Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 24: The Contents of the Parchment

That was a close one.

Liu Xing heaved a sigh of relief upon confirming the temporary bout of madness afflicting Bai Hecheng. Under the rules set by the Cthulhu Mythos, there were ten potential temporary madness symptoms, with pseudoparalysis being one of the least severe. It only affected the person experiencing it, unlike other symptoms that could imbue the afflicted with a dangerous aggression.

Thus, in the misfortune that befell him, Bai Hecheng was lucky in an unlucky situation; he had neither succumbed entirely to misfortune at home nor brought excessive damage to the team.

However, the ordeal wasn't over just yet. "The rest of the players, having witnessed Bai Hecheng emanating an eerie chill, have suffered a great shock to your spirits. Please proceed with a 1d3 SAN check directly. Of course, since player Liu Xing has already encountered a similar situation, he will only lose 1 SAN point. Moreover, all players will gain Cthulhu Mythos knowledge equal to the SAN points deducted."

Predictably...

Liu Xing couldn't help but internally criticize Bai Hecheng's reckless actions, which led to the team's reduced SAN. But this was within the bounds of reason and expectation.

And so, the SAN check began.

Chen Ling, 2 points.

Wang Qi, 2 points.

Wang Siyi, 1 point.

Liu Xing, 1 point.

The others, including Chen Ling, were relatively fortunate, not rolling the maximum value of 3. Nevertheless, this unwarranted disaster was a cause of irritation for them. Bai Hecheng's folly had inadvertently caused a drop in their SAN points—a matter of great annoyance for anyone, especially in a life-or-death Cthulhu RPG game where SAN points are tantamount to life itself!

Enraged beyond restraint, Wang Qi stood up, ready to throw a punch at Bai Hecheng!

Luckily, Chen Ling, who was more rational, stood up to block Wang Qi, and Liu Xing quickly stood as well, grabbing Wang Qi and trying to pacify him: "Wang Qi, calm down. Things have already come to this; let's not fight amongst ourselves and risk more accidents. Besides, Bai Hecheng is already miserable enough, having received his due punishment."

Liu Xing's words cooled Wang Qi's anger. With a snort, he sat back down, sulking in his seat.

At that moment, Bai Hecheng solemnly re-rolled the parchment, his tone more serious than ever: "This parchment details the ritual for summoning the projection of Cthulhu!"

Hearing this, Liu Xing was immediately taken aback. Although Cthulhu might not be the strongest among the Great Old Ones and had its embarrassing weaknesses—referred to disdainfully as 'feeble ships'—its power was not to be underestimated. Even a mere projection was enough to annihilate them completely...

Therefore, Liu Xing immediately questioned Bai Hecheng, "Did the parchment mention if the ritual must use this parchment as a medium?"

Typically, to perform a ritual to an Eldritch God, certain specific mediums were required. Like the parchment detailing the summoning of Cthulhu's projection, it was likely essential to the ritual. Without the necessary medium for the ceremony, even if you followed the correct ritual process and sacrificed a sufficient quantity and quality of offerings, it would be to no avail.

Therefore, whether this scroll of parchment was essential for the ritual became a matter of great importance. After all, Liu Xing had no desire to confront the formidable Kro'zun so soon... or, to put it another way, to be annihilated by Kro'zun.

Regrettably, Bai Hecheng shook his head silently. "No, this parchment is not necessary for the ritual. It's actually the shattered Eldritch God statue from three hundred years ago!"

Liu Xing felt a jolt of realization. He hadn't expected the Eldritch God statue buried in the backyard to be a depiction of Kro'zun. If that spiritual connection had been successful, the SAN points he would have lost would have been substantial.

According to the rules of the Cthulhu RPG Game, witnessing a Great Old One of Cthulhu's caliber directly would result in a 1d10 SAN loss on a successful check, and a devastating 1d100 SAN loss on a failure. Even viewing a statue of Cthulhu would cost at least 1d6 on a success, and up to 1d10 on a failure! Liu Xing felt he was a hair's breadth away from going mad before Bai Hecheng.

What perplexed Liu Xing was that this was supposed to be an easy-level Cthulhu RPG session. How could they have brought out a deity as mighty as Kro'zun to dominate the scene, even if it was just a projection? It was not something Liu Xing and the other players could hope to tackle.

This was puzzling to Liu Xing.

Suddenly, Wang Siyi spoke up, "If I remember correctly, the locked room is also near the back garden, so it stands to reason that the undiscovered Private Room, or should I say the basement, is likely located beneath the garden."

Wang Siyi's theory won the group's approval, as the locked room's most probable extension, geographically, would indeed be beneath the back garden.

Liu Xing pondered whether he could excavate the garden directly to find this Private Room.

"If you really want to do that, you might try your hand at an extremely difficult Luck roll," KP004 suddenly suggested to Liu Xing.

A trap—it had to be a trap! Unsolicited favors imply a hidden agenda, be it malicious or thievish.

Liu Xing did not believe KP004 was so kind as to offer him a tip out of goodwill. Moreover, an extremely difficult Luck check meant that Liu Xing had to roll a 16 or less to succeed.

And KP004 had not mentioned what would happen if he failed this arduous Luck check.

But truth be told, Liu Xing felt he had already guessed the outcome. After all, he was contemplating disturbing the ground above Kro'zun's resting place, which was thrilling to even think about...

Hence, Liu Xing decisively abandoned the idea.

Just then, KP004 announced, "Okay, your Private Room time is over. Please adjust your mindset and language, and continue with the role-playing."

As soon as KP004 finished speaking, the effect of the Private Room ended.

Liu Xing immediately adopted a look of surprise and said to Bai Hecheng, "What's happened to you, Bai Hecheng?"

What Liu Xing didn't expect was Bai Hecheng's still cheerful demeanor as he responded, "Nothing much. It seems I triggered some mechanism when I opened this parchment, and I've become a bit numb, and... I suddenly can't see anything."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, not expecting Bai Hecheng's feigned disability to manifest as blindness, rendering him completely incapable of independent action.

Thus, after discussing with Wang Qi and others, they decided to have Chen Ling assist Bai Hecheng. After all, Wang Qi was currently so annoyed with Bai Hecheng he felt like giving him a beating, while Wang Siyi refused physical contact with Bai Hecheng on the grounds of "impropriety between men and women."

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