Liu Xing looked at the parchment and knew it most likely contained magic or some form of worship of an evil deity. Therefore, he suspected it must have been obtained by the castle's lord from a secret society three hundred years ago.
But now, Liu Xing faced a dilemma: should he take the parchment? If nothing unexpected happened, it would undoubtedly be a crucial item in this Cthulhu action game, perhaps even a key one, directly influencing the plot.
However, parchment like this, emitting an ominous aura, gave people an extremely uneasy feeling. It was just as obvious as putting up a sign next to it, saying, "Take it, and you'll lose SAN."
Therefore, Liu Xing still felt a bit guilty. After all, Liu Xing's knowledge of Cthulhu Mythos was zero. If he rashly touched a mythical item like the parchment, he would inevitably lose SAN. He was also worried that the parchment would also carry other damaging effects, such as blindness, skin ulcers, and loss of speech. After all, gaining transcendental power came at a price, and Liu Xing didn't want to become a blind monk just yet.
However, the game was clearly in the middle to late stages, and it wouldn't be long before Liu Xing and the other players would face the boss, who was likely a magician.
Then, the parchment could also be part of the boss's equipment. In the context of Cthulhu Mythos, there was a clear difference between a magician casting spells with or without a spellbook.
Therefore, if Liu Xing took the parchment now, he would effectively weaken the boss's combat effectiveness.
Thinking of this, Liu Xing gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and took the parchment.
The moment Liu Xing picked up the parchment, he felt a chill invade his body, and he shuddered.
At this moment, a gloating KP004 stepped forward. "When you pick up this parchment, you'll feel a bone-chilling chill emanating from it, sweeping across your body. You'll experience an indescribable numbness. Therefore, all your attributes will be temporarily reduced by 10 points for 1 10 hours. Because this unimaginable situation has profoundly impacted your mental state, you will undergo a SAN check. Success will deduct two SAN points, while failure will deduct 1d6+2! So, let's have a delightful SAN check! I'm looking forward to seeing you go crazy!"
If a player loses more than five SAN points at once, they will enter a temporary state of insanity, experiencing one of ten randomly selected symptoms, including hysteria, amnesia, and stupor.
It was obvious that Liu Xing would lose at least two SAN points this time, and as much as eight.
"Well, then, let's begin," Liu Xing said resignedly.
The familiar sound of dice landing echoed, and Liu Xing nervously awaited the result.
Time check, 1d10, 3.
First, the time check for the temporary reduction in Liu Xing's attributes was a decent one, only three hours. The time should be around 1:30 now, so Liu Xing can recover and be back to peak form before the castle lord returns to the castle for the banquet.
But now came the highlight.
Willpower, 69/70 (temporary reduction of 10 points), success.
Thanks to the goddess of dice for her favor (definitely not some shady manipulation by the author!).
Liu Xing breathed a sigh of relief; he had nearly failed.
kp004 said with a tone of dismay, "What a lousy dice! I'll go replace it after this group run. I'll get one with lead."
Liu Xing felt as if he'd heard some incredible news.
kp004 realized he'd misspoken and immediately smiled, "Well, you're lucky. Although this supernatural situation caught you off guard, your extensive reading of paranormal fiction has helped you quickly adapt to it. You only lost two SAN points and gained two points of Cthulhu Mythos knowledge. (Cthulhu Mythos knowledge generally can't be acquired directly; it can only be gained through encountering mythical creatures, items, or events. The amount of Cthulhu Mythos knowledge gained increases with the amount of SAN lost. Of course, there are some special circumstances which we won't discuss here.) However, you also had auditory hallucinations just now, which makes you think the chill you felt was probably just an illusion caused by excessive tension. So, please undergo a psychoanalysis. If the analysis is successful, you can recover 1d2 SAN points."
Liu Xing raised a brow. He hadn't expected KP004 to go through such a tactic. To make him forget those explosive remarks, he'd actually let him undergo a psychoanalysis to restore his SAN. Normally, a successful psychoanalysis would confirm that he wasn't hallucinating and that the chill he'd felt wasn't an illusion, so his SAN wouldn't be restored. However, Liu Xing's psychoanalysis had a 70-point score, so the success rate was definitely higher than the failure rate. That's why KP004 had to perform such a strange test to silence him.
This was a good thing for Liu Xing. After all, as much SAN loss as possible was a good thing.
Seeing that Liu Xing had no objections, KP004 immediately conducted the test.
Psychoanalysis: 29/70, Success.
SAN Restored: 1d2, 2.
Liu Xing was lucky as always. This time, he not only got the parchment, but also didn't lose any SAN.
"You've analyzed your mental state and discovered that sneaking into this study caused you to become stressed. Therefore, you believe your previous birth events were merely hallucinations. However, because your SAN has been restored, you haven't gained any Cthulhu knowledge." kp004 said this, his tone slightly threatening.
Liu Xing naturally understood the underlying meaning of kp004's words, so he nodded with a smile, indicating that he and kp004 had reached a secret agreement.
Liu Xing carefully placed the parchment in his pocket, then surveyed the study again. Finding nothing worth exploring, he left.
Of course, Liu Xing also restored the study door to its original condition, ensuring that the returning castle lord wouldn't notice anything unusual.
Now, seeing that it was still early, Liu Xing decided to visit the room where the castle lord's daughter was staying. He felt that the castle lord's daughter was likely an important NPC, and that when the castle lord went out to visit friends, he would probably bring his daughter with him.
So, Liu Xing stood outside the castle lord's daughter's room.
PS: I collected a lot yesterday. Thank you all for your support. Thank you!