Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Since encountering Yis People, Liu Xing had been closely observing their demeanor. So far, there hadn’t been anything unusual about Yis People.

Although the Cthulhu RPG Game required players to play their roles well, it didn’t demand absolute adherence to character roles. So, at times, players could express their own emotions.

For instance, when Ling Ishikawa saw Yis People earlier, the confused expression didn’t fit the character setting, considering Ling Ishikawa hadn’t encountered "Liu Xing" before.

Therefore, Liu Xing believed even more that Yis People probably didn’t know that "Watanabe Ryuusei" was their character card, or that they were "Watanabe Ryuusei."

In conclusion, Liu Xing felt he had a slight advantage in the battle with Yis People because he could use this module to observe any new cards Yis People might have.

After all, according to logic, the "Liu Xing" character card would need to go through two or three modules before advancing. So, in these two or three modules, as long as Yis People wasn’t too foolish, they should be able to develop new cards, such as using their own knowledge or utilizing resources in the module to create various high-tech weapons and items.

Therefore, in this module, Liu Xing decided to pay close attention to Yis People’s actions.

After confirming cooperation with Yis People, the bus had already arrived at the hotel.

After getting off the bus at the hotel, Yis People spoke up, "Ryuusei, you guys go back to the hotel and rest first. I need to go find Chris, the head of the Manchester Police Department, to report your situation. Since we’ll be cooperating with the local police in Manchester for the next operation, we need to follow some of Manchester Police’s rules. Besides, I’ll try to get some weapons and equipment from Chris. I believe Chris would be willing to give me some pistols and bulletproof vests, and maybe we can also get first-hand information from the Manchester Police about the missing foreign tourist group."

Liu Xing nodded. Working with the police indeed brought many conveniences, but it also required a certain cost. After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in the world. So, the police couldn’t completely trust the player’s side, nor could they give the player’s side too much autonomy.

Just as Yis People had said earlier, the player’s side was only responsible for assisting the Manchester Police, so the initiative naturally remained with the Manchester Police.

Thus, Liu Xing smiled and said, "Then, I’ll trouble you, big brother Liu Xing. But if possible, please ask about the missing case of the Chinese tourist group. It would be even better if you could bring back relevant internal information because we have a friend who disappeared after following the Chinese tourist group to Manchester."

To be honest, Liu Xing felt a strange sense of amusement being called "big brother" by himself...

Yis People thought for a moment and said with a smile, "No problem, I’ll ask Chris for you. You guys wait for my good news at the hotel. It’s getting late now, so I’ll be back soon."

While speaking, Yis People flagged down a taxi and left the hotel.

So, Liu Xing and his group, along with Juri Sonoda and Nan Xiaoniao, completed the check-in procedures and went to their respective rooms.

The moment they entered the room, Liu Xing heard KP Li Shunchan saying, "Because the players have reached the initial safe point of our camp, let me first explain a special setting in this module—safe points. Firstly, in this module, as long as players from the same camp enter the same safe point, they can have unlimited Private Room time, of course, the rules that must be followed still apply. Secondly, the special function of safe points is that the opposing camp cannot detect what’s happening inside the safe point. Simply put, players don’t need to worry about their camp’s safe point being monitored by the opposing camp. However, players shouldn’t expect to engage in corresponding behaviors in the opposing camp’s safe point."

"Lastly, the most important setting about safe points is that every player can set a safe point for their own camp. However, the safe point must be relatively enclosed, and the player must have temporary usage rights to the place, such as the hotel rooms you are in now, or a Private Room in a restaurant, or inside a car, and so on. But after setting your safe point, you won’t be able to change it within three days. By the way, the hotel rooms you are in now are your initial safe points, and you can change your safe point now."

After listening to KP Li Shunchan’s introduction, Liu Xing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. This safe point setting was quite interesting.

Liu Xing had been pondering before about the regulations on Private Room time in this module. If it were restricted by time or frequency, it would be troublesome.

Because this was ultimately a competitive module, unlike cooperative modules with linear storylines, where you could roughly analyze the next storyline based on known information and only need to have a few Private Room sessions at appropriate times to complete the module. Therefore, cooperative modules didn’t demand much Private Room time.

But competitive modules were different because the variables were significant. After all, each player had their own subjective initiative and would change their actions according to the changes in the module. So, one player’s actions could potentially cause significant changes in the entire module. Hence, players needed a lot of Private Room time for discussions.

Therefore, Liu Xing found this safe point setting very good, especially being able to set a safe point in a vehicle, which meant Private Room time could be initiated at any time.

However, precisely because of this, Liu Xing had already predicted how intense this module would be.

Although Ling Ishikawa was still in a female body at the moment, Zhang Jingxu didn’t intend to let Ling Ishikawa share a room with Lu Tianya. So, Liu Xing’s group booked a total of four rooms, one for each person.

Anyway, Liu Xing’s group wasn’t short of money.

After unpacking his luggage, Liu Xing went to Ling Ishikawa’s room, where Zhang Jingxu was already there.

Private Room time automatically began.

Seeing Liu Xing entering the room, Ling Ishikawa couldn’t wait to say, "Liu Xing, what’s going on? Liu Xing... I mean, how did your character card end up here, and as a player?"

Zhang Jingxu, on the side, raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "What? That ’Liu Xing’ is also Liu Xing’s character card? But how did it end up in someone else’s hands? I remember character cards can’t be traded."

Liu Xing sighed and spoke up, "Zhang Jingxu, you should remember the module we did together at the beginning, right? The one with Professor Yang."

Zhang Jingxu nodded, then exclaimed, "Liu Xing, are you saying that your character card was hacked by Yis People?!"

Liu Xing shrugged, helplessly saying, "Exactly, my character card was indeed hacked by Yis People. I had encountered Yis People in the module, Professor Yang’s module to be precise. Perhaps the reason that module was temporarily interrupted was because Yis People somehow infiltrated my character card."

Zhang Jingxu thought for a moment, then said, "I see. I’ve only heard from some rumors that certain mythical creatures or Great Old Ones can obtain players’ character cards through special means. But there hasn’t been any concrete evidence or victims coming forward to prove this rumor, so I thought it was just an urban legend. Didn’t expect you, Liu Xing, to actually experience it. But speaking of which, incidents like this should be the responsibility of the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, as it’s considered a game loophole."

Liu Xing nodded, explaining the solution provided by the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall.

Ling Ishikawa rubbed her chin, speaking seriously, "If it comes to a one-on-one competitive module, Liu Xing, you’ll likely be at a disadvantage. Yis People’s technological level is exceptionally high. Once you engage in a one-on-one module with them, Yis People will surely come up with all sorts of advanced technology. And the most important thing is, Liu Xing, you can’t kill Yis People because that’s your character card. Unless you’re willing to spend money on a resurrection module afterward."

Liu Xing sighed again, wryly saying, "Yin En, you’re right, but the situation is as it is now. I’ll just have to give it my all when the time comes. But from the current situation, it seems that the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall is quite discreet. They haven’t informed Yis People about my situation, so Yis People probably doesn’t know that I am the owner of their character card. So, Yin En, Zhang Jingxu, you both need to cooperate with me well this time and make sure Yis People doesn’t find out that I am the owner of their character card."

Yin En and Zhang Jingxu nodded simultaneously, smiling and saying, "No problem."

Just then, Zhang Jingxu’s phone rang suddenly.

Glancing at his phone, Zhang Jingxu frowned, saying, "It’s a call from the China Daoist Sect. I need to go to the restroom to take this call because it’s of a high level of confidentiality. When I answer this call, it will trigger a spell embedded in my phone. If it senses anyone outside the China Daoist Sect within a five-meter radius, it will automatically cut off the call, and I’ll need to return to China immediately for investigation."

With that, Zhang Jingxu briskly entered the restroom.

After a while, Zhang Jingxu came out of the restroom, somewhat surprised, "Didn’t expect to receive a special Side Quest even before the Main quest triggers. This special Side Quest can be shared, so, Liu Xing, you guys accept it."

As Zhang Jingxu finished speaking, KP Li Shunchan spoke up, "Player Zhang Jingxu has shared a special Side Quest with you—Rescue Mr. Zhang. Would you like to accept this Mission?"

"Accept," Liu Xing said without hesitation.

KP Li Shunchan continued, "OK, Player Liu Xing has accepted the Side Quest—Rescue Mr. Zhang. The mission objective is to rescue the abducted Mr. Zhang. The mission reward is 500 points and a random item."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised that this special Side Quest was indeed special. The mission objective was so concise... nothing was mentioned, not even the specific name of the person.

However, the reward for this Side Quest was quite good. Although it was a random item, it was provided by the China Daoist Sect, so Liu Xing believed it would be excellent.

"Zhang Jingxu, do you have any specific information about this Mr. Zhang? Why doesn’t the Mission description even mention his name?" Ling Ishikawa asked in confusion.

Zhang Jingxu shook his head, waving his phone and said, "I don’t know either. But they said they would quickly send over the information about Mr. Zhang."

Before Zhang Jingxu finished his sentence, his phone pinged with a message notification.

Opening it, Zhang Jingxu said, "The information has arrived. The full name of Mr. Zhang is Zhang Wenbing, a financial manager of a well-known company in China. This company belongs to the hidden industry of the China Daoist Sect. A few days ago, Zhang Wenbing followed a tourist group to England. The entire tourist group lost contact suddenly in London, so they hope we can investigate Zhang Wenbing’s situation while investigating the missing Ancient One case. If possible, rescue Zhang Wenbing. In return, the China Daoist Sect will offer us many benefits."

Zhang Jingxu finished and handed his phone to Liu Xing, displaying Zhang Wenbing’s photo on the screen.

Zhang Wenbing in the photo appeared to be around thirty years old, handsome, clearly a successful individual.

After seeing Zhang Wenbing’s photo, Ling Ishikawa fell into deep thought.

A minute later, Ling Ishikawa suddenly clapped her hands, saying, "I knew this person looked familiar! Zhang Wenbing was my teammate during my first module."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, "What? Yin En, are you saying that this Zhang Wenbing is also a player?"

Ling Ishikawa nodded affirmatively, saying, "Exactly, Zhang Wenbing should be a player. However, logically speaking, unrelated players shouldn’t be involved in the same module. So, this missing Zhang Wenbing might likely be a player from the opposing camp."

Zhang Jingxu on the side shook his head, speaking seriously, "Not necessarily, because there’s another possibility. Zhang Wenbing may have been eliminated in a previous module, resulting in him becoming an NPC."

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