Eldritch Horror Theatre

[Task Evaluation: Unpredictable Madman]

[Through the efforts of multiple parties, the theft incident has finally concluded, adding another crime to the Origin Council’s record.

The Night Watchers have proven Henrik’s innocence, though it remains unknown whether even a trace of his final, ruthless killing spree stemmed from his own true intentions.

The Origin Council lost their person in charge of the Shangjing Region. Most baffling of all, they do not even know how he was lost, prompting them to pay close attention to this matter.

Driven by an urgent desire for promotion, Chen Xing ultimately chose to cooperate with outlaws, devising a rigorous plan and not hesitating to sacrifice his own son. Alas, he fell short by a single basket of earth.

The Blood of Thorns sprouted from a desecrated body. It was a high-level condensation of pollution and error, yet foolish people mistook it for a High Tier form of life.]

[Kills: Deng Feizhou, Chen Xing]

[Special Achievement: Completed the assembly of 3-0177]

[Rewards: SAN Value +45; inspiration +5]

[Special Achievement Reward: Right to use 3-0177][Current SAN Value: 132, Current inspiration: 36]

[Play event review?]

What?

Amid the series of prompts ringing in his ears, Fu Qian keenly detected an anomaly.

Flipping back quickly, he located the special achievement reward.

[3-0177, Emissary]

[Effect: Once activated, it will completely synchronize you to the anchored location.]

[Note: In this state, time will flow synchronously. If you are killed, you will face true death.]

Complete synchronization? True death?

Fu Qian frowned. Granting him the right to use Warehouse items—he had never encountered this kind of reward before.

Thinking for a moment, he followed the codes and soon found the box for 3-0177.

He placed his hand on it and opened the box. The bloodstained White Mask lay conspicuously inside.

He picked it up. As he held it in his hand, a faint impulse urged him to put it on his face.

After a brief hesitation, he put it back.

No rush to study it right now. Better head back and get something to eat first.

Although there hadn’t been any repetitive labor this time, it had taken quite a while.

Fu Qian took off his Work Badge. The scene before his eyes shifted, and he instantly returned to his familiar living room.

Taking the groceries he had bought out of the fridge, he leisurely threw together a meal for himself.

He had been eating so well over at Wen Li’s place these past couple of days that he had almost forgotten the taste of home cooking.

Once he was full and well-rested, Fu Qian returned to the Warehouse and swiftly located the box for 3-0177.

This time, without the slightest hesitation, he placed it directly onto his face.

In that instant, a strange sensation washed over him, as if his connection to the Warehouse had grown a fraction tighter.

When his five senses recovered, Fu Qian found himself lying on a bed.

Glancing around, he immediately recognized this as the second floor of The Bookstore.

He subconsciously touched his face. There was no mask.

Following his memory, he found the bathroom. His own face stared back at him from the mirror.

Fu Qian manipulated his facial features, rapidly switching between the faces of Fu Qian and Fang Xun.

In this state, the mask no longer interfered with his ability to change his appearance.

The effect of concealing his aura, however, was still present.

Just as he was studying this, he suddenly sensed someone downstairs.

Walking a few steps down the stairs, he poked his head out for a look.

At some point, The Bookstore had been repaired. Even the front doors had been replaced with new ones.

Wen Li, dressed in casual clothes, was sitting behind the counter, leisurely flipping through a book.

The next moment, as if sensing something, Wen Li looked up.

”Trespassing in a private residence is immoral,” Fu Qian said.

He strolled down the stairs, walking up to the counter under her watchful gaze.

”Mr... Fu?”

Wen Li’s face lit up with pleasant surprise, her eyes fixed on him.

”You’re back?”

”Yeah.”

Fu Qian nodded and asked casually, ”Have I been gone long?”

”Over a month.”

Wen Li smiled, closed the book in her hands, and gestured around.

”And I’m not trespassing, you know. I’m helping out with some repair work.”

”You’ve helped me so much, and with no way to repay you, I thought I’d fix this place up as a small token of my appreciation.”

”Take a look. Are you satisfied?”

Fu Qian looked around.

He could tell she had put a lot of thought into it.

While all the damaged areas were completely repaired, she had preserved the original look to the greatest extent possible.

That was much more troublesome than just building a new bookstore from scratch.

”It looks great. Thanks!”

”I waited at the Night Watchers Base for a long time. Later, Chief Yuan said you had things to do and wouldn’t be coming back, so he had someone escort me home.”

Seeing that Fu Qian wasn’t annoyed, Wen Li beamed with joy and began to chatter away.

”I was worried you had run into an accident, but Chief Yuan seemed to be in a good mood, so that put me a bit more at ease.”

”However, something seems to have happened to Uncle Deng. His residence was sealed off by the Night Watchers, and I never saw him again after that.”

”What about Old Man Chen?”

”Old Man Chen was probably overcome with grief. After returning, he completely refused all visitors. Later, he even issued a statement saying he was going into seclusion to stabilize his condition, and he hasn’t shown his face since.”

Makes sense.

Fu Qian nodded.

The Chen Family had finally produced a Demigod Realm expert, only for him to vanish immediately afterward. It was undoubtedly very hard for them to accept.

Refusing visitors, going into seclusion, wandering the world—going through this entire process would at least keep up the effect of making an empty show of strength for a while longer.

”Mr. Fu, did you come here this time because you have another secret mission?”

Thinking of something, Wen Li looked at him and asked cautiously.

Not this time.

Fu Qian shot her a glance. It seemed that an incident occurring every time he showed up had left her traumatized.

”No, just dropping by the shop to have a look around.”

Fu Qian shook his head.

”I see!”

Wen Li looked delighted to hear that. After chatting for a few more sentences, she left with a bright smile.

Fu Qian looked around and casually picked up a book, flipping through the pages.

Completely synchronized time... Does this mean that when I enter this way, time in the Real World will flow synchronously?

Does this mean I can seamlessly switch back into the life of the Bookstore Owner from now on?

If that’s the case, if I stay in here for too long, wouldn’t I become a missing person out there?

Though I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

With his social circle, being missing or not didn’t make much of a difference anyway.

At most, Qin Mingze and the others wouldn’t be able to find him, but he occasionally played the disappearing act anyway.

He relaxed until the sun went down, then took off the mask and returned to the Warehouse.

After putting the mask away, Fu Qian was just getting ready to head home when he noticed an anomaly.

Wait a minute, where’s my Work Badge?

The Work Badge around his neck had actually vanished.

This...

Sensing something, Fu Qian raised his left hand and discovered a shiny new pattern resting on his wrist.

Did it merge with me?

He recalled the feeling of a deepened connection from earlier.

Not bad. It’s more convenient than before.

He tried focusing his attention on it and issued a command to disengage.

The next moment, he was back in his bedroom.

He immediately looked outside and found that the sun was already setting.

Sure enough, time flowed synchronously between the two worlds!

Just as he was marveling at his discovery, the phone on his desk rang right on cue.

Fu Qian picked it up and saw it was a call from Qin Mingze.

There were already several missed calls from him.

”Are you home?”

”Yeah.”

”Coming over to find you. We’ll be there soon.”

”What are you running over here for now?”

Fu Qian was a bit confused.

”Rumor has it a UFO was spotted near your place. Xiao Yu and I agreed to go check it out together.”