Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 57: Formless Offspring, You're Out of the Group

The Formless Offspring, a subordinate servant of Sathogua, belongs to the same camp as Cthulhu, the Great Old One, and is thus also known as the Embryo of Sathogua.

The most notable characteristic of the Formless Offspring is its immunity to physical attacks. Essentially a slime monster, it is impervious to damage from swords, spears, clubs, and the like.

Liu Xing, observing the Formless Offspring, finally understood why KP Cao said their group couldn't defeat the boss through combat. The boss was this impervious Formless Offspring! Although the Qingming Rain in Liu Xing's pocket could harm it, the effect would be like a drop in the ocean. Being a lower servant of the Great Old One, the Formless Offspring's strength was incomparable to that of Ghouls or Deep Ones. Its expected HP ranged between 13 to 22 points (since each mythical creature's attributes differ, KP would decide their characteristics in advance by rolling, or simply use the expected value).

Therefore, Liu Xing could only think of one strategy – the best plan is to retreat.

However, KP Cao certainly wouldn't let Liu Xing and Tina leave so easily, especially since they had witnessed a person transform into a Formless Offspring.

"Hehe, now Liu Xing and Tina, since you have witnessed Nan Xiaoniao's mother turn into a Formless Offspring, please undergo a SAN (Sanity) check. Succeed, and you lose 3 SAN points; fail, and you lose 3 plus 1d6 SAN points," KP Cao chuckled. "Begin, I bet at least one of you will go insane."

Liu Xing, 76/76, succeeded.

Tina, 38/71, succeeded.

"You're quite lucky, Liu Xing. Both of you lose 3 SAN points and gain 3 points of Cthulhu Mythos knowledge," KP Cao said, somewhat surprised.

As soon as KP Cao finished speaking, Liu Xing felt an indescribable fear surge within him, his heart racing. But this was normal, anyone who witnessed such a horrific scene and didn't go mad was already fortunate.

Liu Xing couldn't help but lament that in just over ten minutes, he had already lost 5 SAN points. This was indeed a promotion game.

However, Liu Xing thought it was time to drink some ancestral green tea. When a player loses too much SAN within a certain time, they could enter a state of temporary insanity. In such a state, Liu Xing doubted KP Cao would allow him to drink green tea to recover his SAN and escape temporary madness.

So, to preempt the situation, Liu Xing quickly took out the bottle of ancestral green tea from his pocket, opened it, and took a sip.

After drinking the green tea, Liu Xing felt his mind clear significantly. The original sense of fear vanished, and his heartbeat returned to normal.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to have such a good thing, Liu Xing. You're quite lucky. Now, make a secret roll," KP Cao said with interest.

SAN recovery, 1d6=6!

Liu Xing felt fortunate about his luck in this promotion game. Almost every crucial check he needed to succeed at, he did, and now he had just restored 6 SAN points, exactly the amount he had lost so far!

"Er, Liu Xing, you really are lucky. So, your SAN value has returned to its maximum of 80 points," KP Cao said somewhat gloomily. "Well then, Liu Xing and Tina, continue your roles."

No sooner had KP Cao finished speaking than the Formless Offspring began to... sluggishly move towards Liu Xing and Tina!

Indeed, the Formless Offspring was closing the distance between itself and Liu Xing and Tina at an excruciatingly slow pace, best described as a crawl.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. The agility expected value of this Formless Offspring was around 95 points, equivalent to the sprinting speed of the world-class runner Usain Bolt. But the one in front of them now could hardly be considered to have an agility of even 5 points...

"Well, let me explain then," KP Cao said somewhat awkwardly. "According to the scenario, this Formless Offspring, being suppressed by the mirror world, has its agility matched to that of the player with the lowest agility who entered this world."

Liu Xing chuckled. The player with the lowest agility in the mirror world was undoubtedly Li Ming, who was currently knocked out by Tian Dao. So, even if Li Ming's agility hadn't dropped to zero, it was at best around 5 points. That's why this Formless Offspring was moving so slowly... it was indeed a disgrace to mythical creatures.

A picture popped into Liu Xing's mind – "So embarrassing, you should leave the group.jpg".

Since Liu Xing and Tina had maintained a distance of about ten meters from the Formless Offspring, they were not at all troubled by its turtle-like approach, even finding it somewhat amusing.

However, Liu Xing and Tina had to continue playing their roles, so Liu Xing feigned terror and said to Tina, "Tina, we must run!"

Tina nodded. Although the Formless Offspring was moving very slowly, its huge size and the long tentacles – some estimated to be about two meters – were not to be underestimated.

If Liu Xing remembered correctly, the Formless Offspring preferred to capture its prey with its tentacles, and its skill level in doing so was as high as 90 points. Being within its reach meant a high chance of being captured and bound, making escape almost impossible. To break free from the entanglement of its tentacles, one would have to contest in strength against the Formless Offspring, whose strength expected value exceeded 100 points, surpassing human limits.

Furthermore, as a lower servant of the Great Old One – Sathogua, the Formless Offspring might possess some kind of long-range attack spell, making Liu Xing and Tina wary of it.

Therefore, Liu Xing and Tina decided to retreat first and return to the temple to plan their next move.

Since there was no worry of being caught by the Formless Offspring, Liu Xing and Tina chose to jog back to the temple.

Although the Formless Offspring seemed to be making a valiant effort to chase Liu Xing and Tina, the distance between them only grew wider. By the time Liu Xing and Tina reached the temple, the Formless Offspring had only managed to reach the center of the two commercial districts...