Eldritch Horror Theatre

Judging by the current situation, every world he experienced—regardless of its outward appearance—seemed to exert a bizarre influence over the others, mutually distorting each other's existence.

So, was it possible to take things out of this Mind Space too?

That was why Fu Qian had Brooke place the pistol in his hand.

Trying wouldn't cost him anything, anyway.

If he could bring it out, it would undoubtedly give him an excellent means of attack.

Having those two set the crying loop to go off in an hour served as a disguised fallback plan.

Time flowed at the same rate across the different worlds. If he ran into an unsolvable crisis, this would act as a viable insurance policy.

After all, given his previous experiences, if this was a chaotic Nightmare, it was highly likely that a Nightmare Dominator was watching him.

And he had to find a way to end all of this under those exact circumstances.

It was obvious that neither Kelly nor Brooke was entirely comfortable with Fu Qian's commanding tone.

Yet his words carried an inexplicable authority. After a brief moment of hesitation, the two obediently followed his instructions.

...

When he woke up again, Fu Qian found himself facing dim lighting. The surrounding furnishings were seemingly familiar.

This looked like his own bedroom. Was he back again?

But the time...

Fu Qian pulled back the curtains and looked outside.

The clock on the wall pointed to one-thirty, confirming it was the middle of the night. On the table nearby, a full glass of amber liquid gave off a rich, fruity aroma that smelled quite pleasant.

He understood now. A sleepless night, was it?

Fu Qian instantly realized this was the night before the incident. Suffering from insomnia, he had tried to use alcohol to force himself to sleep.

Unfortunately, if his memory served him right, the results had been mediocre at best.

Fu Qian shifted his gaze and looked down at his hand.

The facts proved that the power of idealism was strong; he had indeed brought Brooke's pistol out with him.

He then looked at his other hand.

He opened his left hand, revealing six brass bullets nestled in his palm.

Excellent. He had brought them all out.

Fu Qian nodded in satisfaction. He casually removed the magazine, wiped each bullet clean, and carefully loaded them in.

He was facing a nearly omniscient opponent.

Even at this very moment, there was a high chance that a pair of eyes was watching him.

Under these circumstances, even if he could start over, the chances of success were still extremely slim.

And he would likely only get one real opportunity.

After loading the pistol, Fu Qian unhurriedly changed out of his pajamas, put on a watch, and synchronized the time before pulling open the door.

...

Hmm?

The moment he stepped out, Fu Qian noticed something unusual.

A somewhat familiar figure was slowly walking away with their back to him.

Hearing the door open, the person looked back almost reflexively.

"Fu Qian..."

It was actually Shen Yuan, who had acted as his driver earlier. Seeing Fu Qian emerge, she was clearly taken aback.

"Are you going out this late?"

She asked subconsciously, seemingly trying to cover up her panic. Her body hadn't even fully turned to face him.

Being an ordinary person without heightened senses really did make it easier to run into surprises!

Fu Qian looked his colleague up and down.

She was wearing a fairly homey dress—though not something as casual as sleepwear—that perfectly accentuated her figure, and she even had light makeup on.

As for her slightly awkward posture, it seemed to be a desperate attempt to hide the bottle of red wine held behind her back.

Had she realized he suffered from insomnia and come over to share a few drinks, only to lose her nerve at the last second and give up?

Fu Qian understood the situation almost instantly.

"It's nothing urgent, actually. I just have a bit of insomnia," Fu Qian said casually.

"Would you like to come in and sit for a bit? I just opened a good bottle of wine."

"Ah! Is that okay?"

Clearly not expecting his invitation, Shen Yuan looked both shocked and pleasantly surprised.

"Of course."

Fu Qian rested his hand on the door with a smile, turning his body to gesture her inside. As he did so, he "unintentionally" revealed a glimpse of the pistol tucked into his waistband.

Shen Yuan had just taken a step forward when her body instantly stiffened.

She took another look with disbelieving eyes, her face draining of color until she was white as a sheet.

"I'm sorry... I just remembered I have an early meeting tomorrow morning. How about another day?"

She had changed her mind in a split second, her voice dry as she refused.

"That's a shame. Are you sure you don't want to come in?"

Fu Qian's tone was exaggerated, but his face remained completely expressionless. He kept his eyes locked on Shen Yuan's face, refusing to miss a single detail.

"N-No... it's fine."

Shen Yuan swallowed hard.

"I'll be going back now. Good night."

After confirming that Fu Qian wasn't about to suddenly turn murderous, she carefully backed away.

He could tell she was trying her best to keep her movements from looking too stiff, forcibly restraining the urge to turn and bolt.

It seemed his luck wasn't too bad; this was the world Loretta was in!

Watching her figure disappear down the stairwell, Fu Qian lowered his head in silent thought.

It wasn't that he had a twisted sense of humor and enjoyed scaring innocent people; she just happened to be there, and testing her in passing would save him a lot of trouble.

He had intentionally exposed the pistol to play the part of a psychopathic killer, making her think she had stumbled upon a horrifying secret.

And although Shen Yuan had nearly been scared out of her wits, she didn't show the eerie expression of a cognitive collapse.

That basically confirmed that the world he was currently in was the most stable one—the world of Loretta's self-deception.

"Three minutes and fifty seconds."

Shutting the door, Fu Qian glanced down at his watch, quite satisfied with his efficiency.

Using a few minutes to complete a verification test was well worth the time.

...

As a small city, Fenghou City's nights naturally weren't all that lively.

Aside from Shen Yuan, who had run home trembling in fear, Fu Qian didn't draw anyone else's attention.

Relying on the car keys he had found in the apartment, he easily located the corresponding vehicle.

Wasting no time, he started the engine and headed straight for The Monastery.

One particularly satisfying detail was that he had started a minute earlier this time, heading out before he even finished his drink.

After all, he was a man of principle; drunk driving was highly immoral.

The route to The Monastery was already etched into Fu Qian's mind, but he didn't drive quickly.

It took him a full half hour to reach his destination.

Even then, he wasn't in a hurry to get out. Instead, he killed the engine completely and sat in the darkness, waiting in silence.

It wasn't until his watch hit two-fifteen that he finally opened the door and stepped out, looking up at The Monastery under the starlight.

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