Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Although Liu Xing knew that all the deceased elementary students were just NPCs, a mere string of data in the Cthulhu RPG Game, it didn’t stop him from feeling regret and helplessness at their deaths. Fortunately, if he and his team could complete that Side Quest, they could prevent their deaths.

So, Liu Xing took a deep breath and said, "Let’s not dwell on this for now. After all, some things are already in the past, and obsessing over them won’t change anything. Besides, we’ve already done our best. Let’s not let these things affect our mood."

Ling Ishikawa nodded and said with some curiosity, "You’re right, for now, let’s avoid discussing these saddening topics. But have you noticed something strange? At the scene of the fire, we didn’t seem to see any relatives of the victims, and the number of people present seemed a bit low. Furthermore, most of them were men."

Listening to Ling Ishikawa, Liu Xing immediately began to recall the situation at the fire scene this afternoon, and it did seem to be the case.

Firstly, there was the issue of the victims’ relatives. In Liu Xing’s impression, in such a situation, there would definitely be grieving family members at the scene, especially when thinking about their children perishing in the flames. Anyone would be mentally devastated.

Moreover, in a small town like Panlong Town, most people were connected in some way, and even if not, they were at least familiar with each other. Additionally, news traveled fast in Panlong Town due to its small size. Therefore, Liu Xing found it hard to believe that there were no victim’s relatives among the people helping with the fire.

However, the behavior of these victim’s relatives was unusually composed. They wholeheartedly engaged in firefighting efforts, without crying or making unreasonable demands from Mayor Li Ming, such as sending people into the fire. This made Liu Xing feel somewhat incredulous because he couldn’t believe that all these victim’s relatives possessed such remarkable emotional resilience. After all, this involved their children and their future.

It’s essential to note that, for parents and older relatives, children were everything to them. They were willing to do anything for the sake of their children. In the two famous terrorist attacks that occurred in Bearland years ago, parents in Bearland even fought terrorists with their own weapons to rescue their children. Although, strictly speaking, the actions of Bearland parents disrupted law enforcement’s plans and resulted in severe consequences with numerous casualties, no one could blame them too harshly, considering they were acting out of concern for their children’s safety.

So, Liu Xing found it unusual that the relatives of the victims in the Black Internet Cafe fire were so remarkably composed.

Secondly, there was the issue of the number of people at the fire scene. Although Liu Xing hadn’t carefully counted, he estimated that there were around forty to fifty people present at the time. This was clearly abnormal.

Based on what he had observed and heard earlier in the day, Liu Xing initially estimated the population of Panlong Town to be around three to five hundred people. This meant that only about one-tenth of the town’s residents were present at the fire scene.

It’s worth noting that in most situations, people tend to gather and be curious. Even a minor dispute or fight between two people can attract a crowd. In the case of a fire, especially one that potentially involved their relatives and friends, one would expect a significant turnout.

Therefore, Liu Xing believed that it was abnormal for only a fraction of Panlong Town’s residents to be present at the fire scene.

As for Ling Ishikawa’s last point, Liu Xing found it increasingly strange as he thought about it. In the entire fire scene earlier, apart from the owner of the Black Internet Cafe, he hadn’t seen a single woman.

Wait a minute.

Liu Xing frowned and carefully recollected all his experiences today. It seemed that, aside from the Black Internet Cafe’s owner, the only woman he had seen was Hu Li!

Upon thinking about it, Liu Xing immediately spoke up, saying, "By the way, have you all noticed that besides the owner of the Black Internet Cafe and Hu Li, we haven’t seen any other women today?"

Ling Ishikawa and Zhang Jingxu both frowned, and after a moment of thought, they both shook their heads.

As for Wan Chongshan and Li Dian, after Zhang Jingxu’s translation, they also shook their heads, indicating that they hadn’t seen any other women.

It was quite strange. Could it be that the gender ratio in Panlong Town is this imbalanced, or perhaps the women in Panlong Town prefer not to go out?

"How about this? Let me ask Hu Cang these questions later, alright?" Zhang Jingxu suggested.

Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa naturally agreed. After all, they couldn’t communicate with Hu Cang themselves, and among Zhang Jingxu’s group of three, Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa definitely had more trust in Zhang Jingxu.

However, when Zhang Jingxu discussed with Li Dian and Wan Chongshan, Liu Xing could tell that Li Dian had some reservations. So, after a discussion between Zhang Jingxu and Li Dian, Zhang Jingxu decided to hand over the lead to Li Dian.

"The progress on Li Dian’s end is going very well. He has already formed a close relationship with Hu Cang, especially after we told Hu Cang this afternoon that we knew the secret of the Black Flood Dragon. Hu Cang has become more open with us, so it’s better for Li Dian to inquire about the information from him. I can provide real-time translation for you, Ryuusei, if you have any questions, you can ask them at that time," Zhang Jingxu said with a smile.

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. It was a good thing that Li Dian could establish a smooth connection with Hu Cang.

Ling Ishikawa thought for a moment and said, "Zhang Jingxu, please tell Li Dian to ask Hu Cang about the specific details of the elementary student who drowned and the person responsible for setting fire to the Black Internet Cafe this afternoon."

It was evident that Ling Ishikawa was planning for the recently triggered Side Quest. After all, they currently had no information about the elementary student who drowned or the person who set fire to the Black Internet Cafe. If they were to go back in time, they wouldn’t know the NPCs they needed to interact with to complete the Side Quest, which would be awkward.

After Zhang Jingxu translated Ling Ishikawa’s words to Li Dian, Hu Cang began serving the dishes.

So, everyone tacitly got up and headed to the kitchen to serve themselves.

After a while, everyone, along with Hu Cang, sat around a table and began having dinner.

After taking a few bites of his food, Li Dian started talking to Hu Cang.

Zhang Jingxu, on the other hand, began his real-time translation work. "It seems Li Dian is quite good at conversing. Right from the beginning, he praised Hu Cang’s medical skills and then started asking about the details of the recent Black Internet Cafe arson incident. Hu Cang shared everything he knew. Firstly, the elementary student who drowned was named Wang Haiyang. He lived in Wang Family Village outside Panlong Town and commuted to Panlong Town Elementary School."

"We’ve also seen that in Panlong Town, the best entertainment for elementary students is the Black Internet Cafe. Games have a strong appeal to children, even if they can’t play themselves, watching others play is also a great way to pass the time. So, Wang Haiyang often went to the Black Internet Cafe to watch others play because his family had limited pocket money, and he couldn’t afford to play himself."

"According to Hu Cang’s understanding, the owner of the Black Internet Cafe is a petty person who never treats elementary students who only watch games on her turf and don’t spend any money kindly. So, according to Hu Cang’s speculation, the owner of the Black Internet Cafe must have said or done something to Wang Haiyang due to his failure to spend money on playing games, which led to Wang Haiyang jumping into the river and committing suicide."

"As for the person who set fire to the Black Internet Cafe today, it has been confirmed to be Wang Haiyang’s father, Wang Anquan, a simple farmer known for his honesty in Panlong Town. However, because Wang Haiyang was Wang Anquan’s only child, his extreme actions to avenge his son are somewhat understandable. Wang Anquan knew he had committed a grave mistake and would likely not escape death, so before entering the Black Internet Cafe, he doused himself in gasoline. He was the first to die in the fire, and the confirmed death toll from the fire is thirteen people, including Wang Anquan and the owner of the Black Internet Cafe."

Indeed, you shouldn’t mess with honest people.

Liu Xing sighed and said, "I see. It seems this was a tragedy that could have been completely avoided. If Wang Haiyang hadn’t been addicted to the game, there wouldn’t have been this fire. If the owner of the Black Internet Cafe hadn’t been so petty, there wouldn’t have been this fire. If Wang Anquan hadn’t been so impulsive and chosen such an extreme way to seek revenge for his son, there wouldn’t have been this fire."

Liu Xing’s statement was, in fact, a subtle reminder to Ling Ishikawa and others about the basic strategy for the upcoming Side Quest. According to him, by following these three main points and adapting to the specific circumstances after the time reversal, completing this Side Quest would be relatively straightforward, right?

Upon learning about the cause and consequences of the Black Internet Cafe fire, Liu Xing felt that the difficulty of this Side Quest was rather low. It could be completed with just a few words and a couple of judgments, preventing the occurrence of the Black Internet Cafe fire.

But would the Cthulhu RPG Game really offer such a simple mission? Certainly not.

After all, this was an advanced module in the Shoggoth Region, and it was unlikely to feature such a straightforward mission, even if the rewards for this Side Quest were modest.

So, Liu Xing believed it was either this Side Quest had hidden complexities, or it was just a preliminary mission that would unlock a more challenging one afterward.

At this moment, Zhang Jingxu interrupted Liu Xing’s thoughts, "Alright, Li Dian is getting to the point now, asking Ling Ishikawa about the questions you mentioned. However, it seems that Hu Cang doesn’t find these questions difficult to answer. According to Hu Cang, the neighboring town opened an embroidery workshop a year ago, which has been doing well. They’ve hired most of the women from Panlong Town to work there. As a result, there are currently only about three hundred permanent residents left in Panlong Town. Among them, aside from some elderly and disabled individuals, there are only around fifty or sixty young men."

Liu Xing nodded in response. Hu Cang’s explanation seemed quite comprehensive and addressed most of Ling Ishikawa’s questions.

However, Liu Xing couldn’t help but sense that Hu Cang was skirting around the most crucial point, the issue of the victims’ families.

Frowning, Liu Xing asked, "Zhang Jingxu, did Li Dian inquire about the victims’ families with Hu Cang?"

Zhang Jingxu shook his head lightly and said helplessly, "Li Dian did ask, but Hu Cang has been avoiding that question intentionally. Li Dian didn’t want to press further in that direction to avoid upsetting Hu Cang. After all, we are just outsiders."

Because of Hu Cang’s deliberate redirection of the conversation, Li Dian and Hu Cang’s subsequent discussion turned into meaningless small talk. This only strengthened Liu Xing’s belief that Hu Cang was hiding something important.

After dinner, Liu Xing’s group headed straight to the third floor, where they settled in Li Dian and Wan Chongshan’s room. Wan Chongshan activated the Private Room time.

"Man, this module is really bizarre. They’ve thrown in so many original mythical creatures; it’s like they want to make things difficult for us," Wan Chongshan complained.

Ling Ishikawa nodded in agreement, "You’re absolutely right. I suspect there are at least ten different original mythical creatures in this module. The tricky part is that these Side Quests might overlap and interfere with each other. It’s possible that completing one Side Quest could make it impossible to finish another."

"That’s a possibility. You’ve all noticed, right? The relationships between Hu Cang, Xiao Mochen, and Hu Li are far from simple. They all seem to be important NPCs in this module. So, each of us may only be able to choose one or two of their Side Quests. That’s why I suggest that we split up for our next actions. I’ll continue dealing with Hu Cang, Wan Chongshan can handle Xiao Mochen, and Zhang Jingxu, you and your group can try to communicate with Hu Li," Li Dian said seriously.

Liu Xing agreed with Li Dian’s plan, saying, "Alright, let’s go with Li Dian’s distribution. But on another note, Wan Chongshan, when you were playing cards with Xiao Mochen this afternoon, did you gather any useful information?"

Wan Chongshan nodded but with a somewhat strange expression, "Well, I did get something, but I’m not entirely sure. I just have a suspicion that Xiao Mochen might actually be a woman..."

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