Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 74: Various News (Consider it a Two-in-One)

After choosing Interlude Growth, Liu Xing prepared to exit the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall. That's when he noticed a black star next to his gaming ID, a clear indication that he had passed a promotion game.

Just then, Liu Xing received a friend request from a player named "Perfect Future." Liu Xing, thinking this player was from his last promotion game, accepted the request, considering his only friend in the game was Chen Ling.

The rapid "metabolism" of the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall maintained a vast player base. With no team-up feature, players like Liu Xing never bothered adding friends, adhering to the "we'll meet again if fate allows" philosophy.

Upon accepting the request, Liu Xing received a message: "Hello, I am the administrator of the An Family in the Shoggoth area, Perfect Future. You can call me Future."

Surprised, Liu Xing realized this message was from the next area's An Family administrator. Wondering why Future contacted him, he asked what the matter was.

Half a minute later, Future replied, "Here's the thing: Du Liu, the robot managing the Ghoul area, recommended you. Your eligibility for a promotion game after just one official Cthulhu RPG Game proves your strength. I've also noted your success in your first promotion game. Representing the An Family, I invite you to join us upon advancing to the Shoggoth area. We'll focus on developing your skills."

Liu Xing was intrigued. The news was substantial, especially about Du Liu being a robot. His interactions with Du Liu, characterized by immediate, formulaic responses, now made sense. "So, Du Liu isn't human? And can I join other clubs after reaching the Shoggoth area?" he replied.

Future then explained in detail. Du Liu was indeed a robot, a special tool provided to club leaders in the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall for managing affairs. Depending on the price, their abilities varied, and Du Liu was top-tier, capable of independently managing a club with AI to answer most questions and identify promising newcomers.

Clubs in the Ghoul area didn't have human administrators but robots, as these clubs served mainly as message-sharing platforms and rarely invested in players who often didn't survive long enough to advance to the Shoggoth area.

The Shoggoth area was different, offering additional functions like item trading, enabling clubs to cultivate newcomers. Players like Liu Xing, entering the Shoggoth area, were considered true newcomers, unlike those in the Ghoul area, who were merely cannon fodder.

Talents like Liu Xing would receive practical items at minimal cost from clubs, ensuring they weren't helpless against most dangers. This wasn't free due to the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall's rule requiring a minimum price for all player-to-player item trades.

Upon advancing to a new area, players left their current clubs and received numerous invitations to join new ones in the next area.

After all, although they are considered new recruits, players who can enter the Shoggoth area are essentially veterans of the Cthulhu RPG Game in reality. Aside from possibly having fewer items, they are not much different from the seasoned players who mingle in the Hounds of Tindalos area.

This is a distinctive feature of the Cthulhu RPG Game. Even after hundreds of gameplays, a player's overall strength doesn't increase significantly. This minimizes the gap between veterans and new players, making the Cthulhu RPG Game quite friendly to newcomers, heh.

Liu Xing, pondering over a series of messages from Future, stroked his chin, wondering whether to agree or not.

However, Liu Xing's deliberation didn't last more than half a minute. He decisively agreed - why wouldn't he seize the opportunity to obtain certain items at the lowest price?

Thus, Liu Xing promptly replied to Future, indicating his definite intention to join the An Family's branch in the Shoggoth area after advancing.

After receiving Liu Xing's affirmative response, Future provided additional information. The second promotion game Liu Xing was about to participate in would be the most challenging among the three, with a success rate of less than one in ten thousand. This was a deliberate hurdle set by the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, meant to expose players to the game's brutality.

Simply put, this second promotion game intentionally heightened the difficulty, shifting from a single-thread narrative to multiple storylines. The task process might extend to a month or more, and players wouldn't meet at the storyline's introduction.

Importantly, players might receive vastly different tasks, potentially aligning them with opposing factions, leading to conflict and combat.

Thus, Future advised Liu Xing to utilize the promotion game mechanism wisely. A failure wouldn't result in a card tear, so in this toughest promotion game, it was best to avoid wasting too many items. If things turned awry, finding an opportunity to drop out would spare one from enduring madness and the agony of death, preserving their state for the final promotion game.

Indeed, as a game emphasizing "reality," Cthulhu RPG Game begins with actuality. When players descend into madness, they truly comprehend the sensation of insanity. Liu Xing had experienced this, having fallen into a state of mental chaos in the Castle Lord scenario, a memory still vivid and distressing.

As for death, it also starts from a place of reality. Although Liu Xing hadn't experienced it (and if he had, the book would have concluded), he could infer its horror - arguably more terrifying than madness.

In reality, an accident or tragedy can drastically alter a person's nature. Players who experienced madness or death in the game and returned to reality were often deeply affected. According to Future, about 30% of such players never logged back into the Cthulhu RPG Game, either committing suicide or being eliminated by the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall due to insufficient points. About 60% showed signs of mental issues. Those who had experienced death and returned were even more affected, with 70% never reappearing in the game hall, and the remaining 30% typically suffering mental issues.

Therefore, falling into madness or dying in the second promotion game, though not resulting in a card tear, would severely impact one's performance in the third game, leading to failure and, without a spare character card, elimination by the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall.

Hence, Future kindly reminded Liu Xing to prepare a spare character card, offering a chance for a redo in case of failure in advancing.

After reading Future's message, Liu Xing felt fortunate for having the ancestral green tea, which possibly saved him from madness in the Harvest Festival scenario.

So, Liu Xing resolved that in the second promotion game, he would find an opportunity to drop out if things went south, focusing on the third game instead. According to Future, the difficulty of this third game would be slightly lower than the first.

After ending his conversation with Future, Liu Xing opened the Shop to purchase a spare character card.

However, to Liu Xing's frustration, he was short by 15 points, with only 485 points, insufficient to buy even the lowest-level character card. He could only hope to earn enough points in the second promotion game, even if he failed.

Having closed the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, Liu Xing planned to chat with Wu Lei, a Veteran Driver, to learn more about the Cthulhu RPG Game.