Of course, the traits obtained from character cards, although they limit some actions and behaviors of the players, even forcing them to do certain things, even if it means facing death...
However, these traits are not entirely without benefits. When they perform checks related to protecting children, they receives certain bonuses.
Thus, traits are more like a game of Russian roulette than a double-edged sword. Whether they are good or bad depends on your luck.
As for why Liu Xing knew about the traits, he had logged into the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall a few days ago during his free time, browsing through the community's discussion forum. Despite the frequent comings and goings of society members, maintaining a number of about a thousand, the forum was always bustling. Players shared their experiences there, and Liu Xing learned about the existence of traits from these discussions.
At that time, Liu Xing wondered, if Isabella hadn't used her charm on him and he still had helped her escape with all his might, would KP004 have given him a "Lolicon" trait...
It was strange, though, that Liu Xing hadn't seen any other administrators besides Du Liu.
"It's going to be tough, but when my Private Room time is over, I'll try to convince you," Tina said with a shrug of resignation.
"Let's try that. First, we'll try to lure the Formless Offspring aside. If that doesn't work, we'll have Akira Akashi and Nan Xiaoniao draw its attention," suggested Tian Dao.
Liu Xing nodded, agreeing with Tian Dao's excellent suggestion. He was also concerned about the Formless Offspring's reaction upon seeing Nan Xiaoniao, as it was transformed from Nan Xiaoniao's mother. There was a chance that the motherly bond might restore some consciousness to Nan Xiaoniao's mother, turning her into an ally... Fat chance! In this mirror world, aside from the Formless Offspring, there were no traces of the other missing people. As a mythical creature, the Formless Offspring needed to feed, so the missing people had likely become its meals.
To the Formless Offspring, Nan Xiaoniao was just delicious food, and Liu Xing's group were villains stealing its meal. If these villains paraded their coveted food in front of it, the Formless Offspring might not tolerate such provocation and could explode in rage, doubling its speed.
Moreover, Nan Xiaoniao was a child. Though temporarily deaf, her sight was unaffected. Seeing the Formless Offspring would be a tremendous shock to her fragile mind, potentially driving her into a temporary state of madness, complicating matters.
Thus, Liu Xing preferred not to use Nan Xiaoniao to attract the Formless Offspring. "I also agree with Tian Dao's opinion. Let's wait and see..."
As Liu Xing spoke, a strange moan sounded. Li Ming, who had been lying like a corpse, finally woke up. Calculating the time, Li Ming's temporary madness had passed.
"Ugh, Tian Dao, you really hit hard. My neck feels like it's broken," complained Li Ming, rubbing his neck.
Tian Dao chuckled, scratching his head, "Don't blame me. You were possessed by bad luck, encountering the fear of mist in a place surrounded by it. You would have been scared to death, so I actually saved your life."
Tian Dao's persuasive success left Li Ming speechless.
"Uh, well, I guess I should thank you, Tian Dao. But I lost consciousness when I passed out. Can you tell me what's happening now?" Li Ming moved his body a bit and spoke.
Consequently, Tian Dao informed Li Ming of all the events that had transpired in the past half hour, leaving Li Ming in astonishment.
"What the heck, the BOSS of this promotion game is the Formless Offspring? We really can't fight that." Li Ming said somewhat relieved, "Luckily, I was injured in the last team game, which temporarily reduced my agility. It's a fortunate misfortune that it also reduced the Formless Offspring's agility."
Tina nodded, jokingly suggesting, "In that case, should we also break your other leg, Li Ming? That could further decrease the Formless Offspring's agility."
Li Ming vigorously shook his head at Tina's suggestion. In a real-life Cthulhu RPG Game, he would have chosen to do so without hesitation. But this was a genuine Cthulhu RPG Game, where pain was as real as it gets. Li Ming still occasionally remembered the agony of having his leg broken in the last game.
"Alright, Private Room time is over. Please, players, get ready to continue playing your roles," KP Cao suddenly announced. "Also, Li Ming, now that you're awake, roll for constitution."
Li Ming, 52/60, success.
"Tch, you all have pretty good luck. So, waking up from the unconsciousness, you don't feel anything unusual, just a bit hungry," KP Cao said somewhat speechlessly.
"Uh, where are we right now? Why did I pass out earlier?" Li Ming, who had just woken up from unconsciousness, pretended to be very confused.
Again, it was Tian Dao who explained the current situation to Li Ming, but this time the explanation was surely from a character's perspective.
"What, we encountered a monster, and it's occupying the grape arbor?" Li Ming exclaimed in "surprise," "So, what do we do now? Without grapes, we can't complete the ritual to return to the real world."
"Let's do this. Tina and I will go check where the monster is. You three stay in the temple and watch over Nan Xiaoniao, and wait for our good news," Liu Xing suggested.
Liu Xing felt that the most important thing now was to determine the Formless Offspring's location to decide how to bypass it and reach the grape arbor for the grapes.
"Yes, after all, we've already been scared by that monster. We shouldn't be afraid of it now," Tina agreed, nodding.