Eldritch Horror Theatre

After just a few sentences, the situation became clear.

Just like last time, poor Lasik had been unreasonably thrown into a special location, only to face endless torment.

The difference was that last time she seemed trapped in time, whereas this time she was confined to a specific geographical area.

As for the source of that torment, part of it naturally came from the Director, who was always waiting for intruders to use as tools. On the other hand, Excellency Servis’s attitude was also perfectly clear.

This expert clearly wasn’t very keen on things like hanging the gourd to heal the world.

He seemed more inclined to view himself as a warden, using his sharp eyes to gain Insight into human hearts and ultimately send people where they belonged.

So, faced with Lasik dropping from the sky, the man was definitely interested. However, he clearly wasn’t in a rush to send her out; instead, he preferred to sit back and quietly watch her perform.

Lasik’s subsequent experiences were therefore easy to imagine.

Just as with his own experience, the Director would deliver the Key, guiding Lasik step by step into this place to open the safe for him.

As for Servis, his approach was even simpler. He wasn’t in a hurry to deprive the Director of this tool; instead, he let things take their course and played along.Because this process killed two birds with one stone.

It served as a wrestling match between him and the Director, while also allowing him to observe Lasik’s special traits.

As long as he had enough confidence in his ability to control the situation, making this choice was perfectly normal.

And considering Servis’s status as the person in charge here, that confidence was practically a given.

Consequently, Lasik encountered a situation almost identical to his current one.

Caught in a pincer attack from both sides, with no way out in sight.

Along the way, she had encountered only monsters and demons; not a single normal person was around.

Under these circumstances, ultimately reaching the mental state Madam Dark Room had described of ”trusting no one” was only natural.

Of course, what Fu Qian was more curious about was whether Lasik’s situation was absolutely identical to his own.

For example, whether she had been troubled by the Well of Time and the threat of Judgment Day.

The probability of the former felt quite high. With her mental state collapsing so quickly, it was perfectly normal that she had touched upon the darkness of the human heart, right?

The latter seemed a bit nonsensical. After all, in theory, the period she was tormented was more than a year before Judgment Day.

”Actually, her performance was already quite good. She calmed down very quickly and hoped to get help to leave this place.”

Clearly well-aware of how difficult it was to prove you weren’t crazy in a madhouse, Servis sighed as he recalled the scene.

”But it was exactly during this process that she exposed too many unsettling traits. As our interactions deepened, even the others began to doubt her mental state.”

Raising a finger to point at his own temple, the Attending Physician kept his eyes fixed on the exact same spot on Fu Qian’s head.

”For instance, she told us there shouldn’t be a date like number 52... In contrast, your reaction regarding this is much calmer.”

...

Ms. Lasik was ultimately still too young; she didn’t understand the principle of softening the light and mingling with dust.

While speaking, Servis was clearly observing Fu Qian’s reaction closely.

It was a pity that, entirely consistent with his description, Servis couldn’t hope to glean any abnormality from Fu Qian’s face.

As for Lasik’s plight, Fu Qian simply sighed inwardly.

It was common knowledge that failing to fit in was a major taboo, especially in certain special locations.

Any discerning person could see at a glance that the Sanitarium’s condition was abnormal.

One even had to seriously question whether it belonged to reality.

But the core of the problem right now was that you needed to gain acceptance.

At times like this, forcefully correcting universally accepted things would only make it increasingly true that Those Who Lose the Way Find Little Help.

”Where I come from, there isn’t a number 52 either, but it’s just a different form of timekeeping. In my eyes, it’s an acceptable detail.”

However, despite sighing over Lasik’s experiences, Fu Qian didn’t ”learn his lesson” by actually claiming number 52 was perfectly normal. Instead, he continued to speak the truth.

A different position required a different posture.

He wasn’t currently an intruder in the Wandering Sanatorium; he was now truly one of the trio act at the table.

Blindly lowering his posture to echo others would only lower his standing in Excellency Servis’s eyes, making the man more stingy with his bargaining chips.

”Indeed... It’s just a difference in form. Although you look young, your mind is much more mature.”

Sure enough, the Attending Physician didn’t look at him as if he were crazy, too. Staring at him, he surprisingly brushed it off lightly.

”It’s a pity. Lasik lacked such tolerance, to the point that our subsequent communication with her became increasingly difficult. Her behavior grew more and more paranoid, and even her aggressiveness became obvious.”

As he finished speaking, he pointed to the left side of his nose, letting Fu Qian see a shallow scar there.

His body language made it very clear; the scar was likely Lasik’s masterpiece—

’That’s nothing. You just haven’t seen the scene where she pried open the sheriff’s wife’s skull and groped around inside inch by inch.’

Although the wound wasn’t deep, it was still somewhat long. Unfortunately, as Fu Qian looked at it, he merely sighed inwardly at Servis making a fuss over nothing.

Despite her rocky experiences, Ms. Lasik was definitely no ordinary person.

The execution she had shown when forced into a desperate corner was far beyond the reach of ordinary people. To merely leave a mark like this on his face was already showing great restraint.

”Just like me earlier?”

Fu Qian didn’t voice any mockery, only comparing it to the symptoms the Columnist had once displayed.

”Indeed, it is similar.”

Servis nodded.

”So she was locked in solitary confinement too?”

”Not quite. Right when I was thinking of doing that, Lasik had already hidden herself away, slipping step by step right into here.”

”That’s truly not easy. I’m afraid she must have had someone’s help to pull that off.”

”There was indeed someone helping her. You can call him—the Harbinger.”

As Servis spoke, he pointed a finger at Fu Qian’s side pocket.

Inside were exactly the two sticky notes he had successively obtained.

...

Harbinger? It certainly sounded much grander than Director.

In the space of this brief exchange, not only had Lasik’s pitiful fate been outlined, but an extraordinary title had also emerged.

The person Servis referred to was undoubtedly the final member of the trio act.

As for whether he was the Director or the Harbinger, the specific title didn’t matter.

The core point was that this was official confirmation: there truly was another person.

”He is my favorite patient. During his targeted treatments, I’ve found quite a lot of joy.”

His gaze never leaving Fu Qian’s face, Servis gave him only a few seconds to digest the information before continuing with an intoxicated look.

”If you can provide assistance moving forward, I will send you away from here, just like I did for Lasik.”