Eldritch Horror Theatre

"It looks like there really is something wrong with your brain."

Fu Qian's personal assessment naturally drew a strong reaction from the psychiatrist.

Nancy stared at him for a long time before she finally spoke slowly.

"My apologies. While your story makes a lot more sense so far, questioning everything is a fundamental trait of a professional."

Fu Qian explained with a smile.

"So, to dispel those doubts, could you bring out that irrefutable evidence you mentioned just now to help me out?"

"No."

Nancy's refusal was blunt.

"Unless you bring Kelly here, that won't be possible."

Her reaction didn't really surprise Fu Qian. A moment later, he nodded.

Even though he hadn't managed to deliver a single dose of the sedatives, this trip had been quite fruitful.

Theoretically, the rational choice right now was to take the information he had gathered and head back to the Clinic to confront Kelly.

Then, ideally, he would bring her here so they could witness this irrefutable evidence together.

However—

"I'll go verify your claims, but before I do, there are two more questions I need you to answer."

"...Go ahead."

She seemingly hadn't expected Fu Qian to be so stubbornly incorrigible. Yet, despite her anger, Nancy finally gritted her teeth and spoke.

"First, I noticed a very strange phenomenon. All the windows... no, more accurately, every spot with a view to the outside has been sealed up. As a mental health professional, that undeniably strikes me as a bit abnormal. Can I ask why?"

Fu Qian wasn't just making things up. He hadn't been idle during their conversation; from what he'd observed, even the peephole on the door had been plugged.

Of course, the so-called mental health professional would more accurately be described as a mental health hazard.

...

His words seemed to remind Nancy. A moment later, she jolted in alarm and looked around in panic, as if terrified that even a sliver of outside light might leak in.

After confirming that every crack was tightly sealed and the only light source was the lamp she had turned on, she finally let out a small sigh of relief, though her face remained completely taut.

"Actually... it doesn't hurt to tell you."

After a moment of hesitation, she chose to answer.

"Did you see the sky outside?"

"Yeah. It's gorgeous. Sunset clouds soaring alongside sunset clouds."

Fu Qian nodded repeatedly.

"Gorgeous?"

Nancy's expression twisted.

"That is not a good sign. There is something in there—inside that light."

What?

Such a surreal twist left Fu Qian slightly stunned, though he didn't show a hint of it on his face.

"What is it?"

"Something terrifying!"

Nancy's tone was incredibly solemn.

"If that light touches you, it will find you. At a moment when you least expect it, a real eye will open inside it. As long as it looks at you even once, you'll turn into a madman..."

To think something like this was happening. This Clinic really wasn't simple at all.

Fu Qian gave a slight nod and voiced his doubts at the speed of light.

"But I walked around outside for over an hour and didn't feel anything abnormal. And how do you know all this?"

"No abnormalities? Yet you forgot everything, and you're even taking orders from a deranged, fake doctor."

Nancy said coldly.

That actually made a bit of sense.

"As for how I know... my patient told me."

Huh? Lady, do you want to rethink what you just said?

You're a psychiatrist, and you're listening to the warnings of your patient?

That's completely backwards!

Fu Qian was filled with exasperation as he listened.

"Which patient?"

"Sorry, but that is their private information. As a doctor, I have professional ethics."

Nancy flatly refused him.

Not bad. Very professional.

Fu Qian nodded and didn't pry any further.

"Just one last question."

As he spoke, he picked up the bottle of sedatives Nancy had brought out earlier.

"What would it take for you to drink this?"

"You really are out of your mind!"

Nancy's emotions had gradually settled over the course of their exchange, but the moment Fu Qian said this, all that progress instantly went out the window.

She flew into a frenzy almost instantly, letting out an ear-piercing scream.

"I am never drinking that stuff no matter what! Get out of here right now!"

"Now you're just being a bit irritable."

The smile on Fu Qian's face didn't fade. However, given that he was slowly unscrewing the cap of the sedatives, he looked exactly like a psychopathic killer.

"It seems you need some rest. That's fine. I can help with that."

"What are you trying to do?"

Mid-scream, Nancy's neck was suddenly seized, and her jaw was pinched open.

The red, transparent, odorless liquid converged into a stream and was poured straight down her throat.

Wasn't the effect of this sketchy medicine a bit too good?

A few seconds later, Fu Qian looked down at the empty bottle in his hand in surprise.

In his other hand was Nancy, who was already completely unresponsive.

The instant the last drop of the sedatives entered her mouth, she had lost consciousness.

The sheer speed at which it took effect was outrageously forceful, practically on par with a causality weapon.

Of course, the most important thing was that he seemed to have received some good news—the task hadn't failed.

Fu Qian placed the empty bottle on the table and laid Doctor Nancy back onto the sofa, inwardly clicking his tongue in marvel.

This "true" doctor had just become the first person to drink the medicine, yet the prompt for mission failure hadn't appeared. That proved two things.

First, she was a patient, because his task was to administer the four bottles of sedatives to four patients.

Second, there wasn't even a problem with the sequence; she was the first in line.

It was a cause for celebration. Compared to the most rational strategy, this payoff was much greater.

Naturally, the risks had been just as high. If he had made a mistake, he would have had to start over right then and there.

And the reason he had chosen to take such a crude, straightforward risk was simply because it was worth it.

First of all, her claims completely contradicted Kelly's. One of them was definitely lying, which meant one of them had to be a patient.

As long as he could figure out which one it was, all the clues would instantly become clear, effectively cutting out more than half of his workload.

High risk, high reward. Next, he only needed to calculate the expected outcome.

Secondly, when he had asked Nancy what it would take for her to accept the sedatives, her answer was that it was absolutely impossible.

In other words, even if it was proven later that she was a patient, he wouldn't be able to copy the approach he had used with Sam and the others, getting her to drink it through an exchange of conditions. He would still have to rely on brute force in the end.

Since that was the case, he might as well test it right now.

The facts proved that it was viable. Although this place was bizarre, there were no invulnerability protections against physical attacks.

So, as for right now...

Glancing at his first patient, who resembled a statue save for her breathing, Fu Qian resumed examining his surroundings.

Given her earlier claims, shouldn't he search for that irrefutable evidence?

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