Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

As they were being chased by the Security Guards, Liu Xing quietly signaled to his followers to cover him, and then took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the Archives Room, where Ming Hanxing and Ling Ishikawa also managed to slip in.

The three of them coincidentally entered the first-floor restroom of the Archives Room, where they found KP Fangs and activated the Private Room mode.

"Wow, Liu Xing, you’ve become Watanabe Ryuusei No wonder I found it strange when I entered this module and saw that the memories in the newspaper were off. I thought we had already wiped out, and Bai Hecheng could proceed with the Ritual Ceremony smoothly. But it turns out Bai Hecheng is dead too, and I was still feeling down about it," Ling Ishikawa said excitedly.

Ming Hanxing raised an eyebrow, looking surprised, and said, "So, Liu Xing, you must have gotten the highest rating in the newbie mission, right? I remember that if you get the highest rating, you can get a special character card that can automatically use an NPC’s abilities when you draw it, letting you possess an NPC and make them your character card."

Liu Xing nodded, not expecting Ming Hanxing to know so much, but it didn’t matter anymore since the special character card had already been used and there was no need to keep it a secret.

So, Liu Xing told Ling Ishikawa and Ming Hanxing what had happened after he used the special character card.

"Although the special character card says it’s random, in reality, you still need to choose a suitable NPC to possess. At the time, Yin En, you knew that the NPCs outside the control room were negligible, and among those in the control room, only Watanabe Ryuusei was still awake, so my special character card could only choose him."

After listening to Liu Xing’s explanation, Ling Ishikawa, who didn’t know Watanabe Ryuusei’s true identity, looked surprised and said, "Oh, so Watanabe Ryuusei is the chosen one in this module, no wonder he could still stay awake in that situation."

Liu Xing chuckled and revealed to Ling Ishikawa and Ming Hanxing that Watanabe Ryuusei was a follower of King Hastur in Yellow Robes and also a Cult Leader.

"Wow, Liu Xing, you’re really lucky to have possessed such a unique NPC You know, NPCs like that can be considered the final boss of the module. No wonder Shizuka and the others became your followers. This module is basically a sure win for us, and we’re like a team of ten," Ling Ishikawa said with excitement.

Ming Hanxing also smiled and nodded, saying, "The Cult Leader profession is pretty good, as it can develop a large number of NPC followers. In terms of overall strength, it’s hard to say how much higher it is than ordinary professions. However, the downside is also very obvious - it’s easy to become the target of everyone’s attacks in certain modules. But it’s okay for now. You can still develop your followers, Liu Xing, which will make it convenient for us to take action. After all, we need to unite to face the large cult organization we’re up against next!"

Ling Ishikawa also nodded without hesitation, smiling and saying, "That’s right, Liu Xing. You can find an opportunity to make us your followers later. My purple character card has a Swordsmanship talent, and its combat power is guaranteed. And if everything goes smoothly, the three of us should still be able to team up in the next module."

Liu Xing chuckled and nodded, "Of course, I’ll take care of it. Later, I’ll take you to find Honda Tetsuya, and then I’ll have a reason to tell you about the dark side of this school. At that time, I’ll persuade you to join my cult."

Everyone reached a consensus.

"Okay, let’s continue discussing the situation in this module. The current situation is already very clear - the fanatical believers in the school’s higher-ups have started a new round of Ritual Ceremonies, and our main quest is to stop it. However, the time limit for this module is a bit strange, and KP hasn’t given us a clear deadline yet. It looks like we’ll be killed one by one by the fanatical believers once the Ritual Ceremony is successful," Ling Ishikawa began to analyze.

Liu Xing nodded and proposed his own speculation, "I have a not-so-reliable guess that Morimoto Academy’s Ritual Ceremony this time is following the Five Elements theory - metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The first student who committed suicide used a knife, which belongs to metal, and the second student who jumped off a building was killed by a tree branch, which belongs to wood. The two student suicides were half a month apart, which suggests that the time limit for this module is within a month and a half?"

Liu Xing thought of the Five Elements theory because he suddenly remembered the layout of the Old Teaching Building area, which had a swimming pool in the back that could be used for a "water" killing, and according to Juri Sonoda’s description, there had been a fire on the top floor of the Old Teaching Building, which could be used for a "fire" killing. As for the final "earth" element, it was even simpler, since the Old Teaching Building had many places where students could be buried alive...

Liu Xing’s "Five Elements murder method" made Ling Ishikawa and Ming Hanxing look at each other in surprise, but as Liu Xing’s loyal teammate, Ling Ishikawa naturally stood on Liu Xing’s side, "I think Morimoto Academy’s use of the Five Elements to kill people is also very plausible, since the Island Nation also places a lot of emphasis on the Five Elements theory. We can investigate from this angle and might make some major discoveries."

The minority submitted to the majority.

Although Liu Xing saw that Ming Hanxing didn’t quite believe in the "Five Elements murder method," he still nodded.

At this time, the Private Room mode was about to end.

Liu Xing couldn’t help but laugh and say to Ling Ishikawa, "Yin En, it’s amazing that we’ve had such a strong connection, having done the same module three times in a row."

Ling Ishikawa nodded, smiling and saying, "Maybe this is fate. My Ling Ishikawa character card has only played one game, and I chose to transfer to Kyoto during the Interlude Growth because my character card was attacked by a mythical creature in the first module, so I had to transfer. Who would have thought I’d run into Liu Xing again? This parallel world is really small."

The Private Room mode ended, and Liu Xing led the way out of the restroom, bringing Ling Ishikawa and Ming Hanxing to a small room on the second floor of the Archives Room, which was Honda Tetsuya’s new single-person office. It was clear that Honda Tetsuya had been collectively ostracized by the other Archives Room teachers, or he wouldn’t have been given a separate office, or even a separate floor...

However, Morimoto Academy was a high-end school, so Honda Tetsuya’s office was still pretty good, with air conditioning and a computer. The only creepy thing was that Honda Tetsuya’s office had only one window, which faced the Old Teaching Building.

As a "suicide sanctuary," the Old Teaching Building still looked quite ominous.

At this time, Honda Tetsuya was standing with a vacant expression, shivering all over.

Liu Xing and the others exchanged a glance, and then Liu Xing walked up to Honda Tetsuya, patting him on the shoulder.

"Ah!" Honda Tetsuya was startled by Liu Xing, but when he saw Watanabe Ryuusei in front of him, he felt a bit relieved.

"Ryuusei, what are you doing here at this time? Isn’t this during class hours? If I’m not mistaken, shouldn’t you be having a new teacher’s class? If you don’t go back, you’ll give the new teacher a bad impression."

It’s worth noting that Honda Tetsuya was indeed a good teacher.

At this time, Ming Hanxing stood up, smiling and saying, "Hello, Teacher Honda. I’m Watanabe Ryuusei’s new teacher, and I’ve called him here to ask you some questions."

Honda Tetsuya, although looking unwell, still managed to force a smile and said to Ming Hanxing, "So, what questions do you have for me, Teacher Ming?"

Liu Xing intervened, saying, "Teacher Ming wants to ask you about the school’s affairs, especially what happened on the Yueshihao cruise ship. The school is trying to harm us, and we want to know how."

Honda Tetsuya’s eyebrows furrowed, but he still nodded and revealed the dark side of Morimoto Academy.

After all, Honda Tetsuya had already broken up with Fujiwara teacher, or rather, was directly kicked out by Fujiwara teacher, so Honda Tetsuya no longer had any feelings for the school.

Ming Hanxing and Ling Ishikawa were temporarily stunned by the explosive news, and Liu Xing took the opportunity to say to Honda Tetsuya, "Teacher Honda, why don’t you leave this school now? I suspect the school is also planning to harm you, since you ruined their plans."

Honda Tetsuya sighed and said helplessly, "I’ve thought about it too, but I signed a contract with the school. If I leave within this semester, I’ll have to compensate the school with 500,000 yuan (approximately $72,000 USD). That’s a huge sum, and I can’t afford it, so I can only stay in the school and wait for a few months to pass. After all, Morimoto Academy is a big deal, and I’m just a ordinary person who can’t afford to offend them. I can only hope they don’t discover my problems, since I didn’t take a stand and directly fainted back then."

Liu Xing nodded, not saying much.

At this time, Ming Hanxing came back to his senses and asked, "So, Teacher Honda, do you have any discoveries about the two recent suicide cases?"

As soon as Ming Hanxing finished speaking, Honda Tetsuya couldn’t help but shiver and said with difficulty, "I saw it."

Liu Xing’s eyebrows rose, knowing what Honda Tetsuya’s four words meant - Honda Tetsuya saw the Red-Clothed Female Ghost!

"Teacher Honda, do you mean you saw the legendary Red-Clothed Female Ghost?!" Ling Ishikawa couldn’t help but feel a chill.

Honda Tetsuya nodded, pointing to the Old Teaching Building across from them, "Yesterday when I was leaving work, I remembered to close the window, and I happened to glance at the Old Teaching Building. I saw a Red-Clothed Female Ghost on the rooftop, which scared me out of my wits. But when I came back to my senses, she had disappeared."

"I thought I was just hallucinating due to stress, but when I got back, I remembered Suzuki Ryu, who also saw the Red-Clothed Female Ghost and died the next day. So, I came to school early today and saw Suzuki Ryu’s body hanging from a tree!"

"I was panicked, and I went to the Archives Room to look up the first suicide student’s file. I found out that the student’s name was Jin Ziyuan, and I remembered she came to the Archives Room the day before she died. Following this pattern, when someone sees the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, they’re the next to die!"

Liu Xing’s eyebrows rose, and he looked back at Ling Ishikawa and Ming Hanxing, implying that this was indeed the "Five Elements Murder Method".

The first victim was named Jin Ziyuan, with the character "gold" in her name, which naturally meant the source of everything. The second victim was named Suzuki Ryu, with the characters "gold" and "wood" in his name.

Now, Honda Tetsuya, who saw the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, had the character "wood" in his name, and "田" (field) naturally had "water" in it. Therefore, the next victim would be Honda Tetsuya, which was already certain.

By the way, Liu Xing also thought of the person who might become the last victim - Lu Tianya, since the student council president’s name had the character "土" (earth) in it, and she was also an important NPC in the player’s camp.

Thinking of this, Liu Xing decided to tell Honda Tetsuya about the "Five Elements Murder Method", which made Honda Tetsuya’s eyes even more desperate... After all, he was the next to die.

So, Liu Xing could only encourage Honda Tetsuya, saying, "Teacher Honda, don’t worry too much. This Red-Clothed Female Ghost is probably just a school-made hoax. They just want to shift all the blame to a non-existent Red-Clothed Female Ghost. It’s clear that Jin Ziyuan’s murder weapon hasn’t been found yet, which means someone must have killed her and made it look like a suicide. And Suzuki Ryu was also pushed from the rooftop and died on the tree branch. I even suspect someone directly nailed him to the tree branch. As for the surveillance cameras, they’re all under the school’s control, and it’s obvious they can be faked!"

Liu Xing’s explanation made Honda Tetsuya feel a bit more at ease.

"Okay, Teacher Honda, set my phone number as an emergency contact. If you discover anything, just call us, and we’ll be there in two or three minutes at most," Ming Hanxing said.

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