Liu Xing saw that the club didn't have any helpful information. The announcements simply stated which club members would play games on a certain date and time, with agreed-upon times for everyone to match up.
After a quick glance, Liu Xing turned off his phone and prepared to go out to find the friend who had gotten him into this Cthulhu game.
Liu Xing's friend was Wu Lei, also a Chengdu native. Like Liu Xing, he was a student at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and they had been classmates and roommates. Therefore, Liu Xing and Wu Lei had always been close. However, after completing his internship, Wu Lei chose not to continue working at the hospital, but instead opened a board game store and became a small business owner.
Coincidentally, Liu Xing now lived only ten minutes away from Wu Lei's store, so he often visited, enjoying tea and snacks, chatting and bragging with Wu Lei. Of course, Liu Xing also watched Wu Lei and others play Cthulhu games online.
This time, Liu Xing hoped Wu Lei could help him determine the skill point allocation for his character cards, as Wu Lei's abilities in this area far surpassed his own.
So, Liu Xing arrived at Wu Lei's board game shop, where he was tidying up.
After all, a board game shop, like a restaurant, needs to make its customers feel at home, so Wu Lei cleans up three times a day. For example, right now, Wu Lei had just opened the shop and was preparing to clean up before officially opening.
Liu Xing walked into the shop, casually greeted Wu Lei, and then very willingly picked up a rag and began helping Wu Lei clean.
A moment later, the shop was clean. Wu Lei opened the freezer, handed Liu Xing a can of Coke, and said with a smile, "Liu Xing, how did your interviews go these past two days?"
"What else can I do? Which hospital would accept a recent college graduate like me? These crappy hospitals basically only accept graduate students these days." Liu Xing took the Coke and sighed helplessly.
If he'd passed the interview, Liu Xing felt he wouldn't have joined that damn Cthulhu role-playing game hall...
Wu Lei had been prepared for Liu Xing's answer. After all, like Liu Xing, Wu Lei had interviewed at several hospitals after his internship but wasn't accepted. That's why he chose to open a board game store, unwilling to put up with the humiliation.
"So what are you going to do? Are you going home?" Wu Lei knew Liu Xing's family also ran a clinic, so he assumed Liu Xing was saying goodbye today.
Liu Xing opened his Coke, took a sip, and shook his head. "No, no, no, I'm not planning on going home like this. A friend found me a part-time job online. The income is pretty good, enough to support myself."
"Online part-time jobs, are they reliable? Don't run into scammers." Wu Lei looked at Liu Xing with a look of concern for a fool.
Liu Xing raised a brow and said, "Wu Lei, what do you mean? I, Liu Xing, wouldn't be so easily fooled. Besides, they've already transferred my first month's salary."
Wu Lei smiled and shrugged, then moved the sign to the door. "That's good. If you need living expenses, remember to let me know. Although my board game store is small, the income is still quite considerable. I can support you without any problem."
"Get lost! How can someone like you care about me? Oh, I came to see you today for something serious. I just bought a character card on a whim. Please help me allocate the skill points," Liu Xing scolded with a smile as he took out a piece of paper with the attributes of Liu Xing's character card written on it.
Wu Lei looked at Liu Xing with some surprise. "What? You finally got your character card! Show it to me!"
Wu Lei had been trying to convince Liu Xing about the Cthulhu game for about three years, but Liu Xing kept coming up with various excuses and refused to get his own. Without a character card, he couldn't play the game.
Thus, Wu Lei had been constantly nagging Liu Xing about this for the past few years, constantly urging him to get his character card quickly. Then, as the seasoned veteran, he could guide Liu Xing into the game.
Wu Lei took Liu Xing's character card. "Are you sure you didn't just make up those stats? These stats are pretty good."
Liu Xing rolled his eyes and said, somewhat speechlessly, "You're slandering my character. I remember someone in an online group rolled the dice a few extra times when getting a character card."
A while ago, when Liu Xing came to watch Wu Lei run an online group, Wu Lei was very dissatisfied with a certain stat on his character card, so he rolled the dice twice more to get a satisfactory value. He even claimed in the online group that he only rolled once.
Because online groups are highly randomized, your last group might be set in the Lighthouse Nation of 1920 (most of the original Cthulhu Mythos takes place during this time period), and your next one might be in an island nation in the 21st century (because many online Cthulhu group videos are from island nation websites, many original modern scenarios in China are set in island nations). This vast time span requires players to create a new character card. Online groups don't have the same level of peer review as real-life groups, so many people choose to "cheat" when rolling dice to determine attribute values, rolling the dice repeatedly until they reach a satisfactory value (the author occasionally does this, too, occasionally).
Wu Lei's face flushed at Liu Xing's words, and he muttered something like, "Rolling the dice a few times when creating a character card in an online group doesn't count as cheating."
After a while, Liu Xing, under Wu Lei's guidance, determined the skill point allocation for his character card.
First up is credit. Liu Xing has invested 50 professional skill points in it. Fifty credit points makes Liu Xing a wealthy player in the Cthulhu role-playing game, giving him the ability to purchase items unavailable to lower-credit players, such as body armor and pistols. He also has enough money to hire a private investigator or bodyguard.
Next is the Doctor's most important skill—First Aid. First Aid allows players to heal injured players in combat. Healers are essential in any game, so Liu Xing invested 80 points in it, essentially guaranteeing a successful First Aid check.
Next is Medicine. Medicine diagnoses symptoms of illness, poisoning, and trauma, then provides treatment outside of combat. The treatment is more effective than First Aid, so Liu Xing dedicated 78 professional skill points to Medicine.
Finally, Liu Xing added 70 points each to Psychology and Psychoanalysis. Psychology can determine whether someone is lying, which is crucial in a Cthulhu role-playing game, as a single misinformation could easily lead to a team wipe. Psychoanalysis, on the other hand, is a powerful skill that has a chance to revive a player who has fallen into madness. After all, players who have fallen into madness are often the trigger for a team wipe.
Liu Xing's interest skill points went to Persuasion (60 points), Reconnaissance (40 points), and Jumping (70 points). That's right, Liu Xing chose "Jumping," a skill considered a magical skill in the Cthulhu Mythos.
Persuasion and Reconnaissance, as the names suggest, need no further introduction. These two skills are essential for every player. Jumping, on the other hand, is a truly unique skill, as it can be used both as a dodge in combat and as a mobility tool during exploration, allowing him to reach places inaccessible by ordinary means.