Eldritch Horror Theatre

How did the saying go again? If life digs a pit for you, it’s bound to dig another.

Looking at Kana Kisaragi standing before him, Fu Qian felt the profound truth of those words.

Because of his repeated meddling during the Miracle Potion incident, no miracle had successfully occurred for her.

However, facts proved that the brilliance of a genius could not be concealed.

Some people were just born to be test material.

”Notorious!”

Facing Kana Kisaragi’s immediate inquiry, Fu Qian nodded and spared no praise.

But the next moment, before Kana Kisaragi could even feign humility, a roar of cheers drowned her out.

The cheers were clearly genuine and heartfelt, many coming from participants who hadn’t even earned a badge.

To some extent, they seemed happier than a group of transcendents meeting someone in the Demigod Realm.The reason was simple. This kind of entertaining activity, even with a Rank system, posed no psychological threat. All that remained was pure group identity.

”This... this is... what kind of evil aura is this!”

Amid the cheers, a sleepy old abbot deep within the side hall startled awake.

Realizing what had happened, he slapped his thigh and stood up, his voice trembling.

Was it really appropriate for a monk to throw around terms like that?

Even as Fu Qian silently complained, he realized the abbot wasn’t finished.

”Depth 4—”

The next moment, the old abbot’s voice rose in a dramatic chant as he shakily raised an extravagantly designed, bizarre rotary dial.

On the dial, four of the eyeball-shaped colored lights had lit up.

These guys really knew how to put on a show!

Did they think a cool design would stop him from realizing it was just a decibel meter?

Before coming here, Fu Qian had learned a bit about the specific rules of this notoriety law.

As if to intentionally distinguish it from the transcendent system, the enthusiasts had also set up nine levels, but used a reverse calculation method.

From Depth one to Depth nine, the larger the number, the greater the malice.

Of course, before arriving at the scene, Fu Qian hadn’t been entirely sure how they subdivided the different Depths.

But just now, almost instantly, Fu Qian had noticed the dial standing next to the Human-Faced Toad.

They had actually set up a dedicated decibel meter to monitor the intensity of the toad’s humming and use it to determine the tier.

He had to admit, it was very... fair!

Snark aside, Fu Qian held no prejudice against this harmless chuuni vibe.

”Depth 4, Dark Fairy!”

Even with his tolerance, the title the old abbot bellowed out next delivered a minor shock to Fu Qian’s mind.

You guys are ruthless!

Amid his musings, the crowd had entirely stopped their testing because of Kana Kisaragi’s result.

After his shout, the old abbot nimbly got up and hurried to the back of the side hall.

A few minutes later, under everyone’s watchful eyes, he returned with a black and red badge that shimmered with light, looking even more exquisite than the ones on TV shows.

When the badge was solemnly handed to Kana Kisaragi, another thunderous cheer erupted.

Facing such an honor, Kana Kisaragi was clearly enjoying the pleasant surprise. To some extent, it seemed to slightly make up for her regrets regarding the Miracle Potion.

However, thanks to the ”cultivated restraint” she had practiced over the past few days, her overall demeanor remained fairly calm, and she greeted her admirers gracefully.

After the commotion, the audience quickly focused their gaze on her male companion, Takagi.

Everyone was obviously eager to see a legendary pair akin to the black wind twin fiends.

Such expectations undoubtedly brought pressure.

Brother Takagi took a deep breath, stared straight ahead, stepped forward, and pressed his hand down.

The next moment, it was like hearing thunder in utter silence.

Whether Brother Takagi felt thunder in his heart or not, the utter silence was undeniable.

The onlookers’ expectations were rapidly dashed, and sighs of disappointment rose one after another.

But it was just for fun, after all; essentially, it was no big deal.

It was clear that as Takagi withdrew his hand, he badly wanted to comfort himself with that logic, but unfortunately, he wasn’t very successful.

Even his steps as he walked back to Kana Kisaragi were inevitably a bit stiff.

”It’s fine, that was already very impressive.”

Kana Kisaragi immediately offered a warm smile and considerate comfort, but her phrasing somehow sounded like a twisting knife.

”It’s still a bit of a pity I can’t get such a beautiful badge.”

Takagi smiled rather forcefully, looking at the badge in Kana Kisaragi’s hand as he tried his hardest to poke fun at himself.

”Mister Dancy, it seems I’m a bad woman!”

”Does this count as living up to your expectations?”

Unfortunately, before Takagi could even finish his sentence, Kana Kisaragi was already toying with the badge and holding it up to Fu Qian.

”Of course.”

Fu Qian didn’t skimp on his praise as he studied what she held.

On the pure black base, dark red stripes tangled like blood vessels, converging into four stars at the center.

It was a nice design, but it was really just an ornament.

It seemed the King of Ye Island wasn’t planning to gain anything from these ”geniuses.”

”Shouldn’t we head back?”

Just then, Su Gao, who was sitting nearby, suddenly spoke up.

Following the voice, he saw her puffing her cheeks and frowning slightly.

”Being watched by so many people feels a bit uncomfortable.”

He had to admit, her words could easily be misunderstood as displeasure toward Kana Kisaragi.

At least, that was what the surrounding crowd thought.

”Alright. Coming here today was quite rewarding anyway.”

Fu Qian nodded, accepting her suggestion.

He was naturally well aware of why Su Gao was acting this way—someone had arrived.

And it seemed to be a bigshot no weaker than Carlos, currently hiding to the side and glaring at the two of them like a tiger.

As expected of a top-tier conglomerate, it really was packed with talent!

Fu Qian was ninety-nine percent sure this was another high-ranking executive of the Anjing Company.

At this moment, in the eyes of the ordinary onlookers, this little girl named Violetta was upset because of the Dark Fairy.

But for the people of Anjing who knew the ”inside story,” it was a different script: having sensed the observer in the shadows, Violetta, as the manipulator of the current situation, felt the danger. Not wanting to spark a fierce conflict, she ultimately chose to order him to leave in a manner fitting her status.

”Let’s go too.”

Unsurprisingly, Kana Kisaragi smiled happily. She seemed very satisfied with the harvest of this trip, as well as with Fu Qian referring to her as that harvest.

”Otherwise, if my sister catches me somewhere, I might get a scolding again.”

The excuse she found was quite impeccable, too.

So much so that ”Violetta” made no comment, merely turning her head away and staying silent.