Parchment

Liu Xing looked up at the second floor, estimating it to be about two meters high. As for the wooden railing on the second floor, it looked quite sturdy and shouldn't be damaged by his pull... probably...

Just as Liu Xing was looking at the railing with some uncertainty, wondering what posture to use to jump, Bai He Cheng, true to his usual spirit of enjoying the show without adding to the trouble, said, "Hey, Liu Xing, listen to me. Don't be a coward, just jump. Anyway, your luck is so good, you passed a 1% check, so this 20% check, Liu Xing, won't it be a piece of cake for you?"

Liu Xing was speechless. Bai He Cheng had probably forgotten that his scouting check had failed earlier.

However, a short pain was better than a long one. Liu Xing couldn't be bothered to think anymore and contacted KP004 directly, "KP, I want to make multiple checks to jump to the second floor."

KP004 immediately responded, "No problem."

Jump, 63/70, Success.

Climbing, 23/20, Failure.

As expected, Liu Xing's climbing skill check failed, so KP004 didn't even bother with a luck roll for Liu Xing.

Thus, Liu Xing leaped up, jumping two meters high, but his hands failed to grab the railing, and Liu Xing began to fall freely, as expected.

However, Chen Ling and Wang Qi below were already prepared. Both reached out to catch Liu Xing simultaneously. Moreover, because Liu Xing's constitution and build stats were relatively low, there was no need for any contest roll.

When encountering some special situations, a contest roll would be necessary. For example, in Liu Xing's current situation, if Liu Xing's combined constitution and build stats exceeded a certain value, a contest roll against the strength of Wang Qi and Chen Ling would be required. If the roll failed, Wang Qi and Chen Ling might not be able to catch Liu Xing, and could even get injured. Liu Xing's combined constitution and build were only a little over eighty points, which was about the same as Chen Ling's strength alone. Coupled with Liu Xing's fall height of only about two meters, KP004 defaulted to Chen Ling and Wang Qi successfully catching Liu Xing.

After a while, Liu Xing decided to make multiple checks again.

In the Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG, some actions can only be attempted once without special circumstances. For example, when Liu Xing and the others used the scouting skill in that locked room earlier, failing it meant "the player has lost interest in further exploring this room." Therefore, unless the player could find a valid reason to convince the KP, they could not explore the room again.

However, in Liu Xing's case, he could make multiple checks. After all, Liu Xing had "the spirit of not giving up until the goal is achieved, wanting to jump to the second floor." So, Liu Xing contacted KP004 again, "KP, I want to make another multiple check!"

"Okay, because although the player failed once before, the player has gained some understanding of the railing's position and height. Therefore, in this multiple check, the player's climbing skill will receive a bonus of 20."

In the Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG, there are bonus and penalty values. In Liu Xing's situation, although Liu Xing failed his climbing check last time, he learned from his failure. Therefore, when he attempts climbing again, he will receive a bonus. As for penalty values, if Liu Xing had injured his leg just now, his jump skill would be affected by a penalty value, reducing its numerical value for a certain period.

Jump, 31/70, Success.

Climbing, 12/40, Success.

Luck, 59/80, Success.

Liu Xing leaped high once more. This time, Liu Xing successfully grabbed the railing. Although the railing let out a slight "creak," there were no accidents, and Liu Xing successfully reached the second floor.

Liu Xing finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Bai He Cheng and the others below. Bai He Cheng and the others then took their pre-arranged positions, spreading out to keep watch for Liu Xing. Of course, Wang Qi was naturally providing close protection for Bai He Cheng, ready to "humanely eliminate" Bai He Cheng if he made any suspicious moves.

Liu Xing stood in the second-floor corridor and began to survey the three rooms on the second floor. According to the information provided by KP004, from left to right, they were the Castle Lord's room, the study, and the Castle Lord's Daughter's room. As for the stairs connecting the first and second floors, they were on the far left.

Following the principle of "men on the left, women on the right," Liu Xing decided to try his luck first in the Castle Lord's room. After all, Liu Xing had already identified the Castle Lord as the BOSS of this tabletop RPG. Now, while the BOSS was out, collecting useful information from the BOSS's room would be ideal.

However, Liu Xing stood in front of the Castle Lord's room and sighed helplessly. He hadn't expected the Castle Lord to install a fingerprint lock on his room door!

This was truly a BOSS who kept up with the times...

Because it was a fingerprint lock, Liu Xing knew that even if he used his lockpicking skill, KP004 would consider it a failure. Therefore, Liu Xing gave up struggling and turned towards the study.

Just then, Liu Xing heard the sound of dice rolling, but no result appeared. Liu Xing then said to KP004, "KP, are you secretly rolling?"

KP004 was quite straightforward... well, perhaps not a person. "Yes, I can tell you directly that this secret roll was for your Luck Check, to determine if the study door was locked."

Liu Xing nodded silently and arrived at the study. He found the study door ajar. However, what Liu Xing found eerie was that through the gap in the door, he could only see a pure blackness, a blackness that absorbed all light. As far as Liu Xing's eyes could see, it was pitch dark.

Clearly, this study was definitely problematic.

Liu Xing hesitated for a moment. After all, Liu Xing was now alone, and he wasn't a combat-type character to begin with. If something unexpected happened in the study, Liu Xing felt he might just meet his end here...

Liu Xing was silent for a while, then gritted his teeth and decided to enter the study. He still had a Character Card that could revive him, and the more dangerous the place, the more information and benefits he could gain!

With this thought, Liu Xing pushed open the study door. Several lights suddenly turned on in the study, illuminating it brightly.

It was obvious that the study light switch was connected to the study door.

"This is a small study, with over ten bookshelves filled with various kinds of Books, all of which appear to be Ancient Books of great historical value. You even see a scroll of Parchment."

Liu Xin observed his surroundings while listening to the information provided by KP004.

"KP, I need to make a Perception check, focusing on that Parchment," Liu Xing said in his mind, looking at the scroll of Parchment mentioned by KP004.

Perception, 58/60, Success.

"It seems your luck is quite good, you almost failed. You have obtained the following information: there is nothing special about this study, and that scroll of Parchment looks very ancient, emitting an aura that makes you feel very uncomfortable."

Liu Xing knew that this Parchment was the important item for this tabletop role-playing game.

PS: Many thanks to Brock.Shiga for the book recommendation, and to other friends for their support. I knew the collection count was growing so fast these past two days. Thank you all.