Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

This was truly a fortunate turn of events.

Liu Xing knew that "Ling Ishikawa" had reached a new level of loyalty to him, which was why he had received the Guardian Stone. It symbolized that even if he were to issue a life-threatening command to "Ling Ishikawa," he would likely obey without hesitation.

Of course, Liu Xing had no intention of sending "Ling Ishikawa" to his death. He didn’t want Yin En to challenge him to a real-life duel.

Though Liu Xing coveted the Guardian Stone for its remarkable protective properties, akin to having an extra life when used wisely, he understood that Yin En wasn’t genuinely eager to give it to him. It was more due to the influence of "Ling Ishikawa’s" loyalty that he reluctantly handed over the Guardian Stone.

Therefore, Liu Xing decided not to take advantage of the situation, not wanting to strain his relationship with Yin En by asserting his dominance.

With these thoughts in mind, Liu Xing returned the Guardian Stone to Ling Ishikawa and said, "I think it’s best if you hold onto this stone, Ling Ishikawa. After all, in our upcoming mission to deal with the mythical creatures in Panlong Town, you will be our main source of firepower. It’s highly likely that you’ll be their primary target, so for safety’s sake, it’s better that you have this stone."

Ling Ishikawa accepted the Guardian Stone with a smile and replied, "How can that be, Master? Your life’s safety is far more crucial than mine. Worshipers of the Yellow Sect can continue without me, but we can’t afford to lose you, Master."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, finding Ling Ishikawa quite the actor.

However, Liu Xing decided to play along with Ling Ishikawa’s act. "Don’t worry, I trust that you will protect me. So, the effectiveness of this stone will be maximized when you carry it. Therefore, Ling Ishikawa, please don’t refuse any longer. I’ve decided that you will be responsible for safeguarding this stone because it’s my command, and you must obey."

After receiving the Guardian Stone back, Ling Ishikawa suddenly became serious and said, "By the way, Master, I inquired with Serak about the possible reasons behind the temporal distortion. Based on what I’ve learned, I believe that the current state of Panlong Town might not have been caused by Gralki. After all, after the battle with the Black Flood Dragon, Gralki, who was already injured, shouldn’t have had the power to transform Panlong Town into an independent space."

Liu Xing furrowed his brow and asked, "Oh, please tell me more about what you learned from Serak."

Ling Ishikawa nodded and continued, "According to Serak, to turn an area the size of Panlong Town into an independent space, the caster needs to have significant personal strength. Without the assistance of certain items, only beings on the level of Great Old Ones can create such spaces using their own power. Furthermore, it has to be a Great Old One at the peak of its power because creating an independent space consumes a tremendous amount of magic energy. Gralki, who was already severely injured after the battle with the Black Flood Dragon, likely didn’t have the required magical energy."

"Secondly, concerning Gralki, Serak has studied many Great Old Ones, and he shared a lot of stories about them with me and Ibon. This includes Gralki, who was an active Great Old One even in ancient times and appeared multiple times in Hybrier. Serak had even encountered a manifestation of Gralki once, during a Ritual Ceremony involving Zhatuogua. Zhatuogua introduced Gralki, much like you know, as someone who lures humans into becoming its followers by promising immortality. However, Gralki rarely intervenes personally in recruiting followers; it mostly sends manifestations to do the job. So, I believe the Gralki in Panlong Town is likely just a manifestation."

"In conclusion, a severely injured Great Old One manifestation wouldn’t have the power to transform Panlong Town into its current state. Therefore, I suspect that unless Gralki’s true form is involved, someone else is responsible for the independent space transformation. This someone is likely another Great Old One-level entity. Of course, this is just my personal speculation for your consideration, Master."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xing realized that Ling Ishikawa was subtly suggesting that Nyarlathotep might be behind it.

This also reminded Liu Xing of the mysterious statue beneath Panlong Town, a matter he had yet to disclose to Zhang Jingxu and the others. To him, this matter seemed like one of the Hidden Quests of this module.

Regarding Hidden Quests, Liu Xing had discovered information about them on the hard drive Yin En had given him.

In the Cthulhu RPG Game, there were numerous Hidden Quests, categorized into two types: those related to the current module and those unrelated to it.

The first type of Hidden Quests typically involved the true ending of the module. The endings in the Cthulhu RPG Game modules could be divided into four types: normal, good, bad, and true endings. If players followed the main quest line and completed only that, they would usually achieve the normal ending. The good and bad endings required players to complete specific side quests while ensuring certain NPCs survived or perished during the final confrontation.

To trigger the true ending, players had to discover and complete Hidden Quests within the module, potentially leading to the true culmination of the module.

For instance, in Liu Xing’s first official module, "Castle Lord," the normal ending involved players confronting Castle Lord and the Ghouls, resulting in a difficult escape with some casualties. The good ending, which Liu Xing had achieved, involved players uncovering Castle Lord’s true identity, avoiding combat with him and the Ghouls, and successfully escaping the castle. The bad ending could occur if players barely escaped Castle Lord’s clutches or failed to do so.

The true ending of the "Castle Lord" module likely required players to uncover Isabella’s true identity, then find a way to leave the castle while bringing Castle Lord and Isabella to justice.

Furthermore, completing the true ending of a module would yield substantial additional rewards, in addition to the rewards associated with Hidden Quests. These rewards made the true ending twice as lucrative as other endings.

However, statistics suggested that only one in ten modules featured a true ending, making the second type of Hidden Quests far more common.

Unrelated-to-Module Hidden Quests could essentially be considered as the "fuse" for the next module. For example, Liu Xing had heard of a player completing such a Hidden Quest on a forum. In the original module, the main quest was to investigate a rising cosmetics company’s ingredients, only to discover that these ingredients were linked to a mythical creature. As the module was about to end after defeating the creature, a player noticed someone spying on them. All the players then triggered and completed the Hidden Quest, catching the spy. In the next module, these players gathered once more to investigate which organization had provided the mythical creature to the cosmetics company.

So, even though Liu Xing suspected that simply searching for the statue beneath Panlong Town’s middle school could trigger a Hidden Quest, he couldn’t be sure of its type.

Regardless of the type, completing a Hidden Quest was no simple task, especially given the current situation. The statue was likely connected to at least one Great Old One-level entity.

Therefore, the Hidden Quest would undoubtedly be high-risk and high-reward.

Should they take the risk?

While contemplating, Liu Xing shared the information about the statue with Ling Ishikawa. If he decided to trigger this Side Quest, he would certainly need Ling Ishikawa’s assistance.

After hearing Liu Xing’s account, Ling Ishikawa furrowed his brow and said, "If that’s the case, then it’s almost certain that the person who buried the statue is at least a Great Old One-level entity. So, either the transformation of Panlong Town is related to this person or to the statue itself. Such a statue is likely to possess significant power."

Liu Xing nodded and said with a smile, "Indeed, that’s a possibility. However, according to Hu Li, it seems that we won’t be able to unearth the statue. So, Ling Ishikawa, you can keep this information to yourself, and there’s no need to tell the others."

Ling Ishikawa stroked his chin, pondering, "That may not be certain. We still have a chance to dig up the statue. Even though it’s buried deeply, the magic book I showed you earlier contains a Magic Spell with excavation capabilities that can rival a digger. If you’re willing, Master, I can start learning that Magic Spell now. I estimate that I’ll be able to master it in about ten days."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised to learn about a Magic Spell for digging.

However, Liu Xing had some concerns and said, "The statue might emit magical fluctuations that could have a significant impact on people’s mental states. Do you have any precautions in mind? If not, we should probably avoid the risk."

Ling Ishikawa furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before responding, "That does pose a challenge. However, if the statue, as Hu Li mentioned, only emits magical fluctuations at night, we can take a gamble and attempt to unearth it during the daytime. After all, the worst-case scenario is death, and we’ll be back in action in a few days."

Hearing Ling Ishikawa’s response, Liu Xing regained some confidence. In this module, they could afford to die once or twice, so taking a chance seemed reasonable.

Moreover, if they succeeded, they might obtain the statue, which appeared to be a highly advanced item. Acquiring it could be a significant gain, even if it meant sacrificing some character card items in the process.

Liu Xing made up his mind and said, "Alright, let’s do it. Ling Ishikawa, start learning that Magic Spell now. We’ll go dig up the statue after dealing with all the mythical creatures in Panlong Town."

Ling Ishikawa nodded and replied, "No problem. I’ll start studying the Magic Spell right away."

With that, Ling Ishikawa took out the magic book and began studying it.

7d24=51.

It seemed that Ling Ishikawa was quite fortunate this time. He only needed to study for fifty-one hours to learn the Magic Spell.

Learning skills had always been a tedious task in the Cthulhu RPG Game because it couldn’t be achieved quickly, unlike in other games.

Especially when it came to learning magic, it usually required dozens or even hundreds of hours. Ling Ishikawa only needed fifty-one hours to learn a new Magic Spell, which was relatively short.

However, considering the current situation, Ling Ishikawa didn’t have much time to dedicate to studying magic every day. Aside from eating, drinking, resting, and sleeping, he had to accompany Liu Xing’s group to deal with the mythical creatures in Panlong Town. So, having six hours a day to study magic was already quite good.

Of course, their current goal was to defeat one mythical creature at a specific time. Therefore, once they had dealt with all the mythical creatures in Panlong Town, Ling Ishikawa should have enough time to learn the new magic.

Seeing Ling Ishikawa diligently studying, Liu Xing didn’t want to interrupt him. He decided to take a nap first.

Liu Xing slept until the afternoon and was only awakened by Ling Ishikawa when it was time for dinner.

"This is the fishing net you need," Hu Cang said, pointing to a corner of the room.

Liu Xing approached to inspect the fishing net and found it to be in good condition. It had no visible damage and was sturdy enough. Even if it couldn’t completely trap a Troll, it would at least hold the Troll inside for about ten seconds, giving Hu Li enough time to arrive.

Apart from the fishing net, Liu Xing noticed two bird guns in the corner as well.

"Hu Cang, where did you get these bird guns? Are they usable?" Liu Xing asked, looking surprised.

Hu Cang nodded and smiled, "I borrowed these two bird guns from my uncle while I was getting the fishing net. I’ve tested them, and they work perfectly fine."

Liu Xing chuckled. With these two bird guns, he felt even more confident in dealing with the Troll.

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