Eldritch Horror Theatre

He was right. He had run into a completely unprecedented situation in this assignment.

He had configured his skills according to the prompt, yet he currently appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary mortal.

The Rings covering his fingers were still there, of course, though they now looked like perfectly mundane jewelry.

This was bad news. It pointed to one possibility: since the prompt hadn't explicitly mentioned ability restrictions, there was a high probability that this task involved entities in the Transcendent Tier.

Yet, for reasons currently unknown, he had been reduced to a mere mortal.

That contrast made the situation far more dangerous than a straightforward ability restriction.

His only reliance now seemed to be Mercy, tucked away in the shoulder holster beneath his ribs. The sedatives packed some decent weight, true, but they made for a rather bizarre weapon.

In contrast, the five people opposite him were far more appropriately armed. They carried an array of gleaming cold weapons—swords and hooked claws—along with beautifully crafted light crossbows and short firearms.

And right now, a good number of those weapons were aimed directly at him.

In response to Fu Qian's reticence, the short-haired youth who had spoken first narrowed his eyes, offering a smiling appraisal.

Teammate? Are we really still in the party-forming phase?

The hostility in the man's posture was palpable, but Fu Qian paid it no mind.

"What should I call you?"

"A boring question, but one I can actually answer."

The short-haired youth seemed fairly satisfied with Fu Qian's new reaction. Raising his hand as he spoke, he casually tossed something over.

It wasn't thrown hard. Even with an ordinary mortal's physique, Fu Qian still had enough coordination to catch it.

He snatched it precisely, discovering it was a playing card. The illustration on it, however, was rather macabre—it resembled an old-fashioned hurricane lantern, but instead of a glowing wick behind the glass, its belly was stuffed with pink eyeballs of varying sizes. A rough count put the number in the double digits.

This thing...

"Considering everyone is very busy, we all agreed there was no need to exchange boring information like our names. So, to keep it simple, we each drew a card to use as a codename."

As if hearing Fu Qian's silent confusion, the short-haired youth smiled and explained the intent behind this, casually flashing another card in his hand.

At a glance, the card depicted a crudely carved wooden mask. Not only was it asymmetrical, but its mouth and eye sockets drooped, giving it a deeply depressing look.

"Mask."

The other man stated directly as Fu Qian inspected the card.

"Red Dragon."

"Star."

At the same time, two others spoke up.

The one holding the Red Dragon card was a burly middle-aged man. A glaring pink scar ran from his left cheek all the way to the tip of his nose, making him look like someone you didn't want to mess with.

Star was a very young woman, fresh-faced and pretty.

Her slightly curly chestnut hair was pinned up. She wore a light-colored long-sleeved jacket and tight-fitting trousers, balancing defense and mobility while perfectly highlighting her proud curves.

Aside from these two eager participants, the remaining man and woman were also fairly young. However, their expressions and postures were quite wooden; they looked as if they couldn't even be bothered to offer this simplified greeting.

"A pleasure to meet you all."

Having recently navigated the jianghu, Fu Qian had learned to be quite polite from dealing with various veterans and masters. After delivering this flattery as naturally as breathing, he casually flashed his card.

"What should this one be called?"

"Mr. Guansi."

Brother Mask only needed a single glance before offering an inviting gesture.

"Welcome to the team."

Guansi? That's a pretty good name!

Faced with this slightly grim codename, Fu Qian was actually quite satisfied.

He felt it carried a beautiful connotation: lying flat the whole way, just sitting back and watching the flowers bloom and fall.

Carrying this beautiful vision of the future, Fu Qian stepped forward and actually stood together with the five of them.

Almost simultaneously, Fu Qian watched Brother Mask tear the remaining deck of cards in half and casually toss them aside, acting as if their mission was complete.

"How is the team limit determined? You just tore those up—what if someone else shows up?"

Faced with this action, Fu Qian asked with genuine curiosity.

"They won't. Anyone else who shows up from now on will be an enemy."

Brother Mask's answer was incredibly natural, but the information it revealed was rather chilling.

The other four showed no reaction, clearly having already reached a consensus on the matter.

It seems I missed out on some exciting content because I was late,

Fu Qian thought to himself, then asked his most pressing question.

"You seemed to mention earlier that everyone here is very special?"

As he said this, he didn't direct it at anyone in particular, fully adopting the posture of letting the willing bite the hook.

"Of course. After all, everyone is here to complete an assignment."

This time, it was Madam Star who picked up the topic, speaking with a bright smile as she toyed with a throwing knife in her hand.

So it really is...

Fu Qian narrowed his eyes, studying the five of them closely once again.

Are they all task runners?

I've been chasing traces of my predecessors all this time, and now five living ones have popped up all at once?

The circumstances of life are truly fascinating!

"I see. But it seems I haven't received a task yet,"

Amidst his sighs, Fu Qian also communicated with complete honesty.

"And my current state is a bit different from usual."

"The two things you mentioned are actually the same problem."

At this moment, the burly Red Dragon glanced at Mask first, then stepped forward to clear up Fu Qian's confusion.

"None of us have received a task, but given the situation before us, it is obvious that our primary task is to survive."

"Makes sense. Though in that case, my codename feels a bit unlucky."

Fu Qian listened with a serious expression, instantly pivoting the topic to mysticism.

"...Haha!"

Brother Red Dragon was much more amiable than he looked. After a slight pause, he let out a string of hearty laughter and pointed to the side.

"Don't worry about it. This teammate of ours drew the Death Row Inmate card!"

He was pointing precisely at the man among the remaining two.

This fellow with the even unluckier codename was indeed thinner than the rest. Even his shoulder-length blond hair looked somewhat dull. Paired with his melancholic eyes and faint stubble, he really was the one who looked most like a death row inmate.

"Qing."

At the same time, the final female team member, entirely wrapped in complex robes, finally opened her mouth. She spat out a single syllable devoid of emotion while simultaneously flipping a card out from her sleeve.

The card's content was extremely simple: a gathered mass of cyan light, looking transparent and hallucinatory.

Of course, it probably hadn't been this hallucinatory originally.

Fu Qian greeted her, then once again looked up at the omnipresent blue light.

"Looks like we'd better uncover the secret behind this light and confirm if it's connected to the strange anomalies in our bodies."

Brother Mask's voice rang out again at this moment.

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