Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

To be honest, Liu Xing was quite looking forward to meeting these four players, because he was curious about what they were thinking to actually consider orchestrating the Tokyo Skytree explosion. Such maneuvers were exceedingly rare even within the entire Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall.

However, at that moment, the TV screen suddenly switched, displaying footage of Liu Xing and others leaving the Tokyo Skytree.

Of course, this wasn’t a wanted notice for Liu Xing and the others; rather, it was a request from the authorities for them to visit the nearby police station for recording statements before the explosion occurred at the Tokyo Skytree. This was to assist the police investigation into the explosion.

"Wow, Zhang Jingxu, you guys are a bit lucky. If you had left a bit later, we might have only seen you on TV tonight," Zhang Shiwu said, somewhat astonished.

Liu Xing shrugged. It wasn’t just luck for their group; it was because players from different modules generally didn’t meet. Even if players from two modules decided to go to the same place at the same time, one of the module’s players would inevitably be delayed due to traffic or forgetting their wallet, etc., and just as luck would have it, the other module’s player had just left.

Of course, Zhang Jingxu couldn’t respond to Zhang Shiwu like that, so he could only pretend to be grateful and say, "That’s right, maybe all our luck in this life was spent on this incident. We had just left the Tokyo Skytree this afternoon, and then it exploded. It really startled us at the time, and to be honest, I’m still a bit scared now. If we had stayed at the Tokyo Skytree a bit longer, we probably wouldn’t have anything left now."

"But speaking of which, what are you guys planning to do now? Do you want to go to the nearby police station for recording?" Meng Mengzi asked curiously.

Zhang Jingxu shook his head decisively and said, "We definitely won’t go to the police station for recording now. It’s already this late, and if we go to the police station, we probably won’t get out for five or six hours. So even if we decide to go for recording, it will have to be tomorrow morning, so we can skip classes without guilt."

Liu Xing nodded in agreement. If given the choice now, Liu Xing would rather go to the police station for recording every day than attend one more class... because Liu Xing felt that if he attended another early childhood education class, he’d probably have to undergo a sanity points check in just a few days.

Because the topic of the Tokyo Skytree explosion was too heavy, Liu Xing and the others shifted the conversation after a few casual remarks.

At this point, Lu Tianya asked a question that Liu Xing had been wanting to ask for a long time, "By the way, Zhang Shiwu, is your name really Zhang Shiwu? It seems more like a nickname."

Su Ziche nodded beside him, expressing the same sentiment, "That’s right. The first time I heard the name Zhang Shiwu, I thought Zhang Shiwu was just pulling our leg, making up a name for himself. But then he showed us his ID, and it really was his name."

Zhang Shiwu shrugged, somewhat helplessly saying, "What can I do? I’m also desperate. Zhang Shiwu is the name my parents gave me, and I have no way to change it. Although I’ve thought about changing my name, my parents have kept the household registration book well hidden, so I’ve never had the opportunity... But speaking of which, I think my name is quite good. After all, it’s easy to write, and there’s hardly any trouble with having the same name as others. In a way, this name also gives off a mysterious vibe, like the name of a protagonist in some novel."

Liu Xing nodded. Zhang Shiwu’s name did give off an air of mystery, and it seemed like the name of a member of some mysterious organization in a novel. After all, these days, the mysterious characters in novels were either named after zodiac signs or numbers.

"So, Zhang Shiwu, does your name have any significance? Did your parents mention anything about it?" Lu Tianya continued to ask curiously.

Zhang Shiwu scratched the back of his head and said, "My mom mentioned that because I was born on August 15th, they originally planned to name me Zhang Zhongqiu, but they thought Zhang Zhongqiu sounded strange, so they just changed it to Zhang Shiwu... Of course, I think my parents decided to name me Zhang Shiwu because their education levels are low, both having only completed primary school. So, to make it easier to write my name in the future, they named me Zhang Shiwu. After all, apart from his own name, my dad can barely write anything else."

Zhang Shiwu’s reason was quite reasonable. In the real world, Liu Xing had a classmate named Wang Yitian. Initially, his parents named him Wang Fansheng, but after he entered kindergarten, they changed it to Wang Yitian because when his parents were handling various procedures, they found Wang Fansheng’s name too cumbersome to write, so they just changed it to the easier-to-write Wang Yitian...

After discussing Zhang Shiwu’s name, Liu Xing and the others shifted the topic to club activities. Although Meng Mengzi had described the China Society’s club activities as "eating, drinking, playing, and having fun," Liu Xing and the others felt that Meng Mengzi’s description was a bit unreliable.

So this time, Zhang Jingxu was the one who asked Mu Yao.

Mu Yao thought for a moment before saying, "Our China Society’s official club activities are actually quite few. Basically, usually, everyone just goes to the club room to drink tea and chat. Apart from the campus festival organized by the school, we don’t have many external activities. And when it comes to the campus festival, nowadays, we only need to wear traditional Hanfu for a day... Oh, and some activities organized by the school or student union are held by clubs, such as debates, music competitions, etc. If you guys want to participate, just let me know, and I’ll register your names."

With a definite answer, Liu Xing and the others felt relieved.

At this point, Zhang Shiwu suddenly said, "By the way, the latest time for club activities according to the school rules is nine o’clock in the evening. After nine, the Old Teaching Building where club activities are held will be closed. So, if you guys plan to stay in the club room for a long time, remember to set an alarm, because the Security Guards responsible for closing the Old Teaching Building are quite strict. They will close the doors promptly at the designated time. Also, all the windows of the Old Teaching Building are locked. If you get locked in the Old Teaching Building, you’ll have to spend the night in the club room or choose to break a window to get out."

Nine o’clock, doors closed directly.

This was important information for Liu Xing and the others.

Zhang Jingxu thought for a moment before saying, "I see. In that case, can you guys give us a key to the club room?"

Meng Mengzi nodded, taking out her purse and saying, "Zhang Jingxu, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten. Because our China Society is quite user-friendly, everyone has a key to the club room, ensuring that everyone can enter and leave the club room at any time. But remember to lock the door when leaving the club room, because there are quite a few valuable things inside."

After saying that, Meng Mengzi took out five keys and handed them to Liu Xing and the others.

Because Ming Hanxing wasn’t technically a member of the China Society, Meng Mengzi hadn’t planned to give him a key.

However, Ming Hanxing had already agreed with Liu Xing, and now Ming Hanxing could also be considered half of a mentor for the China Society.

Liu Xing took the keys, which meant they could start their Private Room time tonight.

Originally, Liu Xing and the others hadn’t planned to start Private Room time so early. After all, this module’s Main quest didn’t have a set time, and from the content of the Main quest, Liu Xing and his team could easily use their four years of college life to complete it. So, Liu Xing and the others cherished this precious Private Room time.

However, due to the disruption caused by the Tokyo Skytree explosion, Liu Xing and the others had to conduct a Private Room session first to determine how to contact players from other modules.

Therefore, when they came to Shudu Restaurant, Liu Xing and the others reached a consensus to try to have a Private Room session tonight. So, Liu Xing and the others originally thought they would need to spend some effort persuading Meng Mengzi and the others to hold another club activity in the club room tonight, but it turned out that it wasn’t necessary.

However, now another problem arose. The time was already seven o’clock in the evening, so for safety’s sake, Liu Xing and the others had to arrive at the club room around eight o’clock to avoid the tragedy of being locked in the Old Teaching Building.

So, after exchanging glances, Liu Xing and the others unconsciously hastened their meal.

Although time was tight, Zhang Wenbing didn’t forget to inquire about the Mysterious Stories Club from Meng Mengzi and the others.

After all, barring any accidents, the Mysterious Stories Club was Liu Xing and the others’ Main quest target.

"The Mysterious Stories Club. Shortly after you left this morning, Teacher Liu Xin returned from the Mysterious Stories Club. As we said before, after the merger, the Mysterious Stories Club has become quite lively. The original members of the Urban Legends Club and the Strange Tales Club were like water and fire, completely incompatible. The two groups directly divided their club room and mostly kept to themselves. However, the original members of the Urban Legends Club were more proactive and occasionally provoked the original members of the Strange Tales Club."

"As for the advisor of the Mysterious Stories Club, Tanaka Fuji, naturally, he firmly stood on his Oyamaya side. However, because of Tanaka Fuji’s usual behavior, his prestige among the students was not high. So, Tanaka Fuji couldn’t control the situation at all. The original members of the Urban Legends Club basically ignored Tanaka Fuji. When Teacher Liu Xin went to find Tanaka Fuji, he was almost dragged away by Tanaka Fuji to help suppress the members of the original Urban Legends Club."

"However, Teacher Liu Xin knew what Tanaka Fuji was planning, so he quickly found an excuse to come back. However, just as Teacher Liu Xin had taken two steps out of the Mysterious Stories Club’s club room, he heard Oyamaya and the president of the original Urban Legends Club, Kobayashi Nagayasu, getting into a conflict. It quickly escalated from a verbal altercation to a physical confrontation, and eventually, it naturally evolved into a brawl. However, this time, the original members of the Strange Tales Club were quite brave and decisive. When they started fighting, they didn’t hesitate at all and showed no mercy. They directly took on five opponents, and a total of six people were sent to the hospital." Zhang Shiwu vividly described.

Liu Xing couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. Indeed, after the merger of the Strange Tales Club and the Urban Legends Club, Oyamaya and the members of the Deep Diving Society knew that continuing to tolerate would put them in a disadvantageous position. So, now they had found a pretext and launched a counterattack.

It seemed that before long, Oyamaya and the others would find a way to deal with the original members of the Urban Legends Club or directly assimilate them.

Liu Xing leaned towards the latter option. After all, it was almost impossible to get the original members of the Urban Legends Club to leave the Mysterious Stories Club through normal means. And now, if the Deep Diving Society used some radical methods, it might attract the attention of the Island Nation authorities. If the Island Nation authorities didn’t find the "mastermind" behind those four players, then Liu Xing believed that the Island Nation authorities wouldn’t mind letting the Deep Diving Society take the blame.

After all, someone had to take the blame, and the Island Nation authorities needed this opportunity to set an example.

So, Liu Xing was now certain that Oyamaya and the others would use a relatively peaceful way to "resolve" the "internal conflicts" of the Mysterious Stories Club.

Thinking of this, Liu Xing had a plan.

At seven forty-five, with the tacit cooperation of Liu Xing and the others, the dinner party finally ended.

After confirming that Meng Mengzi and the others wouldn’t go to the club room but would go shopping instead, Zhang Jingxu let Lu Tianya "accompany" Meng Mengzi and Mu Yao.

Then, Liu Xing and the others went directly to the China Society’s club room and found KP Bamboo Rat to start their Private Room time.

"I can’t believe players from the adjacent module are so formidable. They actually blew up the Tokyo Skytree. If we weren’t players ourselves, we would have had to answer to them today," Ling Ishikawa complained.

Liu Xing shrugged, somewhat puzzled, "I’ve been wondering all along, what could these players possibly gain from blowing up the Tokyo Skytree? And from the footage we’ve seen, they didn’t intend to hide their identities from the beginning, so they should have been prepared to be exposed... So, what exactly are they aiming for?"

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