Eldritch Horror Theatre

Perfect.

At this rate, he was going to turn into a psychopath with a SAN Value of zero.

[SAN Value minus 1. Entering Containment Scenario.]

Fu Qian chose to restart without hesitation.

The repeated failures had awakened his ruthless streak.

He was going to find the bastard who ambushed him.

”You’re awake?”

The old man’s familiar voice rang out.

Mhm.

Gritting his teeth and once again ”persuading him with reason,” Fu Qian climbed out of bed, walked to the door, and squinted outside.There was something new in the courtyard—a human torso and limbs, an absurdly long neck, and a head full of long hair.

Right now, this freak was completely motionless, staring up at the starry sky with two hollow eye sockets.

With that freakish posture, could it be a legendary werewolf that transformed under a full moon?

The problem was that, apart from its head, the rest of its body was completely bare.

He could even faintly make out human facial features. It felt more like a bearded zombie.

The most striking thing about it, however, was the torn strips of cloth draped over its body.

Had this guy been human before, discovered the beauty of the wild, and returned to nature?

Fu Qian made an irresponsible guess.

Given its position, he must have walked right into its face earlier. No wonder he had been sent packing with a single slap.

Those deformed claws, larger than his own head, must have been the murder weapons.

As for why it had been invisible before but was visible now, Fu Qian figured he already knew the reason.

The answer probably lay in that inspiration +1; it allowed him to see more things.

”The moon is about to set.”

The old man’s urging voice came from behind him again.

This time, Fu Qian didn’t even turn his head. Crouching low, he stayed in the werewolf’s blind spot and quietly slipped outside.

The werewolf stayed where it was, continuing to gaze up at the starry sky, completely unresponsive to Fu Qian’s movements.

Breathing a quiet sigh of relief, Fu Qian carefully checked his surroundings and quickly found a way out—a set of double stone doors.

But the problem was that the doors not only looked incredibly heavy, they were also just a few meters away from the werewolf.

Could this setup be any more malicious? You might as well just have the thing sit on top of the exit!

Complaints aside, Fu Qian didn’t let anger cloud his judgment. Instead, he seriously analyzed his current situation.

No matter what difficulties he faced, he had to analyze them calmly, respond composedly, and finally, elegantly chop off the boss’s dog head.

That was what a real man did!

And right now, it seemed he had two options.

One: play hide-and-seek with the werewolf here, bet that its eyes and nose didn’t work well, and follow the principle of ”if the enemy doesn’t move, I don’t move,” stalling until time ran out.

After all, the condition for successful Containment was surviving for one hour.

Two: risk getting his heart pierced by a claw to open those doors, which looked like they weighed a ton, and run into whatever unknown dangers lay behind them.

Fu Qian decisively chose to try the first option.

As everyone knew, the first rule to surviving a movie was: unless absolutely necessary, never touch things you shouldn’t.

Fu Qian looked at the prompt in the upper left corner of his vision. He had already successfully survived for 15 minutes this time.

Careful not to make a single sound, Fu Qian slowly moved and finally hid himself behind a tree, keeping his back to the werewolf.

16, 17... 20!

At the twentieth minute, the star-gazing werewolf suddenly let out a howl and began to move.

Dropping its strange posture, the werewolf looked exceptionally manic.

It began darting around the courtyard at unbelievable speed, and almost instantly spotted Fu Qian behind the tree.

Fuck!

With nowhere to dodge, Fu Qian was once again sent packing by a single claw.

[Containment Failure. Survival time: 20 minutes.]

[Rating: Useless Person. There is nothing more foolish than expecting a madman to follow the rules.]

[Reward: None.]

[Current SAN Value: 15]

So hiding doesn’t work, huh?

Fu Qian exhaled, deeply realizing the pure malice of this place.

No wonder he was given a task to survive for an hour.

It seemed this werewolf reliably went crazy at the 20-minute mark. His plan to hide in the courtyard until the end was a bust.

If he retreated, there was still that murderous old man inside the house.

It seemed his only option now was to open the stone doors and run.

But setting aside how to avoid detection for a moment, was that heavy thing even something a human could push?

Re-entering the Containment Scenario, Fu Qian stared at the heavy stone doors with a look of grief and indignation.

No matter what, he had to try.

Fu Qian quietly felt around on the ground for a stone and chucked it into the distance.

Before the stone even landed, a streak of black lightning flashed by.

The werewolf, originally gazing at the starry sky, leaped up the moment it heard the rushing air.

In an instant, it crossed several meters and swatted the stone away with a single claw.

Before Fu Qian could even curse, the mid-air werewolf pushed off its hind legs without hesitation, changed direction, leaped across the yard again, and slammed headfirst into Fu Qian’s chest.

Fu Qian’s plan to feint to the east and strike to the west was instantly ruined.

[Containment Failure. Survival time: 10 minutes.]

[Rating: Useless Person.]

[Current SAN Value: 14]

...

What the fuck was this freak!

Again!

[SAN Value minus 1. Entering Containment Scenario.]

”Persuading with reason,” getting out of bed, leaving the room, taking cover.

Looking at the werewolf striking a pose in the courtyard, Fu Qian began to seriously consider resigning.

From the look of it, this place left absolutely no way out. Surviving for an hour was an impossible task!

If he failed again this time, his SAN Value would drop to 13.

He would be one step closer to becoming an idiot.

This werewolf clearly had excellent hearing; the slightest rustle in the wind would alert it.

But if he didn’t go open the doors, it would still stand up once the time was up, and that would still be a dead end.

He glanced back at the cabin.

The old man was eyeing him like a tiger watching its prey, clutching a gleaming sickle.

Fu Qian had a sudden thought.

What had the old guy just said to him?

He’d told him to come out and look at the moon.

But after looking at the moon for so long, nothing seemed to have changed!

Could it be that his viewing posture was wrong?

Growing up, Fu Qian had always been known for his outstanding divergent thinking, even earning the reputation that ”psychopaths have broad minds.”

Studying the werewolf in the courtyard, he had an idea.

Finding a spot, Fu Qian stretched out his arms, raised his head, mimicked the werewolf’s posture, and began gazing deeply at the moon.

No reaction?

Fu Qian was not someone who gave up easily.

One minute, two minutes...

Just as the werewolf started shaking its body, right on the verge of getting up for another stroll, a change finally occurred.

Those seemingly incredibly heavy stone doors opened inward, silently.

It actually fucking worked like that!

Although his guess had been confirmed, Fu Qian couldn’t bring himself to be happy.

This place was bizarre! He had no idea how many more things were waiting for him beyond those doors.

However, since the way forward was open, Fu Qian quickly dropped the pose.

Controlling himself so as not to make a single sound, he stayed in the werewolf’s blind spot and inched his way to the doors.

Nailed it.

He slipped out the doors, and his vision instantly brightened.

Fu Qian finally knew why this place was called the Full Moon Garden.

Across the rolling ground, countless small flowers with white petals and yellow buds swayed in the wind.

Every petal was like a small mirror, reflecting the bright moonlight like a flowing sheet of Mercury.

Thank goodness. At least he hadn’t spotted anything else for the time being.

Fu Qian let out a long breath.

The very next moment, he sucked that breath right back in.