Tina and Akira Akashi exchanged glances, both surprised to discover they were of the same kind.
"Let me start," Tina began, "When I entered the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, I happened to be traveling in Ukraine. So, my Beginner's Room task was to inherit an estate from a distant relative in Ukraine. What I didn't expect was that my character card turned me into a Ukrainian, though my mother tongue remained Chinese." She shrugged and smiled.
"My case is similar to Tina's," Akira Akashi chimed in. "I was studying abroad in the island nation, so my task in the Beginner's Room took place there. I had to figure out who was tailing me, thus my character card also turned into an islander, yet my mother tongue stayed Chinese. Based on this, I believe Liu Xing and Tian Dao's beginner tasks must have taken place domestically, and you are likely in the country right now. So, I think our actual locations probably determine our character card's nationality." Akira Akashi shared his insight.
Liu Xing and Tian Dao nodded in agreement. Liu Xing felt that meeting a real foreigner might have to wait until he advanced to the next area, as language barriers would arise due to players from various countries joining the game.
An idea struck Liu Xing about the pricey character cards in the marketplace. Should he save up to buy one and venture abroad, acquiring a foreign nationality character card to infiltrate the foreign players' circles?
"Alright, it's about time," Liu Xing said, "Tian Dao, carry Li Ming on your back. We think we can first take a look inside the temple. But speaking of which, the deity called Sulu must be referring to Boss Cao, especially with that beard..." Liu Xing couldn't help but mock the deity statue he had seen in the temple.
Time was of the essence, especially since KP Cao had mentioned that the second phase of the task had to be completed within an hour, or the consequences would be dire.
Liu Xing glanced at Nan Xiaoniao, who Tina held in her arms. According to KP Cao, Nan Xiaoniao had lost her hearing, but Liu Xing didn't notice anything amiss about her. He suspected that, like Li Ming, upon entering the mirror world, Nan Xiaoniao had entered a temporary state of madness, exhibiting a pseudo-disability similar to Bai Hecheng, thus the loss of hearing.
With this in mind, Liu Xing couldn't resist addressing KP Cao, "KP, Nan Xiaoniao is in a temporary state of madness, right? Can I use psychoanalysis to try to treat her?"
"Oh, you've guessed it," KP Cao said with some surprise. "You're right, Nan Xiaoniao is indeed in a temporary state of madness. You can try to treat her with psychoanalysis, but I don't recommend it. The reason is simple: this is a plot device. By making Nan Xiaoniao lose her hearing, you players can confidently use the Private Room time with her around. If Nan Xiaoniao's hearing was restored, you'd need to arrange for someone to take her aside to use Private Room time. So, whether to use psychoanalysis or not is up to you."
Liu Xing nodded silently, lost in thought. From the current situation, whether to use psychoanalysis on Nan Xiaoniao was an unknown trade-off. With her hearing gone, they could use the Private Room time to discuss freely at any moment; but without her hearing, Nan Xiaoniao had lost her ability to communicate, becoming like a doll cradled in Tina's arms, almost a "burden" to the players.
"Hey, Liu Xing, what are you thinking about?" Akira Akashi asked, looking at Liu Xing, who had fallen deep into thought.
Liu Xing turned around with a quick, reassuring smile, shaking his head. "It's nothing, just something that suddenly came to mind. Let's not dwell on that; we should head to the temple."
In the end, Liu Xing decided to play it by ear and wait for the right moment to use psychoanalysis on Nan Xiaoniao, if necessary.
Thus, Liu Xing and his companions arrived at the entrance of the temple, at the very spot in the real world where Alger had been gravely wounded. Their reason for not entering was not to observe a minute of silence for Alger, but rather because the temple doors were firmly sealed, plastered with countless talismans.
Naturally, as one of the three great artifacts of the Cthulhu mythos, these talismans were, of course, Elder Signs...
"Is this... the Elder Sign? I never imagined I would see it here," Tina suddenly remarked, prompting Liu Xing to momentarily suspect that Tina was veering into metagaming territory.
However, KP Cao said nothing, which made Liu Xing realize that "Tina" was indeed aware of the Elder Sign's existence! This wasn't all too surprising, given "Tina's" numerous titles indicating that she had played many a Cthulhu RPG game. Therefore, her knowledge of the Cthulhu mythos would naturally be extensive, making her awareness of the Elder Sign fairly expected. Hence, Tina's mention of the Elder Sign would not be considered metagaming.
Moreover, Tina's mention of the Elder Sign was clearly an attempt to inform her companions about its existence. In the future, Liu Xing, armed with the ultimate "combination formula" from the Cthulhu RPG game, might just be able to merge two of the great artifacts into a super artifact.
With this in mind, Liu Xing feigned confusion, "Elder Sign, what's that?"
"The Elder Sign is a talisman that can be used to ward off mythical creatures. I heard about it from a mystic in Ukraine, and later, I witnessed the mystic drawing an Elder Sign on a plain piece of paper, repelling a ferocious mythical creature," Tina explained with a furrowed brow. "That being said, this place might also harbor mythical creatures, which is likely why there are so many Elder Signs here."
Liu Xing put on an astonished expression; after all, "Liu Xing" had not yet encountered a mythical creature. "What, do mythical creatures really exist in this world?"
Upon hearing Liu Xing's exclamation, Tina understood that "Liu Xing" had not yet experienced a mythical creature. She patiently explained, "Of course they exist, Liu Xing. Look at where we are now. It's clear we're not in the real world anymore, so the presence of mythical creatures shouldn't be so surprising. I have seen one with my own eyes."
"Heh, seems like Tina's words have shaken your worldview, triggering a sanity check. Let's proceed with the SAN check—success means no loss, failure means a 1d3 SAN loss. Of course, this is also an opportunity to gain knowledge of the Cthulhu mythos," KP Cao suddenly interjected.