Combat Skill

"Damn it." Upon hearing that Chen Ming's Fear Source was fog, Liu Xing cursed inwardly. Li Ming really was lucky—or unlucky. The entire Harvest Festival venue was already shrouded in fog. That meant Li Ming's Fear Source was everywhere, so he would definitely enter a state of fear.

"Now, let's make one final Dice Roll for the duration of Li Ming's Temporary Madness State. However, because this Mirror World is rather special, the unit of duration has been changed from hours to five-minute intervals." Kpcao sneered. "You could also put it this way: if you can't escape the Mirror World within an hour, then your chances of clearing this Advancement Game will be infinitesimal. So after this roll, please continue roleplaying and find a way out."

Li Ming, 6. Temporary Madness State duration: 30 minutes!

When the result came out, Liu Xing saw Li Ming's pupils dilate instantly. His breathing became rapid, and his limbs began to tremble.

Just as Liu Xing was about to perform psychoanalysis on Li Ming, Tian Dao, standing beside him, suddenly struck Li Ming in the neck with a hand chop. Without even making a check, Li Ming immediately passed out...

"KP, we need to open Escape Room Time." After knocking Li Ming unconscious, Tian Dao immediately requested Escape Room Time from kpcao.

Although kpcao gave no response, Liu Xing was already familiar with the peculiar sensation of spatial displacement that came when Escape Room Time opened. He knew it had already begun.

"My profession is fighter, and that was the Combat Skill I just used. Li Ming's will has already collapsed, so I was able to knock him out so easily. After all, this is our best option right now." Tian Dao explained his reasoning.

Just as Tian Dao had said, Li Ming, having entered a state of fear, would either run around in terror, freeze in place, attack wildly, or scream and shout. Knocking him unconscious was indeed the best choice, lest he fall to his death himself or alert the "tiger" lurking in the Mirror World.

What concerned Liu Xing even more, however, was that Tian Dao actually possessed a Combat Skill.

Combat Skills occupied a special place in the Cthulhu Mythos tabletop RPG. They were not quantified as skills, where one could make a Dice Roll to determine success. Instead, a Combat Skill was formed through one's description and combination of a sequence of movements, after which the KP would judge whether the Combat Skill could succeed. Of course, if a Combat Skill was overly complicated or difficult, relevant checks would still be required.

In the Real World, what determined whether a Combat Skill succeeded was how detailed the Player's description of it was. For example, the simplest description of Tian Dao's Combat Skill would be, "I gave Li Ming a hand chop." A detailed description would be, "Taking advantage of Li Ming being in a state of fear, I targeted his Xth cervical vertebra and struck him with a hand chop using seventy percent of my strength."

Therefore, when faced with a simply described Combat Skill, the KP would have the Player make a certain check. For a detailed description, the KP would choose to let it succeed directly.

But those were the rules for Combat Skills in the Real World. Liu Xing was very curious about what requirements Combat Skills would have in this Real Cthulhu TRPG.

Although Liu Xing's Character Card belonged to a support-type character, that did not mean he could not use Combat Skills. Following the principle of asking when he did not know, Liu Xing said to Tian Dao, "Tian Dao, how are Combat Skills judged here?"

"Uh, how should I put it? It's actually pretty similar to the Combat Skill requirements in the Real World. Before using a Combat Skill, you have to give the KP a necessary description. But there's an additional standard here: proficiency. The first time you use a Combat Skill, you'll receive an initial proficiency rating based on how effective it is. Your Character Card will also gain a Combat Skill section, where you can name the Combat Skill. Each use will increase its proficiency by a certain amount, and the Intermission Growth options will also include items for increasing the number of Combat Skills. Ultimately, the detail of your Combat Skill description and your proficiency together determine whether it succeeds." After thinking for a moment, Tian Dao laid out everything he knew about Combat Skills.

Liu Xing nodded. It seemed it was time for him to train a few Combat Skills as well. That way, when he was alone and fighting an enemy, he would not be completely unable to fight back.

"By the way, Tian Dao, do you know when Li Ming will wake up?" Ming Shi Xiang pointed at Li Ming lying on the ground and asked.

Hearing Ming Shi Xiang's question, Tian Dao scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh, since Combat Skills aren't skills, there's no detailed description of the effects they can produce. There also won't be a check for how long Li Ming remains unconscious, so I can't guarantee when he'll wake up..."

Tina frowned and said helplessly, "Then it looks like we can only carry Li Ming with us. We can't just toss him somewhere to hide and continue exploring, can we?"

Tian Dao sighed helplessly and nodded. "Tina's right. We can't casually abandon a teammate, so let me carry Li Ming. My Strength and Constitution are both fairly high, so carrying him will only reduce my Dexterity by 15 points."

Liu Xing looked at broad-shouldered, thick-waisted Tian Dao, then at his own pitiful Strength and Constitution, and finally at Li Ming lying on the ground. In the end, he gave up on the idea of taking turns carrying Li Ming with Tian Dao. After all, Liu Xing felt that whether he could even carry Li Ming was a question in itself...

"By the way, we can now basically confirm that there is definitely a Mythical Creature in this Mirror World, and it may have already controlled Minami Kotori's mother. So, Tina, you'd better hold Minami Kotori's hand or simply carry her. Don't let her run around. Also, although the mission did not mention whether we need to rescue Minami Kotori as well, whether we save her will definitely affect our clear rating. So I suggest we try our best to rescue her." Liu Xing glanced at Minami Kotori beside them as he spoke.

Tina nodded. After all, among the Players present, she had the best relationship with Minami Kotori.

"By the way, I have another question. Tina and Ming Shi Xiang, are you both foreign Players?" At that moment, Tian Dao curiously asked the question Liu Xing had also wanted to ask but had felt too embarrassed to bring up.

"No, I'm Chinese too," Tina and Ming Shi Xiang said in unison.

PS: In the next chapter, the protagonist will face a Mythical Creature for the first time.