Eldritch Horror Theatre

"Yes..."

Faced with this incomprehensible turn of events, Medea's mind seemed to have stopped working entirely.

One second they were laughing and talking, and the next, he had a knife pressed against her neck.

Were all men this fickle?

Regardless, the cold sensation against her neck was undeniably real, so she answered Fu Qian's question on sheer instinct.

"Excellent. A high-quality single female guest!"

Fu Qian delivered this deadpan assessment while dragging the high-end Kitchen Knife in a slow circle around her neck.

"Go start the car."

"...Okay."

Even though he was just a student, his hand didn't tremble in the slightest. It left her with no doubt that he would slice her throat without hesitation.

For the moment, Medea didn't dare raise any objections to Fu Qian's demands.

...

"Nice car."

Led by a terrified Medea, the two quickly headed out and got into a bright yellow car in the garage.

"It's... alright."

At Fu Qian's praise, Medea managed a stiff smile.

Taking a deep breath, she tried her best to calm her nerves.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere secluded."

Fu Qian said with a smile.

Somewhere secluded...

"What do you want to do?"

Her imagination evidently running wild, Medea suddenly grew tense, her voice pitching up.

"You've got the wrong idea."

"No... I wasn't thinking anything like that."

"Right, which means you've got the wrong idea."

...

"Keep driving straight. Don't stop unless I speak."

Considering driving safety, Fu Qian didn't want to terrify Medea completely.

Toying with the Kitchen Knife, he withdrew his gaze from Medea's face and stared straight ahead, lost in thought.

The school had reacted so quickly. If he still couldn't tell he was being targeted, he would have to be incredibly dense.

It was hard to believe his own actions hadn't intensified the force of the elimination.

Fu Qian had no doubt that if he had stayed at Medea's place, Sheriff Stan or some other random party would have come knocking very soon.

His originally stable task could have failed at any moment.

...

At this very moment, his remaining time had already entered a countdown.

And the current situation still looked absolutely desperate.

The very nature of this world dictated that it was a crematorium for people like him.

Its fundamental law of operation was to eliminate anomalies and maintain "normal" functioning.

Without a doubt, a task runner like him was inherently an unstable element.

Once someone entered this place, they either had to act exactly according to the prompts—treading carefully so that not a single task failed, blending into the world's operation—and then, never knowing the true Containment Conditions, remain trapped here until death.

That was exactly what had happened to the early-stage Edral.

Or they could go against the prompts and fail the tasks, receiving a hint about the Containment Conditions while simultaneously becoming an anomaly, only to be subjected to a subtle, imperceptible, and pervasive elimination.

It truly seemed like a completely unsolvable dilemma.

...

Moving at extreme speed, the car quickly left the city, and their surroundings grew increasingly desolate.

Keeping an eye on the rearview mirror, Fu Qian confirmed that no one was chasing them yet.

The situation looked highly disadvantageous. It seemed to be an absolute dead end no matter what.

But was that truly the case?

His investigation into Brother Edral hadn't been in vain.

During that process, he had seen the essence of this world—the reason the Furnace could cremate him was because it was itself burning.

Although he didn't know how the omnipresent chaos had been created, there was clearly a force at work, actively correcting it.

And this error-correction mechanism was exactly the source of the Furnace's lethality.

This mechanism rejected anomalies and feared chaos.

This chaos did not mean wanton misbehavior, but rather acting against the rules or prompts.

For example, it didn't fear him using a Key to open a lock. Even if it was a bank vault's lock, it wouldn't cause chaos.

But it feared him opening the lock in an unusual way.

That was very likely why his task had suddenly become so difficult.

After all, according to what Medea had just said, occasionally ignoring the prompts wouldn't result in an overly exaggerated punishment.

The reason his task's difficulty had abruptly spiked, apart from his failure to follow the prompt and leave in time, might actually have had another cause: he had used special means to open the lock.

Strictly speaking, that was also a violation of the prompts.

Perhaps it was under this double rebellion that the targeting had suddenly grown so intense.

Otherwise, the second task might well have just turned into "don't go home."

Furthermore, it was true that the error-correction mechanism was omnipresent, but one thing could also be confirmed: it couldn't employ methods that exceeded its scale.

Edral's experience also corroborated this; it could only throw people into complicated situations, then step by step guide others into dealing with him, all while making the entire process appear perfectly reasonable.

If that weren't the case, it could have just dropped a meteor from the sky and instantly killed him, sparing itself so much trouble.

As to why there was such a restriction, Fu Qian's understanding was that the mechanism's sole principle was to minimize chaos to the greatest extent possible.

Therefore, it would never use means beyond common sense—that is, "anomalous" methods—to deal with anomalies.

In summary, his opponent wasn't omnipotent. Its lethality actually stemmed from its own fragility, and it had limits.

If he wanted to escape this place, trying to challenge its limits was a potentially effective approach.

...

"Should I keep driving?"

Another half hour passed. By now, the surroundings had become increasingly desolate, with not a single person in sight.

Medea's expression had also visibly shifted into despair.

"This is far enough."

Unexpectedly, Fu Qian signaled for her to slow down.

"Taking a break?"

Looking at Fu Qian in slight surprise, Medea slowly pulled the car over to the side of the road.

However, the next moment, following his gaze, she spotted a building hidden within the Dense Forest by the roadside.

Judging from its design, it seemed to be some sort of vacation villa, though it had clearly been abandoned for a long time.

The wilderness and a Dilapidated House easily brought terrible things to mind.

Medea's face instantly turned frighteningly pale as she gripped the steering wheel in a death hold.

"Get out."

Fu Qian paid no attention to her emotions; he simply opened his door and signaled for her to follow.

As Medea stepped out of the car in fear, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Fu Qian casually grabbing a black bag on his way out.

"Walk in front."

Without the slightest intent of explaining his actions, Fu Qian spoke in an unquestionable tone.

"...Okay."

The house wasn't far from the road, and the two of them quickly arrived at the front of the countryside villa.

Pushing the door open, they could see thick layers of dust everywhere. The place had evidently been abandoned for quite some time.

Amidst her panicked observations, Medea realized that Fu Qian's gaze had fallen on one of the doors inside.

That door was likely locked, but a Key was left inserted in the keyhole, looking somewhat rusted.

"Catch."

The next moment, Fu Qian pulled the Key out and tossed it to Medea.

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