Eldritch Horror Theatre

"That is Yasui Tokiyuki, the King of Ye Island."

Although she didn't understand what Fu Qian was doing, Su Gao didn't press the matter. Following his lead, she turned her attention to the program.

After watching for a moment, she pointed at someone on the screen.

'What? That's the King of Ye Island?'

Fu Qian looked at the man she was pointing out.

On screen, this legendary figure looked like nothing more than an ordinary old man at first glance.

He stood relatively straight and had a lean build. His hair was graying, and he even wore a pair of dark sunglasses.

"Isn't the King of Ye Island a little too down-to-earth?"

Fu Qian remarked a moment later.

Indeed. Even though Fu Qian rarely watched television, one glance at this show—titled Universal Infamy—was enough to tell it was some sort of talent competition.

And in just that short amount of time, he realized its sheer absurdity far exceeded anything he had seen before.

The contestants taking the stage, male or female, all shared one common trait: a bombastic moniker. Names like Phoenix, First Cause, King of Boxer Briefs, and Glute-Lifting Immortal were real eye-openers.

The acts they performed were equally outlandish.

Fu Qian watched helplessly as a sweet-looking girl used her tongue to tie two earthworms into a knot.

"Compared to the leaders of other large organizations, Yasui Tokiyuki is indeed less mysterious. He makes public appearances quite often."

Su Gao showed no reaction to the farce playing out on screen, patiently continuing her explanation for Fu Qian.

"As the founder of Anjing Company, Yasui Tokiyuki is nearly two hundred years old. He has no known offspring."

"According to the Night Watchers' records, something went wrong when he advanced to Divine Emissary a long time ago, leaving him in poor health ever since. Of course, given his unique status and how much time has passed, the accuracy of that information is hard to verify."

"To date, he remains the sole Emperor of Anjing Company."

"Emperor... is that their title for Tier 2?"

Fu Qian quickly caught the meaning behind the title. Much like Cynthia and the others using 'Doctor,' this was simply Anjing's internal designation for a rank.

Given Ye Island's general vibe, it was inevitable that their naming conventions felt a bit chuuni.

"Yes. At least on the surface, Anjing Company is still an organization backed by a Divine Emissary."

Su Gao nodded.

"Based on the intelligence I gathered at the time, there are suspicions that Yasui Tokiyuki secretly backed some of the Origin Council's operations in order to resolve his hidden affliction."

'Why am I not surprised in the slightest?'

Fu Qian thought to himself, briefly recalling his own frequent run-ins with the Origin Council.

That mysterious organization truly gave off the vibe of a technology merchant, using their hoarded knowledge as bait to fan the flames of chaos everywhere they went.

'Miracle Potion!'

A realization hit Fu Qian a moment later.

He had already deduced this before: such a rigid, brute-force method of trial and error was highly unlikely to yield genuine results, especially when it came to the higher ranks.

For Anjing Company, taking on massive risks to operate in this gray area was almost certainly more trouble than it was worth.

Yet they hadn't just done it—they'd done it with great fanfare. It was hard to believe they were simply trying to help young people realize their dreams.

Thinking about it now, could this have been the Origin Council's condition?

Yasui Tokiyuki hired them as technical consultants, and in exchange, they demanded he use his influence to conduct this seemingly public-welfare-oriented testing?

Given his past encounters with the Origin Council, they did operate somewhat like a tech faction. A demand like that wasn't out of the question.

As he mulled this over, Fu Qian kept his eyes glued to the screen.

On the broadcast, Yasui Tokiyuki stood under the spotlight of thousands, loudly praising the earthworm-playing contestant for being utterly disgusting.

Roar!

Following his critique, cheers instantly washed over the venue. The contestant flushed bright red with sheer excitement.

'What in the world is this?'

Fu Qian rubbed his temples, feeling as though he had just suffered some form of psychological attack.

But there was no doubt about it—the contestant's thrill was entirely genuine.

"I don't know much about this, but it seems to be a rather popular concept here on Ye Island over the past few years."

Su Gao furrowed her brow, clearly not enjoying the spectacle either.

"The initial cause was likely a pursuit of transcendent power."

"Given the fanatic atmosphere here on Ye Island, ordinary people who had no hope of grasping transcendent power began fabricating special concepts to entertain themselves. For instance, something akin to a legendary reputation—they call it notoriety."

"The core philosophy is simple: monopolize the cognitive awareness of others and get as many people to know you as possible. Whether you're known for good or evil doesn't matter, which means the methods used to achieve it are entirely unrestricted—all taboos are lifted."

'I see.'

Fu Qian finally understood where the bizarre stunts and pompous nicknames on the show came from.

"As for this program, it was likely organized by Anjing Company later on. Given their influence over Ye Island, and with Yasui Tokiyuki himself making a personal appearance, the show's impact is undeniably massive."

"I can imagine."

Fu Qian nodded, watching a contestant who was still screaming his own moniker at the top of his lungs even as he was being carried off the stage.

"Do you think there might be a problem with this?"

Fu Qian's intense focus on a simple television program left Su Gao feeling a little surprised.

"Hard to say. I just feel like this would be perfectly suited for a certain someone who failed to achieve a Miracle and ended up with a shattered dao heart."

"Kisaragi Kana?"

Su Gao immediately grasped what Fu Qian meant.

"Do you think her strange behavior might be related to all of this?"

"Not from what I knew previously. But there's no doubt she would be an excellent fit for this sort of thing."

Fu Qian recalled his past interactions with Kisaragi Kana.

"There's also a minor issue here. Just like with transcendents, a person's rank can't just be self-proclaimed. Since the general public is using this for entertainment, there has to be some way to measure who ranks higher—wait a minute, I think I know."

Mid-sentence, the camera on screen panned, revealing that the group had actually arrived at a temple.

Inside the doors of one of the buildings sat a massive, crystal-clear boulder. At a glance, it looked like a toad with a human face.

The men and women lined up as if awaiting judgment, taking turns placing their hands upon the stone.

Soon enough, a series of buzzing sounds at varying pitches began echoing from its swollen belly.

'Interesting!'

Watching the show's host excitedly shout over a contestant who produced a slightly louder buzz—and promptly pinning a sharp-looking Badge to his chest—Fu Qian finally understood how notoriety was quantified.

He had to admit, with this element added in, it made for perfect mass entertainment.

But wasn't this a little too coincidental?

A bunch of thrill-seekers playing into a meme, Anjing Company stepping in to amplify its reach, and, conveniently enough, an actual method to measure the results.

'Yasui Tokiyuki, you're quite bold. Do the Night Watchers know?'

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