Eldritch Horror Theatre - Ch. 2: Is This Guaranteed to Hurt?
Not leaving any way out at all?
Returning to the Warehouse once more, Fu Qian realized he had seemingly underestimated the difficulty of this job.
In just a few minutes, his Sanity Value was down to 17. At this rate, becoming an idiot was just around the corner.
The main issue was that right now, neither the hard approach nor the soft approach seemed to work!
Wait!
Judging from the Old Man's unfathomable combat power, the hard approach definitely wouldn't cut it.
But the soft approach... based on the Old Man's reaction the last time, it was at least possible to communicate.
As long as they could communicate, reasoning with him wasn't an impossibility.
It was just that the guy clearly had an incredibly sharp eye.
Even if he gritted his teeth and said it didn't hurt, his expression had long since betrayed him.
Expression... expression...
Fu Qian suddenly had an idea. He grabbed the Work Badge on his chest and ripped it off.
With a flash in his vision, he was back in his familiar home.
Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed his phone and headed out the door.
"Sir, are you... looking for someone?"
Half an hour later, inside a certain maternity care center, the young lady at the front desk looked at Fu Qian cautiously.
"I heard you have a device here for experiencing the pain of childbirth?"
"...We do! You want to experience it?"
The receptionist's eyes instantly lit up, like she was looking at meat on a chopping block.
"What a good man. Whoever becomes your wife in the future will be so luck—"
"Is it guaranteed to hurt?"
Fu Qian interrupted her, asking the question he cared about the most.
"Guaranteed... to hurt?"
His question clearly hit the young girl's brain like a truck, making her smile stiffen.
"...Of course it is. Our equipment is currently the highest-end on the market, with top-tier simulation effects."
"Then set it up."
Fu Qian blinked.
"I can hardly wait."
...
Very quickly, Fu Qian lay down on the torture device—ahem, the instrument.
Several middle-aged and younger women gathered around, with the one in the middle, who looked like a director, flipping through his profile.
"Mr. Fu, the device's pain levels are divided into 10 stages. We'll increase it level by level from lowest to highest. You can call out to stop when you can't take it anymore. If you're ready, let's start with level one."
"No need. Crank it straight to level 10."
Fu Qian's face was completely calm.
You're kidding me. Once inside that place, he wouldn't be given any time to adapt.
What he needed was precisely the adaptability to such intense shocks.
Of course, deliberately putting on this relaxed posture wasn't for self-hypnosis to increase his resistance or anything like that.
Having finally found a somewhat less-than-formal institution with less-than-formal personnel, he naturally had to squeeze out every ounce of value.
The training intensity he needed was quite high; appropriately provoking them would effectively boost the staff's enthusiasm.
"Are you sure?"
"What do you think?"
...
Sure enough, the women exchanged glances, their eyes filled with murderous intent.
"Turn it on for him!"
Is this it?
Seems about the same as getting kicked in the groin?
The device turned on, and intense pain struck.
Fu Qian focused on experiencing the pain stimulation brought by the electric currents, trying his absolute best to keep his expression looking natural.
"Sir, does it hurt?"
A few minutes later, the women staring intently at him all had huge question marks on their faces and couldn't help but go check the machine.
"It hurts, can't you tell?"
"We can't tell..."
With an expression like you're taking a sauna, who the hell could tell!
The group frowned, falling into deep thought.
It still feels like it's not enough.
Fu Qian was equally unsatisfied.
"Is 10 the highest level?"
Strictly speaking in terms of pain levels, it was still a bit lacking compared to the containment scenario.
"The device itself actually goes up to level 12, but..."
Caught off guard by Fu Qian's question, the director was a bit stunned.
"Give me a level 12."
Fu Qian didn't give her any room to argue.
Too arrogant!
After a five-second mental struggle, the director shot a glance to the side.
"Crank it to 12."
"But—"
"It's fine. The machine might be broken; we can test it out while we're at it."
Ha... ha...
Now this is a bit more interesting!
A moment later, Fu Qian gasped for air, using every ounce of his strength to maintain his "Mona Lethal" smile.
"Are you alright?"
This eerie expression made the staff members' hearts pound with fear.
"I'm fine, I feel fantastic!"
...
After a long period of effort, having successfully turned his "Mona Lethal" smile into a proper "Mona Lisa" smile, Fu Qian left the maternity care center with satisfaction.
And just a few minutes after he left, screams like a slaughtered pig echoed from within the center.
...
Putting on the Work Badge with a solemn face, Fu Qian returned to the Warehouse.
[Do you wish to consume one point of Sanity Value to attempt containment again?]
[Yes]
"You're awake?"
Along with the familiar voice, the agony flooded in like a tide once more.
Fu Qian controlled every fiber of his muscles, making his entire body exude kindness, peace, and innocence.
"Yes, I feel much more comfortable today. I feel like I don't need treatment at all."
"Is that so."
The Old Man stared carefully at Fu Qian. After a long while, he finally pondered for a moment.
"Very well."
With a raise of his hand, the long needle was pulled out from the back of Fu Qian's hand.
"The moon tonight is exceptionally warm as well. You should go out and take a look."
Hard work really does pay off; it was finally worthy of his intestines which had practically tied themselves in knots.
Fu Qian sighed deeply inward, but outwardly remained impassive.
Carefully controlling his body to climb out of bed, Fu Qian gave an aloof nod and walked in the direction the Old Man had pointed.
It was only now that he saw the full view of the room.
A wooden building, looking at first glance like some abandoned hospital clinic or something similar.
Strictly speaking, the area wasn't small; the problem was that the vast majority of the space was crammed with all sorts of clutter, with random junk thrown all over the floor.
Stepping on it made a creaking sound.
Looking at its dilapidated state, if he gave the wall a solid kick, he might just be able to look at the moon directly from inside the room.
While grumbling internally, Fu Qian quickly reached the door and found that not only was it battered and torn, but it was also half-blocked by junk.
"Hurry up, the moon is going down."
Just as he was about to carefully observe the outside, the Old Man's gloomy voice came from behind.
Is he threatening me?
The IV tube has already been pulled out; it's not like you can chop me up if I don't go out, right?
Fu Qian scoffed, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the Old Man standing up—
A ridiculously oversized scythe was now gripped in the latter's hands, its cold gleam stinging the eyes.
Fu Qian stepped out without any hesitation.
So... beautiful!
A canopy of azure stars unfolded overhead, deep and distant, with an unimaginably massive, bright moon situated right in the center.
The Old Man really hadn't lied to him.
In all his life, Fu Qian had never seen such an exaggerated full moon; it felt like it took up half the sky.
With this crushing, oppressive feeling, a megalophobia patient would probably have collapsed to the ground instantly.
Most importantly, bathed in this snow-white moonlight, Fu Qian felt the pain in his body rapidly dissipate.
So this was the real way to eliminate the agony!
Praise the moon... Fu Qian took two steps forward, unable to resist wanting to strike a pose.
Hiss!
The sound of wind sliced through the air, and blood splattered!
A sharp pain hit Fu Qian's back, and the scenery before his eyes rapidly dissolved.
On his deathbed, he used every last ounce of strength to turn his head, wanting to see who had the lack of class to sneak-attack him—
Nothing was there!
[Containment Failed. Survival Time: 5 minutes]
[Evaluation: First glimpse into the dreamscape. Pain can cultivate character, and the moon intoxicates you.]
[Reward: Inspiration +1]
[Inspiration: Increases your ability to perceive formless entities.]
[Current Sanity Value: 16]
(End of Chapter)
Comments
Post a Comment