A Critical Success That Shouldn't Have Succeeded

Chen Ling and Wang Qi both nodded, indicating they agreed with Liu Xing's idea. As for Bai He Cheng... he no longer had a say. He just needed to follow along when the time came.

"Alright, we've decided on a route to escape the castle. When the time comes, Wang Qi, you'll go to the main gate and activate the Electric Door Opener. We'll find a way to distract the BOSS and Old Wayne. After all, if nothing unexpected happens, the noise from the Electric Door Opener won't be small. If I'm not mistaken, it's powered by a Diesel Engine. If we all wait at the main gate, we'll likely be wiped out by the BOSS," Liu Xing added another suggestion.

Everyone nodded in agreement. After all, they had all watched horror movies and played horror games. They knew that tools needed for the final escape often made loud noises, attracting countless monsters and BOSSes. The Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG would be no exception.

After initially deciding on the escape route and plan, Liu Xing relayed KP004's friendly hint about the Other Languages skill to Bai He Cheng and the others. He also asked if they had invested any points in the Other Languages skill.

As expected, Bai He Cheng and the others all stated they hadn't invested in the Other Languages skill...

Hearing this, Liu Xing couldn't help but feel fortunate again. If his investigation hadn't been a Critical Success, turning that Operation Manual into Chinese, he and his "illiterate" companions wouldn't have been able to understand its contents...

After discussing these matters, KP004 once again stepped forward at the opportune moment. "Alright, the secret room time is over. By the way, you can use the secret room one last time in this game. Please use it wisely."

Liu Xing's eyebrows shot up. Without the secret room, the exchange of information between players would be severely impacted.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was... the Castle Lord had returned.

Liu Xing heard a car horn from outside the castle, followed by the roar of a Diesel Engine starting up. It was clear the Electric Door Opener was in operation.

"This sound is really loud. If it went off in the middle of the night, it would be quite a disturbance to one's sleep," Chen Ling said meaningfully.

If nothing unexpected happened, Liu Xing and his group would escape the castle around eleven o'clock at night.

Liu Xing nodded and made a suggestion, "It seems the Castle Lord has returned. Should we go out to greet him?"

Wang Si Yi shook her head at this suggestion and refused, "Let's not. I think we should stay in the room and take good care of Bai He Cheng. Once Bai He Cheng's condition improves, it won't be too late to meet the Castle Lord."

Liu Xing understood Wang Si Yi's intention: she wanted to wait until Bai He Cheng recovered from his Pseudo-Disability before meeting the Castle Lord together.

This time, Wang Qi and the others also sided with Wang Si Yi. After all, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Thus, with the majority ruling, Liu Xing had no choice but to stay in the room and continue chatting about random things with Bai He Cheng and the others.

After a while, Liu Xing heard footsteps on the stairs. The Castle Lord must have returned to the second floor.

At the same time, Old Wayne arrived outside their door. "Esteemed friends, the Lord has returned. In half an hour, the Lord will host you in the main hall for a banquet. We hope you will arrive on time."

Liu Xing smiled and nodded, saying, "We understand, Wayne Butler. We will certainly be there on time."

Old Wayne chuckled and then turned to leave.

Liu Xing looked at Bai He Cheng and couldn't help but sigh, "Given Bai He Cheng's current condition, he probably won't recover within half an hour. We'll need to come up with a good excuse then. We can't let the Castle Lord know we took his Parchment, or things will get troublesome."

Chen Ling nodded and said, "How about this? We can say Bai He Cheng has contracted a strange illness that causes intermittent numbness and blindness. What do you think of this excuse?"

"That's a good excuse, but who should deliver it? We need to choose a suitable person, someone who won't be seen through by the Castle Lord at a glance," Wang Si Yi said seriously, tapping the table with her finger.

In the Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG, besides Players, some important NPCs and Mythical Creatures have their own stats and skills. Therefore, Wang Si Yi's words clearly implied suspicion that the Castle Lord possessed the Psychology skill.

So, as the only Player in this tabletop roleplaying session with the Psychology skill, Liu Xing naturally stepped forward. "Then let me do it. I took some Psychology courses in college and I'm quite confident in my abilities. I probably won't be seen through by the Castle Lord."

Wang Qi and the others knew Liu Xing's Psychology skill was at 70 points, so they all agreed to let Liu Xing handle the Dialogue with the Castle Lord. If, by chance, the Castle Lord also possessed the Psychology skill, Liu Xing could fight fire with fire and engage in a psychological battle.

Liu Xing and his group chatted for a while longer. Estimating that the time was about right, they all headed to the living room. Since Bai He Cheng's condition hadn't recovered, Chen Ling brought him to the lower end of the dining table, the furthest position from the Castle Lord, to ensure the Castle Lord wouldn't immediately notice Bai He Cheng's abnormality.

After Liu Xing and the others were seated, they saw Old Wayne pushing a Serving Cart into the living room. Behind Old Wayne was a middle-aged man in a red suit, appearing to be around forty years old.

However, what made Liu Xing feel uncomfortable was that the Castle Lord's eyes, like Isabella's, were blood-red. But in Liu Xing's eyes, Isabella's eyes were as beautiful and flawless as Rubies, while the Castle Lord's eyes seemed so filthy and evil.

"The moment you saw the Castle Lord, you all felt his eyes were extremely bizarre, like a pool of blood that sucked your consciousness into it. Therefore, all Players, please make an Inspiration roll here. Success will decrease your SAN Value by one." KP004 seized the opportunity to step forward again. It was clear this was targeting Liu Xing, as Liu Xing's Inspiration score was a high 90!

Liu Xing, 74/90, Success.

Wang Qi, 11/70, Success.

Wang Si Yi, 61/60, Failure.

Chen Ling, 37/60, Success.

Bai He Cheng, 4/70, Critical Success.

The moment the results came out, everyone's eyes turned to Bai He Cheng. They hadn't expected Bai He Cheng to roll a Critical Success here!

However, Liu Xing suddenly thought of a problem: Wasn't Bai He Cheng blind?!

PS: Changed the cover image. Hmm, it might cause some SAN loss, but please continue to collect and recommend.