Chapter 24: The Contents of the Parchment

Chapter 24: The Contents of the Parchment

That was a close one.

Liu Xing heaved a sigh of relief upon confirming the temporary bout of madness afflicting Bai Hecheng. Under the rules set by the Cthulhu Mythos, there were ten potential temporary madness symptoms, with pseudoparalysis being one of the least severe. It only affected the person experiencing it, unlike other symptoms that could imbue the afflicted with a dangerous aggression.

Thus, in the misfortune that befell him, Bai Hecheng was lucky in an unlucky situation; he had neither succumbed entirely to misfortune at home nor brought excessive damage to the team.

However, the ordeal wasn't over just yet. "The rest of the players, having witnessed Bai Hecheng emanating an eerie chill, have suffered a great shock to your spirits. Please proceed with a 1d3 SAN check directly. Of course, since player Liu Xing has already encountered a similar situation, he will only lose 1 SAN point. Moreover, all players will gain Cthulhu Mythos knowledge equal to the SAN points deducted."

Predictably...

Liu Xing couldn't help but internally criticize Bai Hecheng's reckless actions, which led to the team's reduced SAN. But this was within the bounds of reason and expectation.

And so, the SAN check began.

Chen Ling, 2 points.

Wang Qi, 2 points.

Wang Siyi, 1 point.

Liu Xing, 1 point.

The others, including Chen Ling, were relatively fortunate, not rolling the maximum value of 3. Nevertheless, this unwarranted disaster was a cause of irritation for them. Bai Hecheng's folly had inadvertently caused a drop in their SAN points—a matter of great annoyance for anyone, especially in a life-or-death Cthulhu RPG game where SAN points are tantamount to life itself!

Enraged beyond restraint, Wang Qi stood up, ready to throw a punch at Bai Hecheng!

Liu Xing pondered whether he could excavate the garden directly to find this Private Room.

"If you really want to do that, you might try your hand at an extremely difficult Luck roll," KP004 suddenly suggested to Liu Xing.

A trap—it had to be a trap! Unsolicited favors imply a hidden agenda, be it malicious or thievish.

Liu Xing did not believe KP004 was so kind as to offer him a tip out of goodwill. Moreover, an extremely difficult Luck check meant that Liu Xing had to roll a 16 or less to succeed.

And KP004 had not mentioned what would happen if he failed this arduous Luck check.

But truth be told, Liu Xing felt he had already guessed the outcome. After all, he was contemplating disturbing the ground above Kro'zun's resting place, which was thrilling to even think about...

Hence, Liu Xing decisively abandoned the idea.

Just then, KP004 announced, "Okay, your Private Room time is over. Please adjust your mindset and language, and continue with the role-playing."

As soon as KP004 finished speaking, the effect of the Private Room ended.

Liu Xing immediately adopted a look of surprise and said to Bai Hecheng, "What's happened to you, Bai Hecheng?"

What Liu Xing didn't expect was Bai Hecheng's still cheerful demeanor as he responded, "Nothing much. It seems I triggered some mechanism when I opened this parchment, and I've become a bit numb, and... I suddenly can't see anything."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, not expecting Bai Hecheng's feigned disability to manifest as blindness, rendering him completely incapable of independent action.

Thus, after discussing with Wang Qi and others, they decided to have Chen Ling assist Bai Hecheng. After all, Wang Qi was currently so annoyed with Bai Hecheng he felt like giving him a beating, while Wang Siyi refused physical contact with Bai Hecheng on the grounds of "impropriety between men and women."N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.