Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

"With our current strength, dealing with Gralki’s avatar is a bit troublesome. After all, all we can do is cheer from the sidelines. Getting close would be suicide, and using long-range attacks is like scratching an itch for Gralki’s avatar, it won’t even scratch the surface," Zhang Jingxu said helplessly.

Liu Xing nodded in agreement because Zhang Jingxu was right. With their current abilities, it was virtually impossible to harm Gralki’s avatar. After all, Gralki was a Great Old One, so its avatar wouldn’t be weak either.

However, what Liu Xing was more concerned about was another matter. "Following the Black Flood Dragon to vanquish Gralki’s avatar is essentially just adding numbers, but let’s not forget one thing. When we encounter Gralki’s avatar, there will most likely be a sanity points check. I estimate it might be a 1d50 sanity points check."

When players encounter a Great Old One, sanity points checks are typically 1d100. So, Liu Xing speculated that if they encounter Gralki’s avatar, it would likely involve a 1d50 sanity points check.

Therefore, Liu Xing was worried that their entire group might directly fall into temporary madness upon encountering Gralki...

Ling Ishikawa rubbed his chin, saying with resignation, "There’s no way around it. We can’t just close our eyes and enter Panlong Lake. So, all we can do is hope for good luck, that we won’t succumb to temporary madness. If we do, let’s hope we randomly get temporary insanities like amnesia or unconsciousness, something better."

Zhang Jingxu nodded in agreement, changing the subject. "About the sanity points check for Gralki’s avatar, we’ll just have to leave it to fate. But I’m curious about some things in this module. Firstly, the side quest we triggered at the beginning, to protect Guo Ming, the sole survivor of the Panlong Town middle school incident. But given the current situation, with no disc spirit in Panlong Town, who would attack Guo Ming? It’s a side quest, enemies should be set for us. We can’t just spend a day with Guo Ming without any threats."

Liu Xing furrowed his brows, agreeing with Zhang Jingxu. "You’re right. I’ve been thinking about it too. Apart from the disc spirit, mythical creatures in Panlong Town probably wouldn’t bother Guo Ming. After all, besides the disc spirit, Guo Ming likely didn’t provoke any other mythical creatures. So, I’m also puzzled about what enemies we’ll encounter if we undertake Guo Ming’s side quest."

"I think the enemies in Guo Ming’s side quest might actually be Guo Ming himself. He may have psychological traumas from the Panlong Town incident. So, while protecting him, there’s a possibility he might, for various reasons, suffer a mental breakdown and start attacking us. However, since the goal of this side quest is to ensure Guo Ming’s safety, we’ll have no choice but to passively endure his attacks or abandon the side quest and kill Guo Ming," analyzed Wan Chongshan.

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. Wan Chongshan’s analysis was logical and convincing. Moreover, such situations were common in Cthulhu RPG Game.

At that moment, KP Snow Wind spoke up, "Alright, the private room time is up. Do you need to renew?"

Liu Xing nodded, smiling, "Of course, we need to renew. We’re about to face the final boss. We shouldn’t waste any remaining private room time."

KP Snow Wind chuckled, "That’s true. But personally, I suggest you players inform the Black Flood Dragon of your decisions sooner. It’ll be more advantageous for you."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, sensing a hidden meaning in KP Snow Wind’s words.

So, Liu Xing asked Ling Ishikawa and the others, "What should we do? Should we go downstairs now and tell the Black Flood Dragon our decision?"

Li Dian nodded, smiling, "I think we should do as KP suggested. After all, KP won’t deceive us, and I can feel that both the Black Flood Dragon and the black cat demon are straightforward personalities. So, if we wait an hour to tell them our decision, they might not say anything, but they’ll probably be unhappy."

Zhang Jingxu and the others also nodded in agreement.

Thus, Liu Xing and his group decided to go downstairs to find the Black Flood Dragon and share their decision.

As they descended, they saw Hu Cang playing with a dagger, with four more identical daggers on the table.

Liu Xing knew these five daggers were the rewards promised by Hu Li.

Hu Cang grinned as Liu Xing’s group finally came downstairs. "You’re here. The Black Flood Dragon has already gone to break the barrier at Panlong Lake. These five daggers are from Hu Li, and she asked me to tell you that if you decide to join the Black Flood Dragon to vanquish Gralki, just follow the route you took in the illusory realm to Panlong Lake."

Liu Xing nodded, casually picking up one of the daggers.

A poisoned dagger, with a unique material and coated with an unknown poison. When this dagger inflicts damage on an enemy, the enemy will undergo a difficult constitution judgment. If the enemy fails, they’ll be poisoned, resulting in a decrease in attributes and skill values. The poison can stack three times, and the dagger itself deals 1d5 damage and can be used 10/10 times.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised by the effectiveness of the dagger crafted by Hu Li. It could inflict debuffs on enemies while causing damage, reducing their attributes and skill values. Moreover, this effect could stack.

However, he quickly realized that while the dagger seemed impressive, upon closer examination, its effectiveness was limited. Firstly, the poison would only take effect if the enemy failed a difficult constitution judgment.

Difficult constitution judgments might seem hard, but that’s only for ordinary humans with constitution values around seventy or eighty. Success rates would be less than half. However, for mythical creatures with constitution values around one or two hundred, passing such a judgment would be effortless.

Therefore, this dagger could only be effective against human enemies; its use against mythical creatures would be challenging.

Furthermore, the poison on the dagger could only be used ten times, and its usage was beyond the player’s control. Every time the dagger inflicted damage on an enemy, it would consume one use of the poison. Therefore, after a couple of intense battles, the poison would be depleted, turning the dagger into a regular weapon.

So, Liu Xing felt that the dagger in his hand could only be considered better than nothing. Having something was better than having nothing at all.

Of course, because this dagger was crafted by Hu Li, it had intricate patterns, giving it a high-end and antique appearance. Liu Xing thought he could use the excuse of it being a "collectible" to carry it around.

After storing the dagger, Liu Xing said to Hu Cang, "Mr. Hu Cang, we’ve decided to follow the Black Flood Dragon to vanquish Gralki. Are you joining us?"

Hu Cang pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "I’ll pass. I know my abilities won’t be of any help in battling Gralki, and I might even hinder you. Also, I plan to monitor Xiao Mochen. He’s most likely a follower of Gralki, and I’m concerned he might ambush you later. So, I’ll stay back and watch your backs."

Hu Cang’s decision not to participate in the battle against Gralki’s avatar didn’t surprise Liu Xing. After all, despite being an important NPC in this module, Hu Cang was just a regular human. He wouldn’t be of any use against Gralki, and there was a risk he might go berserk upon seeing Gralki’s avatar, falling into temporary madness. So, even if Hu Cang wanted to join the battle against Gralki’s avatar, Liu Xing would persuade him to stay back.

Therefore, Liu Xing nodded and said, "Alright, Mr. Hu Cang, take care. We’ll head out first."

After Liu Xing finished speaking, he gave a signal to Ling Ishikawa and the others, and they left Hu Cang’s house together.

As Liu Xing and the others disappeared from Hu Cang’s view, a cigarette appeared in Hu Cang’s hand.

Taking a drag, Hu Cang blew a smoke ring and said, "Aughra, you seem to value this human quite a lot. As one of Nyarlathotep’s avatars, you actually intervened to kick a mere Gu Master off the mountain. Aren’t you afraid Black Pharaoh will find out and ridicule you again?"

Aughra emerged from the kitchen, holding a steamed bun. "As long as you, King, don’t spill the beans, Black Pharaoh won’t know about it. And what about you? Also an avatar of Nyarlathotep, pretending to be an NPC cooking for players in the module."

Hu Cang, or rather, King, chuckled and replied, "I have my hobbies. Besides smoking, I enjoy interacting with these players."

Aughra took a bite of the bun and nodded. "Your cooking skills are indeed good. But I hope you didn’t add anything special to these foods."

King smiled and shook his head. "Of course not. I know the rules better than you, Aughra. And don’t worry, I’ve made arrangements. The avatar of Gralki won’t harm the human you favor. But Aughra, you still haven’t told me why you favor this human."

Unable to change the topic, Aughra smiled and said, "It’s simple. I think this human has good potential and could be an important pawn for me. That’s why I favor him."

King glanced meaningfully at Aughra and shook his head. "Aughra, you still haven’t told me the truth. But it’s fine. It’s none of my business."

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Aughra decided to take her leave. "King, I have some things to attend to. So, I’ll leave the rest to you. I’ll be going now."

After Aughra finished speaking, she disappeared on the spot.

King chuckled and also disappeared.

Meanwhile, Liu Xing and his group had found the Black Flood Dragon and others.

The Black Flood Dragon and black cat demon were performing a ritual, while Hu Li and Green Willow were chatting on the side.

Seeing Liu Xing and the others arrive, Green Willow smiled and said, "I knew you would come, so I’ve prepared something good for you."

With that, Hu Li handed each of them a fragrance pouch.

Taking the fragrance pouch, Liu Xing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow because the fragrance pouch was indeed something good.

The fragrance pouch could cause the wearer to lose 4 sanity points when facing Gralki’s avatar. After one use, the fragrance pouch would automatically become ineffective.

"All right, now that you’ve put on these fragrance pouches, you can prepare. The Black Flood Dragon and others are breaking the barrier at Panlong Lake faster than we expected. It should be successful in about five minutes," Hu Li said seriously.

Liu Xing and the others nodded, and they put on the fragrance pouches.

Five minutes later, with a cold snort from the Black Flood Dragon and black cat demon, the barrier at Panlong Lake was finally broken.

In front of Liu Xing and the others appeared not only the massive avatar of Gralki in Panlong Lake but also over a hundred women of various ages on the shore.

Clearly, these women were residents of Panlong Town, but Liu Xing knew they had become slaves of Gralki’s avatar.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing felt a chill down his spine because even though these were weakened versions of Gralki’s avatar, each of the over a hundred slaves had combat abilities comparable to an adult man. So, these over a hundred slaves of Gralki’s avatar were a force not to be underestimated.

Realizing this, Liu Xing finally understood why they hadn’t seen any female residents in Panlong Town. It turned out they had all become slaves of Gralki’s avatar, used to protect its safety.

At that moment, KP Snow Wind spoke up, "As you’ve seen the Great Old One, Gralki’s avatar, we’ll now proceed with sanity points checks for the players. But since you’re all wearing fragrance pouches, you’ll all lose 4 sanity points in this check."

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