Eldritch Horror Theatre

The needle Loretta produced definitely startled Fu Qian.

Its length was absurd—easily over twenty centimeters.

The perfectly straight shaft gleamed with an impossibly sharp tip. Fu Qian had no doubt it could pierce straight through a skull.

"This is a specially crafted Golden Needle. It eliminates distracting thoughts, stabilizing a person's cognitive state to the absolute maximum. It wards off foreign intrusions and clarifies the mind."

Loretta spoke in an exceptionally serious tone.

"So this is how you..."

Fu Qian looked at Loretta.

"That's right."

She nodded earnestly, pinching the Golden Needle between her fingers.

She held the Golden Needle horizontally, gesturing at her own forehead.

"It will be painful—pain beyond imagination."

"But if you can endure it for a set time each day, it can shield you from the Nightmare's intrusions."

"I hadn't intended to give this to you so soon, but your condition seems to be deteriorating far too rapidly."

"Of course, whether or not you use it is entirely up to you."

Very painful...

Fu Qian frowned slightly. He hesitated for only a few seconds before reaching out and taking the Golden Needle under Loretta's watchful gaze.

It was heavier than he expected, gleaming brilliantly.

It was hard to

The needle Loretta produced certainly startled Fu Qian.

Its length was absurd—easily over twenty centimeters.

The shaft was perfectly straight and looked incredibly sharp. Fu Qian had no doubt it could pierce straight through a skull.

"This is a specially crafted Golden Needle. It eliminates distracting thoughts, stabilizing a person's cognitive state to the absolute limit. It wards off external intrusions and clarifies the mind,"

Loretta said, her tone exceptionally serious.

"So this is how you..."

Fu Qian looked at Loretta.

"That's right."

She nodded earnestly, pinching the Golden Needle between her fingers.

"To use it, you have to pierce it directly into your brain."

She held the Golden Needle horizontally, gesturing toward her own forehead.

"It will be painful. Pain beyond imagination."

"But if you can endure it for a set time each day, it might spare you from the Nightmare's intrusions."

"I hadn't wanted to give this to you so soon, but your condition seems to be deteriorating far too rapidly."

"Of course, whether you use it is entirely up to you."

Very painful...

Fu Qian frowned slightly, but he hesitated for only a few seconds before reaching out and taking the Golden Needle under Loretta's watchful gaze.

It was heavier than expected, gleaming brilliantly.

It was hard to imagine that something so thin could actually pierce straight through a skull.

"If it really frees me from the Nightmare's torment, what's a little pain?"

Fu Qian smiled, his gaze resolute.

"But from what you just said, you only got this after coming here?"

Changing the subject, Fu Qian homed in on another question.

"Yes."

Loretta let out a deeply felt sigh.

"It was exactly this gain that made me faintly suspect my luck hadn't completely run out."

"It turns out that those who pursue inner peace—regardless of how laughable they might seem to transcendents—still possess their own unique wisdom."

"When I first arrived, I didn't have high expectations. After all, I didn't even know how long I could stay before being swept into the next Nightmare."

"But it wasn't long before Nivalis noticed I was deeply troubled. He asked me about it one day, and I didn't hide anything. I told him all about the Nightmare."

"I hadn't held out much hope, so I certainly didn't expect him to pull this out."

"He told me that while he hadn't experienced my specific torment, for a very long time he was also trapped in an inescapable state of chaos."

"And it was by relying on this Golden Needle that he finally broke free of it."

So this thing came from Nivalis?

Fu Qian recalled the tall administrator.

"You can take some time to think it over carefully."

Loretta mistakenly assumed Fu Qian still found it unreliable.

"After all, you aren't likely to encounter another Nightmare so soon."

Heh, I don't think so!

Fu Qian thought back on his recent experiences.

The shifts had happened as fast as a slideshow; he had absolutely no idea what changes the next moment might bring.

"There's no need. I came all this way just to find some hope."

Shaking his head with firm resolve, Fu Qian raised the Golden Needle, took a deep breath, and aimed it at his temple.

In every possible way, the Golden Needle in front of him resembled the Servant's Needle from his mission. Yet, Fu Qian couldn't shake the suspicion that it had come far too easily.

After all, this was a mission with a code starting with 1.

Even though his experiences so far had certainly been perilous, the difficulty was nowhere near that level.

Of course, Fu Qian didn't think Loretta was deceiving him.

Everything she said was highly likely to be true, and she had genuinely attained her current peace through this item.

But what she knew wasn't necessarily the whole picture.

It was precisely this reasoning that stopped Fu Qian from simply snapping the newly delivered Golden Needle in half to see what would happen. Instead, he genuinely wanted to test its effects.

"The Golden Needle won't cause any real harm, but the deeper it pierces, the more intense the pain will be. You can try it gradually,"

Loretta clearly hadn't expected Fu Qian to be so reckless. Though somewhat gratified, she carefully offered the warning.

"Understood."

Under Loretta's nervous gaze, Fu Qian easily pushed the Golden Needle right through his temple.

Searing agony struck. His vision went black.

Fu Qian instantly understood why Loretta believed the pain was what drove away the Nightmare.

It felt like someone had shoved a pair of red-hot iron tongs into his skull to fry his brain on a griddle. He could practically hear the sizzling.

Of course, the brain itself had no pain receptors; this was clearly an impact on the mental plane.

Even so, this level of pain was still bearable.

But right now, Fu Qian was focused on something else.

Amidst the intense agony, his thoughts genuinely felt as if they were manifesting physically. His mind grew increasingly clear.

At the same time, Fu Qian faintly realized that his surroundings seemed to be bathed in an indescribable, tangible radiance.

He tried to focus on the traces of the light, but they remained exceptionally blurry and elusive.

Then, under Loretta's horrified gaze, Fu Qian gripped the Golden Needle and firmly drove it another half-length deeper.

The radiance seemed to sharpen.

Fu Qian could faintly make out that this illusory glow seemed to originate from the infinite depths of darkness, as if a bizarre sun were burning out there.

It was just that the shape of this sun didn't seem right... Why did it look so angular?

He tried his hardest to lock onto the blurry image. When he realized he couldn't get a clearer look, he decisively shoved the needle even deeper.

By now, more than half the Golden Needle was buried in his skull. It genuinely felt as if the tip were about to poke out the other side.

A torrent of pain, far more violent than before, crashed into him. The impact left his rationality teetering on the brink of collapse.

Fighting back against the devastation, Fu Qian desperately gathered his consciousness, focusing entirely on pinpointing that ball of light deep in the darkness.

A door?

Yet, when he finally made out its shape, even Fu Qian blanked for a second. He genuinely thought the pain was making him hallucinate.

Amidst the darkness, the source of the radiant light... was actually a door?

The absurdity felt like diving to the absolute bottom of the ocean, only to find SpongeBob SquarePants.

But he wasn't mistaken. With those perfectly square corners, what else could it be?

Fu Qian wanted to take a closer look to confirm, but a sudden disturbance broke his focus—someone had grabbed his hand.

Loretta's frantic shouting rang in his ears.

Having watched Fu Qian repeatedly court death, she finally couldn't take it anymore. She had leaped up and grabbed him.

As Loretta gripped his hand and carefully pulled the needle outward bit by bit, the searing agony receded like the tide.

"Are you insane? Didn't I warn you how dangerous this is?"

Loretta's already pale face had practically turned green.

"Don't you understand the principle of more haste, less speed?"

"Sorry, I acted on impulse. I'm fine."

Fu Qian offered a casual apology, but his mind was still entirely focused on the door he had just seen.

It looked a little familiar.

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