Intermission Growth

The first time was unfamiliar; the second, familiar.

Liu Xing returned to reality once more. He stretched lazily, feeling that being alive was truly wonderful.

His computer screen displayed the current data for Liu Xing's Character Card.

Name: Liu Xing

Occupation: Doctor

Education: Graduate Student

Birthplace: China, Shu Region, Rong City

Gender: Male

Age: 23

Background: An ordinary doctor who had helped the Manchester Police solve over a hundred unsolved missing-person cases while traveling in England. Not only had he received a reward, but he had also been featured by domestic media. He was now fairly well-known in the country.

Strength: 55

Constitution: 40

Willpower: 80

Luck: 80

Dexterity: 50

Appearance: 70

Size: 45

Intelligence: 85

Idea: 90

Education: 87

Cthulhu Mythos Knowledge: 1

Sanity Value: 78/80

HP: 8

MP: 16

Damage Bonus: None

Credit Rating: 50+10 (temporary buff gained from completing the Hidden Ending, lasting three Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG sessions)

Skills: Medicine 78, First Aid 80, Psychology 71, Psychoanalysis 70, Jump 70, Investigation 40, Persuasion 60, Lockpicking 11.

Carried Items: Mobile phone, a bottle of Ancestral Green Tea, candy given by Cthulhu.

Interpersonal Relationships: Isabella (20), Chris (50)

Assets: 500000

Cash: 50000+10000 (Manchester Police reward)

Points: 139

Liu Xing looked over his Character Card. It was not much different from how it had been at the start, aside from losing two SAN Value points, gaining Lockpicking, and increasing Psychology by one point.

Of course, because Liu Xing had achieved the Hidden Ending by helping Isabella kill Gary and regain her freedom, then pinning all those missing-person cases—or rather, murder cases now—on Gary, "he" had received a reward from the Manchester Police and coverage from domestic media. His reputation had soared for a time, so he had gained a temporary +10 Credit Rating buff.

As for the 139 Points, Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and sighed in relief. After all, that meant he could stay in reality for more than four months before returning to this damned Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG to throw his life away.

But then Liu Xing suddenly remembered something. What about the promised Intermission Growth? He had thought it would take place within the game.

However, after Liu Xing closed the Character Card, another window popped up, filled with densely packed options. This appeared to be the Intermission Growth interface.

Liu Xing had three Intermission Growth opportunities in total, so he could choose three options from this mess as his Intermission Growth.

After giving the options a cursory glance, Liu Xing found that this truly was The Real Cthulhu TRPG. Eight or nine out of ten Intermission Growth options were tied to money...

Enroll in an English Training Class. Requires 5000 cash. Gain Other Languages: English, value 5d6. Accident Rate: 10%.

Attend Driving Training. Requires 10000 cash. Gain Driving, value 5d8. Accident Rate: 20%.

Attend New Western Culinary School. Requires 3000 cash. Gain Cooking Skill, value 6d6. Accident Rate: 20%.

This type of Intermission Growth fell under skill acquisition. Put plainly, it meant spending a large amount of the Character Card's cash to gain skills, somewhat like buying skill books to learn from in other games.

Besides that, there was also advanced-study Intermission Growth. It cost less of the Character Card's cash, but certain prerequisites had to be met. It could improve skills the Character Card already possessed, such as:

Participate in overseas hospital training. Requires 1000 cash and Medicine 70. Medicine Skill increases by 1d6. Accident Rate: 25%.

Enter the First Aid Department. Requires First Aid 70. First Aid Skill increases by 1d6. Accident Rate: 20%.

Study public speaking on your own. Requires 500 cash and Persuasion 40. Persuade Skill increases by 1d4. Accident Rate: 5%.

Apart from those two types of Intermission Growth, there was also a Special Type of Intermission Growth that left Liu Xing speechless...

Blind Date Marriage. Requires 50000 cash, Assets of 500000, and a legitimate occupation. Gain one spouse. Accident Rate: 50%.

Inherit Foreign Legacy. Requires 10000 cash. The next Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG session will take place abroad. Gain 1d1000000 Assets. Accident Rate: 50%.

Change Occupation. Requires 20000 cash and another Professional Skill at 50 or above. You may change to that occupation. Accident Rate: 0%.

Receive psychological treatment. Requires 10000 cash and a SAN Value above 50. Recover 2d3 SAN Value. Accident Rate: 0%.

Although Blind Date Marriage, this Special Type of Intermission Growth, looked extremely unreliable, Liu Xing discovered from the help section that a spouse was exceptionally important to a Player. A Player with a spouse could directly recover 1d3 SAN Value and have one random skill increase by 1 point during every Intermission Growth. In certain special modules, the Player could even choose to bring their spouse into the game, effectively gaining another helper. However, if the spouse died, the Player would also lose 2d6 SAN Value.

Of course, aside from obtaining a spouse through Blind Date Marriage, this Special Type of Intermission Growth, Players could also date and marry NPCs in the game to gain a spouse.

As for Inherit Foreign Legacy, it was basically gambling. Besides potentially losing money, the price was having to play one Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG session abroad, and it appeared the country would be random. If he got thrown into some remote African country like Equatorial Guinea, or a war-torn country like Syria, that would be quite a disaster.

As for the Accident Rate mentioned at the end of every Intermission Growth option, it was simply the chance of triggering an unexpected event. Such events could be good or bad. For example, when attending an English Training Class, a good unexpected event might be discovering that you were exceptionally talented and made rapid progress in English, causing your final Other Languages: English value to become 10d6. A bad unexpected event, meanwhile, might be signing up for a fraudulent English Training Class that vanished the next day, leaving you without Other Languages: English.

Therefore, after thinking for a moment, Liu Xing decided to play it safe and chose "Enter the First Aid Department," "Enroll in an English Training Class," and "Attend Driving Training" as his three Intermission Growth options. After all, he was still a Doctor by profession, and First Aid was one of his primary skills—the higher it could be, the better. Besides, if his First Aid reached 90 points, he could also receive a SAN Value reward.

According to the most widely accepted view in Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG circles, once any of your skills reached 90 points, it meant that you had attained the level of a grandmaster in that field. You gained confidence, and your SAN Value naturally increased.

Although Liu Xing had always felt that explanation was somewhat unreliable, everyone said so, so he accepted it.

PS: As for the timing of today's second update, it depended on fate.