Eldritch Horror Theatre

"You guys step out first."

Led into a storage room—the classic venue for schoolyard bullying—Fu Qian scoped out his surroundings while Daniel entered last.

The next moment, Daniel spoke coldly to the other two.

"Even me—"

The guy who had been tossing the ball looked a bit reluctant, seemingly displeased at being excluded.

"Yes, both of you. I have a few private words for our top student."

Daniel was quite insistent.

"Shut the door and keep watch from a distance. Don't let anyone in."

Daniel obviously had a bit of authority around here. After a brief internal struggle, the guy with the ball shook his fist at Fu Qian and flashed a savage grin.

With that, he signaled the other guy. The two left the storage room together, shutting the door behind them.

Was he that confident?

Watching the whole exchange, Fu Qian marveled at Daniel's sheer self-assurance.

Then again, compared to the athletic Daniel, he really was on the scrawny side.

Not to mention that Daniel was staring right at him while pulling an obnoxiously yellow baseball bat out of a clutter pile.

The bat's spotless appearance formed a stark contrast to the dust-covered room.

Clearly, it saw a lot of use.

"From now on, I ask a question, you answer."

Daniel rhythmically tapped the bat against the floor, his voice dripping with menace.

"Just a warning. I'm in a very bad mood right now. If you hesitate for even a second, you're not going to like the consequences."

Understandable.

Fu Qian nodded in complete comprehension.

Anyone interrupted at a critical juncture like that would be in a foul mood.

"So, what do you want to know?"

Fu Qian gestured for him to ask away.

"Why were you... in Medea's office just now?"

Confronted with such cooperation, Daniel was momentarily thrown off.

In his experience, cowards of this type usually had fragile egos and would put up a brief, self-aggrandizing show of toughness before ultimately backing down.

Crushing that false bravado was always part of the fun.

Unfortunately, Fu Qian didn't give him the chance.

Recovering his composure, Daniel wasn't naive enough to hope that Fu Qian had seen nothing. He opted to cut straight to the chase.

"Funny, Medea just asked me the same thing."

Fu Qian put on a thoughtful expression, as if recalling the event.

"Too bad I'm not really sure myself. I just zoned out for a second, and when I opened my eyes, I was inside."

"But rest assured, I definitely wasn't there because of you two."

"You think I'd believe your bullshit?"

Daniel gripped the bat tighter, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

"Medea's office was locked."

"Unless she let you in and locked the door behind you, there's no other possibility."

"What exactly are you two plotting? Are you trying to get blackmail material to threaten me? I knew that woman was unreliable."

By the end, he was practically snarling.

"Let me tell you and that bitch, you've got another thing coming."

"My family never bows to blackmail!"

It seemed Teacher Medea's lustful affections had been wasted on the wrong person after all!

Hearing his threats, Fu Qian let out a long sigh.

A lustful saint paired with a horny young punk. He had absolutely zero interest in whatever garbage the two of them were up to.

As for the honey trap theory? Fu Qian didn't think Medea would ruin her own fun for something like that.

But it was obvious that once Daniel's horny stupor wore off, his mind had backed into a paranoid dead end, and he couldn't wait to confront him for confirmation.

This was not good news. If he remained trapped here, his second task would likely be compromised again.

"Since you don't believe my answer, why even bother asking?"

Explaining things to someone with zero trust was a pointless endeavor. Fu Qian glanced back toward the entrance.

"Can I leave now?"

Heh.

Daniel stared at him for a long moment before suddenly breaking into a cold smile.

"You forced my hand."

"Huh?"

Just as Fu Qian assumed the guy was about to attack, Daniel unexpectedly walked over to the corner of the storage room and yanked open a wooden door.

Dust immediately showered down, revealing a pitch-black space behind it.

"Get in."

He pointed the bat at Fu Qian.

"It's been a long time since I locked anyone up."

"I hope you can maintain that attitude of yours after you've had time to cool off."

Lock me up? Are you sure?

Fu Qian looked at the dilapidated wooden door in the guy's hand.

Not only was it falling apart, but it didn't even have a lock.

Could this thing really hold anyone? Yet the guy seemed so certain.

Rubbing his temples, Fu Qian realized something.

"From now on, your best-case scenario is someone passing by and letting you out."

Daniel spoke as he forced Fu Qian forward.

"Unfortunately, since nobody ever goes missing, the school stopped patrolling this area a long time ago. And I'll have someone forge a leave request for you, telling the school you're sick at home."

"So you'll be in there for a very, very long time."

"Every attempt you make to escape will only be met with the prompt that it 'must be opened from the other side.'"

Just as he thought!

As Daniel finished, Fu Qian secretly nodded to himself.

This door undoubtedly shared the same property as the drawer in Medea's office.

Even without a lock, once closed, it could only be opened from this side.

Such a place really was the perfect choice for solitary confinement.

Still, it was utterly bizarre. Everything looked so vivid and alive, yet the occasional peek behind the curtain made one question the reality of this world.

With rigidly defined cause-and-effect relationships everywhere, it felt as though this world was built on a foundation of illusory concepts.

"And during that time, I'll properly deal with Medea, that bitch. To think she actually dared to target me."

Wearing a sinister grin, Daniel raised his bat and signaled for Fu Qian to step inside.

Unfortunately for him, the very next second, Fu Qian smoothly dodged the weapon, closed the distance, and landed a solid punch right on his jaw.

Daniel barely let out half a grunt before crashing to the floor.

What a joke. He was a blood-soaked veteran of countless battles. Even if he was at a physical disadvantage, his combat mechanics were miles ahead of a punk whose only skill was swinging a bat.

And there was no way he was going into that dark little room; otherwise, he would most likely end up going insane inside.

"You bashtard—"

Sprawled on the ground, Daniel swayed dizzily but still tried to get back up.

The punch had made him bite his tongue, heavily slurring his words.

Of course, the baseball bat shoved into his mouth a second later made his speech even less coherent.

"From now on, I ask a question, you answer."

Fu Qian echoed the guy's earlier line, but just as he was about to continue, he suddenly stopped.

Accompanied by a strange noise, something tumbled out of the dark room and collapsed in front of them.

A corpse?

Fu Qian stared at the mop of messy hair before him.

There had been a corpse in the dark room all along, right behind the door?

When Daniel fell just now, he had indeed bumped into the wooden door.

Fu Qian furrowed his brows, glancing at the equally shocked Daniel.

The next moment, he let out a cold scoff and nodded.

"To think you actually found out. Guess I have no choice then!"

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