Chapter 60

Still no?

Leaning on the door, Yu Yi took out the newspaper.

After a day of touring around, Yu Yi arranged for Lilice to stay at a different hotel. He was exhausted.

“KP, I would like to play Call of Cthulhu.”

[Why are you trying again? I told you that there’s no point trying if you only have 15 Cthulhu myth points. Moreover, I have to give you a check of -15 points. Unless you get 1 point in your dice roll, there’s no way you can get any information.]

[. rd = 38/15-15, Failure]

Of course, he’d failed. There was nothing Yu Yi could do. After all, his Call of Cthulhu points were excessively low. On top of the KP’s punishment, Yu Yi basically could not obtain any information. Unless the universe showed its light of course.

“This was already the seventh day. I’m worried that I won’t have enough time. Six days have passed, but I haven’t made any progress. I don’t have any other choices.”

After keeping the newspaper, Yu Yi returned to another room. He had spent four days with Lilice. Apart from the incident on the first day, Lilice hadn’t left his side at all. Neither did the strange people come knocking on their door. It seemed like they could keep playing like this without the plot making any progress.

This wasn’t what Yu Yi wanted.

When Yu Yi first saw the newspaper, he knew immediately about one of The Great Old Ones that would appear in this plot. Firstly, the plot was set in a coastal city in New Zealand. Furthermore, according to the news, a strange island reef appeared in the Pacific Ocean in New Zealand’s territorial waters. There was neither an earthquake nor an undersea volcanic eruption. The island reef had simply appeared without any explanation. The picture of the island reef… It made Yu Yi so uncomfortable. The three-dimensional space could no longer explain the island reef’s existence.

At this time, Yu Yi had realised who would appear in the plot… Even if Yu Yi didn’t play a Call of Cthulhu, he knew that the reef was a pigment of Laleier, the mystical Undersea City. If he didn’t know what he was about to face, then he might as well have been an amateur.

Yu Yi wanted to try playing a Call of Cthulhu simply because he needed more information. So what if he knew it was Laleier? There was no way he dared to go alone. Apart from this, he had no other information anyway. Yu Yi also paid special attention to the astrology newspaper. There were no reports of ‘abnormal astrological movement’, which meant that it wasn’t yet time for the [Return of the Stars]. Laleier wouldn’t rise from the seas until then.

According to the method of exclusion, the Return of the Stars was out. That ruled out one method Cthulhu could use to break through his seals.

So he knew that one of The Great Old Ones was the cover monster of Call of Cthulhu, Cthulhu himself. Should he be glad that KP’s Mercy was the instance mission’s BUFF and that he knew how to operate a fishing boat in real life?

Who could the other two be? Could it be another Hasta battles Cthulhu instance mission? Hasta was indeed one of The Great Old Ones. Hmmm… I don’t think the KP would be this uninspired… Even if the other one was Hasta, who was the last one? Could it be Naya, who starts the war between Hasta and Cthulhu? Although it was likely, Naya was an Outer God and not a Great Old One. KP was clear that I would see at least three Great Old Ones in this game…

This instance mission truly had the difficulty of the Great Old One. To be honest, Yu Yi suspected Lilice’s identity. Could she be Cthulhu? However, after testing her extensively, Yu Yi was sure that Lilice wasn’t the White Silk Octopus Lady. Anyway, the White Silk Octopus Lady would still be hibernating. There was no reason for it to appear as a female human who pesters Yu Yi like a little child.

If it really was Cthulhu or an incarnation of him, it would be a massive blow to Yu Yi at 24 years old!

[Hey, why do you look like you’re about to die? To convenience your movements, I’ve arranged all the non-linear plot progressions into a linear one. Just follow the clues, and you’ll get more information.]

“No. Every time I think about facing all three Olden Days, my head hurts. Although one of them is definitely Cthulhu, I have no idea how to stop them from appearing. Sacrifice? Summon? Return of the Stars?”

This information was obtained by Yu Yi through the Super Tour. However, the shitty KP said that Yu Yi was free to do so. If Yu Yi won, the KP would admit defeat. Now… Indeed, it seemed like there wasn’t much use even if Yu Yi went on a Super Tour. He would still be helpless even if he knew their identities. The only consolation now was that Cthulhu hadn’t arrived yet, so he could continue playing.

However, Yu Yi didn’t have any artistic attribute points. Otherwise, he could try to have a neurological connection with Cthulhu. Perhaps Cthulhu would give Yu Yi a present in his dreams.

He laid on his bed, set his sleeping time, and closed his eyes.

[Do you choose to pause the game?]

He chose not to. Yu Yi still had lots of energy.

[. rd = 71/50-15, Eavesdrop Failed]

When Yu Yi opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was KP’s prompt. His eavesdrop had failed again.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Sure enough, Lilice’s door was ajar. There were some water stains at the doorway, but the items in the room were impeccable. There was no sign of a mess. Lilice must have left herself. She didn’t bring anything with her. Damn… Why didn’t my eavesdrop work at such critical moments!

He sniffed the air gently. The smell of the sea permeated the air. Lilice didn’t leave herself. Someone had come to pick her up. However, from the clean and tidy state of the room, she must have left voluntarily. Could it have been one of the Deep Divers? Probably not, there was no fishy smell.

“KP, Inspect.”

[. rd = 45/60-15. Passed.]

It barely passed. Everything in the room became clear in Yu Yi’s vision. He inspected the room and found a message written in Hebrew.

[May you be safe, poor man.]

“This isn’t right. Nevermind, KP, can I use Timehound to go back in time and prevent her from leaving?”

[Of course. Of course you can, but you have to be prepared.]

Good, it seemed like he couldn’t jump back. There’s probably a massive monster waiting for him.

He would go to Linjing Street. He had wanted to go for the longest time. Since he had met Lilice at the start, he hadn’t found the time to go. Lilice was gone now, so he could get moving. If he didn’t, he would be too late.

But before that…

He took out the newspaper deftly.

“KP, I would like to play Call of Cthulhu!”

[You’re back at it again… can you be any less annoying?]

[. rd = 1/15-15, Passed, Great Success!]

[Oh damn?!]

It was here! The glimmer of light in the darkness of the universe! The glory of Great Success!

[In the Pacific Ocean, southeastern of New Zealand, is a small island reef. It made for a strange scenery. However, as you know, it isn’t any ordinary island reef. It is the striker of the clock of doom, the prelude to the horn of the sky! It is a palace, within which the Great Old One is sealed! Deep beneath the ocean floor, lies the Undersea City of Laleier at an unknown location. Although there would be no harbinger, you vaguely feel that the sleeping Great Old One was about to awaken! He will complete the curse of Laleier and return to rule the world once more.]

“Indeed, it was Laleier. KP, is this Cthulhu himself?”

Pushing the door open, Yu Yi walked out of the hotel.

[Why don’t you find out for yourself?]

If I go, I’ll never come back!