Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 157: Starting a New Game



Chapter 157: Starting a New Game

Liu Xing had no intention of joining any chat rooms, so he casually browsed the forum. He discovered the hottest topic was speculation about the testing module.

Clicking on Addison's mentioned module, a confirmed large-scale mod called "Three Kingdoms Hegemony," Liu Xing learned it wasn't about the Wei, Shu, and Wu from Chinese history. Instead, it involved three neighboring African countries, each with thirty players. Ten players represented each country, with the mission of helping their nation conquer the other two.

However, the leaders of these three African nations were all followers of Eldritch Gods, each worshiping a different Great Old One. Essentially, it was a conflict of faith.

After a full "fifty years" within the module, players experienced aging, and when all players became leaders of their respective countries, they finally reached a truce, concluding the module.

Liu Xing chuckled; the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall had indeed fulfilled its "one day in reality, one year in the game" achievement.

After reading posts for a while, Liu Xing put down his phone, went out to buy some ingredients, and enjoyed a satisfying hot pot meal.

In the following week, Liu Xing didn't touch the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall. Instead, he explored and had conversations with Wu Lei about the Cthulhu RPG Game, gaining some valuable insights.

However, Liu Xing found it strange that Wu Lei seemed preoccupied with something. During their conversations, he seemed distracted several times. When Liu Xing asked what was wrong, Wu Lei only managed a forced smile.

With a sense of curiosity, Liu Xing returned home, preparing to participate in his first Cthulhu RPG Game after advancing to the Shoggoth Region.

Upon opening the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, Liu Xing discovered another update. This time, it was only a modification to the display of character cards (to save word count, I'll simplify character card details, and you can find specific attributes in the related work).

While preparing to choose Interlude Growth, Liu Xing noticed that the number of times he could perform Interlude Growth had been reduced to once!

Liu Xing was bewildered, but as he opened Interlude Growth, the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall provided an explanation. His character card's attribute skill values had reached a certain height, imposing restrictions. The Interlude Growth frequency was reduced to one, and some options were removed.

If Liu Xing's character card continued to grow, the effectiveness of Interlude Growth's numerical enhancements would be halved, ultimately providing no numerical improvement.

Seeing this, Liu Xing realized that the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall didn't want to see overpowered cards. In this game, the kind of damage-dealing combat cards with 3d6, 4d6, etc., were almost nonexistent.

Now, Liu Xing faced a choice: to use the limited Interlude Growth opportunities to address weaknesses or enhance strengths.

In the end, Liu Xing chose a new Interlude Growth—searching for the remaining pages of "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun." Players had a fifty percent chance of finding a fragment of the scripture, requiring a certain amount of money.

Liu Xing chose this Interlude Growth to improve his Cthulhu Mythos knowledge and to obtain the page recording contact/control of Byakhee. This particular page was the most useful one in "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun."

However, this Interlude Growth had an interesting twist. After successfully obtaining a fragment of "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun," the next chance to get another fragment would decrease by ten percent. In other words, through this Interlude Growth, Liu Xing could acquire a maximum of five fragments of "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun." If Liu Xing wanted to complete the entire scripture, he would have to achieve it within the Cthulhu RPG Game.

After confirming Interlude Growth, Liu Xing clicked to start a new game. This time, he didn't wait long and quickly entered the game.

Acquisition of "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun" fragments: 87/50, failed.

Liu Xing shrugged; luck was not on his side this time. The Interlude Growth seemed to have gone awry.

As the familiar darkness enveloped him, Liu Xing officially entered the game.

Scenario: The Birth of Twilight Darkness (Thanks to Bilibili Uploader Apsud Targaryen for providing module authorization)

Difficulty: Medium

Number of Players: Seven

Story Background: In the city of Ziwu in the Island Nation, there have been recent urban legends about a serial killer and half-beast creatures. People attacked by the serial killer are sent to the hospital with severe injuries but strangely without any life-threatening danger.

Name: Liu Xing

Occupation: Doctor

Gender: Male

Age: 23

Trait: Team Player

Connection to this Scenario: In order to acquire the remaining pages of "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun," Liu Xing came to Ziwu City in the Island Nation. However, he discovered that the seller had disappeared. To avoid wasting his plane ticket, Liu Xing decided to tour Ziwu City for a while.

Character Attributes

Strength: 57

Constitution: 40

Willpower: 80

Luck: 80

Agility: 55

Appearance: 70

Size: 45

Intelligence: 85

Inspiration: 90

Education: 87

Cthulhu Mythos Knowledge: 6

Sanity Points: 78/80

HP: 8

MP: 16

Damage Bonus: None

Credit Rating: 55

Skills: First Aid 83, Medicine 78, Psychology 71, Psychoanalysis 70, Persuade 60, Spot Hidden 40, Jump 71, Locksmith 10, Other Language: English 22, Drive 50, Other Language: Island Nation Language 39

Special Skill: Contact with Earth-boring Demon Worm

Personal Items: Mobile phone, a bottle of ancestral green tea (2/3), Ke Zongfa's candy, Qingming Rain, Qingming Sacrificial Offerings, Qingming Oil-paper Umbrella, "The Secret Scripture of Xuanjun" fragment (Contact with Earth-boring Demon Worm).

Liu Xing suddenly realized that he forgot to add the five items he obtained a few days ago to this character card.

However, what concerned Liu Xing more was that this time the module was set in the Island Nation, and now it was a campaign game in the Shoggoth Region. This meant he might encounter language barriers.

"Hello, everyone. I'm the KP Li Shunchan for this session. I'm delighted to play this Cthulhu RPG Game with all of you. But I must mention that due to the extensive scope of this module, players will start the game in different locations. However, to facilitate easy reunions, each player will be designated as a team member of a certain game. Now, let's begin the plot introduction," the voice of the KP this time sounded very young.

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