Eldritch Horror Theatre

[Mission completed. Containment of 1-003 successful.]

The scenery before his eyes rapidly dissolved. Back in the Warehouse, Fu Qian leisurely reviewed the mission summary.

[Evaluation: One with Insight]

[Imagination is the source of wisdom. Otherwise, even if the path lies right ahead, the blind will never see it.

On the path of the transcendent, some threats are completely unfathomable, and even the fear they inspire cannot be transmitted. Once you step into these hidden wells, there is almost no chance of return.

They do not even need malicious intent; their mere existence is a threat.

As one of the unfortunate, you successfully perceived unimaginable arcane information and saved a few lost lambs, even if those lambs will never remember the shepherd's existence.

This disastrous incident survived in the victims' minds for less than half an hour before being completely forgotten. The dead and the missing have vanished forever from the outside world, leaving no trace even in memory.

Not a single record of this incident has been documented.]

[Rewards: SAN Value +20; inspiration +5; Brawler 2/3]

[Current SAN Value: 55]

[Replay incident review?]

Why were there no kills? Shouldn't there be another twenty-six?

Fu Qian stared at the mission statistics, highly indignant.

Profiteers!

Complaints aside, he could roughly guess the reason.

Feng Yunhong's group had already been counted as kills once, and he had received the corresponding rewards.

It seemed kills wouldn't be double-counted. Otherwise, he could have delayed completing the mission and farmed a hundred of them back and forth just to see if it unlocked an achievement.

Speaking of which...

Fu Qian quickly scrolled to his actual reward.

[Thug: Digestion progress 2/3]

[Maintaining the utmost calm amid the most frenzied slaughter—an essential quality for opposing all powerful entities.]

As the message flashed past, a psychic ripple washed over him from head to toe, surging through his entire body.

Unlike the previous violent scouring of his vitality, this ripple instantly relaxed his emotions, soothed his mind, and made his thoughts clearer than ever before.

The mental trauma from forcibly weathering the flood of information rapidly healed.

Not only that, but he could feel his Mental Resistance to attacks had significantly increased.

He had finally taken another step forward!

The second stage of the Thug digestion seemed focused on the mind.

His success in digesting it was highly likely tied to enduring the Mental Shock on the Stone Seat.

He had previously worried that if he encountered a High Tier Psychic Type transcendent, he might accidentally fall for their tricks. Now, with his increased Mental Resistance, he had nothing to fear.

This reward was unexpectedly fitting, making all that mental torture worthwhile.

Just recalling his experience sitting on the Stone Seat made his brain throb.

[Today's work completed. Thank you for your efforts.]

[You have worked continuously for four days. To ensure a balance of work and rest, you will enter a mandatory vacation for the next three days. During this period, you will be unable to log into the Warehouse.]

Work four, rest three?

Fu Qian blanked for a moment, then felt deep satisfaction with such a humane policy.

The missions over the past few days had been escalating in intensity; he really did need to rest and relax his nerves.

As a freelancer, Fu Qian had always had plenty of free time, but this feeling of being on an actual vacation was something he hadn't experienced in a long while.

It was still quite early by the time he left the Warehouse and returned home.

Fu Qian whipped up something simple to eat, then headed downstairs for a stroll at the leisurely pace of a retiree.

His home was in an older residential neighborhood, the kind without elevators.

Most of the residents were retired couples whose children had already started families of their own. Many were neighbors who had lived there for years.

At this hour, the morning sun was just rising. The office workers weren't up yet, leaving only a scattered few early exercisers and dog walkers.

Speaking of which, out of consideration for his health, Fu Qian had actually tried sticking to a morning workout routine for a while, but he was soon forced to give it up.

The main issue was that the grandpas and grandmas simply slept too little.

Whenever he went out for his morning exercise, no matter how early, they were always sitting neatly on the benches along the community paths. They even separated into two rows by gender, serving as a veritable scenic feature of the neighborhood.

Any passing young person would be tracked by their gazes until they were completely out of sight, followed by a flurry of gossip. If a dog walked past, they could probably trace its ancestry back several generations.

Fu Qian wasn't socially anxious, so this scene alone wasn't enough to scare him off.

Unfortunately, many of the elderly residents were quite familiar with his family's situation. Every time they saw him, it was a barrage of pity, sympathy, and concerned inquiries about his well-being.

People always sympathized with those who posed no threat to them.

When Fu Qian was young, he had been the childhood nightmare of quite a few neighborhood kids. Now that he had become an unemployed drifter, the grandpas and grandmas no longer harbored any grudges. They simply encouraged him to work hard and not give up on himself.

After enduring this a few too many times, Fu Qian simply gave up on his morning workouts.

Today, however, he casually strolled all the way to the neighborhood gate once again. He even found an empty spot on a bench and sat down to bask in the warmth of the rising sun.

He finally understood why they loved basking in the sun here in the morning.

Much like a cat, the comforting touch of the early morning sunlight fully drew out one's inner laziness.

The laziness of these old men differed from a legendary air of nobility. Nobility was the indifference that came after desires were fully satisfied, while this was the relief that came after giving up on desires altogether.

As for Fu Qian, his was a mud-sliding-across-the-floor brand of going with the flow. Of course, he preferred to describe it as smooth, adaptable, and unbound by external things.

Fu Qian's appearance naturally attracted their attention.

However, since he hadn't shown up for a long time, no one came over to strike up a conversation right away, though private whispers were already swirling.

Fu Qian didn't mind at all. He simply focused on enjoying his leisure time, only heading home when the sunlight grew scorching.

While he was sunbathing on the second day, resting with his eyes closed, he suddenly heard a commotion from the "audience section" by the benches.

Fu Qian opened his eyes and looked over, spotting a sleek red sports car driving directly into the neighborhood.

Even if they hadn't experienced luxury firsthand, they knew it when they saw it. The grandpas and grandmas still had an eye for quality, and their focus quickly shifted to the sports car.

Fu Qian followed suit and took a few glances.

He wasn't particularly enthusiastic about cars, but he certainly didn't mind admiring this crystallization of human industrial civilization.

Looking at the car's sharp lines, Fu Qian realized he actually recognized this vehicle.

If he remembered correctly, Qin Mingze, Young Master Qin, had drooled over this car more than once. Unfortunately, it was so frighteningly expensive that he could only end up sighing in helplessness.

The roads in the old neighborhood were very narrow, but the sports car moved forward slowly and politely, seemingly afraid of bumping into the elderly residents.

The grandpas and grandmas were also very accommodating, rubbing their hands together eagerly, itching to go up and touch it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the car drove up to Fu Qian and stopped.

"Is that him?"

The window on the driver's side slowly rolled down. A young woman wearing sunglasses pointed at Fu Qian and turned her head to ask.

"Yeah."

Qin Mingze's head popped up from the back seat, and he nodded with a complex expression.

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