleashing a Mental Shock.

"Alright then!"

Jiang Yuanliang wasn't completely tactless; looking extremely regretful, he reached out and shook his hand.

Since the other party couldn't even be bothered to hear his conditions, the chances of this just being a negotiation tactic were rather slim.

"Regardless, if you ever regain your interest in this field, make sure to come find me first."

"Uh-huh."

Fu Qian remained noncommittal.

"Fu Qian?"

Just then, a voice called out from behind.

Fu Qian turned around and greeted Tan Ying, who was waving at him.

"What a coincidence! You actually bothered to come outside!"

Tan Ying was walking in to rest with another female companion, looking somewhat surprised.

"I didn't interrupt your business, did I?"

"We're already done."

Fu Qian glanced at the person beside Tan Ying.

If he remembered correctly, she was one of the classmates from Tan Ying's birthday party, though he had no idea which one specifically.

'Damn, no wonder he isn't short on cash!'

Although he was a tech geek, Jiang Yuanliang had still been around the block, so he possessed a basic level of discernment.

The companion was one thing, but Tan Ying's outfit made it obvious at a glance that she didn't come from an ordinary family.

And seeing how familiar she was with Fu Qian, if the two were in a relationship, then Fu Qian would probably never have to worry about money again.

'Foolish! Yet another brilliant young talent has chosen to take the easy way out!'

While Jiang Yuanliang was agonizing over this, Tan Ying's female companion giggled and whispered something in her ear.

The next moment, Tan Ying's eyes lit up, and she stared earnestly at Fu Qian.

"Professional security consultant, could I ask you for a favor?"

"What favor?"

"Word is, a new haunted house opened nearby..."

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