Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Liu Xing, lost in thought, suddenly realized that his chest hadn’t hurt since the appearance of the Yellow King, and logically, the effects of the painkillers should have worn off by now.

Unable to resist, Liu Xing reached to touch his wound, finding it almost fully healed with minimal pain.

Seems like the Yellow King helped with the healing... strange.

Noticed an additional temporary buff on his character card interface—Pain Sensation Diminished. In this module, the character card would experience an 80% reduction in pain.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. This temporary buff was quite helpful. In this real Cthulhu RPG Game, pain was a hidden attribute, varying based on one’s constitution and willpower...

Thus, when Liu Xing was hit earlier, although he felt he could have resisted through willpower, he chose to forgo it because he felt at the brink of agony, unable to do anything and suffering immensely.

Therefore, Liu Xing considered this temporary buff quite beneficial, ensuring he could attend Isabella’s birthday party in three days.

With that in mind, Liu Xing glanced at the clock in the room, realizing it was only three in the morning, deciding to go back to sleep.

And this time, with the Yellow King’s bracelet, Liu Xing wasn’t drawn into Cthulhu’s dreamscape.

As a wounded person, Ling Ishikawa brought breakfast to Liu Xing’s room.

"Hey, Liu Xing, you’re looking good today," Ling Ishikawa said with a smile.

Liu Xing nodded, saying, "Of course, I met the Yellow King yesterday."

Ling Ishikawa raised an eyebrow, surprised. "What? Liu Xing, you mean the Yellow King? Hastur’s avatar?"

Yin En, as Liu Xing’s best teammate in the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, was naturally trusted. So, Liu Xing chose to share his meeting with the Yellow King with Yin En, hoping for better assistance in the future. After all, Yin En was now practically the second in command of the Worshipers of the Yellow Sect. To expedite the sect’s growth, they needed Yin En’s help.

Therefore, Liu Xing informed Yin En of his encounter with the Yellow King. However, he didn’t mention the "reward points" from the Yellow King, keeping something in reserve.

After hearing Liu Xing’s account, Ling Ishikawa stroked his chin and said, "I see. In this case, your situation with the Yellow King could be both advantageous and disadvantageous. Since the Yellow King is just one of Hastur’s incarnations, his level is lower than Cthulhu’s, so if you’re bound to the Yellow King and encounter a Great Old One, his assistance to you would be limited."

"But then again," Ling Ishikawa continued after some thought, "from your conversation with the Yellow King, he seems quite human-like and approachable. Unlike those Great Old Ones who often disregard humans, so under normal circumstances, the Yellow King should be willing to help us. Therefore, before entering the Cthulhu area, the Yellow King should be more of an asset than a liability to you. However, once in the Cthulhu area, you’ll need to find a way to establish a connection between the Yellow King and Hastur."

Liu Xing nodded, finding Ling Ishikawa’s thoughts similar to his own.

"But what I’m curious about now is why I was drawn into Cthulhu’s dream, pulled into the ruins of R’lyeh, and to be honest, I feel it might not have been the dream realm’s R’lyeh, but rather the Mirror World’s R’lyeh," Liu Xing said with a furrowed brow.

Because the fog outside the ruins of R’lyeh was somewhat similar to what he saw in the Mirror World, and in the final scene of the Shrinemodule, that person seemed to break through the mist into the ruins of R’lyeh.

So, after Liu Xing shared the situation of the Mirror World with Ling Ishikawa, Ling Ishikawa also agreed that Liu Xing’s dream of R’lyeh was located in the Mirror World.

Furthermore, after pondering for a moment, Ling Ishikawa said, "Regarding the Mirror World, I’ve heard some rumors. Many players believe that Mirror World, like the Dreamrealm, belongs to a special space. Theoretically, any module involving mirrors could lead to participation in the Mirror World. However, because Mirror World’s regions are separated by fog, it’s not much different from doing modules in parallel worlds. Therefore, most players believe there’s nothing particularly worthwhile to explore in the Mirror World."

Liu Xing shook his head, saying thoughtfully, "Perhaps, but I still feel that the Mirror World isn’t that simple. However, we’ll only have a chance to study the Mirror World’s situation when we get the opportunity to participate in modules there."

At this moment, Zhang Jingxu knocked and entered, "Liu Xing, the information you wanted is here. Chris just called; the English Coast Guard has spotted the Cult of the Cadaver’s ship, but due to interference from the Deep Ones, the Coast Guard vessels were all destroyed. So, they couldn’t continue tracking the Cult of the Cadaver’s ship. Right now, all they know is that the Cult of the Cadaver’s ship is expected to land on the western coast of England."

Liu Xing nodded, relieved. "That’s good. As long as the Cult of the Cadaver’s ship lands in England, we should have a chance to see Tian Qing and the others again. But speaking of which, do we have any information about the Cult of the Cadaver near Manchester?"

"Yes, when we returned to England the day before yesterday, Chris informed us that about a third of the Cult of the Cadaver followers hiding in EinsCastle had left, heading to the residential area where Alexander used to live. After entering a villa, they disappeared, and the owner of that villa is an Italian businessman. However, this Italian businessman’s ancestors are all pure Scots," Ling Ishikawa said.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, smiling as he said, "The crafty rabbit has three burrows. It seems Bai Hecheng and their crew realized the risk of putting all their eggs in one basket, so they’ve scattered their people. But this gives us an opportunity; once we ascertain their whereabouts, we can dismantle them one by one."

Zhang Jingxu nodded in agreement, saying, "Exactly, Chris thinks the same. He’s already arranged reliable manpower to monitor EinsCastle and the villa. After confirming the situation inside, we’ll move in to dismantle these two Cult of the Cadaver strongholds. Baruka should bring his tribe to assist us."

Suddenly, Ling Ishikawa furrowed his brow and began, "Uh-oh, I seem to..."

Before Ling Ishikawa could finish, he vanished from the room.

Liu Xing frowned, surprised that Ling Ishikawa had been teleported to Hybrier again.

Seeing this, Zhang Jingxu shook his head in resignation, saying, "Liu Xing, you should have your breakfast now. I’ll go inform the others about Ling Ishikawa’s situation to prepare them mentally."

As Zhang Jingxu spoke, he left the room.

After finishing his breakfast, Liu Xing contemplated stretching his legs. After all, he couldn’t feel much pain now... Most importantly, Liu Xing needed to use the restroom.

Carefully, Liu Xing moved off the bed, using the IV stand as support, and slowly made his way to the bathroom.

After resolving his physiological needs, Liu Xing finally felt relieved.

However, as Liu Xing prepared to brush his teeth and wash his face, he noticed numerous scars on his face. It seemed that after being hit and unconscious, he might have suffered some inhumane treatment, with his face being dragged along the ground... This also explained why Liu Xing’s APP value on his character card had temporarily decreased by 5 points...

Liu Xing sighed and began washing his face with a towel.

Then, Liu Xing saw his reflection in the mirror had turned into someone else, resembling "Liu Xing"!

Frowning, Liu Xing quickly looked around but found nothing unusual in the bathroom.

The atmosphere in the bathroom suddenly became tense.

Taking a deep breath, Liu Xing looked back at the mirror, only to find his reflection still resembling "Liu Xing."

"Who’s playing tricks on me?" Liu Xing asked tentatively.

But there was no response.

Starting to feel anxious, Liu Xing attempted to leave the bathroom, only to find that the door had disappeared, leaving only a cold wall.

Seeing this, Liu Xing had no choice but to contact KP Li Shunchan, "KP, what’s going on here?"

KP Li Shunchan chuckled and said meaningfully, "Please explore for yourself, player."

Hearing this from KP Li Shunchan, Liu Xing felt relieved because, from KP Li Shunchan’s tone, it seemed that whoever caused all this trouble wasn’t targeting him specifically.

So, was this a joke being played on him?

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. Logically, the entity capable of such actions must have a high level, as "it" knew he was "Liu Xing."

After pondering for a moment, Liu Xing suddenly had a realization. That is...

"Taketori?" Liu Xing murmured softly.

A moment later, a childish female voice replied, "How did you know it was me, Liu Xing?"

Liu Xing sighed with relief once again, realizing he was right.

At that moment, a small boat made of bamboo leaves appeared in front of Liu Xing, with a tiny, beautiful girl sitting on it.

This was the Eldritch God who almost destroyed the world—Taketori.

The reason Liu Xing guessed it was Taketori was that many of the NPCs in the current module were from the Island Nation, reminding Liu Xing of the Eldritch God Taketori. Although Liu Xing saw in the ending scene of the module that the Eldritch God Taketori had been purified, he didn’t know to what extent Taketori had been purified.

So, from the current situation, the Eldritch God Taketori should only have been purified of her evil side, restoring her original appearance.

Thinking of this, Liu Xing decided to play it safe, smiling as he said, "Of course, I know it’s you. But Taketori, why would you play such a joke on me?"

Taketori tilted her head and said, "I wanted to make sure you were really Liu Xing, because there’s another Liu Xing in the next room. However, I sensed a strange aura from him, one that felt very familiar to me. So, I don’t think he’s Liu Xing, even though he has a human body. But when I met you, I sensed the aura that Liu Xing should have had, so I suspected you were Liu Xing."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and said, "That’s right, I am Liu Xing. But as you can see, my body has been taken over by someone else temporarily. However, why are you here, Taketori?"

Taketori shrugged, looking puzzled. "When the evil consciousness that possessed my body was purified, I regained my self-awareness. But I was too weak at the time, so I fell into a deep sleep, recovering my strength while asleep. Then, about a month ago, I felt that the power I had painstakingly accumulated seemed to have been stolen by someone, so I immediately tried to wake up. But because of insufficient strength, I could only enter a semi-conscious state to ensure my power wasn’t stolen, until today when I finally woke up completely."

After listening to Taketori’s words, Liu Xing finally understood why Yis People were able to steal his character card. It turned out that Yis People had borrowed Taketori’s power!

Before this, Liu Xing had been a little confused. Although Yis People’s racial talent was "account theft," in Liu Xing’s investigation, there had never been a precedent of Yis People stealing a character card. But now, hearing what Taketori said, everything made sense.

After all, Taketori was, in a way, a "demigod."

So, Liu Xing looked at Taketori with a complicated expression and asked, "Can you help me regain control of my body now, Taketori?"

Taketori raised her head proudly and said solemnly, "Of course, but you can’t call me Taketori; you have to call me Eldritch God, Sir!"

Liu Xing couldn’t help but cry and laugh at the same time, feeling somewhat helpless. "Okay, Eldritch God, Sir. But haven’t you already returned to normal? Why do you still want to be called Eldritch God?"

Taketori snorted and said seriously, "Because I think the title of Eldritch God sounds majestic, whereas Taketori sounds too weak."

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