Eldritch Horror Theatre

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Staring at the key in her hand, Medea once again voiced the question weighing on her mind.

In her eyes, the man before her exuded a growing aura of cold madness, sending uncontrollable fear seeping from the depths of her heart.

Medea had a faint feeling that he had no interest in her body or her life.

However, rather than bringing her any sense of security, this realization only made her terror grow stronger.

The only comfort was her certainty that this was an ordinary house, free of any Anomaly Point or similar phenomena.

Huh?

A moment later, confusion washed over Medea's face.

Right in front of her, Fu Qian pulled out what looked like a thin iron wire.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she watched him straighten the hairpin slightly and jam it directly into the lock cylinder.

While her mind reeled from the action, a sharp click rang out, and the lock popped open.

This... this...

Faced with this, Medea felt as if her understanding of reality had been shattered. She stood completely numb.

In a daze, she recalled the scene in her office earlier. Had she actually remembered to lock the door back then?

"Lock it."

Her train of thought was severed by Fu Qian's voice.

Medea looked up to find Fu Qian pointing at the key in her hand, gesturing for her to lock the door again.

Wasn't he trying to get into the back room?

From Medea's vantage point, she could see nothing but miscellaneous junk behind the door. Nothing of value.

Then what was the point of all this?

Fu Qian's order pushed her mind into further disarray.

But confusion aside, his tone left no room for argument.

Not daring to question him, Medea stepped forward, locked the door again with the key, and backed away at a look from Fu Qian.

...

[Locked. Requires a key to open.]

Looking at the prompt reappearing before his eyes, Fu Qian sighed.

This had to be the most bizarre way to destroy a world, didn't it?

The fire of the Furnace stemmed from self-combustion. It was like a battered man using the blood gushing from his own wounds to drown whatever was hurting him.

But what if, before the blood could drown the enemy, those wounds expanded beyond a bearable limit?

Would that heavily battered body completely collapse?

This was a race against time.

Amid his musings, Fu Qian's hands never hesitated. Within seconds, he picked the lock open once more.

Its tolerance had a limit, and its efficiency at eradication also had a limit. What he needed to do was shatter that limit before he was eradicated himself.

Furthermore, considering the widespread chaos, there was surely more than one way to challenge the limits of this world.

In his original plan, Fu Qian had wanted to take another look at the school's storage room.

Unfortunately, the final countdown had begun the moment Medea received that phone call.

He lacked the time to verify things one by one and could only opt for the most readily available method.

Fortunately, judging from his previous experiences, a simple action like picking a lock provoked a rather intense reaction.

For the present moment, this was undoubtedly a good sign.

Now it was time to start stabbing.

Every time a lock was opened without a key, it could be considered stabbing a knife into that battered body.

And the reason he had kidnapped someone at the first opportunity and fled to this place was because he knew this behavior would inevitably trigger a violent backlash.

Doing this directly in Medea's home would naturally be faster, but staying in the middle of a bustling city meant the targeted forces "It" could mobilize would undoubtedly be much more abundant.

All things considered, the damage inflicted might not be maximized.

"Lock it."

Looking at Medea, who had just suffered another mental blow, Fu Qian ordered again.

Repeatedly facing scenes that defied her understanding, she seemed to have given up on thinking altogether. Hearing his words, she mechanically stepped forward.

This time, Fu Qian picked the lock even faster.

"Lock it."

...

Time ticked away, minute by minute.

Inside this secluded countryside villa, the two of them repeated the cycle of locking and unlocking, seemingly tireless.

Aside from the mechanical clicking of the lock engaging and disengaging, there was no other sound.

"Just how much longer?"

After locking the door once again, Medea looked on the verge of a breakdown and asked in a despairing tone.

"Almost done."

Unexpectedly, Fu Qian gave a surprising answer.

"Is it over?"

Medea froze for a moment, asking with a sense of immense relief.

"I mean for you. Give me the key."

Unfortunately, Fu Qian merely snatched the key from her hand, then walked to the side and dragged over a tall stool.

Unable to understand what Fu Qian was planning, Medea watched helplessly a second later as he pulled a rope from the black bag he had brought in.

"Put your hands behind your back."

With a gesture, Fu Qian signaled Medea to sit on the stool.

This...

Slightly repulsed by the thick layer of dust on the seat, Medea hesitated briefly before gritting her teeth and sitting down anyway.

"Good."

A tightness gripped her back. Though she couldn't see it, Medea could clearly confirm that she had been bound to the stool.

"Please don't kill me!"

Medea pleaded in a terrified voice.

She could not stand up, nor could she see Fu Qian's actions behind her.

Being entirely at his mercy, combined with all the shocks she had endured along the way, was undoubtedly hard to bear.

"Sit quietly. No matter what you see, do not make a sound. That will bring you closer to what you're asking for."

But Fu Qian paid her no heed. After finishing the restraints, he had already turned back around, holding the key in one hand and the hairpin in the other, continuing his mechanical repetition.

A pity this thing didn't have a progress bar.

As he casually locked and unlocked the door, Fu Qian sighed inwardly.

From this perspective, game worlds were actually pretty nice.

The sense of certainty provided by a progress bar was simply too effective at boosting one's motivation to get things done!

In fact, in a world like this, just a few simple system prompts were enough to breed many unbelievable freaks of nature.

Like that chainsaw maniac, Terica.

For a girl under twenty to reach that level of extreme was almost impossible in his own world.

Presumably, throughout her growth, she must have encountered quite a few prompts at crucial turning points.

As for why he had to tie Medea up?

Fu Qian was not naive enough to think he could just flee to a random place, sit back, and stab the world freely without worry.

What he was doing was the work of shattering the dimensional barrier—with a Mortal Body.

Gambling with his life was no joke.

In this race against death, judging by the time, the destroying Shadow was about to arrive.

In fact, less than five minutes after Fu Qian tied her up, he heard the roar of an engine coming from outside.

"Just what the hell are you doing?"

A moment later, the door to the house was violently shoved open, and Sheriff Stan strode in with a face like frost.

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