"Main Quest: Stay in Ains Castle for more than 12 hours at a time, then leave Ains Town to complete the game. Leaving Ains Castle early will be considered a failure, but if you discover the secrets of Ains Castle, you can leave Ains Town and complete the game, and receive a bonus to your completion rating."
"By the way, I'm the KP (Known as the host of this Cthulhu game, who advances the plot based on player actions, and can also be considered a GM in a regular game) 004. When players need to use a skill to make a decision, they can silently chant 004 to communicate with me, and then make the decision. At this point, players can choose whether to make an open or hidden bet. The result of an open bet is shared with all players, while the result of a hidden bet is only shared with the player making the decision. However, a hidden bet will generally produce the following sound effect, which will be heard by all players."
As KP004 spoke, Liu Xing heard the sound of a die landing. Although the sound was not loud, it was hard to ignore.
"Also, when multiple players are in a relatively closed environment, they can communicate with me and open a secret room. Within this room, they can interact with other players. Each time spent in the secret room lasts a maximum of five minutes, and the flow of time is synchronized with the outside world."
"Of course, as a friendly player, if interested, you can try to convince me to open a backdoor for you, but convincing me is difficult, hehe."
Liu Xing knew he might have encountered a malicious player this time.
As the host of the Cthulhu role-playing game, the player determines the direction of the plot to a certain extent. In reality, most players will choose to help players advance the plot correctly and will even favor players in some death decisions. Of course, there are also some unscrupulous players who will deliberately harm players and push them into a pit of fire. However, the most troublesome ones are malicious players like KP004, because you never know whether the path they point you to is a shortcut or a dead end...
Thinking of this, Liu Xing felt that his future was already bleak. "Okay, enough rambling, let's officially begin the game. I hope everyone performs well and puts on a good show."
After kp004 finished speaking, Liu Xing regained control of his body. After exchanging a glance with Chen Ling, they both simultaneously turned their gazes towards the three people who had just entered the tavern.
Two men and one woman. The two men looked to be in their early twenties, while the woman was in her thirties. Both were ordinary-looking, giving off the air of being indistinguishable from the crowd.
The clamor Liu Xing had just heard came from the two men. One, in a white shirt, was still chattering away, while the other, in a black T-shirt, sighed with a look of resignation, occasionally responding with a few words.
As for the middle-aged woman, she seemed unconcerned, completely oblivious to the matter, and simply ignored the two men beside her.
Although Liu Xing knew these three people were players, since they hadn't yet crossed paths in the storyline, he only glanced at them before heading straight to the tavern owner.
"Boss, do you have any breakfast options? My friend and I need something to eat," Liu Xing asked, pulling out his wallet and generously handing the tavern owner a hundred pounds.
The tavern owner's eyes lit up at Liu Xing's generosity. He immediately took the hundred pounds from Liu Xing's hand and said with a smile, "Oh, my dear Chinese friend, I'll arrange some local specialties for breakfast for you. By the way, are you visiting Einsburg? Then Einsburg Castle is a must-see."
Liu Xing smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course, but my friend's car has trouble, so I was wondering when the nearby auto repair shop will open?"
The tavern owner paused for a moment before replying, "Are you talking about Old John's auto repair shop? Then you're out of luck. Old John went to Manchester to restock some goods today, and I'm afraid he won't be back until three or four this afternoon."
Liu Xing frowned. According to this main quest, players needed to leave Ains Town to complete the mission. This Ains Town referred to the entire Ains Town area, not just the streets Liu Xing was currently occupying. Therefore, Liu Xing felt that the car would be a crucial means of transport for players leaving Ains Town.
Thus, Chen Ling's taxi had to be repaired before leaving Ains Town.
So, Liu Xing feigned embarrassment and said to the tavern owner, "Boss, we might be leaving Ains Town and returning to Manchester tomorrow. Could you please tell Old John to fix our car when he returns? It's parked at the entrance to Ains Town. We just need four tires replaced. The price is negotiable."
As Liu Xing spoke, he pulled another thousand pounds from his wallet and placed it in front of the tavern owner.
The benefits of Liu Xing's high credit rating became clear at this point. Although he didn't count the money in his wallet, he estimated it to be around two thousand pounds. Since this game would only last about a day, Liu Xing had no qualms about using money to "persuade" the tavern owner.
The power of money has been amplified in the abominable capitalist state. Without even needing to make a judgment, Liu Xing simply "persuaded" the tavern owner. The tavern owner happily accepted the money and assured Liu Xing, "Don't worry. As soon as Old John gets back, I'll have him fix his car and park it in front of my tavern. You can just drive up there, and I'll even fill up the gas tank!"
Liu Xing nodded in satisfaction, then found a table with Chen Ling and sat down, awaiting breakfast.
The other three players also sat down at the adjacent table, deliberately raising their voices to chatter. It was clear that they were trying to share their own storyline with Liu Xing and Chen Ling.
After all, the introduction is crucial, explaining why the player is here. While Cthulhu role-playing games offer relatively free action, they still need to be logically justified. For example, Liu Xing had come specifically to visit Einstein Castle, so he couldn't just turn around and leave without a clear reason.
Then, Liu Xing learned why these three people had come to Einstein Town.
The man in the white shirt turned out to be Bai Hecheng, a student at a university in the capital, who had come to England to prepare for studying abroad.
The man in the black T-shirt was Wang Qi, and the woman was Wang Siyi. Wang Siyi was Wang Qi's aunt. Wang Qi's parents had come to England with Wang Siyi, but they had returned to China for work, leaving Wang Siyi and Wang Qi alone.
After finishing his study abroad arrangements, Bai Hecheng met Wang Qi and Wang Siyi at a restaurant and helped them pay the bill, as they had forgotten to bring money. Wang Qi invited Bai Hecheng to join him, and the three of them began traveling together.
As a result, they took the wrong road on their way to Manchester. When they arrived at Ains Town, Wang Qi had forgotten to refuel his rental car, so he had to go back to Ains Town to find gas.
What left Liu Xing speechless was that Bai Hecheng seemed too engrossed in the story, constantly nagging about Wang Qi forgetting to refuel. Remember, this was just a plot point, not Wang Qi's actual forgetfulness. That's why Wang Qi and Bai Hecheng had just started arguing...
As for Wang Siyi, he had been paddling the entire time, staying out of the situation.
Liu Xing felt that these three teammates didn't seem very reliable...