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Eldritch Horror? No, I'm A Doctor
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"Seriously, are you some kind of pervert? Do you get off on seeing men doing their business in the bathroom?" Lu Changcheng said as he dropped into his desk chair with obvious irritation.
His office reflected years of careful organization. Dark wood furniture filled the space, and bookshelves lined every wall from floor to ceiling. Hunter manuals sat next to ancient cultivation texts, creating a mix of old and new knowledge. A sword hung on the wall behind his desk, and scrolls with calligraphy covered the remaining wall space. The afternoon light came through large windows, casting long shadows across the wooden floor.
Ren touched the bump on his head where Lu Changcheng had smacked him earlier. The spot still throbbed. "I'm really sorry, Brother Lu. I didn't think I would appear there either."
"Ha, forget it, forget it." Lu Changcheng waved his hand in the air, though his eyes still showed traces of annoyance. "Now care to explain where you disappeared to. I almost had a heart attack. I thought you turned into that demon again."
His gaze moved to CPR, who floated near Ren's shoulder in puppy form. The chainsaw head tilted sideways as Lu Changcheng stared at the impossible creature.
"And what is that creature?"
Vrzzzz. Vrzzzz. CPR made his mechanical barking sound.
Ren sat down in the chair across from Lu Changcheng. The leather made a soft creaking noise as he settled in. This office had always felt comfortable before, a place where they could talk freely about missions and life. Now the weight of what he needed to explain made everything feel heavier.
"First of all, I'm sorry for causing trouble."
But the words that came out of his mouth weren't the ones he intended to speak. Strange sounds poured forth, cosmic language that his human tongue should never have been able to make. Each sound twisted the air around them.
"⍜̷̴͘⟊̴͢͟͠⟒̷̡͟⧫̴̛͘⟟͟͝⟟̴͢͜⋉͟͡⟊̶͝͡⟟̸͘⋏͠͞⟒̷̴͠ ̵͠͡⧫̛͠⟟̢͢͜⌇̴͡⟟̵͘͞⧫̴̢͜⟟̶͢⋉̢̛⍜̨͟⟊͝⋉̛͞⟟̢͜⋏̶͟⟒̷̕͜ ⍜̴̢⟊̶͘⋉̶͜⟟̡̕⟊̵͝⟟͟⟒̷̛ ̡͞⟒̷͞⟊͡⋉̶̴⟊⋏̷͝⟟̵͞⟒̸͜—"
"Stop! Stop!"
For the first time since they met, Ren heard Lu Changcheng shout. The normally calm guild master's voice cracked with alarm.
"Huh? What—"
The office began to change in ways that hurt to look at. The wooden desk started flowing like water. Its straight edges curved and rippled as if the grain was trying to escape the wood itself. Papers on the desktop folded themselves into shapes that shouldn't exist, their flat surfaces somehow containing more corners than possible.
The bookshelves groaned loudly as they twisted. Ancient books that had sat still for decades suddenly came alive. Pages fluttered without any wind. Words crawled across pages like insects, rearranging themselves into patterns that made Ren's eyes water. Some books opened by themselves, spilling glowing text into the air.
The walls started breathing. The wallpaper expanded and contracted like lungs. What had been a normal pattern of flowers and vines now writhed and moved. Dragons chased their own tails in endless circles. Mountains flipped upside down to become valleys. Clouds turned solid while solid objects became mist.
Above them, the ceiling stretched upward impossibly far, as if the room was trying to contain infinite space. Light fixtures swayed on cords that had become rubber-like, casting shadows that moved on their own. These shadows peeled away from walls and furniture, crawling across the floor like living things.
The air itself became thick and visible, like honey mixed with starlight. Each breath brought traces of something otherworldly that human lungs weren't meant to process. The temperature jumped wildly from burning hot to freezing cold, as if the room couldn't decide which reality it belonged to.
Lu Changcheng's right ear was bleeding. Red drops fell onto his desk where they hissed and steamed against the warped wood. The blood didn't pool normally. Instead, it formed geometric patterns that pulsed with their own light.
"What eldritch incantation or mantra did you just chant, brother?"
His hands shook as he reached into his desk drawer. Lu Changcheng pulled out a white pill and popped it in his mouth. Whatever the medication was, it worked fast. His pale complexion improved, though the space around them kept distorting.
The floor beneath their feet became see-through, showing glimpses of endless void below. Gravity pulled in directions that made no sense.
"Please stop. This kind of thing is like the universe itself putting a restriction on the truth, so I won't pry further." Lu Changcheng's voice carried the weight of experience, like someone who'd learned not to push against cosmic forces the hard way. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the crazy temperature changes.
"But I have to ask you, as a guild master who has responsibilities to take care of his guild members' safety." His expression became serious. The playful irritation from before was completely gone. "Brother, no, Ren Hector."
The use of his full name made everything feel more formal and dangerous. This wasn't Lu Changcheng the friend speaking anymore. This was Lu Changcheng the leader, the protector.
"What are you? No, that will get another intervention from the universe. What did you turn into when you got decapitated in the dungeon?"
Ren thought about how he could explain without revealing too much. Invisible walls surrounded certain topics, built by powers far beyond his understanding. He wanted desperately to be honest with the person who'd shown him nothing but loyalty and trust, but the very forces that had shaped him now prevented that honesty.
"Brother Lu, no, Guild Master. Let me be honest with you. I don't know."
"You don't know?" Lu Changcheng looked confused. This clearly wasn't the answer he'd expected from someone who'd just made reality have a breakdown.
"Yes, but I have a theory. Will you listen to it?"
"Let's hear it first."
"⍜̴̢⟊̶͘⋉̶͜⟟̡̕⟊̵͝⟟͟⟒̷̛ ̡͞⟒̷͞⟊͡—"
"Stop!"
The space began warping again, even worse this time. Visible cracks appeared in the air itself like broken glass. Each crack showed glimpses of other places, other realities where the rules might be different.
Ren thought to himself, So talking about the afterlife is a no-go either.
System, you cannot reveal that you are from another world too.
Why?
That's the rule the One Above All set.
Fuck.
The restrictions felt like chains wrapping around him. Each limitation was personal, as if the universe was watching this conversation and deciding what truths were too dangerous to share.
"I will be as honest as possible, Guild Master." The formal address felt wrong between them, but things had moved beyond casual brotherhood. "There are some restrictions that restrain me from revealing certain secrets to anyone. But I can tell you something. It involves the laws."
Lu Changcheng's eyes went wide at the mention of laws. In their world, laws weren't just legal concepts. They were fundamental forces of reality that only the most powerful beings could touch.
"In my trial, before I met you, I already died once."
The words hung in the air between them.
"What?"
"Yes, Guild Master. I already died once." Ren's voice became quieter as he reached back to memories that felt both distant and overwhelming. "But instead of the afterlife, my soul got thrown into some kind of eldritch dimension. In that dimension, I could still feel hunger, so I have to eat what was there to preserve the state of my soul. If not, I would simply disappear."
Lu Changcheng's face went pale as he tried to process what such an experience would do to someone.
"And after who knows how long, I lost consciousness and I woke up arriving in front of the Hunter Bureau."
Lu Changcheng massaged his head, the gesture of someone trying to understand information that challenged everything he thought he knew about life and death. His perfectly ordered world had just been revealed to contain horrors beyond imagination.
The silence stretched between them. The office had begun to stabilize slightly, though traces of the cosmic disturbance remained. Shadows still moved wrong, angles suggested more dimensions than should exist, and the air tasted of starlight and void.
Ren bowed deeply, expressing genuine guilt. "I'm sorry that I can't tell you anymore."
"Ren—"
"I'm really sorry. I know you trust me, but some kind of restriction is keeping—"
"Ren!"
Lu Changcheng raised his voice, not in anger but urgently, like he was asking his brother to stop torturing himself with explanations the universe wouldn't allow.
Ren fell silent and sat back down. "I'm really sorry that I can't even be clear with you."
The confession carried years of frustration. The isolation of carrying truths too dangerous to share. The loneliness of being changed by experiences that couldn't be explained to the people who mattered most.
Lu Changcheng studied his brother's face. He could see the real pain there. The cosmic restrictions weren't just preventing communication. They were hurting Ren by making it impossible to connect fully with people he cared about.
The room felt heavy with unspoken understanding. Lu Changcheng could see his brother struggling against invisible chains, wanting to share but unable to. The formal distance between guild master and member dissolved. This was about family now.
"I believe you."
The words were simple but carried absolute trust.
"Huh?"
"I said I believe you, brother."
Lu Changcheng said this with a warm smile that changed his whole face. No judgment. No fear. No demands for explanations that couldn't be given. Just acceptance of his brother as he was, cosmic restrictions and all.
The distorted office seemed to relax slightly, as if the universe approved of unconditional brotherhood. The impossible angles softened. The breathing walls became still. The air cleared a little.
In that moment, Ren felt something he hadn't experienced since his transformation began. The simple relief of being accepted exactly as he was, mysteries and all. Lu Changcheng's smile spoke of a bond that went beyond explanation, strong enough to survive cosmic horror and universal restrictions.