Eldritch Horror Theatre

Life's ups and downs were just that thrilling.

One moment, Doctor Goya was patiently guiding him; the next, he was hoisted into the air by his throat.

The sheer shock clearly overloaded his nerves. For a moment, he even forgot to struggle.

"Don't do anything rash!"

Perhaps with the sharp instincts of a previous victim, Cynthia was the first to react, shouting at Fu Qian.

At the same time, she retreated a couple of steps without hesitation, putting a safe distance between them.

The man before them was far too temperamental and unpredictable; his danger level was beyond imagination.

"Don't be nervous."

Fu Qian ignored her completely, simply smiling down at Goya.

"You—"

Goya struggled with all his might to tilt his head up, squeezing a faint croak from his throat.

Clearly, Fu Qian's reaction had genuinely shocked the project leader.

He had clearly been quite confident in his own abilities, daring to approach even after seeing what Fu Qian had done to Cynthia.

Yet Fu Qian's ensuing actions had just ground that confidence to dust.

'No effect? How could there be no effect!'

'Just what kind of monster is this?'

'Not only is his physical strength this absurd, but he's also completely immune to my influence.'

Before Goya could process any of these questions, the crushing grip on his throat tightened.

...

With the sudden spike in pressure, Goya couldn't even make a sound.

Fortunately, the blood rushing to his head spurred him to recall the man's demand.

Straining to shift his gaze, he finally locked eyes with the uncovered Guide of the Soul. The mist across the glass instantly began to churn.

And true to his word, the hand around his throat actually loosened.

...

Although his gaze rapidly clouded over as he stared into the glass, Goya's reaction was notably more subdued than Cynthia's.

Even so, a deep, visible conflict twisted across his face.

"I am Goya Ulrich."

After nearly a full minute of silence, he finally spoke.

His tone didn't sound like a conversation with his reflection, however. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"I never used to possess the ability to mislead others... This isn't Ulrich's ability. Is this Patches' ability?"

"Or did I just believe I lacked it... Have I forgotten?"

"Impossible! It's just a cognitive influence that affects everyone. As long as I can find a way to purge it, I can master it..."

"Don't you dare try to deceive me!"

His final shout carried a faint tremble; this internal battle was clearly taking its toll.

Sure enough, unlike Cynthia, the project leader had directly encountered the Nether Steed and been affected by the injected identity of Patches.

He was simply far stronger than the test subjects. Not only had he kept the influence firmly under control, but he had even gained a special ability from it.

Watching Goya grit his teeth in a silent struggle against Patches, Fu Qian casually draped the cloth back over the mirror.

"Congratulations."

Fu Qian offered a beaming smile as Goya rapidly snapped back to reality.

"You held onto the voice deep inside your heart—Mr. Patches."

That final title was laced with pure malice.

Goya's emotions had just begun to stabilize, but his breathing instantly hitched upon hearing it.

'The Guide of the Soul's effect really is incredible! It's practically a high-grade catalyst for schizophrenia.'

'I wonder what would happen if he stared at it for the full five minutes?'

'Would he drop straight into full-blown schizophrenia?'

Fu Qian mused with leisurely amusement.

Of course, given the current situation, doing so was impossible.

While they hadn't rushed him just yet, the surrounding group was eyeing him like a pack of wolves.

"Mr. 9527, I must admit, you present an incredibly unique case."

Fortunately, just as expected, Goya exhibited a spirit of scientific inquiry that Doctor Cynthia lacked.

After finally catching his breath, he remained unwilling to give up so easily.

Though he was undoubtedly furious.

"So, would you care to explain your actions just now?"

"I strongly advise you not to refuse, as your answer will determine what kind of testing methods I authorize next."

Despite the heavy threat lacing those words, the lawless Fu Qian remained completely unfazed. He simply sat back down and lowered his head to examine a gold watch in his hand.

He had casually slipped it off Goya's wrist a moment ago.

At this moment, the hands on the dial were steadily approaching eight o'clock.

After all this commotion, he was rapidly running out of time.

Which brought him back to his original dilemma: why hadn't the task been completed?

He hadn't fully verified the mechanics of the covenant during his previous attempt.

However, guided by his intuition as a task runner, he had chosen the strategy of posing as an extreme anomaly to draw attention. That sequence of actions had successfully lured out the man standing before him, which was an excellent result by any metric.

Yet in the end, even with two Goyas and a Cynthia dead, the task had remained uncompleted.

The most straightforward explanation was that he still hadn't found the true target.

But he genuinely struggled to imagine in what form the true entity could possibly exist, hidden away beneath two layers of body doubles.

"Since you've asked me to share a few words, I suppose I will!"

With that in mind, Fu Qian cleared his throat. He decided to probe this Goya and see exactly how much he understood about the true nature of the Nether Steed.

...

"Doctor Goya, I took a brief look earlier."

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Fu Qian rubbed his chin, his brow deeply furrowed.

"This little project of yours looks fine at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the risks are enormous!"

'Hmm?'

What was with this attitude? He was acting like a specially invited expert reviewing a thesis proposal!

Had this guy completely forgotten his current predicament?

Once they processed what Fu Qian had just said, everyone in the room—including the victimized Doctor Goya himself—stared at him in stunned disbelief.

"While the buff it provides is decent, are you certain the side effects can actually be purged?"

Completely oblivious to their shock, Fu Qian carried on with his lecture.

"What do you mean?"

Doctor Goya was visibly displeased by the unsolicited critique.

"Introducing an unremovable impurity just to boost your yield is absolutely courting one's own death in our line of work. Who was your mentor? Did you properly evaluate these risks beforehand?"

Fu Qian's tone grew increasingly severe.

"Don't blame your teacher for speaking harshly; I'm only saying this for your own good. Otherwise, you'll be the one crying when you hit a dead end!"

"The boost is real. As for a way to suppress the cognitive influence, I've been actively searching for one."

Doctor Goya glared at Fu Qian for a long moment. He ultimately refrained from attacking, choosing instead to defend his methodology.

"You've been searching... but have you found it?"

Fu Qian scoffed, refusing to let him gloss over the issue.

"Or let's settle for the next best thing. Have you even figured out the true nature of this cognitive influence called Patches?"

Fu Qian stared right into Goya's face as he delivered the cold question.

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