Eldritch Horror Theatre

”I imagine this face is familiar to you?”

As Fu Qian studied it, the voice behind him rang out once more.

”As I said earlier, you could have simply left and avoided all this trouble.”

”Unfortunately, the moment you witness certain things, their very nature changes.”

”You mean that thing up there?”

Fu Qian pointed upward.

He had noticed it immediately. Right on the ceiling, directly above the bed, hung a seemingly familiar metal net.

It looked very much like the net that had broken his fall earlier.

The difference was that the spikes on this one were more than twice as long, resembling sharp little daggers. It looked exceptionally vicious.

Suspended from above, it looked to be hoisted by something, clearly positioned to blanket the entire bed beneath it.If it fell, the person on the bed would likely die instantly, even if those spikes weren’t laced with poison.

”Yes. Her life is now entirely in your hands.”

”I also imagine you might be wondering exactly what would cause that net to drop.”

From the television, Brother Jigsaw answered Fu Qian’s question.

Before his voice even faded, a corner of the bedroom ceiling abruptly opened, and a rope ladder tumbled down.

”It’s simple. You just need to climb up and see for yourself.”

’Did he really prepare this thoroughly?’

Fu Qian didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward and gave the ladder a tug, privately impressed.

In truth, he didn’t even need to look to guess what awaited him up there.

He was quite satisfied at the moment because their brief exchange had all but confirmed one thing: the television broadcast wasn’t a recording, but a real person speaking to him in real time.

While he didn’t think this alone was enough to drag the guy out and smack him to death, seizing every opportunity to gather more information was always a good habit.

Fu Qian quickly and easily scaled the rope ladder through the ceiling, discovering that the barrier between the two floors had been smashed through long ago.

Sure enough, he spotted that small window set into one of the walls of this upper room.

At the same time, just a short distance from the window, an eye-catching symbol had been sprayed in paint, pointing toward an upright metal box in the middle of the room.

Resting on top of the metal box was a glass vial no larger than a thumb, filled to the brim with a pale blue liquid.

As if afraid Fu Qian wouldn’t know what it was, a special note had even been painted right next to it: [Antidote].

Under normal circumstances, if he had climbed out through that window, this would undoubtedly be the very first thing he’d see.

And logically speaking, this vial of medicine was undoubtedly meant for the poison in his own body.

Fu Qian didn’t rush over to grab the antidote. Instead, he muttered to himself while conducting a thorough sweep of the area. He didn’t find any cassette tapes or similar devices.

It seemed that regardless of his choices, after the Second Tier test, it would switch from a recording to a live connection.

Lacking any other information, someone in his state—poisoned and with at least one arm crippled—would undeniably snatch up the antidote the moment he saw it.

The door to this room appeared unlocked, meaning he had essentially escaped alive.

But logically speaking, the remaining time wouldn’t be enough for him to reach a hospital for help. Therefore, regardless of whether the antidote was genuine or not, he would definitely have to drink it.

”Do not doubt it. That is indeed the real antidote.”

In the next moment, the television in the room flickered to life. Brother Jigsaw’s puppet mask appeared on the screen, letting out another string of eerie laughter.

”And its dosage is precisely enough to cure your poisoned state.”

”However, there is a pressure sensor beneath the vial.”

”If you remove the antidote, a pre-set trap will instantly trigger.”

”And the ultimate result will be the person downstairs getting killed by the falling blades.”

’So that was how it worked?’

Unsurprised, Fu Qian sighed. He had already guessed as much the moment he saw how the antidote was positioned.

His antidote was indeed linked to the life of the person below.

”So now, you are forced to make a choice.”

”Namely, whether or not to move the person downstairs to a safe zone before you take the antidote.”

”Originally, you wouldn’t have had this dilemma at all. You never would have even realized this hidden slaughter.”

”So now, will you save the person downstairs or not?”

”I know this might cause some distress. For instance, what exactly is your motive for saving someone? How much influence do this person’s gender and identity have on that?”

”To make things a little more interesting, I can tell you one more thing.”

”This person also happens to be a secret admirer of yours. Lacking life experience, she easily misunderstood your reptilian ways and became madly obsessed with you.”

”To have more contact with you, she even managed to persuade her parents to let her rent a place here by herself.”

”Yet no one knew she lived just downstairs from you—not her parents, and not you.”

”And after observing you for a time, she even decorated her place to look like your room.”

”Naturally, she was so exceedingly careful that you never knew her feelings until this very moment.”

”After hearing all this, is it even harder to choose? Hahaha—”

”Sorry, can I ask a question?”

Fu Qian bluntly cut off the dramatic laughter and pointed at the bed.

”You’ve said a lot, but who is she?”

...

On the television, Jigsaw fell into a rare silence for a few seconds.

”Your classmate, Terica. You don’t remember her?”

His tone seemed to shift, losing its previous manic excitement, even carrying a faint sense of powerlessness.

”Don’t really know her,”

Fu Qian said casually, then shook his head.

”Also, isn’t this test a bit too simple? I might not be a saint, but dragging her away to save a life isn’t a big deal, is it?”

”Dragging her away is naturally no big deal. That’s why there is one more detail—Terica is also poisoned.”

Hmm?

”That’s right, the exact same poison as yours, only she was poisoned earlier. Without the antidote, her life will end at sunset.”

Sunset—that was less than ten minutes away!

Fu Qian instinctively glanced out the window, finding that the sky had grown increasingly dim.

So this was why the mission required him to return before sunset?

At the same time, another thought naturally occurred to him.

Who could have guessed the true essence of this mission was actually to save someone?

”So merely saving her from the blades is meaningless. Her life is in imminent danger.”

”And considering the antidote in front of you is only a single dose, if you want to save Terica, you must give the only antidote to her.”

”So tell me, what choice will you make?”