Eldritch Horror Theatre

’What are these mission details?’

The Human Instrumentality Project had worked. Fu Qian was rather pleased that he didn’t have to make another trip back.

However, the details of the follow-up mission made him frown.

It wasn’t too surprising that the mission involved the potion test Kisaragi Kana was participating in.

The problem was that the connection was a bit bizarre.

Sure, her corpse was still warm, but expecting her to get up and finish the test seemed like a tall order.

After a moment of thought, Fu Qian looked at the two corpses in front of him. He wiped a hand over his face, and his features rapidly shifted.

Soon enough, he looked exactly like Dancy.

He stripped the dead man’s coat and draped it over his own shoulders. A scarlet light flashed across Fu Qian’s hand as he activated the upgraded Tyrant’s Fist.

With a few swift strikes, the corpse instantly turned to ash.Once that was handled, Fu Qian stood quietly to the side, observing Kisaragi Kana’s corpse on the stone table.

Whatever the case, there had to be a reason the mission had sent him here. Fu Qian decided to try quietly observing changes.

He had actually just heard a strange sound and realized his mission had taken a new turn.

A moment later, right before Fu Qian’s eyes, the wounds on the corpse began to slowly knit together until they vanished completely. Then, her heart started beating again.

Gasp!

With a long, sharp intake of breath, Kisaragi Kana’s body trembled as she completely came back to life.

’So the potion actually worked?’

Watching this unfold, Fu Qian marveled at the wonders of this world while simultaneously pondering the cause.

Although her aura was incredibly weak, Kisaragi Kana was clearly no longer a normal human being.

It was only natural to assume this was tied to the test she had been participating in.

HAP0032-667. Fu Qian’s memory for these things had always been flawless.

With a pained groan, Kisaragi Kana sat up on the stone table. She opened her eyes and stared at Fu Qian, her expression a mix of confusion and terror.

Fu Qian completely understood her reaction. While he hadn’t gotten a drop of blood on himself just now, the coat he was wearing hadn’t shared his agility; large bloodstains covered the fabric.

After staring at him for a long moment, Kisaragi Kana looked down at herself.

Unsurprisingly, she was in a much worse state.

”Mister Dancy, can you tell me what happened?”

After a moment, Kisaragi Kana gave up trying to piece it together herself and looked to Fu Qian for answers.

”Nothing much. I was just getting ready to have you for dinner.”

Fu Qian pointed to the Kitchen Knife still embedded in her thigh, gesturing for her not to panic.

He could, however, start to understand why the woman sitting in front of him had so many admirers.

Based purely on her looks, Kisaragi Kana wasn’t breathtakingly beautiful, but every movement she made carried a unique, captivating allure.

Even covered in her own blood, her voice still held a lazy, seductive charm.

”Dinner?”

Fu Qian’s answer naturally caught her off guard. But as she stared down at the half of the Kitchen Knife sticking out of her leg, she actually burst into a string of giggles.

”Is this the little hobby you mentioned? How truly unique!”

”And since your dinner hasn’t been eaten yet, was the presentation just too dazzling?”

Despite having just narrowly escaped death, she didn’t seem the least bit afraid. Instead, she cast a sultry glance at Fu Qian, evidently quite pleased with her own deduction.

Before Fu Qian could reply, she grabbed the handle with both hands and tried to yank the Kitchen Knife out.

Unfortunately for her, that strike had carried the full weight of Dancy’s desperate will to survive. It was lodged in deep. After struggling with it a few times, she helplessly turned her gaze back to Fu Qian.

”Could you lend me a hand?”

”Of course.”

Fu Qian replied with gentlemanly flair. He reached out with two fingers and effortlessly plucked the blade free.

Blood sprayed.

The blade hadn’t struck anything vital, but whatever miraculous healing power she’d exhibited earlier seemed to have vanished. Without it, the wound immediately began to bleed profusely.

Between the sudden pain and the blood loss, Kisaragi Kana’s face instantly went pale.

”Keep pressure on it. We’ll find something to bandage it with in a bit.”

Having seen enough, Fu Qian gestured for her to get off the stone table.

Meanwhile, he stepped over to a pile of clothes on the floor not far from the stone table and began digging through them.

He quickly fished out a red phone. Checking to ensure it was turned off, he tossed it over to her.

Kisaragi Kana caught it cooperatively, her brows knitting as she stared at the black screen.

Fu Qian knew exactly what was bothering her—it was almost six o’clock, and the potion test was undoubtedly her top priority.

Without another word, Fu Qian motioned for her to follow and walked straight out the door.

Kisaragi Kana clearly didn’t like this place either. She offered no objections to Fu Qian’s command and didn’t even bother gathering her clothes from the floor.

...

The path back remained completely deserted.

It was obvious that Dancy had dismissed all his staff to prepare for dinner.

Before she could even take a shower, Kisaragi Kana’s phone rang.

Fu Qian glanced at the clock in the room. It was exactly six o’clock.

Naturally, he could hear the entire conversation with crystal clarity.

The voice on the other end was quite gentle, sounding almost like a customer service representative.

Just as he had guessed, once they confirmed her identity, they cut straight to the chase and asked why she hadn’t shown up for the test.

As the person involved, Kisaragi Kana spoke with an uncharacteristic seriousness, repeatedly explaining that she had been unexpectedly injured and thus hadn’t been able to make it in time.

The person on the other end didn’t reprimand her too much. After confirming the severity of her injuries, they scheduled a new time, instructing her to head to the Anjing Building later that evening.

If that call had gone unanswered, Anjing would have definitely made a move.

Fu Qian silently analyzed the situation from the side.

In that scenario, a wealthy cannibal enthusiast could never hide from the Anjing Group’s investigation. They would have found the corpse in no time, and they might have even discovered her recent rebirth.

Actually, if that had happened, it might have even been a good thing for their testing project.

After all, given Kisaragi Kana’s current state, Fu Qian didn’t think a routine test would uncover anything unusual.

Now that he thought about it, the mission only required Kisaragi Kana to complete the test ”normally.”

Could the true nature of his mission be to ensure the test organizers didn’t discover anything abnormal?

Fu Qian vaguely sensed a new possibility.

”Were you really preparing dinner?”

Kisaragi Kana hung up the phone, looking at the things in the kitchen in surprise.

”What is that, by the way? It actually looks pretty good.”

She had quickly noticed the freshly prepped ingredients.

”I thought you wouldn’t have time for dinner.”

Fu Qian pointed to her phone.

”I still have some time before the appointment, and honestly, I’m starving.”

Kisaragi Kana flashed a mysterious smile.

”I’m going to take a shower first.”