Eldritch Horror Theatre

Truly excellent. Regardless of their other doctrines, their efficiency alone proved they were an orthodox and upright sect.

Impressed by how smoothly they cut to the chase, Fu Qian praised them inwardly while giving an honest answer.

”For every moment of these past five days, it felt like I was operating in another world. Only at the very end did I touch this place again.”

Throughout his answer, Fu Qian maintained the demeanor of someone awaking as if from a dream, perfectly conveying his daze.

”The other world you mentioned to the police officer? You don’t need to feel so disoriented. Just try to describe what it looked like.”

Sitting across from him, Amira listened closely before using an even more soothing tone to indicate he didn’t need to dwell on it.

”It was dilapidated... cold. People lived in the sunless Underground, their faces like stone...”

Instantly accepting her suggestion, Fu Qian began to recall the sights of the Painting World, trailing off to demonstrate the difficulty of his recollection.

”Faces like stone, but they were alive?”

Amira listened attentively from across from him, even offering a timely gasp of amazement.”More than that. They even acted like jailers, locking many people away in special cells and imprisoning them in the sunless Underground.”

Prompted by her gentle guidance, Fu Qian added more details.

”But the other survivors pretended everything was normal. They even went to the Church.”

”Could you describe what the Church looked like?”

”I can’t remember it clearly... but I know for a fact there was more than one. Some were even surrounded by blizzards. Oh, right—”

Fu Qian shook his head, opting for a lazy shortcut to describe the scenery.

”It looked a little bit like the one in that painting.”

He was, of course, referring to his own masterpiece.

After putting in so much effort, how could he possibly forget the main focus of this conversation?

”Which painting?”

Amira’s professional composure was clearly top-notch. In the face of Fu Qian’s sudden outburst, she merely shot a subconscious glance opposite her before asking for confirmation in the same steady voice.

”The painting I was looking at when I woke up... though I have no idea how I ended up there...”

Fu Qian’s emotional buildup had reached its peak.

”It seemed to have some special magic... When I stood there, the things inside it felt real. As real as right now, or maybe as fake... I can’t tell anymore...”

”Relax. We’ll skip that question for now. Was there anything else in that other world that left a deep impression on you?”

Only after he had vented his emotions did Amira speak again.

”...Light.”

Looking slightly calmer, Fu Qian pondered for a moment before acting as if he had suddenly remembered something.

”The sky in that world, whether it was day or night, was filled with many different colored lights. They even looked familiar...”

”Like the ones in that painting?”

”Exactly. How did you know...? Is there really something special about that painting?”

Fu Qian followed up with the question quite naturally.

”It certainly sounds like a unique experience, and I completely understand the daze it left you in. I just want to ask one last question: have you ever come into contact with that painting before?”

Unfortunately, Amira ignored his question, remaining as unflappable as ever.

”I have.”

Already in a daze, Fu Qian instantly allowed his attention to ”be diverted,” as if slipping into a distant memory.

”I’ve touched it with my own hands... It even feels like it was many years ago...”

...

No matter how you listened to those words, they were undoubtedly illogical. Given his current persona, however, they fit perfectly.

Amira fell into a brief silence. Finally, she cast a seamless glance opposite her, exchanging a look with the other person.

”Mr. Anke.”

A few seconds later, a much deeper but equally soft male voice rang out.

”Thank you for sharing. I completely understand how you feel. It sounds like your experience in that other world was quite unpleasant, and sometimes it’s precisely a Nightmare that makes it hard to tell reality from illusion.”

”A Nightmare? But I still don’t understand. It’s not logical...”

Unfortunately, rather than being comforted, Fu Qian appeared even more bewildered.

”According to Officer Rafadi, I was missing for a full five days. Even if that painting really can plunge someone into a Nightmare, I couldn’t have just stood there the whole time without being discovered...”

One had to learn to toss their problems to others, just as he had let Rafadi help design his identity earlier. Fu Qian decisively passed the difficult-to-explain problem of why he had appeared there to the two people in front of him.

”Illogical things shouldn’t exist... unless none of this is real...”

Amid the subtle scrape of his Chair, Fu Qian sat up straight. He stared around with a gaze that doubted everything—including Amira right in front of him—as his tone grew increasingly resolute.

”This is the Nightmare!”

”Don’t get worked up. The reason it’s called a Nightmare is exactly because it brings predicaments.”

The male voice from behind the wall didn’t fluctuate in the slightest.

”We will explain things to the police on your behalf later.”

”And please believe me, you are not the only victim to have ever sat here.”

...

It seemed he was finally getting somewhere.

The other party’s final piece of counseling brought immense comfort to Fu Qian in the darkness.

Not the only victim—those words undoubtedly held a massive amount of information.

What currently troubled him was that he had clearly come here to provide backup, yet had stumbled into a completely unexpected world.

His masterpiece was right in front of him, but it looked completely ordinary, leaving him without a single clue.

Now, the two people in front of him—who were obviously affiliated with The Church—had just used both their posture and their words to confirm that the painting wasn’t ordinary in their eyes either.

There were even other witnesses.

”Really? Who else?”

Fu Qian once again followed up quite naturally.

This time, the two people opposite him didn’t ignore it. In the silence, the lower half of Amira’s face, visible beneath her mask, grew visibly solemn.

Of course, this wasn’t because the atmosphere had finally peaked, but because the moment Fu Qian asked the question, he had already activated Lucid Dream.

Save where you must, spend where you should. His purpose for coming here had never been to prove his innocence, after all.

A Nightmare did indeed bring predicaments. They were right about that.

”...As far as I know, the Rayson couple—who live not too far from you—had an experience very similar to yours.”

The man opposite Amira truly lived up to the demeanor of an enlightened expert. Not only had he held out for half a minute, but his answering voice also remained as soft and graceful as before.

”Fortunately, judging from our subsequent observations, they were very successful in shaking off that predicament.”

It was a completely unfamiliar name, but it was enough.

As the dreamscape quietly shattered, Fu Qian let out a long sigh.

”Thank you. I hope I can shake off the Nightmare as well.”

”...You’re welcome. This is The Order’s duty, after all. Look over here.”

It was Amira who spoke this time. As she did, she sat up straight and reached her hand through the grille in front of her.

”This might make you feel a little better.”

Hmm?

Fu Qian looked over, only to see that as she turned her palm up, streaks of dazzling patterns lit up. A mysterious, complex design flashed, sending out a gentle, radiant shockwave.

To think they possessed such methods!

However, this clearly soothing method merely caused Fu Qian, now back in the darkness, to reach up and rub his face.

In that brief instant, his brand-new disguise had actually been unreasonably forced to revert.