Liu Xing leaned against the second-floor balustrade, his hands involuntarily raised in surrender. For a moment, he was at a loss for words, after all, this was the first time...well, possibly the last time, a gun was pointed at his head.
However, at that moment, Liu Xing noticed that Gary had, unbeknownst to him, put on a pair of sunglasses that completely hid his blood-red eyes.
"What do you understand, or rather, what do you actually know!" Gary's voice had settled into a chilling calm as he spoke to Liu Xing.
Liu Xing realized that persuasion was the only card left to play. "KP, I need to use persuasion on Gary!"
KP004, recognizing the urgency, skipped the usual formalities and jumped straight to making the determination.
Persuasion, 15/20 (This really isn't any underhanded manipulation; even I did not expect the protagonist to be this lucky—I was ready for the failure narrative), success.
In this emergency situation, coupled with Gary's full-blown suspicions towards Liu Xing, a difficult persuasion check was made. The outcome took Liu Xing by surprise; he hadn't expected his luck to carry him through a mere twenty percent success rate check.
However, now was not the time to rejoice. Liu Xing hastily marshaled his thoughts and said to Gary, "Mr. Gary, please, there's no need for agitation. If possible, put down the gun. I was just leaving the study room when I heard strange noises coming from this one, so I thought to check it out. That's when I saw what you were doing. I can't stand to watch someone hit a child, so I wanted to stop you. I never imagined you would react so vehemently and draw a gun."
Because of the successful persuasion, Liu Xing knew that as long as he didn't misspeak or trigger Gary's sensitive nerves, Gary would not point the gun at him again. Thus, Liu Xing's tone became much more relaxed and natural.
In the Cthulhu RPG Game, the outcome of a check is akin to divine will, irrefutable by any. Liu Xing recalled a joke he'd heard from Wu Lei about such a check—a desperate investigator, cornered by a fanatical NPC, is about to be killed but manages a highly successful persuasion roll. He convinces the fanatic that he is the investigator's son—even though the investigator is only in his twenties and the fanatic over thirty.
So, even though Liu Xing's statement might be full of holes upon close scrutiny, Gary had believed him and hence holstered his gun, chuckling at Liu Xing, "Mr. Liu Xing, I didn't mean to alarm you. I was just playing a joke on you, sir. This gun is nothing but a lighter."
Liu Xing wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and replied with a wry smile, "Uh, Mr. Gary, you really scared me this time. You know, in our China, guns are only seen on TV or in movies. If you hadn't told me, I would have thought the gun in your hand was real."
Of course, Liu Xing had to keep up with Gary's pretense. It wouldn't do to outright say he knew the gun was real. Yet, having narrowly escaped danger, Liu Xing couldn't help but inwardly scoff, Aren't you supposed to be a Wizard BOSS? Then why resort to a gun? That's not very magical!
"Attention all players, the Main quest of this role-playing game session has been altered. All players may now leave EinsCastle. However, the mission is only deemed complete once you are ten kilometers away from Eins Town!" KP004 suddenly announced.
Liu Xing's eyebrows arched slightly, realizing that his actions had altered the Main quest. It was a well-understood principle that while players had a high degree of freedom in the Cthulhu RPG Game, each action had to be "reasonable." For instance, although the announcement from KP004 stated players could choose to leave EinsCastle, currently, everyone except Liu Xing—like Bai Hecheng and others—lacked a valid "reason" to do so. However, Liu Xing had the excuse of being threatened with a gun by Gary, worrying for his own safety, which was now a legitimate reason to leave EinsCastle.
Therefore, while Liu Xing now had the option to depart EinsCastle alone, he had no intention of betraying his teammates... well, unless it was just Bai Hecheng. After multiple provocations from Bai Hecheng, Liu Xing's patience had reached its limit, and he had resolved that if necessary, he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Bai Hecheng.
"Mr. Liu Xing, please return to your room for now; I have some matters to attend to," Gary said, before hurrying off once again.
"Liu Xing, here you can choose to listen in," KP004 suggested to Liu Xing as Gary descended the staircase.
Naturally, Liu Xing wouldn't refuse, as it was clearly an opportunity for intel from KP004. However, Liu Xing hadn't invested Skill Points in listening, so his basic listening skill was only at 20.
Listening, 42/20, failure.
Liu Xing shrugged indifferently—it was expected. But to his surprise, KP004 still offered him a tidbit of intel: "Even though you didn't catch what Gary was muttering, you vaguely made out words like 'childish,' 'foolish,' and 'ridiculous.'"
It seemed to Liu Xing that his attempt at eavesdropping had indeed failed, and the words he caught were likely Gary mocking his recent actions.
Liu Xing had planned to return to his room and inform Bai Hecheng and the others of the events, providing them with a reason to leave EinsCastle with him. However, as he prepared to head back, he suddenly thought of Isabella. Opening the door, he found her sitting on the bed, crying.
Liu Xing hurried to her side, offering comfort: "Miss Isabella, are you alright?"
Upon seeing Liu Xing, Isabella quickly wiped away her tears and forced a smile, "I'm fine, Mr. Liu Xing."
Seeing Isabella's tear-streaked face, Liu Xing, without knowing why, blurted out, "Miss Isabella, would you like to leave this place with me? Mr. Gary's behavior towards you is truly reprehensible."
Liu Xing felt as if he had awakened some incredible trait within himself.
After a brief pause, Isabella smiled and nodded, "Yes, if it's with Mr. Liu Xing, I'm willing."
Liu Xing couldn't help but think that he had successfully "abducted" a little lolita.