Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

"Where am I?" Liu Xing's vision blurred momentarily, and when he refocused, he found himself seated in an enclosed room. He was at a wooden table, sharing it with three strangers. The only source of light was a solitary white candle that flickered softly.

"Welcome, Old Chinese Doctor, to the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall's Beginner's Room. I'll now explain the basic rules of this game hall. Please pay close attention," a voice suddenly said near Liu Xing's ear. It was that same synthesized voice of a young woman he had heard before, but now with an even more mocking tone. Liu Xing realized this was not his imagination.

"Firstly, since you've chosen to participate in the Cthulhu role-playing game, you should have a basic understanding of its rules. But, out of kindness, I will explain again. The Beginner's Room game you're currently partaking in is not a full-fledged Cthulhu game. However, the system will evaluate your performance here to finalize your character's stats, creating your first character card. So, give it your best."

"Secondly, every Cthulhu role-playing session has a Main Objective and Side Objectives. But there are also various Hidden Side Objectives and even concealed main tasks. It's up to you whether to explore these hidden quests, which can bring unimaginable benefits. Yet, while exploring, your risk of death may multiply many times over. Remember, fortune favors the brave."

"Thirdly, in each Cthulhu game with a similar historical setting, players will use the same character card. Players can possess multiple character cards. If a player's character dies or gets eliminated (due to injuries or other reasons, making them unable to continue), they'll lose the card used in that game. If you lose all your cards, you will be eliminated entirely."

"Fourthly, all items, spells, relationships, and skill point enhancements acquired during a game will be recorded on your character card and settled after the session."

"Fifthly, during gameplay, you must not reveal any information about this game hall to NPCs. Also, refrain from actions or words that transcend the setting's time period. Overstepping these rules twice in a single session will have penalties: the first infraction deducts all your points and randomly removes a stat, the second results in the loss of your character card."

"Sixthly, the difficulty of the Cthulhu role-playing game is determined by the number of players. The maximum player count varies by region. Players can discuss the game privately, but revealing discussions to NPCs is a violation."

"Seventhly, uninstalling this game will cost you 10,000 points."

"Lastly, a piece of advice: the less you know, the longer you'll live. Good luck."

Years of reading online novels quickly made Liu Xing realize he might have entered a space similar to that of a 'main god.' He would be forced to undertake various tasks, all set within the Cthulhu mythos framework.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have been so impulsive! Looks like I might die here." Regret consumed Liu Xing. He didn't believe he had a protagonist's luck, especially in a Cthulhu role-playing setting. These games typically involve ordinary human characters investigating supernatural events and encountering mythical creatures. Team annihilation is all too common. Here, there were no weapons or armor, no bloodlines to aid players against such mythical beings. Although players could gain spells and old sigils for self-defense, using these magic forms came at the cost of one's sanity. Once a player lost too much sanity, madness would set in, followed shortly by death.

Thus, the biggest distinction of Cthulhu role-playing games from others was the extremely high chances of team annihilation. A session without a few deaths seemed incomplete.

Regardless, Liu Xing knew escape was impossible. He had to face reality, perform well in this Beginner's Room session, and properly create his first character card.

The Cthulhu role-playing game, like other role-playing games, requires character cards before playing to determine the character's attributes. Liu Xing wasn't sure which edition of character cards the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall was using, whether it was the sixth or seventh edition. (Like other games, the Cthulhu role-playing game continually releases new rulebooks. Currently, both the sixth and seventh editions of character cards are used in the gaming community, with some differences between them. Please search online for specifics, as explaining is cumbersome and lengthy). However, it seemed that this "Beginner's Room" game has already set up the process of "car card" (in which random numbers obtained from dice rolls determine a character's attribute points). Therefore, Liu Xing needs to complete this Beginner's Room challenge perfectly to get a better character card, since, after all, the character card essentially represents his life in the game.

"Transmitting game information to the player." An electronic voice paused for a moment before resonating in Liu Xing's ear again.

Cthulhu Role-Playing Beginner's Room Template - Haunted Mansion.

Difficulty: Easy.

Background: You are now in a century-old mansion. Years ago, a family of three who lived here was wiped out, and since then, rumors of the house being haunted have spread. Many claim to have seen ghostly figures wandering around the mansion.

Today, you and three online friends decided to spend the night in this mansion. However, once inside, the doors and windows were sealed shut, and suddenly, a candle on the table was lit.

Your Identity: An average office worker.

Objective: Before the game time ends, ensure the candle on the table remains lit.

Hint: The candle can only be extinguished by players, but it takes a continuous blow for five seconds to put it out. If the candle is extinguished, it means the mission has failed.

Game Duration: One hour.

Clearly, the focus of this mission is the candle in front of him. However, Liu Xing didn't find many elements of Cthulhu in the task hints.

Probably because this is a Beginner's Room challenge, meant to determine the attributes of his first character card. If it had too many Cthulhu elements, Liu Xing feared he'd either die or go mad...

"Based on the mission hint, if my objective is to ensure the candle remains lit, then among the three remaining players, one might have the objective to blow it out." Liu Xing contemplated. In the Cthulhu role-playing game, there are roles like the "cultist", members of cults that worship evil gods like Cthulhu and are antagonists to regular players. So, the game's backdrop might be that a cultist has lured netizens here to offer them as sacrifices to a dark god.

So, among these three people, who could be the cultist?

Liu Xing observed the three people around the table, two men and a woman.

To his left was a middle-aged man with a friendly appearance, looking in his forties, dressed in a black shirt. A corner of a handkerchief peeked from his shirt, slightly yellowed under the candlelight.

To his right, a young man in his twenties, average-looking with a baseball cap and noticeable red-dyed hair.

Across from Liu Xing sat a good-looking girl, head slightly lowered, seemingly deep in thought. She wore a school uniform with "Magic City Seventh High School" written on it.

Liu Xing also glanced at his attire: a standard office suit with a tie.

"The game's attention to detail is impressive; they even changed my outfit," Liu Xing remarked sarcastically.