Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 44: Rendezvous

Clearly, the god named Suru mentioned in the stone tablet was none other than Cthulhu. As for the so-called "Dream Transmission," it was simply Cthulhu's call. After a mental communion with the Taoist, Cthulhu imparted the ritual of the Harvest Festival, the price being that the residents of the small county town had all become followers of Cthulhu.

For an Eldritch God of Cthulhu's caliber, the presence or absence of worshippers was inconsequential, as his strength was not swayed by faith. However, no one would find being worshipped troublesome, and to Cthulhu, his followers were equivalent to a feast…

Yet, what puzzled Liu Xing at the moment was the lack of detail on the stone tablet regarding the specific offerings required for the Harvest Festival.

In Liu Xing's opinion, the task for this promotion game would undoubtedly involve the offerings needed for the Harvest Festival, which now made him regret not bringing the Qingming Festival offerings with him.

"Beep beep beep."

Liu Xing's phone suddenly rang. Opening it, he saw a message from someone named Akira Akashi, which suggested that this person was likely another player.

"Old Chinese Doctor, it's time for our rendezvous. Hurry to the entrance of the Harvest Festival for the gathering."

Liu Xing turned off his phone and headed towards the entrance of the Harvest Festival.

In no time, Liu Xing arrived at the entrance, where the other four players had already gathered—two men and two women.

He couldn't help but notice that the two female players were exceptionally beautiful, estimating that their app ratings would be around 80.

However, to Liu Xing's surprise, one of the women, who had a more mature appearance, seemed to be from Eastern Europe.

Could it be that the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall has reached international waters and gone global? Considering that the Cthulhu Mythos originated overseas and would naturally have a larger audience there, Liu Xing felt it wasn't strange to encounter foreign players, which was becoming increasingly common.

The other female player, who appeared to be a high school student, was dressed in a kimono. Liu Xing figured she must be Akira Akashi, the one who had sent him the message, likely a person from the archipelago.

Reflecting, Liu Xing recalled the Kite that had fallen away, who also seemed to be a foreigner.

Liu Xing hadn't expected to partake in this promotion game with international companions.

As for the two male players, they seemed to be compatriots. One of them appeared to be injured, leaning on a crutch, while the other had an honest and simple demeanor, seemingly a trustworthy teammate.

Jogging over, Liu Xing greeted the four with a smile, "Sorry, sorry, I was delayed by some matters at the Xianhe Guan. My name is Liu Xing, online alias Old Chinese Doctor."

The girl who looked like a high school student shook her head with a smile, "No worries, we just got here too. I'm Akira Akashi, the one who texted you earlier. Although I'm from the archipelago nation, I've grown up in China, so my Chinese is pretty good."

The male player who seemed to be injured also greeted Liu Xing, "I'm Li Ming. I had an accident during a trip a while back and hurt my leg. I hope you guys won't leave me behind. Please make sure to include me in the game."

The implication in Li Ming's words was clear to Liu Xing. In this promotion game, should they encounter any mythical creature, given Li Ming's current mobility, he would likely end up as nothing more than prey.

"Of course, we're friends after all. How could we possibly go on without you? By the way, my name is Tian Dao. I'm delighted to meet you all." Tian Dao patted Li Ming's shoulder, saying with a laugh.

"I'm Tina, Ukrainian, and I've been living in China for seven or eight years. Just to mention, my online alias is DecapitatorDice Goddess's EmbodimentMaster of the Tortoise FistThe Slacker." Tina chuckled, somewhat embarrassed as she announced her impressively enigmatic online name.

"Ha-ha, except for Tina, I suppose the rest of you are new to the Title System, right? Let me enlighten you," KP Cao suddenly chimed in, laughing. "The Title System is a distinctive feature of our Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall. After completing a game, a player may be awarded a title based on their performance. Of course, these titles come without any added attributes, but they do let other players know about one's previous game achievements. A player who owns a title must reveal it to the others when the storyline is introduced."

Originally, Liu Xing only felt puzzled by Tina's username, but now he looked at Tina with a bit of concern, especially since her first title was "Decapitator"! As soon as KP Cao finished speaking, Liu Xing and the others instinctively stepped back, distancing themselves from Tina.

Tina just looked helplessly resigned to her fate.

"Ha-ha-ha, don't be like that," KP Cao said, laughing. "I was the one who gave Tina her first title 'Decapitator' because, in a game I hosted, she went temporarily mad and beheaded more than a dozen chickens, all with clean cuts to the head."

Hearing this, Liu Xing finally relaxed. It seemed that Tina wasn't as threatening as he had imagined. However, Liu Xing couldn't help but feel that KP Cao was somewhat unreliable.

After the minor incident with the titles, everyone continued to play their roles.

"By the way, does anyone have Alger's phone number? I've called him a few times, but he hasn't answered. You guys try to call him too," Tina said, waving her phone in frustration.

Alger was the character card for Kite.

Although everyone knew that Kite was out of the game, their character cards did not—so they had to keep playing as such.

As a witness to Kite's departure, Liu Xing naturally stepped forward, "Uh, if I'm not mistaken, Alger might have gone to the hospital. I think I saw a foreigner being taken there because of an injury at the temple."

With that, Liu Xing shared the grim details of Kite's condition with everyone...

Although the others knew that Kite had been taken to the hospital due to injuries, they were unaware of the exact cause, so the truth left everyone completely baffled.

Clearly, everyone was stunned by Kite's breath-taking maneuver!