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Eldritch Horror? No, I'm A Doctor
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"I don't care whether you are some kind of god falling out of the sky. If you're still the you I know, it's okay." Lu Changcheng smiled warmly, his shoulders relaxing as he leaned back in his chair.
"Wow." Ren felt his chest tighten with emotion. The simple acceptance hit harder than any cosmic revelation. He blinked rapidly, looking down at his hands.
"Brother, if I were a girl, I probably would have fallen for you by now."
"Pfft, you can still fall for my manliness, you know."
"I'll pass for now." Ren couldn't help but laugh as he watched his dignified guild master act like a complete fool.
Their laughter filled the office, cutting through the lingering cosmic tension. Lu Changcheng dropped his pose and straightened up, his expression shifting back to serious as he crossed his arms.
"But there's something that I can't overlook, Ren."
Ren's smile disappeared. He sat up straighter, gripping the armrests of his chair.
"It's about controlling my power, right?"
"It seems that you're aware." Lu Changcheng nodded.
Ren rubbed the back of his neck. "And to answer that question, Brother Lu, I can't exactly control my power. All I know is that when I'm dead, that thing will appear."
"Hmm, that's certainly the problem." Lu Changcheng began pacing behind his desk, hands clasped behind his back.
"But I know how to fix it." Ren leaned forward, watching Lu Changcheng pace.
Lu Changcheng stopped and turned to face him. "How exactly?"
"I'm currently too weak to control my power. The solution is that I have to be strong enough." Ren spread his hands, palms up.
Lu Changcheng walked to the window, looking out at the training grounds. "So will you be going to gates more often?"
"Something like that, but I would like to be absent for a bit."
Lu Changcheng turned completely, his expression becoming intense. "For what reason exactly? The fact that you can make hunters upgrade by a rank, or for the sake of not getting innocent people involved in what you're about to do?"
Ren's eyes widened with surprise. His mouth opened slightly and his body jerked back against the chair.
"Don't be surprised." Lu Changcheng sat back down, folding his hands on the desk. "Henry hasn't ratted you out. I know it from the Hunter Bureau."
"Hunter Bureau?" Ren's voice went up an octave. He half-rose from his chair before sinking back down, face pale.
"Yes. For now, the ones who know about your power upgrade ability are me, Director Evan, and Joseph, if you don't count the patients that you healed in the testing room."
Fuck, why do I have to be so stupid and careless? I completely forgot about that, Ren thought, smacking his forehead. The sound echoed in the quiet office.
Lu Changcheng leaned forward with a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, Ren. We made a goddess contract to not disclose this secret, and the patients are included as well."
"Haaa, that's a relief." Ren slumped back completely, tension leaving his shoulders. His head fell back against the headrest.
"But they asked for a favor from you. You can decline if you want." Lu Changcheng tapped his fingers once against the desk.
Ren opened his eyes and looked at Lu Changcheng. "I think I know what they're gonna ask."
"Yes, they're asking you to power up Evan so he has more control over the city."
Ren sat up straight again, tilting his head like a confused dog. "But why don't you forbid me to power up Evan? If he becomes a Legendary rank hunter, we're gonna be at a disadvantage, right?"
"Hahaha." Lu Changcheng threw his head back, shoulders shaking with genuine laughter. "Ren, let me tell you something. Evan is not a Myth rank hunter. He's actually an S-rank."
"What? But why do you all listen to him?" Ren leaned forward, his whole body expressing confusion.
"Because the Hunter Bureau itself is immensely powerful. They have two Legendary rank hunters among them, so we have to respect them somewhat."
"So that's it." Ren nodded slowly.
"And there's another reason that you shouldn't be worried."
"What?"
Lu Changcheng paused, choosing his words carefully. "I will face a heavenly tribulation and become a Legendary rank hunter soon."
"Huh?" Ren blinked rapidly, mouth opening and closing without sound.
"Yes, you heard that correctly."
"But why don't you use my power to level up instead, Brother Lu? It's much safer. There may be more mental damage though."
"Well, Ren, you know that I'm a cultivator, right?" Lu Changcheng stood up again.
"Yes."
"Cultivation is to go against the will of heaven itself. That's the reason the goddess doesn't like me very much." He walked to the window, placing one hand against the frame.
"Why though?"
"Because she can't fully control me." He turned back to face Ren. "Although I'm in the world ranking, my power doesn't come from her."
"I don't have a status interface, Ren."
"I awakened before that existed."
"Before I became Daoist Tribulation Transcendent."
Lu Changcheng's voice carried weight as he spoke his next words. "They call me Lu Changcheng, The First Hunter."
The office fell completely silent. Even CPR stopped his mechanical humming. Ren stared at his sworn brother, mouth slightly open and eyes wide.
"And that's exactly why I have to do this myself, well, most of it. If I were to go with your method, it would make it not my effort." Lu Changcheng stood behind his chair, hands resting on the back.
"But I still would like you to help me with something though."
"What is it? I'm willing to help you." Ren sat up straighter, ready to spring into action.
"I want you to destroy my inner demon with your special ability."
"Well, I'll try my best. I'm not sure if it's gonna work though." Ren stood up from his chair.
They left the office together, walking through the guild house corridors. Their footsteps created a steady rhythm on the wooden floors. Other guild members nodded respectfully to Lu Changcheng, though some gave curious glances at Ren and his floating chainsaw companion.
The training room was massive, with reinforced walls that could withstand destructive power. Scorch marks and dents told stories of previous sessions. The floor was made of special impact-absorbing material, and protective barriers hummed quietly along the edges.
Lu Changcheng walked to the center with purpose. He stopped exactly in the middle and turned to face Ren.
"Okay, I will enter the meditative state now."
He lowered himself in one smooth motion, folding his legs into a perfect cross-legged position. His back became straight, hands resting on his knees in traditional meditation pose. As he closed his eyes, his face transformed into complete peace. His breathing shifted to deep, controlled rhythms.
Ren positioned himself a few feet away, CPR hovering beside him. The room was so quiet that Ren could hear the electrical hum of barriers and distant sounds of guild members training in other rooms.
For five minutes, nothing happened. Lu Changcheng sat perfectly still like a statue. His chest rose and fell with mechanical precision, face showing complete peace.
Then the temperature dropped.
Ren felt goosebumps rising on his arms, then something deeper and more unsettling. The air around Lu Changcheng began to shimmer. Dark wisps started rising from his body, barely visible at first.
The wisps grew thicker and more substantial. They moved with their own purpose, writhing and twisting in patterns that hurt to follow. The darkness seemed to absorb light from the room's fixtures, creating deeper shadows.
"Is this the inner demon? It feels disgusting."
The energy carried wrongness that made Ren's stomach churn. This wasn't just negative emotion. This was corruption given form, everything twisted and hateful concentrated into spiritual poison.
Ren reached his hand toward the dark energy. The moment his fingertips got close, his abilities kicked in automatically, responding with surgical precision.
He touched it.
Poof.
The dark energy suddenly condensed into the shape of a man made of black smoke. But not just any man. It looked exactly like Lu Changcheng, except everything was wrong. This version had wild hair sticking out in all directions. His face was twisted into an exaggerated sneer of arrogance. His muscles were comically oversized like a bodybuilder gone too far. The smoke-demon struck a ridiculous pose, flexing and showing off its biceps while sparkles of dark energy swirled around it.
"BEHOLD MY MAGNIFICENT MUSCLES!" the inner demon declared in a voice that was supposed to sound intimidating but came out squeaky. "I AM THE ULTIMATE CULTIVATOR! FEAR MY INCREDIBLE BICEPS!"
Ren and Lu Changcheng stared at the ridiculous figure, mouths hanging open in stunned disbelief.
"Is that..." Ren started, voice weak with suppressed laughter.
"My inner demon of pride and vanity," Lu Changcheng finished, face turning red as he covered it with both hands.
The muscle-demon continued flexing enthusiastically, apparently unaware of how silly it looked. "WITNESS MY PERFECT FORM! I HAVE TRANSCENDED ALL OTHERS THROUGH THE POWER OF... OF..." It looked confused for a moment, then brightened. "EXTREME MUSCLE CULTIVATION!"
It started doing poses that would make a professional bodybuilder cringe. Each flex was accompanied by sparkly effects made of black smoke that twirled around its arms like party streamers.
Ren couldn't hold it in anymore. He burst out laughing, doubling over and slapping his knee. "Brother Lu, your inner demon is a gym bro!"
"I AM NOT A GYM BRO!" the demon protested, still flexing with increasing intensity. "I AM THE ULTIMATE BEING OF POWER AND PERFECTION!"
"Oh my god, it's even worse than I thought," Lu Changcheng groaned, voice muffled by his hands.
The demon noticed Lu Changcheng's embarrassment and became even more enthusiastic. It started posing faster, cycling through different bodybuilder stances. "YES! LOOK UPON MY INCREDIBLE CULTIVATION GAINS!"
CPR started making mechanical laughter sounds. Vrzzz-hehe-vrzzz-hehe. His chainsaw head bobbed up and down as if nodding with approval.
"Please make it stop," Lu Changcheng pleaded, peeking through his fingers.
Ren wiped tears from his eyes and reached out again, still chuckling. This time, his power activated fully. The ridiculous muscle demon was pulled apart like smoke in a strong wind, stretching and dispersing into nothing.
"Wait, no! My gains!" were its last words before disappearing completely, voice fading like an echo.
The training room fell silent except for Ren's continued chuckling and the return of normal lighting.
"That was your inner demon?" Ren asked, still grinning as he wiped his eyes.
"Apparently, decades of being called the strongest Mythical hunter in the world had some side effects on my spiritual development," Lu Changcheng said dryly, finally removing his hands from his face. "I may have developed some issues with vanity and showing off."
"Some issues? Brother, your inner demon was basically a spiritual gym influencer."
"Let's never speak of this again."
"Oh, we're definitely talking about this again. Did you see the sparkles? It made sparkles while flexing!"
Lu Changcheng stood up and tested his movement, rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms. The embarrassment on his face was being replaced by genuine amazement.
"It's gone though. I can feel it. The weight that's been pressing on my cultivation for years. It's completely gone."
He looked at Ren with gratitude. "Brother, what you just did would have taken me months of dangerous inner work to accomplish. You removed decades of accumulated spiritual corruption in seconds."
"Even if that corruption was hilariously vain muscle bound smoke."
"Even if," Lu Changcheng agreed with a slight smile.
"This changes everything for my tribulation. Without the inner demon interfering, my chances of survival just increased dramatically."
"So when will you attempt the tribulation?" Ren asked.
"Soon. Now that this obstacle is removed, I can begin preparations immediately. The heavenly tribulation will be dangerous enough without fighting my own spiritual gym bro at the same time."
CPR made another mechanical giggle sound.
"Even your chainsaw dog found it funny," Lu Changcheng observed.
"He's got excellent taste in comedy."
The training room felt lighter now, as if removing the inner demon had cleansed more than just Lu Changcheng's spiritual corruption. The air itself seemed cleaner and easier to breathe.