Eldritch Horror Theatre

”What do you mean?”

The Persuader’s imposing momentum visibly faltered at Fu Qian’s final counter-question.

”Ah...”

Yet that reaction only made Fu Qian sigh once more.

”This seat has looked forward to this meeting for a long time. What a pity my old friend is holding so much back. A true shame!”

Wiping a hand across his face, he dropped his disguise to reveal his true features.

”Regarding that last question, I already knew I could forcibly keep him here. But Brother Persuader, when you made that suggestion, did you truly think it was necessary?”

...

”Just now, before he left, I tried to detonate his skull again.”

Seeming to have his thoughts exposed, the Persuader fell silent. Fu Qian pointed a finger at his own head.”It had almost no effect. Once a subject realizes they are in a dream, the difficulty of corrupting them and leaving an Imprint seems to spike drastically. Did you really not know that beforehand?”

”It doesn’t matter, you can speak freely. This seat has always preferred honest communication, because it saves the most time, resources, and patience...”

The threat in those final words was obvious.

As a top-tier observer, the Persuader undoubtedly picked up on it and accepted reality.

”It truly is impossible to overestimate you...”

Looking from Fu Qian’s face to the mask in his hand, the Persuader finally spoke with the solemnity of an old friend.

”What looked like an emotional act was actually a probe. And you weren’t just testing the dream—you were testing me too...”

”You’re right. Doubting the reality of one’s situation severely weakens the effects of the corruption.”

He then acknowledged Fu Qian’s guess.

”By my estimation, you should have needed several attempts to figure that out.”

”Yet you acted like you already knew. Have you done something similar before?”

’Something similar... mental corruption?’

Fu Qian thought for a moment, then nodded.

”You could say that.”

...

His comment about detonating the skull certainly hadn’t been nonsense.

After asking what day it was, Fu Qian had indeed tried to replicate his previous operation. It yielded very little result.

He hadn’t tried it because he possessed the rich evil-god experience the Persuader imagined, but rather because of a basic fact of life—when people know they are dreaming, they often become fearless.

So, realizing that continuing would likely just mean weaving wedding clothes for others, Fu Qian triggered a mental detonation on the spot, casually testing his theory.

It proved that even though the awakened Taylor hadn’t yet tried to manipulate the dream and do whatever he pleased like an evil entity such as himself, the prestige of being the original shareholder still shone through.

”...I knew it. You didn’t just come prepared.”

Fu Qian’s response seemed to help the Persuader straighten out his thoughts. After a brief hesitation, he decisively admitted to his recent actions.

”That’s right. Like I said before, I can sense your control over the dream to some extent, and even secretly join in through a more hidden method...”

”Just now, upon realizing your progress was unusually smooth, I tried to integrate myself deeper into this place to observe your gains.”

”And to see if there was an opportunity.”

Fu Qian nodded slightly, helpfully finishing the thought for him.

”...That’s right. Even though my current state isn’t great, it would obviously be a lie to say I haven’t considered escaping from here at all.”

Having reached this point in the conversation, the Persuader dropped the coyness and openly admitted his watchful intentions.

”I am indeed not optimistic about your current situation, but your earlier performance was truly impressive.”

”You flatter me.”

Fu Qian replied with casual modesty, deeply satisfied with the shift in the conversation’s tone.

”This is how it should be. Simple, direct communication saves so much time and energy—so regarding this situation, can I clear you of suspicion?”

Fu Qian’s praise for simple communication clearly wasn’t empty talk. He immediately led by example, showing the mangled flesh of his hand directly to the Persuader.

The tiny worms were still squirming.

”Of course it wasn’t me. Doing such a thing brings me absolutely no benefit.”

Fu Qian’s straightforwardness was infectious. The Persuader fell into the rhythm for a moment and bluntly denied involvement.

Of course, he wasn’t naive enough to completely drop his guard and dive straight into a game of Truth or Dare.

He was still deeply impressed by this guy’s ability to quietly and ruthlessly screw people over.

”I thought so too—so who did it?”

Clearly satisfied with his response, Fu Qian didn’t hesitate to press the question.

”Uh...”

The Persuader subconsciously looked at Fu Qian’s left hand.

”There is more than one higher will in The Corridor. Given your current level of corruption, what’s being affected is far more than just your superficial form. It includes the very essence of your existence, your abilities... right up until you completely transform into one of their familiars.”

”Is this the origin of your ’Divine Corrosion’?”

The grim situation described by the Persuader didn’t make Fu Qian hesitate in the slightest. He immediately brought up the other party’s past self-introduction.

”Yes. The corruption will indeed bring you some special changes, even superficial benefits. And that is why I said Divine Corrosion is contradictory.”

”Its power comes from The Corridor, but I need to use it to escape The Corridor...”

”If you had explained it to me like this back then, I think our communication would have been much more harmonious.”

Clicking his tongue, Fu Qian adopted the look of an enlightened student. The next moment, his gaze landed on the Persuader’s nonhuman body.

”So the parts of you other than your head are also the result of the corruption?”

”What do you think?”

The Persuader’s communication style had clearly become much more uninhibited. With a cold sneer, he pointed at Fu Qian’s left arm.

”You don’t actually think that if this continues, you’ll end up looking much better than me, do you?”

”One must always have hope. I previously thought you might just be a creature from another world, born looking like this.”

Fu Qian didn’t shy away from it. He even rolled up his sleeve to show off his worm-infested arm.

He had already tried just now. Even as the master of the dream, he was still unexpectedly unable to alter its appearance.

”That doesn’t seem to have anything to do with escaping this place.”

The Persuader continued to sneer, refusing to say any more about his own origins.

”True enough. Then I have a question that is definitely related to escaping.”

Nodding slightly, Fu Qian’s wormy arm swayed a bit as he pointed at the Persuader’s body.

”How should I address this Higher Existence?”

”Mysterious and powerful, with an extremely high Rank. It should be the most active of all the higher wills in here. Currently, almost everything related to Its power appears in the form of bugs.”

”The name.”

Listening intently, Fu Qian spoke coldly.

”...Yaragiel.”