Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 38 038 Inside the Theater
Will the Cthulhu mythology be recognized as a history of return?

Tang looked up at the sky. The afternoon sun was still bright, but the tranquil and humorous atmosphere under the blue sky and white clouds was replaced by deep darkness, as if day had instantly turned into night.

Beneath the gigantic, seemingly infinitely high dome lies the boundless darkness formed by the complete fusion of all kinds of distorted knowledge and darkness. Countless star-like objects glitter brightly on the huge curtain that unfolds silently. It is quiet and peaceful, yet reveals horror, distortion and weirdness in the dark.

"It's like staring into the abyss, and the abyss stares back at you." Tang curled his lips.

These countless 'stars' based on mystical symbols represent a higher level of power, affecting the power of the seal itself, enhancing its 'concealment', and shielding it from the spiritual world and various extraordinary powers from any external world.

He sensed it a little bit and found that he was covered by the curtain and could no longer seek answers from the spirit world through divination.

The spiritual world was isolated, similar to the situation in the previously unrecovered "Never-Ending Theater", isolating the connection between the inside and the outside, similar to the simple kingdom of God that can only be created by the Sequence One, the mysterious servant.

However, the dome curtain, which was infused with various mysterious powers, should have stronger isolation. This shouldn't be as strong as Gray Mist and the Night Goddess, but it should be stronger than other Beyonders who are more adept at creating similar fields.

"It should be able to block out Mr. Men's mumbling... Emm, let's get Olson in tonight and try it out and we'll know."

Tang withdrew his gaze, and after being covered by the huge curtain, all the natural light around him disappeared without a trace.

He seemed to be teleported into a strange space.

The moment the black box in his hand was opened, it turned into starlight and disappeared into thin air, blending into the surroundings.

The feeling under my feet was not the muddy and uneven ground between the mountains and forests, but a soft touch, which seemed to be a blanket, or perhaps the skin of some monster.

Darkness, absolute darkness and silence all around.

The theater opened, but instead of being surrounded by cheers and applause as Tang had expected, there was a deathly silence.

It was as if all the puppets were in standby mode and no one was activating them, so naturally there were no cheers or applause.

However, in this environment, Tang felt that his fortune-teller intuition was being triggered wildly. Even if there was no cry from the secret dolls, they should be hiding in the shadows. In the darkness, countless eyes were staring at him, as if sizing him up, as if thinking.

The core of the theater is "alive". Although it has been optimized by the system, this characteristic has obviously not been erased.

Tang moved his hands, and the ring on his left little finger lit up with a faint light, dispelling the darkness around him.

The light quickly illuminated Tang's surroundings.

An exquisite cane appeared not far in front of his left.

'Appraisal in progress. One appraisal attempt has been automatically consumed. The remaining appraisal attempts are: 33.'

"Host, this item is a sealed artifact composed of the Beyonder's Extraordinary Characteristics of the Diviner, Sequence 4 of the Path, and the Beyonder's Characteristics of the Monster, Sequence 5 of the Path.

Don raised an eyebrow.

It should be the product of the combination of the strange wizard who was driven to madness and death by his 'Knowledge Chaser' and the cane in his hand called 'Moment of Luck'.

To find out what the specific seal looked like, Tang flipped through the report given by the system appraisal, then stepped forward, took the cane, and threw it into the system warehouse.

The light source shifted as Tang moved, and countless darkness enveloped the surroundings. It seemed that even more terrifying monsters were hidden under the darkness, but Tang was not afraid at all. He followed the intuitive instructions of the fortune teller and walked forward.

The once spacious stage seemed to condense. Tang took a few steps and reached its edge. The bright light illuminated the marionettes seated in the audience. The light couldn't illuminate all of them, and the reflections only made them seem even more eerie and terrifying. It seemed endless, extending along the stairway leading to an unknown realm. Each marionette was exquisitely crafted, with smiles on their faces and unwavering eyes. They breathed and had body temperature, like the most expensive lifelike dolls, but Tang knew full well that these were truly living people.

However, it cannot move, speak, eat or sleep on its own. All physiological phenomena are caused by the puppeteer behind the scenes.

After seeing these lifelike puppets, the lights on the stage suddenly lit up.

On the huge stage, a magician wearing a top hat and a slim red suit stood there quietly, staring in Tang's direction.

Tang looked at him for a long time, and then the magician bowed to Tang.

The ring was heating up, and spiritual energy was pouring into it crazily. At this moment, his will seemed to be above the entire theater, overlooking the huge toy "play house" in front of him.

"Cheer! Jump for joy! A miracle has happened! The greatest miracle of this century—"

“This is the beginning!”

-

After taking a quick look at the never-ending theater, Tang looked at the ordinary people here again, ready to remove their puppetization.

After the historical projection was removed, the number of ordinary people's secret dolls in the theater reached an astonishing level, which was staggering.

"But they are of little use. They can only serve as atmosphere group and shout slogans."

Over two hundred years have passed since the Four Emperors' War. During this time, the 'Never-Ending Theater' has likely consumed enough ordinary people to transform them into its own puppets. Of course, there are also Beyonders among them, both active and passive, and a significant number of low- and mid-sequence Beyonders are also present.

It was hard to imagine how much wealth he could accumulate by removing them all, extracting their Beyonder characteristics, and then selling them.

"But there's another question..."

The heart of the theater was avoiding him.

Through the connection of the ring, he could clearly feel that there was another "thinking" consciousness in the theater, which could wander among countless secret puppets and quietly look at him, but when Tang looked over, that consciousness would quickly change its position.

"He looks terribly scared." It's obvious that he has PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

The core of the theater now ignores him completely, with an attitude of "Do whatever you want, do whatever you want", and completely refuses to communicate with him face to face.

But this actually gave him enough authority.

As the person in charge of the theater, it’s not too much for Tang to give himself a few secret puppets, right?
In addition to the extraordinary characteristics returned to Olson, Tang also found two traveler marionettes and the Abraham members who accidentally entered or were involved in the Four Emperors' War.

Let the theater disconnect its control over the spirit line, and then Tang connected it, and the secret puppet changed its owner.

This is much more enjoyable than going out to find extraordinary people to hang up.

Tang looked at the secret doll here with a kind expression.

In this role-playing game, he can just use one and throw one away in the future...ah, it's still a bit of a waste.

(End of this chapter)