Floating in midair, Liu Xing looked around but saw no sign of Bai He Cheng or the others. It seemed that each person's ending scene was independent of the others.
It was as if Liu Xing were watching a movie sped up tenfold. He watched the van race into Manchester, only to be stopped by traffic police. After all, someone was still tied to the roof of the van. It was obviously suspicious.
At that moment, KP004 also took on the role of narrator. "After Liu Xing and his group arrived in Manchester, they were stopped and questioned by traffic police. Liu Xing told them everything that had happened at Ains Castle, including how Gary had threatened him with a handgun. At that point, Isabella suddenly told the traffic police that Gary was actually a serial killer who specialized in murdering foreign travelers visiting the castle. His method was to kill the travelers while they slept, then throw their bodies into the basement to feed the beasts he kept."
"The traffic police believed Isabella's accusation and brought Liu Xing's group and Isabella to the police station. The Police Chief took the matter very seriously, because Manchester had seen over a hundred cases of foreign travelers disappearing over the past decade or so, none of which had been solved. Therefore, Police Chief Chris immediately organized a police force and went to Ains Castle to investigate. In the Locked Room, they found the mangled corpses of Gary and Old Wayne, along with the open entrance to the basement. Forensic examination determined that both Gary and Old Wayne had been killed by a beast, while the beast itself had long since vanished without a trace."
"Finally, the police discovered a large number of human bones in the basement, as well as copious amounts of human blood, human organs soaked in Formalin, and a vaguely drawn magic circle. Thus, the police ultimately concluded that Gary was the culprit behind Manchester's more than one hundred foreign traveler disappearance cases over the past decade, and that he had used the victims' blood and organs to carry out an evil magical ritual."
"However, there was something strange. In the northeast corner of the basement was a small room that looked like a bedroom, with signs of human activity inside. Yet the conditions were appalling; it appeared that no one had cleaned the room for over a decade. There was also a large amount of scattered hair, but it was clearly not human hair. Therefore, the police believed that this was where Gary had kept his beast."
As KP004 narrated, Liu Xing saw everything it described. The corpses of Gary and Old Wayne in particular made even Liu Xing, a medical student who had seen quite a few bodies, begin to feel nauseated. They had died too horribly; their bodies had been torn to pieces...
In the castle basement, the mountain of human bones could probably be assembled into at least a thousand skeletons. Clearly, those remains also included the soldiers from the army that had mysteriously disappeared a century ago.
On a wooden rack nearby, hundreds of bottles of various sizes contained all kinds of human organs soaked in Formalin. Liu Xing also noticed that some of the organs were incomplete, as if they had been gnawed on by a beast. He therefore felt that this so-called beast was very likely a Ghoul.
However, Ghouls in the Cthulhu Mythos System were different from those in other novels and games. Ghouls under the Cthulhu Mythos System possessed human intelligence, were highly social and organized, and could even be as attractive as celebrities when young, allowing them to live in human society, reproduce, and seek food. But after reaching a certain age, ordinary Ghouls would rapidly grow old and ugly in appearance—ugly enough to cost viewers SAN Value just from looking at them. At that point, they would choose to leave human society and return to Ghoul settlements, beneath certain graveyards, to live in seclusion.
Now, Liu Xing had not expected Gary to be able to control a Ghoul and make it serve him. But in the end, Gary was still killed by that Ghoul. After Old Wayne had gone through untold hardship to open the basement entrance, he too was killed by the Ghoul.
"As for Isabella, she sold Ains Castle and used all the proceeds to compensate the families of the victims. As it happened, Chief Chris and his wife had no children, so they adopted Isabella. Since Liu Xing and the others were also half-victims themselves, had rescued Isabella, and helped the police station solve over a hundred disappearance cases, they gained the friendship of the Manchester Police Station and Chief Chris's gratitude. Liu Xing and his group then prepared to return to China."
Liu Xing's vision blurred, and he found himself in an airport waiting lounge. His "self" was saying goodbye to Isabella and Chief Chris.
Watching his "self" talk to others from a spectator's perspective made Liu Xing feel rather strange.
Just as Liu Xing watched his "self" and "Wang Qi" head toward the boarding gate, Isabella suddenly turned around, looked at Liu Xing, and said with a smile, "Thank you, idiot."
Before Liu Xing could react, everything around him vanished instantly, as if someone had wiped it away with an eraser.
Suddenly, a man in black wearing a Plague Bird Mask appeared before Liu Xing. "Hello, Liu Xing. Congratulations on successfully passing this Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG and achieving the Hidden Ending. Your team contribution rate in this Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG was 42%, making you the MVP of this session. That is why I am personally handling your reward settlement."
Liu Xing could tell from the voice that this man in black was KP004.
"First, I will settle the basic rewards from this Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG. The most important reward is Points. You will receive 120 Points: 60 base clearance Points, 30 MVP reward Points, and a final 30 Points for completing the Hidden Ending."
"Next are the relationship network rewards for your Character Card. You have obtained the personal contact information of Isabella and Chris, the Police Chief of the Manchester Police Station and Isabella's current adoptive father. When using this Character Card, you may contact Isabella or Chris after passing a Luck Check and ask for their help. The chance of successfully receiving help will be determined by their favorability toward you. Isabella's favorability toward you is currently 20, while Chris's is 50."
"Lastly, there is your skill growth from this Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG. Your Psychology skill has increased by 1 point. Now roll a 1d20 to determine the growth of your Lockpicking skill." As soon as KP004 finished speaking, a twenty-sided die appeared in Liu Xing's hand.
Without giving it much thought, Liu Xing tossed the die—10.
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