Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Liu Xing shook his head solemnly and said, "It all depends on how much pain I’ll be in at that time. Right now, I feel like I can’t move at all. Every slight movement sends a wave of discomfort through my entire body."

Buke nodded, smiling, "That’s normal. Because even though your wounds have been treated, gunshot wounds are different from knife wounds. After all, they’ve pierced through you directly, so the healing process might be slower. And your wound is right in the chest area, which makes it easy to affect your entire body with even a slight movement. So, Liu Xing, it’s best for you to stay in bed for today. Oh, and if you need to use the bathroom, remember to press the button by the bed."

A sudden realization struck Liu Xing, and he immediately had a foreboding feeling.

Liu Xing then noticed that there were suddenly many buttons by his bedside. As a doctor in the real world, Liu Xing had heard of such beds... In simple terms, they were automated hospital beds. Patients only needed to press a button, and the bed would adjust automatically, activate the electric heating function, and most importantly, open the toilet function...

After all, some patients couldn’t move freely, so they could only take care of their personal needs in bed, which Liu Xing now found himself fitting into.

Thus, Liu Xing felt a sense of inexplicable humiliation...

After cracking a joke, Buke, along with Zhang Jingxu, left the room.

Liu Xing sighed and glanced at the clock in the room, realizing it was already seven in the evening.

After some thought, Liu Xing decided to take a nap to relieve his worries before attempting to get out of bed.

So, Liu Xing took the two bottles from the bedside table, swallowed a painkiller and a sleeping pill, then closed his eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, Liu Xing drifted into slumber.

And this time, Liu Xing found himself back in R’lyeh once again.

Looking at the ruins before him, Liu Xing felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he were about to vomit.

However, despite feeling uneasy, Liu Xing decided to stay in R’lyeh. After all, here he could at least see his surroundings clearly, unlike in the perpetual mist where he wouldn’t even know how he would die...

Thus, Liu Xing decided to explore the ruins of R’lyeh.

And so, Liu Xing wandered aimlessly through the ruins of R’lyeh for more than ten minutes, yet still saw no signs of life, only discovering numerous sculptures.

And these sculptures mostly depicted various poses of Cthulhu, after all, this was Cthulhu’s lair.

Just as Liu Xing was admiring a rather intact Cthulhu sculpture, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps, as if several people were walking briskly.

Furrowing his brows, Liu Xing subconsciously looked towards the source of the footsteps, glimpsing several figures darting past through the crevices of the ruins.

Liu Xing could confirm that what he saw were indeed "human" figures, not "Deep One" figures.

So, Liu Xing thought about calling out to those people, but immediately dismissed the idea. He couldn’t be sure whether they were friend or foe, whether they would harm him. After all, he still hadn’t figured out why he could come to R’lyeh in his dreams, so he dared not ascertain how any mishaps in his dream would affect him in reality...

Thus, Liu Xing could only choose to follow the footsteps ahead and continue forward with those people.

Soon enough, Liu Xing found that those people had entered a cave.

The entrance of this cave was mostly blocked by collapsed buildings, leaving only a crevice through which a person could crawl.

After some thought, Liu Xing decided against risking entering the cave, as he had no idea what lay inside.

However, at that moment, Liu Xing realized that he seemed to have arrived in the residential area of R’lyeh, as the surroundings were filled with collapsed house ruins, and amidst the wreckage, Liu Xing also spotted a lot of miscellaneous items like furniture and weapons.

Liu Xing couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, suddenly remembering that R’lyeh not only housed Cthulhu in slumber but also many of Cthulhu’s kin.

Liu Xing began to feel somewhat anxious. Would there be awakened Cthulhu kin in R’lyeh now?

According to Murphy’s Law, the more you don’t want something to happen, the more likely it is to happen.

Suddenly, Liu Xing caught a whiff of a pungent fishy smell coming from behind him. He instinctively turned around and saw a group of Deep Ones standing behind him, glaring at him menacingly.

These Deep Ones were vastly different from the ones Liu Xing had encountered before. They were much larger in size, at least exceeding three meters in height, and their scales were already greenish-black. Most importantly, these Deep Ones were armed with various cold weapons, clearly not to be trifled with.

In short, Liu Xing knew he definitely couldn’t defeat these Deep Ones, not even one of them.

So, Liu Xing’s only thought now was to escape, but he also realized that he couldn’t move his legs anymore.

Thus, Liu Xing could only watch helplessly as those Deep Ones approached him.

And then, Liu Xing woke up.

Sweating profusely, Liu Xing stared at the ceiling, unable to help but feel relieved that he had woken up at a critical moment. Otherwise, he might have been torn apart in his dream.

However, at this moment, Liu Xing suddenly felt as if he were being watched.

Following that gaze, Liu Xing saw a figure dressed in yellow robes, their face completely shrouded in shadow, standing silently at the foot of his bed.

King Hastur in Yellow Robes?!

At this, KP Li Shunchan spoke up, "Although you’ve seen the Yellow King, as you are a follower of the Yellow King, under the patronage of the Yellow King, you won’t lose any sanity points because of this."

With KP Li Shunchan’s confirmation, Liu Xing was sure that the Yellow King standing before him was real, not someone playing cosplay. However, Liu Xing was still puzzled. Why would the Yellow King appear before him? Could it be that the Yellow King had also noticed his strange dreams?

And at that moment, the Yellow King spoke, "My humble follower, do you know why I’ve come to find you?"

At this moment, memories from Watanabe Ryuusei also surfaced in Liu Xing’s mind, memories about what to pay attention to when communicating with the Yellow King.

Liu Xing nodded respectfully and said, "Master, your visit must be about the dream I just had. I saw those damned heretics—the Deep Ones in my dream. So, the place I dreamed of must be the legendary R’lyeh."

The Yellow King nodded, smiling, "Indeed, the place you dreamed of is indeed R’lyeh, the place where my archenemy Cthulhu slumbers. And the reason you dreamt of that place is because Cthulhu has noticed you. It wants to draw you into the dream realm of R’lyeh and then kill you there, thereby causing you to lose your soul and become a vegetable in reality."

A chill ran down Liu Xing’s spine. He hadn’t expected that if he died in the dream realm, it would actually affect him in reality.

But Liu Xing didn’t forget to flatter the Yellow King, "I see. Then, I suppose, Master, you came to rescue me from the dream realm?"

"Of course. You are my only recognized follower in the human world. How could I just stand by and watch you get hurt by Cthulhu? However, I’ve also just noticed that on Earth, Cthulhu’s kin are stirring. Their goal is likely to awaken Cthulhu from R’lyeh. And when Cthulhu awakens, the entire Earth will be ruled by Cthulhu. So, I assume you wouldn’t want to see that scene." The Yellow King spoke.

Liu Xing nodded earnestly, "Of course not. So, please, Master, lend us your aid."

The Yellow King pondered for a moment, and a bracelet suddenly materialized in his hand. "I will try to stop Cthulhu. But before that, Cthulhu and I had made a pact. We agreed that we cannot personally intervene with each other’s followers and kin. So, I can only send you to deal with Cthulhu’s human followers. And this bracelet is the only help I can offer you."

The bracelet in the Yellow King’s hand suddenly disappeared and reappeared in Liu Xing’s hand.

The Yellow King’s Bracelet (Only usable by character card Watanabe Ryuusei), a bracelet once worn by the Yellow King. Because it still carries the aura of the Yellow King, the wearer will be partially immune to the influence of other Great Old Ones and completely immune to sanity checks upon encountering mythical creatures. When necessary, the wearer can permanently sacrifice certain attribute values to gain the Yellow King’s assistance.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. Judging from the effects of this bracelet, he had to admit it was a divine artifact. However, the price to use it was still substantial. Becoming a fanatic of the Yellow King and having to fulfill the missions provided by the Yellow King essentially meant becoming an advanced henchman for the Yellow King...

But most importantly, he was serving the Yellow King, not Hastur!

That was a bit annoying...

But for now, Liu Xing had no choice but to put on the bracelet. After all, the Yellow King was standing right in front of him, and he had no other options.

After wearing the bracelet, Liu Xing suddenly felt admiration and reverence towards the Yellow King. He felt that whatever the Yellow King said was right, and he would do whatever the Yellow King asked without hesitation.

He couldn’t deny that although he detested and resisted this feeling, he knew he couldn’t resist it now.

Since he couldn’t resist, he could only accept his fate.

Seeing Liu Xing put on the bracelet, the Yellow King said satisfactorily, "That’s right. From now on, Cthulhu won’t be able to influence you anymore. But you still need to be careful because Cthulhu might have informed its followers about your situation. Its followers will definitely come looking for trouble. So, when you return to the Island Nation, you must quickly develop more followers for me."

As the Yellow King finished speaking, KP Li Shunchan continued, "Because player Liu Xing has gained the trust of the Yellow King, the character card Watanabe Ryuusei will activate a special value—Yellow King’s Reward Points. When the player completes missions provided by the Yellow King, they will receive a certain number of Yellow King’s Reward Points. And when the accumulated Yellow King’s Reward Points reach a certain amount, the player will receive rewards from the Yellow King. Now, player Liu Xing has received the first mission provided by the Yellow King—developing followers (long-term)."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xing’s mindset finally balanced out somewhat. At least he wasn’t just working for the Yellow King for nothing, and the rewards the Yellow King could provide should be quite good.

Thus, Liu Xing earnestly said, "No problem, my Lord. When I return to the Island Nation, I will quickly expand the Worshipers of the Yellow Sect."

The Yellow King nodded and said, "That’s good. When you develop enough followers for me, I will come to you again and give you the rewards you deserve. Well, I have to leave now because I can’t stay on Earth for too long."

After the Yellow King finished speaking, he disappeared directly.

As the Yellow King left, Liu Xing felt the admiration and awe he had towards the Yellow King dissipate. This made Liu Xing couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief because that feeling was really uncomfortable.

But he had to admit, the Yellow King was quite easy to talk to and treated him fairly well. He could be considered a decent "boss."

Thinking this, Liu Xing opened the character panel and checked the "Yellow King’s Reward Points."

Simply put, the Yellow King’s Reward Points were an accumulation reward system. When it reached 100, the player would receive the first reward, then 200, 300... after reaching 1000, it would be 2000, 3000... and so on.

As for the mission provided by the Yellow King—developing followers (long-term), every thousand Worshipers of the Yellow Sect developed would earn the player 100 Yellow King’s Reward Points. And there was no time limit. It seemed that until the Yellow King called off this mission, Liu Xing could continue to earn Yellow King’s Reward Points through it.

And now, the number of followers of the Worshipers of the Yellow Sect had reached 457. It seemed that Honekawa Suneo and the others had been very successful in their missionary work on the Island Nation. Liu Xing felt that it wouldn’t be long before he could receive the first reward from the Yellow King.

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