Eldritch Horror Theatre

Right now, Kisaragi Chie naturally did not exhibit any transcendent aura; she looked as ordinary as the vast majority of people outside.

But strictly speaking, something about her did connect her to transcendent power—a certain artificially defined attribute.

From his experiences in the previous mission, he knew the Kamakura family, Kamakura Shinji included, were aware of the notoriety law mini-game. But their involvement ended there; they hadn't actually tested which depth level they belonged to.

However, the Warehouse had validated his speculation about why the Severing Divine Seal lost control. This meant even mere spectators could not avoid the "pollution" of this concept.

And right now, there was no indication whatsoever that this pollution targeted only transcendents.

In fact, looking at the overarching nature of the entire incident, the true targets were ordinary people.

Could the anomaly Kisaragi Chie sensed mean that, sometime before midnight yesterday, this meaningless attribute meant purely for entertainment had suddenly gained real significance?

Did that grant Kisaragi Chie the power to persuade her younger sister, while a far more subtle reaction occurred within Kisaragi Kana, directly advancing her to a transcendent?

If so, it pointed to a very severe problem. With Yasui Tokiyuki appearing as a guest, the proportion of people across all of Ye Island who didn't know about this program was likely minuscule. In other words, the number of people polluted by this concept would be massive.

While processing all this, Kisaragi Chie had already grown accustomed to his mode of communication and quickly raised her next question.

Alas!

It was just that the question made Fu Qian heave a long internal sigh.

It wasn't strange for Kisaragi Chie to think of this, and it was entirely reasonable that she hadn't realized her own anomalies.

What made Fu Qian sigh was that, even now, she was subconsciously doing everything in her power to protect her sister.

Based on her description, Kisaragi Kana's behavior could certainly be interpreted as someone who hadn't realized she was a transcendent, making her a victim in Takagi's death.

But given Kisaragi Kana's erratic personality, she was theoretically more than capable of realizing she was a transcendent, secretly driving Takagi to madness, and then playing the victim.

Hayami Suzune's reaction just now clearly showed she had considered this exact possibility.

Yet Kisaragi Chie, who was generally sharper than the investigator, subconsciously assumed the first possibility even when posing a question.

"When the Night Watchers arrive, you can choose whether or not to share your discoveries and speculations with them."

Fu Qian didn't answer her question, offering a piece of advice instead.

"All right... Are you leaving?"

Kisaragi Chie clearly understood his meaning, while also sensing that his interest in talking had faded.

"Indeed."

Fu Qian nodded and stood up.

The next moment, however, after a glance around, he casually removed his mask and looked at the diviner.

"Ms. Chie, this business of yours is actually run quite well, but mastery flourishes with diligence and wastes away with play. You absolutely must not slack off."

"Even today. I understand your mood might be affected by family matters, but no matter what, you must keep your spirits up and man your post."

...

Faced with Fu Qian's bizarrely out-of-character encouragement, Kisaragi Chie, already forcing herself to stay alert, cycled through a spectacular array of expressions.

But a few seconds later, she nodded and gave a low murmur of agreement.

"I know. I will work as usual in a bit."

Not bad, not bad; a child worthy of teaching.

Given Kisaragi Chie's personality, since she had said so, she definitely wouldn't slack off.

Having successfully squashed a wicked urge to slack off, Fu Qian felt a pang of lament—just like her sister, she had also become incredibly easy to persuade.

His previous speculation had been validated just a bit more.

Despite her quiet demeanor, Kisaragi Chie was actually quite assertive. Coupled with the discomfort of being tied up all night, the dual physical and mental strain should have made it very difficult to convince her to operate her business as usual.

Yet she had agreed remarkably fast.

As Fu Qian left, he watched Kisaragi Chie follow him out and flip the sign on the shop door to "Open."

...

The payoff here was almost exaggeratedly massive.

When he emerged from the fortune-telling hut, it wasn't too late in the day yet.

Fu Qian studied the men and women along the street. Everything looked no different from usual.

But if his guess was correct, it was hard to imagine what kind of transformations were taking place inside the hundreds of millions of minds across Ye Island.

Early on, Su Gao had mentioned that the core concept of notoriety was akin to vying for the cognitive awareness of others, regardless of whether it was good or bad.

This had just been proven. To Kisaragi Chie, he was absolutely not a good person, yet his cognitive influence over her had a remarkably clear effect.

If this kind of effect was occurring between everyone, and its intensity was continuously increasing...

His previous feeling hadn't been wrong. A massive storm really was brewing, only it was on a psychological level.

...

"How is the situation?"

When he returned to his residence, Su Gao was intently flipping through the Abyss Notes. Seeing Fu Qian, she asked naturally.

"Not great. Our movements will be somewhat restricted for the time being."

Fu Qian shook his head.

Movements restricted...

"Did something happen?"

Su Gao looked a bit confused.

"Yeah. I've got a case tied to me now, so buying tickets won't be convenient."

Fu Qian recounted the events of his trip.

"Given that I was at the scene the entire time, I could receive a summons from the Night Watchers at any moment."

Kisaragi Kana advancing to a transcendent, Takagi swallowing her hand and dying...

Someone they had just traveled with yesterday had undergone such a drastic turn of events today. Su Gao fell silent for a moment.

"Judging by the stance Gin Kazuhiro displayed, it feels highly likely that the incident will still be pinned on Takagi—a mental breakdown driven by emotion."

However, after a long pause, she delivered her own judgment.

"Agreed. After all, Kisaragi Kana's performance was flawless, and the influence of notoriety is currently just a deduction without any concrete evidence."

Fu Qian clearly supported her judgment.

"Yasui Tokiyuki has obviously grasped the limits perfectly. This artificially defined attribute has yet to show any transcendent-level feedback on the body or the mind."

"But you still lean toward it being the cause behind Kisaragi Kana's overnight ascension to Tier 7?"

"That is my guess."

Fu Qian didn't hide his thoughts.

"A while ago, I mentioned the issue of cultivation talent to Kisaragi Chie. What if we attribute the anomaly in Kisaragi Kana to a unique cultivation talent? One so remarkably unique that there are no existing cultivation methods to serve as a reference."

"Then her current situation undoubtedly looks like she found the correct path and is now advancing by leaps and bounds."

"Of course, she herself might not even realize it; she's simply continuing down the path out of inertia."

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