Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Of course, when Ming Hanxing mentioned the two modules he had experienced here, Liu Xing felt that Ming Hanxing was still withholding something from them.

But that was normal. After all, Ming Hanxing had only gone through one module with them, so it was natural for him to hold back.

"Oh right, Zhang Jingxu, during your return to China, did you happen to encounter your master?" Liu Xing changed the subject.

Liu Xing asked Zhang Jingxu this question because he now believed Zhang Jingxu’s master was Wu Lei. Therefore, Liu Xing wanted to gather more information from Zhang Jingxu to confirm his suspicions.

Zhang Jingxu shook his head and replied, "To be honest, I don’t know where my master went. I only heard from a friend of my master’s that he suddenly had urgent matters in China and flew to Africa. As for other details, I’m clueless. After I left China, my master hardly contacted me, it’s probably what they call ’letting the sheep graze.’"

Zhang Wenbing furrowed his brows, expressing concern. "Speaking of Africa, I heard some news recently. A small country there suddenly launched armed invasions against three neighboring countries simultaneously. Despite the combined land area of these four countries being smaller than that of Island Nation, this small country’s military was incredibly successful, capturing the three neighboring countries within half a month. Although it’s not much land, their behavior is highly unusual. There’s no indication of a larger nation backing them. Naturally, the Five Nations held a meeting about this. England, which was almost overthrown by the Cult of the Cadaver, naturally suspects that this small country might have been taken over by some secret cult. Therefore, the Five Nations decided to send a joint investigation team to that small African country. China’s representatives mostly consist of members from the China Dao Sect. However, the specific members sent this time are classified, so I’m not sure who exactly went."

"In that case, Zhang Jingxu’s master should be in that small African country. But come to think of it, that country probably has valuable resources, otherwise, the Five Nations wouldn’t be so concerned," Ling Ishikawa speculated.

Zhang Wenbing nodded and added, "Indeed, that small country has valuable diamond mines. However, the location of these diamond mines is sensitive, right on the border of that small country. So, neighboring countries have been eyeing these diamond mines eagerly. Little did they expect that the small country would suddenly rise and conquer its neighbors."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xing realized that if Zhang Jingxu’s master had indeed gone to that African country for a module, it was likely an upgrade module from the Hound of Tindalos area to the Cthulhu area. After all, a regular module wouldn’t warrant such attention.

However, if Wu Lei was indeed Zhang Jingxu’s master, it wasn’t good news for Liu Xing. Typically, players who advanced to the Cthulhu area would no longer interact with players from other areas in parallel worlds.

The reason was simple. While players from areas prior to the Cthulhu region could still operate in the sunlight, those in the Cthulhu region became shadowy watchers, as their modules involved the Great Old Ones and their cults. In short, players in the Cthulhu region had no chance to leisurely participate in modules like Liu Xing and others.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, it would take at least a year for Liu Xing to advance to the Cthulhu region, by which time much could have changed.

At that moment, Lu Tianya and the others brought out the hotpot, signaling the start of the meal.

"By the way, Leader, we received some insider information this morning. It’s about a secret cult’s Tokyo branch being raided yesterday, and the perpetrator remains unknown," Honekawa Suneo suddenly interjected.

Liu Xing frowned, nodding in acknowledgment. "Suneo, arrange for someone to follow up on this matter. Tokyo is a powder keg right now, with numerous secret cult branches entrenched in the city. Their relationships are complex, to say the least. If it’s merely a conflict between two secret cults, it’s manageable; we can stay out of it. But if any secret cult is deliberately trying to destabilize Tokyo, that’s a problem."

At this point, Liu Xing recalled something else.

He remembered stumbling upon an unfinished module in the real world. The author of this module had grand ambitions, setting the story in a fictional international metropolis teeming with secret cults. Each cult was meticulously crafted, with defined relationships between them, along with intricate narratives of rivalry among important NPCs within each cult.

The author claimed to have written over 300,000 words of setting, featuring over 400 NPCs and over 200 missions. Supposedly, it was designed to ensure that even after a hundred playthroughs, players would discover something new each time.

But then, silence.

After revealing the basic premise, the author disappeared without a trace. Many online believed the author had exaggerated his abilities and couldn’t fulfill his promises, thus vanishing in embarrassment.

However, Liu Xing knew the author, known by the pseudonym Zhongshu. They had interacted in a book club group. Despite not having played Cthulhu RPG Game at the time, Liu Xing conversed with Zhongshu about it, and they became friends.

That was back when Liu Xing was a freshman.

Zhongshu claimed to be a recent graduate in philosophy, struggling to find suitable employment due to the nature of his degree. So, he decided to pursue his passion as a career—becoming a writer, or more accurately, an online novelist.

As a fan of Cthulhu RPG Game, Zhongshu wanted to incorporate it into his novel. To ensure an engaging story, he devised a plan: create an expansive module, recruit a few players to run it, then adapt their gameplay into a novel.

After all, one person’s ideas could only stretch so far. By colliding several minds together, they could create numerous sparks, ensuring readers remained intrigued by unfolding plotlines.

Therefore, Zhongshu began constructing the international metropolis he envisioned—a city teeming with hidden currents of sin and vice.

Of course, Zhongshu often shared some of his ideas with Liu Xing, seeking his input on their feasibility. Consequently, Liu Xing was well-informed about the progress of Zhongshu’s module and was familiar with its basic settings.

During Liu Xing’s last contact with Zhongshu, Zhongshu joyfully informed him that his module was nearly complete. He said they would be recruiting players to run it in just two days, reserving a spot specifically for Liu Xing.

Then, Liu Xing never saw Zhongshu’s avatar light up again.

At the time, Liu Xing assumed Zhongshu might have had real-world commitments, so he temporarily put him off. Liu Xing believed Zhongshu should have completed his module by then. However, a month later, Liu Xing received a message, not from Zhongshu, but from Zhongshu’s father, sent to all of Zhongshu’s friends.

The message was brief—Zhongshu had been missing for a month.

Because Zhongshu lived separately from his parents, when they tried to invite him over for dinner half a month earlier and couldn’t reach him, they went to his place. They found Zhongshu had vanished without a trace. Upon investigation, the police determined Zhongshu had disappeared suddenly a month ago.

But most importantly, Zhongshu vanished from a private room!

When Zhongshu’s parents arrived at his place, they found his door locked from the inside. His apartment was on the sixth floor of an old building, with all windows secured by bars. Everything inside Zhongshu’s home remained as it was a month ago, suggesting he couldn’t have left his place in this state.

After half a month of investigation yielding no results, Zhongshu’s parents resorted to accessing his social media accounts and posting messages online to seek clues.

At the time, while Liu Xing sympathized with Zhongshu’s parents, he felt there was little he could do to help. After all, their conversations were there for all to see.

So, gradually, Liu Xing forgot about the incident, forgetting he had such an online friend.

But now, the reason Liu Xing recalled Zhongshu was because he suddenly realized that many details of the module Zhongshu designed were strikingly similar to the situation in Tokyo!

Zhongshu had told Liu Xing that, to evade the Harmony Divine Beast, the blueprint for the fictional metropolis was Tokyo. He then designed a secret cult that worshiped the Deep Ones, one of the most important secret cults in the module. Players who interacted with this cult would discover its followers plotting something clandestine within a university—a scenario that closely resembled the Deep Diving Society.

Additionally, the other two major secret cults in the fictional city included one that had just completed a transformation. This cult’s predecessor was one of the top mafia organizations in the country, which bore similarities to the Shadow Clan Liu Xing had encountered before.

As for the last secret cult, Zhongshu tantalized Liu Xing with a mystery, saying its situation was unique and would only be understood when Liu Xing personally ran the module.

But the most crucial detail was that Zhongshu told Liu Xing about the beginning of the module—how a minor secret cult was destroyed by a mysterious organization, prompting players to investigate. Subsequently, several minor secret cults were attacked.

This was eerily similar to the current situation.

This revelation sparked a bold idea in Liu Xing’s mind—could the module he was currently in be part of Zhongshu’s module?! Moreover, Zhongshu’s sudden disappearance years ago seemed to be related to the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall!

Verifying this point was relatively easy, as Liu Xing remembered Zhongshu mentioning he had hidden an Easter egg in the module—the name "Zhongshu" engraved atop the tallest tower in the fictional city. Players could only discover it through an incredibly difficult Luck Judgment.

Of course, as Zhongshu’s best friend online, he had directly informed Liu Xing of the location of this name. So now, all Liu Xing needed to do was to check if those two characters were there.

With this in mind, Liu Xing spoke up, "If no one has any urgent matters this afternoon, how about we visit some tourist spots in Tokyo together? After all, we’ve been in Tokyo for quite some time and haven’t properly explored it yet."

Though Zhang Jingxu and the others weren’t quite sure what Liu Xing meant, since he suggested it, they had no objections. Besides, there was no rush at the moment.

So, after finishing the hotpot, Liu Xing and the others headed to Tokyo Skytree.

Also known as TokyoSkytree, its height of over 600 meters made it not only the tallest tower in Tokyo but also the tallest in the world.

Liu Xing and his companions arrived at the 450-meter observation deck of Tokyo Skytree.

Upon entering the observation deck, Liu Xing went to a corner, pretending to tie his shoelaces but actually examining the tiles in that corner.

And there, on one of the tiles, Liu Xing saw two "China" characters he didn’t recognize.

Just as expected!

Liu Xing couldn’t help but be astonished. He hadn’t expected to encounter Zhongshu’s designed module after so many years.

So, where was Zhongshu now?

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