Eldritch Horror Theatre

...Is there something wrong with your fucking head?

Is that what I meant when I said I changed my mind?

Fu Qian's thoughtful remark successfully wiped the smile off Kuraki Eiko's face, leaving a stiff silence.

Fortunately, her unique state afforded her a rather unconventional coping mechanism.

Kuraki Eiko's features shifted rapidly, quickly transforming into another face entirely.

"Your actions are truly incomprehensible!"

Doctor Cynthia, looking significantly more composed, took over the negotiation and expressed a heartfelt amazement at Fu Qian's thought process.

"Incomprehensible? You people in your four-in-one state have some nerve saying that!"

Fu Qian fired the retort back flawlessly, though his eyes were fixed on her left wrist.

Given that her wrist was noticeably thinner, the watch practically rattled around and threatened to fly off with every movement.

Once upon a time, he had taken one just like it off a certain substitute.

Of course, he would do the same now.

One of the Spikes under Fu Qian's ribs retracted sharply. With a click, a shiny watch dropped into his palm.

That's right. He hadn't let it go this time either after finishing off his target.

Given his current form, however, his wrist wasn't exactly suitable, so he had simply hooked it onto his body.

It was still nearly twenty minutes to eight, leaving plenty of time to chat.

After fiddling with it and confirming the hands were ticking normally, Fu Qian hooked it back on, letting it hang on his chest like a medal.

This bizarre action left Cynthia stunned. Coupled with Fu Qian's soul-piercing question, she hesitated, clearly torn on what to say.

"This is a necessary measure. You don't understand the greatness of our experiment at all."

Finally, after an internal struggle, Cynthia gritted her teeth and spoke.

"Oh? What makes it so great? I'm actually a little curious."

Fu Qian gestured for her to speak freely.

"Practicing self-deception under the shroud of a Deception Aura? Forgive me for being blunt, but that sounds awfully like some kind of perverse behavior."

"If you want to deceive a higher entity, there cannot be a single flaw."

Cynthia didn't deny the accusation. Her expression was dead serious.

"And we certainly aren't doing this for some fleeting thrill of feedback!"

"The power behind the Nether Steed must be handled with absolute caution, even for a demigod. Otherwise, one will quickly get lost in layers of false cognition and truly lose their sense of self."

"The specifics are strictly confidential. I couldn't tell you even if you swallowed the Nether Steed."

"Time is running out. If possible, please stop interfering and let us finish the test."

"So you're saying you turned yourselves into this mess to deal with the power behind the Nether Steed? The real question is, is it really a good idea to say that in front of me?"

Fu Qian's sharp claws dragged idly across the hard tabletop, quickly sketching the outline of a horse.

"Plotting right to my face. You've got guts!"

"Don't try to trick me. You might be terrifyingly strong, but you are absolutely not the Nether Steed!"

Cynthia scoffed coldly, her tone remaining quite firm.

"We've been running tests for two whole years. We might not have gained much, but we still have at least this much judgment."

"Not bad. Very confident."

Fu Qian stopped sketching and looked her up and down.

"Then can you answer a question for me? After you finish the test, how are you supposed to get out?"

"The one I killed earlier should have been your true body, right?"

"Yes, but it doesn't matter!"

Sensing a potential turning point in his tone, Cynthia's spirits immediately lifted.

"The physical body doesn't matter at all."

"Really? But no matter how you put it, you're the one who got smashed to pieces. Brother Goya is perfectly fine."

Fu Qian began sowing discord with absolute naturalness.

"What difference does that make?"

Cynthia smiled and shook her wrist.

"I can be anyone right now."

"Really? I don't buy it."

Fu Qian shook his head, looking profound.

"I believe you just said that under such a Deception Aura, it's very easy to lose oneself in false cognition. Are you so sure your current thoughts aren't exactly that?"

"Of course I know. Every single one of us knows, because we are all the same."

Cynthia pointed at herself without a shred of hesitation.

"Our understanding of each other far exceeds your imagination."

"This current state could happen to any one of us. To put it plainly, as long as a single one of us survives, it means we all survive."

As she spoke, Goya's face rapidly surfaced to replace hers.

"So drop the pointless attempts at sowing discord. It's completely meaningless!"

"Your unbreakable bond is truly touching, but I'm actually talking about all four of you."

Fu Qian clicked his tongue in admiration.

"Do you really think that the 'you' right now is genuinely you, and not just the result of a little trickery? Including you—"

Fu Qian pointed at Goya, halting his urge to retort, before his tone abruptly shifted.

"May I speak with Patches?"

...

As soon as this abrupt question came out, Goya actually stopped talking.

After a brief silence, his facial features shifted once again.

A few seconds later, a middle-aged man with a gloomy face and thinning hair appeared. Just looking at his features made him seem incredibly vile.

"Honestly, why must you be so cruel?"

The brand-new face immediately sighed. Unsurprisingly, his tone was incredibly punchable, inspiring a strong urge to smack him to death.

"Wouldn't it be nice to just let them stay this happy?"

"I'm a bit pressed for time. Next time, I'll definitely play along and chat a little longer."

The person before him appeared to be the legendary mysterious figure, Patches. Why am I not surprised by this appearance in the slightest!

Fu Qian sighed to himself. His own face shifted as well, quickly returning to his human features as a show of sincerity.

"Patches?"

"I could be."

The other party didn't hesitate to steal Teacher Yu's line.

"It certainly wasn't easy to find you."

"It can't be helped. I don't get much active time each year."

Patches's expression was profoundly meaningful.

"How did you know they were all fake?"

"I wouldn't exactly call them fake, right?"

Fu Qian frowned.

"I've just been curious about their state since earlier."

"The way I see it, the kind of self-deception that could even fool me must have a massive connection to you. And to build that kind of connection with you, the first thing that comes to mind is what Cynthia mentioned—completely believing that you are Patches."

"In other words, they likely needed to believe with absolute certainty that they were Patches. All the external traits belonging to their own names were just a disguise. Only then could they receive such a gift."

"Following that train of thought, it's easy to figure out how they achieved this four-in-one effect. At their core, the self-cognition of all four of them had already become you, and they were simply disguising themselves as their original identities."

"In this situation, even if they were killed and their physical bodies destroyed, as long as their core remained unchanged, it was just a matter of wearing four masks on a single face."

"Of course, I only had a hunch and decided to ask casually. I didn't expect you, the God of Deception, to be so forthcoming."

Heh!

Patches seemed to be in a good mood and didn't mind Fu Qian's mockery.

"So you've been looking for me all this time?"

"Yeah, I was entrusted by someone."

Fu Qian nodded.

"By whom?"

"You."

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