"Damn it," muttered Liu Xing under his breath when he learned that Chen Ming's source of fear was the fog. Li Ming was indeed lucky—now that the entire Harvest Festival venue was shrouded in mist, which meant that Li Ming's source of fear was omnipresent, plunging him inevitably into a state of fear.
"Let's now determine the duration of Li Ming's descent into temporary madness," KP Cao said with a cold laugh. "However, due to the peculiar nature of this mirror world, the time unit has shifted from hours to five-minute increments. I might as well be blunt with you—if you can't escape the mirror world within an hour, your chances of passing this promotion game are slim to none. So, I urge you all to carry on with your roles after this throw, and seek the path to escape."
Li Ming rolled a six—the duration of his temporary insanity would be 30 minutes!
As the dice settled, Liu Xing saw Li Ming's pupils dilate instantly, his breathing become rapid, and his limbs start to tremble.
Just as Liu Xing was about to conduct a psychological analysis on Li Ming, Tian Dao, who stood beside him, suddenly delivered a chop to Li Ming's neck. Without any need for a check, Li Ming collapsed, unconscious...
"We need to open a Private Room," declared Tian Dao, immediately requesting private time from KP Cao after knocking Li Ming out.
Although KP Cao did not respond, Liu Xing was familiar with the unique sense of spatial dislocation that occurred when a Private Room was initiated, and thus knew it had been activated.
"My profession is that of a martial artist; the technique I just used is one of my combat moves," explained Tian Dao. "Li Ming's will has already collapsed, allowing me to knock him out with ease. It's currently our best option."
As Tian Dao had mentioned, Li Ming, in a state of fear, would either run around in panic, freeze in place, or attack and scream randomly. Thus, incapacitating Li Ming was indeed the best choice to prevent him from accidentally harming himself or alerting the 'tiger' lurking within the mirror world.
However, what captured Liu Xing's attention even more was the fact that Tian Dao possessed combat techniques.
In the Cthulhu RPG Game, combat techniques hold a unique place as they are not quantified as skills with numerical values subject to dice checks for success. Instead, they are crafted through detailed descriptions and sequences of actions, which the KP then assesses to determine their effectiveness. Of course, if a combat technique is overly complex or difficult, checks might still be required.
In the real world, the success of a combat technique hinges on the player's ability to describe it in detail. For instance, the simplest way Tian Dao could describe his move is "I chop Li Ming with my hand." A more elaborate description would be "Taking advantage of Li Ming's frightened state, I aim for his cervical vertebra number X and execute a chop with seventy percent of my strength."
Therefore, when faced with a simply described combat technique, the KP might opt for a certain level of dice check from the player, whereas a thoroughly detailed technique could be deemed an automatic success.
However, these were the regulations for combat skills in the real world. Liu Xing was very curious about what the requirements would be like in this authentic Cthulhu RPG Game.
Although Liu Xing's character card categorized him as a support role, it didn't mean he was incapable of using combat skills. Adhering to the principle of asking whenever in doubt, Liu Xing inquired of Tian Dao, "Tian Dao, how are the standards for combat skills determined here?"
"Well, how should I put it? The requirements here are actually quite similar to those in the real world. Before you use a combat skill, you must provide the keeper with a necessary description. However, there is an additional criterion here—proficiency. When you use a combat skill for the first time, the initial level of proficiency is determined by the effectiveness of the skill. Moreover, a section for combat skills will be added to your character card. You can name your combat skills, and each time you use them, your proficiency will increase. There will also be options to enhance your skill proficiency during interlude growth. Ultimately, the success of your combat skills depends on both the detail of the description and your level of proficiency," Tian Dao explained thoroughly after giving it some thought.
Liu Xing nodded, realizing that it was time for him to train in a few combat skills so that he wouldn't be completely powerless when facing an enemy alone.
"By the way, Tian Dao, do you know how long it will be before Li Ming wakes up?" Akira Akashi asked, pointing at Li Ming, who lay on the ground.
Tian Dao felt a bit embarrassed as he scratched his head, "Uh, because combat skills are different from abilities, the effects they can cause aren't described in detail. Moreover, there is no check for how long Li Ming will remain unconscious, so I can't guarantee when he will wake up..."
Tina frowned slightly, speaking helplessly, "That means we can only carry Li Ming with us for now. After all, we can't just leave him somewhere hidden and continue our exploration, can we?"
Tian Dao sighed reluctantly and nodded, "Tina, you're right. We can't just abandon a teammate. So, let me carry Li Ming. My strength and build are considerable, and carrying Li Ming will only reduce my agility by 15 points."
Liu Xing observed the robust Tian Dao, then looked at his own unimpressive strength and stature, and finally glanced at Li Ming lying on the ground. Eventually, he abandoned the idea of taking turns with Tian Dao to carry Li Ming. After all, Liu Xing suspected he might not even manage to lift Li Ming...
"Moreover, we can now be fairly certain that there's a mythical creature within this mirror world, and it might have already taken control of Nan Xiaoniao's mother. So, Tina, it would be best if you either held on to or simply carried Nan Xiaoniao to prevent her from wandering off. Also, while the mission doesn't explicitly state whether we need to rescue Nan Xiaoniao, successfully doing so will definitely affect our clearance rating. Hence, I suggest we try our best to save Nan Xiaoniao," Liu Xing said, looking over at Nan Xiaoniao.
Tina nodded, as among those present, she had the best relationship with Nan Xiaoniao.
"Another thing, I have a question. Tina and Akira Akashi, are you both foreign players?" At that moment, Tian Dao curiously asked a question that Liu Xing also wanted to ask but felt too embarrassed to voice.
"No, I'm also from our country," Tina and Akira Akashi said in unison.