First RPG Session (Part 2)

"Where is this?!" Liu Xing's vision suddenly blurred. When he came back to his senses, he found himself in an enclosed room, seated around a wooden table with three strangers. There was only a white candle on the table, burning silently.

"Welcome, Old Chinese Doctor, to the Novice Room of the Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG Game Hall. I will now explain the basic rules of this Game Hall. Please listen carefully." A voice suddenly sounded beside Liu Xing's ear—the same young woman's Electronic Synthesized Voice. This time, though, the mocking tone was even more obvious, making Liu Xing realize it had not been his imagination.

"First, since you have decided to participate in Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG, you naturally have a basic understanding of its rules. Still, I shall graciously repeat them for you. First is the Novice Room game you are currently undergoing. It does not count as a true Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG game, but the system will determine your relevant stats based on your performance in this Novice Room game and complete your First Character Card. So perform well."

"Second, every Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG game will have a Main Quest and Branch Objective. However, there will also be all kinds of Hidden Branches, and even a Hidden Main Quest. Players may decide for themselves whether to explore them. These hidden quests can bring benefits beyond your imagination. Of course, when exploring Hidden Quests, the Mortality Rate may be several or even dozens of times higher than that of the Main Quest. After all, Riches are Found in Danger."

"Third, in every Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG game with similar historical settings, players will use the same Character Card. Players may possess Multiple Character Cards at once. When a player dies or is Eliminated in a Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG game—during Cthulhu Mythos RPG, the character played by a Player may become unable to continue the game due to injuries or other reasons, which will be considered Elimination and treated as character death—the Character Card used in that game will be lost. When a player loses all Character Cards, the player will be directly erased."

"Fourth, the items, talismans, spells, Interpersonal Relationships, and Skill Point Increases obtained by players in each Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG game will be automatically recorded on their Character Cards. Settlement will take place after the game ends."

"Fifth, players may not reveal any information about this Game Hall to NPCs during the game, nor may they act or speak in ways that exceed the historical setting of that game. Otherwise, it will be considered Meta-gaming. Meta-gaming may only occur twice in the same game. The first instance of Meta-gaming will deduct all of the player's Points and randomly deduct one Attribute Point. The second instance will directly cause the player to lose the Character Card used in that game."

"Sixth, the difficulty of Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG games is determined by the number of players. The maximum number of players varies by zone. Players may also discuss the game within relatively enclosed spaces, but they must not let NPCs learn the contents of those discussions. Otherwise, it will be considered Meta-gaming."

"Seventh, uninstalling this game requires payment of 10,000 Points."

"One final piece of advice: the less you know, the longer you live. Good luck."

Years of reading web novels allowed Liu Xing to quickly realize that he had most likely entered a place similar to the Main God Space, where he would be forced to undertake all kinds of missions. And this was a Main God Space built upon the Cthulhu Mythos System.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have clicked on that so carelessly. Looks like I'm going to die in this damned place." Liu Xing was filled with regret. He did not think he had any Protagonist Halo, and this was Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG!

The defining feature of Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG was that Players, as Ordinary Humans, explored all kinds of supernatural incidents and encountered all kinds of Mythical Creatures. The outcome was obvious. Total Party Kills were practically routine. After all, there were no weapons, armor, bloodlines, or anything of the sort to help Players confront Mythical Creatures head-on. Although Players could obtain Magic Books, incantations, Elder Signs, and other spells for self-defense in Cthulhu Mythos RPG, using those spells required Sanity. Once a Player lost too much Sanity at once, he would fall into a Madness State. By then, death would not be far away...

So the greatest difference between Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG and other games was its extremely high chance of a Total Party Kill. If a few people did not die in every RPG session, it would hardly feel complete...

Still, since he was here, he had to make the best of it. Liu Xing knew there was no way for him to escape now, so he could only face reality and perform well in this Novice Room game. That was the only way he could properly roll his First Character Card.

As a Role-Playing Game, Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG naturally required Character Cards before the game began, just like other Role-Playing Games, in order to determine a character's attributes. Liu Xing still did not know whether the Character Cards used by this Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG Game Hall followed the 6th Edition or the 7th Edition. Like other games, Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG constantly released new rulebooks. Both 6th Edition and 7th Edition Character Cards were currently used within the community, and the attributes on the two versions differed. As for the specific differences, look them up yourself—it was too troublesome to explain and would only pad the word count. However, it seemed this Novice Room game was replacing the process of Rolling Stats. Rolling Stats meant using Random Numbers obtained through Dice Rolls as Attribute Points for certain attributes. Some special actions by Players in Cthulhu Mythos RPG required checks, and whether a check succeeded depended on whether the Random Number rolled was greater than one of the Player's Attribute Points. Therefore, Liu Xing had to complete this Novice Room quest as perfectly as possible so that his Character Card's attributes would look better. After all, a Character Card was practically his life.

"Game Information is now being transmitted to the Player." After pausing for a moment, the Electronic Synthesized Voice sounded beside Liu Xing's ear again.

Cthulhu Mythos RPG Novice Room Template—Haunted House Horror.

Difficulty: Easy.

Quest Background: The place where the Players are currently located is a Centennial Old House. Many years ago, a family of three living here suffered Family Annihilation. Since then, rumors of it being Haunted have spread, and many people claimed to have seen ghostly figures wandering through the old house.

Today, you arranged with three online friends to spend the night in this old house. However, after all of you entered this room, the doors and windows were tightly sealed. A candle on the table was suddenly lit.

Your identity: Ordinary Office Worker.

Quest: Before Game Time ends, protect the candle on the table from being extinguished.

Quest Hint: The candle can only be extinguished by a Player blowing it out. However, a Player must continuously blow on the candle for five seconds before it goes out. If the candle is extinguished, the quest is considered failed.

Game Time: One hour.

Clearly, the focus of this quest was the candle before him. However, Liu Xing could not see much of a Cthulhu element in the quest hints.

Still, Liu Xing felt that this was probably because it was a Novice Room quest meant to determine the Attribute Points of his First Character Card. If they really added Cthulhu elements, he would probably go mad even if he did not die...

But according to the quest hint, if my mission is to keep the candle from going out, then one of the other three Players may have a mission to blow it out. Liu Xing silently considered this. After all, Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG had professions such as fanatics. Fanatics were members of cults that worshipped evil gods such as Cthulhu, and they stood opposed to Players playing ordinary people. So it seemed likely that the background of this game involved fanatics luring online friends here and preparing to sacrifice them to an evil god.

Then which of these three was the fanatic?

Liu Xing examined the three people seated around the table. Two men and one woman.

To Liu Xing's left sat a kind-looking middle-aged man in his forties. He wore a black shirt, and a corner of a handkerchief peeked out from inside it. Under the candlelight, though, the handkerchief looked faintly yellowed.

To Liu Xing's right sat a young man around twenty years old. He looked ordinary and wore a Baseball Cap, but it was clear that he had dyed part of his hair red.

Across from Liu Xing sat a fairly pretty girl. However, she kept her head slightly lowered, as if she were contemplating something. She also wore a school uniform with the words "Modu No. 7 Middle School" written on it.

Of course, Liu Xing did not forget to look at his own clothes. He wore the standard Office Worker outfit: a black suit and a tie.

"Looks like this game isn't too bad. At least it remembered to change my clothes." Liu Xing could not help but mock himself.