Chapter 7: The Society

After examining his first character card, Liu Xing had no intention of allocating his points right away and deciding on his skills. After all, he knew he was still a novice when it came to Cthulhu RPG Game. Acting rashly might expose his shortcomings, because in the Cthulhu RPG Game, any skill can be divine if used correctly.

So, Liu Xing decided to seek external help to perfect his character card's skills. Naturally, the external aid he referred to was the friend who introduced him to this game. That friend was currently in Rong City, just a ten-minute journey from Liu Xing's residence.

Temporarily setting aside his first character card, Liu Xing chose to enter his personal inventory to check out his additional rewards, including the character card with usage restrictions.

The personal inventory interface was very clean. At the top, it displayed Liu Xing's current points—50. Below that were storage slots, common in online games. They contained Liu Xing's amulet with the Elder Sign and an unactivated character card.

Liu Xing first examined the amulet with the Elder Sign. The Elder Sign was especially potent against lower-tier mythological creatures. At least in the Ghoul Zone of the game, Liu Xing believed this amulet could save his life. The amulet was labeled: Amulet with Elder Sign (low quality). Crafted by someone knowledgeable in the Cthulhu Mythos, its power is limited. Don't expect too much. This amulet can be materialized into the real world at the cost of some points.

"It can be exchanged into the real world?" Liu Xing was taken aback. The air around him seemed colder, and he felt as though Cthulhu was calling him from the distance. Even though Cthulhu was sealed under the sea, it could sometimes communicate with the outside world through telepathy, inducing nightmares, compulsive thoughts, or sometimes even imparting spells and incomprehensible knowledge. But because of the vast mental difference between humans and Cthulhu, those who mentally interact with it might go insane.

Could mythological creatures really exist in the real world? If the surreal platform of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall could exist, then surely a few mythological creatures wouldn't be too unusual?

Liu Xing consoled himself with this thought.

However, to be safe, he decided to exchange the amulet into reality. After carefully placing it in his wallet, Liu Xing felt much more at ease.

After settling this, he checked his phone. He had received a bank notification. It reminded him of the 100,000 yuan that had just been deposited into his account. This money was almost like a life-saving boon for him. "Well, I guess I'm lucky. I found a great job with a signing bonus of 100,000 yuan and earned another 500,000 from a single deal," he joked.

With 50 points left, enough to sustain him in the real world for over a month, Liu Xing wasn't eager to re-enter the terrifying game hall. No one would willingly embrace death, after all.

He closed his laptop and considered visiting home to leave a message, just in case. Given the high mortality rate of the Cthulhu RPG Game, he wouldn't be surprised if he died during the next session. But, on second thought, he decided against it, fearing he might inadvertently reveal the existence of the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall.

Glancing at his phone, Liu Xing noticed it was getting late. He took a bath and went to bed, burying his head in the sand, so to speak.

The next morning, at 10 o'clock sharp, Liu Xing groggily turned on his computer. The icon for the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall was still there. "It wasn't a dream after all," he muttered, slapping himself lightly.

Liu Xing tried to delete the game, but couldn't find the installation program for the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall. He felt that even if he did manage to remove it, it would make no difference.

"Since it's come, let's accept it." Liu Xing took out his phone, preparing to call a few friends to chat about life and lift his spirits.

"Huh?" Liu Xing suddenly noticed a new app on his phone — Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall mobile version.

Liu Xing was at a loss for words. He hadn't expected the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall to have a mobile version. It was truly keeping up with the times.

Curious, Liu Xing opened the app to see what this mobile version had to offer.

After tinkering for a while, he realized that the mobile version had the same functionality as the PC version. However, it allowed players to start the game anytime and anywhere. And the best perk for Liu Xing was that his phone would always be fully charged and have a full signal, with ultra-fast WiFi. He tested it, and the internet speed reached 10Gbps.

"Now I don't need to top up my phone bill." Liu Xing chuckled. It seemed he was now inseparable from this Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall.

Just as Liu Xing was about to exit the app, he received a private message notification.

"Are there scammers in this game too?" Liu Xing didn't think anyone in the game would recognize him.

"Hello, I am the Ghoul area manager of the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall's An Family. If you don't want to fight alone in the horror hall, please join our society."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. He hadn't realized you could form societies in the Cthulhu RPG Game. However, he remembered that in the Cthulhu Mythos, there were many secret societies devoted to recruiting followers for the Eldritch Gods... or should he say, sacrifices.

There was a link attached to the message. After some thought, Liu Xing decided to click on it.

Although the difficulty of the Cthulhu RPG Game wouldn't decrease with more players, being part of a group was certainly better than being alone. Especially since individual strength in the Cthulhu RPG Game was significantly suppressed.

Liu Xing clicked on the link in the message and was automatically redirected to the society's page.

Due to his current level, Liu Xing could only view societies in the Ghoul area. He quickly found the An Family's Ghoul branch, which was ranked first out of only twelve factions in the Ghoul region.

"It seems the An Family is quite powerful. Looks like it's a suitable place for a talented newcomer like me," Liu Xing mused, scratching his chin, and clicked to join.

"Ding! You have joined the Ghoul branch of the An Family."

The computer screen changed, revealing an interface resembling a QQ group chat.

"Welcome, newcomer," greeted an administrator named Du Liu.

Liu Xing replied politely, "Hello, I've just completed the beginner's quest."

He glanced at the society's member list. There were over 500 members, but only two or three were online.

Then again, who would be idle enough to stay logged into the Cthulhu RPG Game platform?

"Oh, in this group, over a hundred members have just completed the beginner's quest. You'll likely join the same game, so when you're about to start the second game, mention it in the group. That way, everyone can look out for each other," Du Liu advised in a long message.

"Oh," Liu Xing's eyes brightened. After all, a willing collaborator is more useful than anything else.

"That's good. I hope you can progress to the next region soon. We also have a branch of the An Family there," Du Liu concluded, then promptly went offline.