Eldritch Horror Theatre

It made perfect sense for a Lighthouse to have a Tower Keeper.

But to be stopped by a security guard after crossing into the Domain of the Dead? That felt a bit too mundane.

Fu Qian wasn’t in a hurry. Instead, he tried to parse the situation while firing back a question.

He had to admit, there was a stark contrast between the man’s voice and his appearance.

His voice was low and resonant, but his face resembled that of the Old Man—the very first of the Wise Dead they had encountered.

For a flesh-and-blood expert, the reason was obvious enough: he was a young man who had simply aged prematurely. A Tower Keeper’s job involved braving the elements, after all.

”Of course I’m a local...”

The Tower Keeper seemed to realize his visitor had come looking for trouble, finally stepping out from behind the creaking front desk.

”Regardless, there’s no one here, and we’re closed to the public. If you’re looking for someone, come back when the storm stops. I don’t have time for this.”

The next moment, he physically blocked the way, adopting a completely non-negotiable stance.”I can tell. You’re clearly very busy with work.”

Fu Qian’s gaze, however, landed on the clinking ring of Keys at the man’s waist. He had to admit, compared to everything else in this place, they looked remarkably smooth and polished. They were obviously handled often.

”But will the storm here ever stop?”

He still made no attempt to force his way past. Instead, he simply posed a rhetorical question.

”Oh? You don’t seem quite so stupid.”

The Tower Keeper’s expression finally shifted. He looked Fu Qian up and down again in surprise, offering what passed for high praise.

”Isn’t it better to keep dreaming? Being too awake isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

But that philosophical tone lasted barely two seconds before the Tower Keeper abruptly shifted topics again.

”Yet you look to be in great shape.”

Fu Qian spouted some complete nonsense in response without batting an eye.

”What exactly are you trying to do? Even if you’ve woken up, it doesn’t mean you can just do whatever you want.”

Ultimately, the Tower Keeper couldn’t tolerate the deflections any longer and put an end to their cryptic Q&A session.

...

Was it really like that?

He seemed to be the polar opposite of the Old Man from the Wise Dead.

Although it required a bit of a logical leap, the Tower Keeper’s reaction made perfect sense to Fu Qian, who had already given deep thought to the nature of this place’s existence.

First of all, neither the Minotaur, nor Laurie, nor the others were as clear-headed as the man standing before him. This man likely also belonged to the category of the Wise Dead.

However, he seemed to operate in reverse compared to the Old Man. He didn’t consider himself a dead soul who had fallen into the Domain of the Dead. Instead, he looked down on everything from the perspective of someone who had successfully made it safely to shore.

He believed those ignorant figures were nothing but walking corpses with their consciousnesses lost in illusions like The Other Moore, while everything in front of him right now was reality.

It was an easy mindset to understand. Compared to the apocalyptic topics Fu Qian had been studying recently, it even carried a strong sense of déjà vu.

There was just one problem: if he had already woken up, why was he still coming to work here?

”But you seem to be doing whatever you want. Did you get those Keys through proper channels?”

Making no effort to hide his skepticism, Fu Qian gestured directly at the Tower Keeper’s waist.

”That is my business. Right now, we are talking about your business...”

Finally displaying his displeasure, the Tower Keeper’s voice dropped an octave.

”I understand. Once you reach a certain level of enlightenment, work simply becomes a necessity.”

Fu Qian’s expression suddenly turned serious as he straightened his clothes.

”Actually, I’m the same. I’m here for a fire safety inspection.”

...

He was literally still dripping wet.

For a high-rise building like the Tower, fire safety was naturally a top priority.

It was just that Fu Qian’s current appearance made the claim sound completely absurd.

Even though he was actually telling the truth.

Fu Qian genuinely anticipated finding the source of the fire that had burned across the entire Domain of the Dead right here in this place.

”Interesting... But unfortunately, that means I definitely can’t let you in.”

The Tower Keeper finally seemed to realize his visitor was just here to pick a fight, and his expression turned completely cold.

”Understood. That makes your work much more meaningful—but what if I insist on going in?”

Fu Qian actually admired that sort of courage, and he didn’t hesitate to make things difficult for the dedicated worker.

”I won’t lay a hand on you, of course, but you’ll have to try the Keys yourself.”

The Tower Keeper’s reaction this time was rather interesting. He didn’t immediately escalate to physical violence; instead, he offered what amounted to a remarkably feeble threat.

Clatter!

He wasn’t just bluffing, either. The next moment, he actually unclipped the ring of Keys from his waist and casually tossed them over.

”Are you sure these can get me all the way to the top of the Tower?”

Catching them with one hand, Fu Qian weighed them, mentally calculating their number as he curiously asked for confirmation.

”Heh... Of course I’m sure. Many of the Keys in there can open more than one lock.”

The Tower Keeper’s reply was supremely confident, making the process sound completely straightforward—

”Sounds good.”

Fu Qian didn’t hesitate. A moment later, he had already stepped aside to test the claim.

The elevator was naturally out of service. There was an enclosed security stairwell leading upward, though its lock clearly violated fire safety codes.

Fortunately, the lock’s style was relatively easy to identify. Fu Qian quickly found the correct Key and opened the door.

However, he didn’t head upstairs right away. Instead, he casually closed the door again and continued testing the other Keys.

Click—

With a soft sound as he pushed, the lock actually opened a second time.

”Looks like you were telling the truth.”

Hand resting on the doorframe, Fu Qian still didn’t enter. Instead, he observed the interior closely while sighing in amazement.

He didn’t actually need to look that closely. With a single glance, he could tell that the very direction of the staircase had changed since the last time he opened the door.

...

Did this place actually have a complex, shifting layout on the inside?

The discrepancy between the Tower Keeper’s attitude and his actions had already proven that things wouldn’t be so simple.

But this seemed a bit too complex. Did the space behind the door change depending on which Key was used to open it?

If that was really the case, reaching the top was going to be difficult.

To the point where he probably shouldn’t have bothered coming inside. Might it have been easier to just scale the outside and jump onto the roof?

That was also oversimplifying things. If the space behind the door could change, how could he be sure the top of the Lighthouse he jumped onto would be the same one every time?

If the layout at the top was different every time, how would he ever know for sure that what he was looking for wasn’t there?

”This job isn’t quite that simple.”

The Tower Keeper had been watching Fu Qian’s movements the whole time. He was clearly a bit surprised that Fu Qian had discovered the catch so quickly, but his reaction was mostly schadenfreude.

”Of course I know it’s not simple. For instance, you haven’t been doing it very well.”

Fu Qian still didn’t make a move to enter. He turned his head to look back at the man, his expression equally gloating.

”...What do you mean?”

”My colleague has already gone up. Didn’t you notice?”

”Nonsense...”

The accusation of dereliction of duty clearly struck a nerve. After instinctively denying it, the Tower Keeper suddenly froze. A moment later, he lunged forward to snatch the Keys from Fu Qian’s hand.