Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 311: The Way to Wealth

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow in surprise as he hadn’t expected such a turn of events. Ling Ishikawa had actually used a Lighter to mimic the successful execution of a fireball art...

Ling Ishikawa paused for a moment and continued, "Although Ibon noticed my unusual actions, he didn’t know what Lighter was, so he didn’t say anything. That’s how I became the second apprentice to successfully perform the fireball art."

"After the elimination round, I, along with Ibon and a few other apprentices, followed Serak into the library. We received the reward Serak offered, which was the privilege to study Magic Spells in the library. However, Ibon, the third apprentice to perform the fireball art, and I were taken to a private room by Serak. He told us that we could learn three Magic Spells from him."

"Serak presented us with ten options: Frost Arrow Art, Ice Armor Art, Light Orb Art, Charm Art, Enhanced Fireball Art, Slowdown Art, Paralysis Art, Restoration Art, Acid Rain Art, and Prophecy Art."

When Ling Ishikawa mentioned Prophecy Art, everyone in the room, except for Liu Xing, was taken aback. They looked at Ling Ishikawa with astonishment in their eyes. In the eyes of Zhang Jingxu and the others, Prophecy Art was an extraordinary Magic Spell.

Especially for Miyako Goudong, who had an intense fascination with all things related to magic, he eagerly asked, "Wow, Ling Ishikawa, did you also learn Prophecy Art? It sounds incredibly powerful."

Ling Ishikawa nodded and smiled, saying, "Of course, I had the same thought as you. When I heard that I could learn Prophecy Art from Serak, I didn’t hesitate to choose it. However, this Prophecy Art is somewhat different. It’s a new Magic Spell that Serak recently developed. While it’s easy to learn, its success rate is uncertain. Even Serak himself isn’t sure about its success rate. Moreover, it requires nearly an hour of preparation time before it can be used."

Miyako Goudong and the others looked enlightened by Ling Ishikawa’s explanation. They now understood the challenges and limitations of the Prophecy Art he had learned. However, they kept their thoughts to themselves.

But Zhang Jingxu, being a professional, couldn’t resist speaking up, "I see. So, Ling Ishikawa, the Prophecy Art you’ve learned may not be as powerful as you think. In the history of Chinese Daoism, many experts have created various Prophecy Arts. However, most of them were too demanding for their users, so those Prophecy Arts didn’t survive. The ones that have survived are usually low-cost, low-reward Prophecy Arts or mere divination techniques."

"So, I believe that the Prophecy Art you’ve learned, considering it’s a recent creation by Serak, may not match up to some of the ancient Chinese divination techniques. Serak might be using you all as guinea pigs to help refine this new Prophecy Art."

Most of the time, the truth could be quite harsh.

Ling Ishikawa didn’t look pleased with Zhang Jingxu’s comment, even though Yin En knew that Zhang Jingxu was speaking the truth. As "Ling Ishikawa," he wouldn’t want to believe it. After all, he had acquired this Magic Spell at a cost.

But for Ling Ishikawa, this was also an opportunity.

So, Ling Ishikawa said somewhat defiantly, "Since Mr. Zhang Jingxu feels that way, I’ll demonstrate the Prophecy Art I’ve learned to you all later!"

With Ling Ishikawa’s challenge, everyone raised their hands in agreement. They were all eager to see the practical effects of Ling Ishikawa’s Prophecy Art, including Ling Ishikawa himself.

So, after the chat concluded, Ling Ishikawa decided to showcase his Prophecy Art to the group.

"At the time, when my ’cheap’ master Serak gave us the options, Ibon, that guy, and I immediately chose Prophecy Art. Fortunately, Serak didn’t impose any restrictions on the number of apprentices who could learn it. He taught us all Prophecy Art. Interestingly, when Ibon used the Prophecy Art for the first time, it only required him to chant the spell for ten minutes. However, the outcome was quite peculiar. He predicted that he would kill a snake-person with sulfuric acid."

Ling Ishikawa continued, and his words surprised everyone in the room. Apart from Lu Tianya, who was an NPC, all the other players knew that Ibon’s prediction had come true. After that event, Ibon did use sulfuric acid to kill a snake-person, and that snake-person happened to be Wizard Serak, who had gone mad while researching snake-person magic and transformed into one himself.

This revelation made Liu Xing admire Ibon’s "Protagonist’s Halo" even more. Ibon, a human Wizard who would leave a mark in the Cthulhu Mythos, had managed to improve Serak’s Prophecy Art and successfully make a prophecy.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing couldn’t help but ask, "So, Ling Ishikawa, did your ’cheap’ master Serak have anything to say about Ibon’s prophecy? After all, Ibon’s speed in using the Prophecy Art was different from what Serak had described."

Ling Ishikawa nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, my ’cheap’ master Serak felt the same way. He thought Ibon was just talking nonsense, that his prophecy was fabricated. So, he scolded Ibon and told him not to fake things just to impress him."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, realizing that Serak, as the creator of Prophecy Art, likely couldn’t foresee his own death at Ibon’s hands.

However, Liu Xing’s curiosity was piqued. What if Ling Ishikawa, using the Prophecy Art as leverage, had told Serak that Ibon might kill him? What would Serak do? Would he choose to kill Ibon?

If Serak did kill Ibon, it could potentially lead to the disappearance of the famous "Book of Ibon" in the Cthulhu RPG Game. Of course, it might also become the "Book of Yin En."

This thought excited Liu Xing. If that were the case, all he needed was for Ling Ishikawa to dictate the content to him, and he could have an original "Book of Yin En." He might even mass-produce it, and it would fetch a handsome sum of points.

So, Liu Xing felt like he had stumbled upon a path to riches.

Ling Ishikawa continued, "Later on, I chose Prophecy Art, Light Orb Art, and an enhanced version of the fireball art. The initial fireball art we learned was meant to test the aptitude of us apprentices. It was a simplified version, and even a Wizard like my ’cheap’ master Serak would produce results similar to using a lighter when using it."

Liu Xing nodded, and another thought crossed his mind. Ling Ishikawa had been sent to Hybrier and missed out on yesterday’s events, which were crucial to the storyline.

So Liu Xing began, "By the way, Ling Ishikawa, while you were absent yesterday, a lot of things happened. Now, I’ll brief you on what happened yesterday. However, be prepared; it might be overwhelming."

Ling Ishikawa raised an eyebrow, knowing that if Liu Xing was saying this, he must have missed some significant events yesterday.

So Ling Ishikawa nodded and said earnestly, "Please, go ahead."

Liu Xing proceeded to share the information about the items they found in the villa, including the contents of the Memory Card and his discoveries in the Fisher’s Village Underground Ruins.

Suddenly, Liu Xing remembered one more thing – he had forgotten to investigate the Composite Magic Array on the window frame.

It seemed like too much had happened yesterday, and he had been quite overwhelmed. After coming up with a suitable excuse for himself, Liu Xing relaxed.

As for Ling Ishikawa, KP Green Light had a task for him. "Player Ling Ishikawa, because you’ve heard this explosive information, we need to conduct a sanity check. Success means you lose 1 sanity point but gain 1 point of Cthulhu Mythos knowledge. Failure will cost you 3d3 sanity points and corresponding Cthulhu Mythos knowledge."

Liu Xing was surprised by the harsh penalty for failing the sanity check. Losing up to 9 sanity points meant a significant risk of temporary insanity. Moreover, if Ling Ishikawa went insane and it lasted too long, their visit to the Fisher’s Village Ancestral Hall that afternoon could become problematic.

So everyone’s attention turned to Ling Ishikawa, hoping he would succeed in the sanity check.

Ling Ishikawa: 36/50 - Success.

Liu Xing breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Ling Ishikawa had passed the sanity check.

However, Liu Xing noticed something odd about Ling Ishikawa’s sanity points. He remembered that the last time he checked, Ling Ishikawa hadn’t had such a low sanity score. After all, the "Ling Ishikawa" character card had only gone through one module, so it shouldn’t have dropped to 50 sanity points.

Liu Xing was curious, and he realized he needed to have a private conversation with Ling Ishikawa later.

"Okay, it seems like Ling Ishikawa, you got lucky. Since you’ve been through time and space several times, these things probably don’t bother you as much. So, you lose only 1 sanity point and gain one point of Cthulhu Mythos knowledge," KP Green Light said with a smile.

Ling Ishikawa sighed and then smiled, saying, "I never thought I’d miss out on so much. But now that I’m back, if you, Ryuusei, plan to go back to the Underground Ruins later, my Light Orb Art can assist you. It can accompany you as you advance and lasts for an hour."

Liu Xing nodded, surprised at the versatility of Ling Ishikawa’s Light Orb Art.

However, Liu Xing still had a dilemma. Should he reveal the existence of Sirius and the Soul Casket?

It was clear that if he shared this information now, Ling Ishikawa and the others would likely undergo sanity checks, especially considering Ling Ishikawa had already lost 1 sanity point. Apart from concerns about their sanity, Liu Xing had some selfish motives as well. He didn’t want Ling Ishikawa and the others to know about Sirius, and he definitely didn’t want to share the fact that he could enter the Soul Casket due to his status as a "chosen" follower of King Hastur in Yellow Robes.

If someone like "Miyako Goudong" were to demand access to the Soul Casket to meet Sirius, it could pose some problems.

So Liu Xing began to contemplate his decision.

However, before Liu Xing could think too long, Zhang Jingxu asked, "Liu Xing, did you figure out the purpose of the unknown metal? Did you have any strange dreams last night?"

Caught off guard by Zhang Jingxu’s sudden question, Liu Xing couldn’t come up with a convincing lie. He could only say, "Uh, about that unknown metal, it’s actually a Soul Casket containing a being named Sirius, who claims to be from the Ancient One lineage. Currently, he exists in a spiritual state and can only stay within the Soul Casket."

Upon hearing the name "Ancient One," Zhang Jingxu and the others raised their eyebrows. They were aware of the Ancient One’s existence and the potential sanity checks Liu Xing might trigger.

However, since there was no reason to keep silent, Zhang Jingxu asked, "Ancient One? I think I’ve heard of such a mythical creature before. Liu Xing, could you provide a detailed description of the Ancient One’s appearance? I’d like to confirm if it matches what I’ve heard about this mythical creature."

Reluctantly, Liu Xing nodded and described the appearance of the Ancient One.

At that moment, a dice hit the table, indicating that Zhang Jingxu was making a secret roll.

"I see. It appears that I have indeed heard of this Ancient One’s existence before. And if I recall correctly, there is said to be an Ancient One living in China’s Magic Capital as well," Zhang Jingxu said.

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