Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 42: Unforeseen Circumstances

Overall, Liu Xing was extremely satisfied with his interim development this time around. His First Aid skill and proficiency in English had grown impressively, and his driving ability had surged to a score of 50 — a respectable level within the Cthulhu RPG Game that would, at the very least, ensure he wouldn't lose control of a vehicle.

After concluding his interim growth, Liu Xing formally entered his first promotion game.

Scenario: The Harvest Festival

Difficulty: Moderate

Number of Players: Six

Story Background: In a county town of Shudu, the once-a-year Harvest Festival was being celebrated at the town center's Crane Pavilion. The town's populace gathered together for the festivity, but amongst the older generation of the town, the Harvest Festival was shrouded in mythological hues...

Player's character card:

Name: Liu Xing

Occupation: Doctor

Education: Graduate

Place of Birth: Rongcheng, Sichuan, China

Gender: Male

Age: 23

Background: Born into a family with a legacy in traditional Chinese medicine, Liu Xing was immersed in the study of the field from a young age. As a result, even at a tender age, he possessed notable medical skills and pursued knowledge in psychology during his university years. Although Liu Xing's physical constitution left something to be desired, he compensated with an exceptional ability to jump, dominating the high jump events in his university athletics competitions against his male peers.

Connection to this scenario: After returning to China from England, Liu Xing became a media sensation and was soon recognized and commended by the oblivious hospital director. As a means of relaxation, the director granted Liu Xing a half-month paid leave.

During his paid leave, Liu Xing took the opportunity to enroll in English language and driving classes. In the last three days of his holiday, Liu Xing, along with five friends he met online, decided to attend the Harvest Festival in a county town near Rongcheng — their first offline meet-up.

Character Attributes:

Strength: 55

Constitution: 40

Willpower: 80

Luck: 80

Dexterity: 50

Appearance: 70

Size: 45

Intelligence: 85

Inspiration: 90

Education: 87

Knowledge of Cthulhu Mythos: 1

Sanity Points: 78/80

HP: 8

MP: 16

Damage Bonus: None

Skills: First Aid 83, Medicine 78, Psychology 71, Psychoanalysis 70, Persuasion 60, Spot Hidden 40, Jump 70, Other Languages: English 22, Driving 50.

It was the familiar blurring before his eyes, and when Liu Xing regained his senses, he found himself right in the midst of the bustling Harvest Festival.

Greetings, players, I am the KP Cao for this promotion game (making a guest appearance as the designated daredevil in the group chat). As a KP who enjoys pleasure, I expect you to please me with your actions. Naturally, I'm not unreasonably demanding; if you can persuade me, certain rules can be overlooked."

A sly male voice reached Liu Xing's ears, giving him the impression that this person was somewhat perverse.

"Additionally, a little reminder: our promotion game takes place in summer. Hence, I would advise you to discard any cumbersome personal items now. Should you insist on carrying any inappropriate items, I will need to perform a necessary check when we commence the story, and you will bear the consequences," KP Cao finished, and all of Liu Xing's personal belongings appeared before him, along with a trash bin.

Clearly, this was the "removal" in action.

After some thought, Liu Xing decided to discard his Qingming paper umbrella and Qingming festival offerings in the trash bin. After all, it was awkward for a man to carry a paper umbrella during the summer festival, and the offerings were not exactly flattering to look at. Without a backpack to store the offerings and considering the possibility of alarming the well-meaning public to call the police, it seemed wise to let them go.

However, he chose to keep the bottle of ancestral green tea, which was only about 100 milliliters, in his pocket. Given the moderate difficulty of this promotion game, Liu Xing believed his SAN value was in grave danger and needed to be ready to restore it at any moment to avoid slipping into madness.

Shortly thereafter, Liu Xing's belongings and the trash bin vanished, and KP Cao's smirking voice returned, "OK, time's up. It seems one player is ready to take a gamble. I shall indulge you. We now begin the lead-in to the story. You have twenty minutes before the scheduled meeting at the entrance to the festival, so feel free to roam. A friendly tip: the mission in this promotion game is triggered by events, so I hope you'll trigger our mission while enjoying the festival."

After KP Cao's instructions, Liu Xing regained control of his body, now dressed in summer attire.

In his left pocket was the ancestral green tea, while his right pocket held his phone, Cthulhu candies, and Qingming Rain.

With twenty minutes of free time, Liu Xing surveyed the bustling festival crowd, taking in the Harvest Festival's layout.

The Harvest Festival was divided into two areas: one was the Xianhe Guan on the hill, requiring a climb of hundreds of stairs — apparently a place for incense and prayer; the other was the myriad of street stalls at the base of Xianhe Guan, with food stalls selling stir-fried noodles and Toffee Apples to the left, and game stalls offering air rifle balloon shooting and goldfish scooping to the right.

Liu Xing reasoned that since the scenario was named after the Harvest Festival, Xianhe Guan should hold information about the festival and was likely the place to trigger the mission.

Thus, Liu Xing decided to head to Xianhe Guan first.

Blending in with the tourists, Liu Xing ascended to Xianhe Guan.

Xianhe Guan turned out to be a small Taoist temple comprising two structures. Inside the main temple, Liu Xing discovered, to his dismay, a deity statue with a decidedly Cthulhuesque appearance — a face full of tentacles.

In the temple, Liu Xing also noticed a stone tablet inscribed with the origin of the Harvest Festival.

Just as Liu Xing was about to examine the stone tablet, the sound of dice hitting the floor echoed through the air, followed by a scream from outside the temple doors.

Liu Xing knew then that a fellow player had encountered trouble.

He hurried outside the temple to find a young man in his twenties lying in agony on the steps, bloodied and still.

And at the foot of the steps, Liu Xing saw a bloodstained scalpel.

Liu Xing had a hunch about the unfortunate event that had befallen the player...