"No more opportunities."
Liu Xing looked at the ssage on his phone, heaved a helpless sigh, and set it down. Lying back on his bed, he mused, "Studying dicine really does ruin one's life."
Liu Xing, male, 22 years old, a graduate of Rongcheng Traditional Chinese dicine University, was currently unemployed.
About two weeks ago, Liu Xing had a falling-out with the Departnt Head. Given his youthful impulsiveness, he chose to resign in a fit of anger.
Over the past half month, Liu Xing had been applying to various hospitals. But since he had just graduated and lacked significant connections, every job hunt always ended with the response: "Please wait at ho for news."
"Do I really have to go back ho?" Liu Xing searched for his father's number in his contacts.
Three generations of Liu Xing's family had been doctors. They owned three clinics. When Liu Xing first graduated, his father wanted him to help out in the family business. However, Liu Xing declined. He didn't want to be confined to one place so young. He wanted to explore the world.
"Alright, but I'm only giving you five thousand for living expenses. After that, you'll need to earn your own keep," his father had said at the ti. "If things don't work out, co back. You can take over any of the clinics."
"Forget it, it would be too embarrassing to return after just over two months," thought Liu Xing. He turned off his phone, knowing his father's teasing nature. If he returned now, he'd be the butt of jokes for a lifeti.
"I only have a thousand left. That ans in about a month, I'll be out of funds," Liu Xing took out the last of his savings, staring despondently at the ceiling.
"Ah, why am I thinking so much? Ti for a round of League of Legends. Ti to lift my spirits by trouncing so kids."
With that, he sat up and turned on his computer.
An hour later, a frustrated Liu Xing put down his mouse and stared at his monitor in disbelief.
"Is it really just a Monday? Why are there so many kids playing today?"
Exasperated, Liu Xing closed League of Legends and decided to watch so new episodes on the country's largest website, bilibili.
"Grandpa must be downloading those small circular files again," Liu Xing mused, stroking his chin.
"Forget it. I'll just go tease so girls in the group chat." With that, he opened QQ.
Ping, ping, ping.
The mont he logged in, a pop-up dominated most of Liu Xing's screen.
"Seriously, Tencent? Advertising this blatantly?" Liu Xing was taken aback by the enormous pop-up.
"Join now and get 100,000 RMB!" Liu Xing stared at the bold red letters on the advertisent, speechless.
He had seen countless online ga ads. As soone born in the 90s, there wasn't a slogan he hadn't encountered. But this was the first ti he had seen an ad making such a bold claim of hundred thousand yuan.
Thinking this over, Liu Xing muttered to himself, "This is quite tempting. A hundred thousand yuan? Fine, just for that ad, I'll give it a click. What's the worst that can happen?"
And with that, he clicked on "Join the ga."
Ding.
Following a soft chi, Liu Xing's computer screen went black.
"Damn it!" Liu Xing roared.
Just as a distraught Liu Xing was about to reboot, his computer returned to normal. However, he noticed a new ga icon on his desktop.
"That was close." Liu Xing hastily opened a hidden folder, relieved to find all its files intact.
"So, the ga auto-installed?" Liu Xing examined the strange new ga icon. It looked oddly familiar — it was the visage of Cthulhu.
Cthulhu is a malevolent entity from the Cthulhu Mythos created by the Arican novelist, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, often abbreviated as H.P. Lovecraft. Cthulhu is described with a head resembling an octopus, a face full of countless tentacles, massive claws on its hands and feet, and bat-like mbranous wings on its back. If one is familiar with the ga World of Warcraft, they would recognize the boss, C'thun, as a tribute to the Cthulhu myth.
The first ti Liu Xing encountered the Cthulhu Mythos was when a close friend invited him to a tabletop gaming room to observe a Cthulhu role-playing session.
Liu Xing's eyebrows raised when he looked closer at the title under the ga's icon, and indeed, it matched what he had thought.
"Cthulhu Role-Playing Ga Hall?"
The Cthulhu role-playing ga can be simply described as a tabletop ga that's imnsely popular in Western regions. Unlike China's popular gas like "Werewolf" and "Three Kingdoms Kill," Cthulhu role-playing belongs to the role-playing ga category. What's special about this ga is that players can imrse themselves in their characters. Within the ga's rules, players' actions lead to various open-ended story developnts. For instance, in other gas when you confront an enemy, you might have only a simple option like defeating them to advance the plot. But in Cthulhu role-playing gas, you can choose to avoid, bribe, persuade, or even ally with the enemy.
However, combat isn't the main focus in Cthulhu role-playing gas. Generally, combat ans a total party wipeout, as players, role-playing as explorers, confront mythical creatures!
These gas draw from a series of novels by H.P. Lovecraft, collectively referred to as the Cthulhu Mythos. After Lovecraft's death, many authors wrote fanfiction based on these myths, further evolving the mythos into a unique pantheon—the Cthulhu Mythological System.
Within this system, Cthulhu serves as the iconic figure and is a significant deity among the Old Ones, representing the elent of water. It is currently sealed by a powerful opposing force called the Elder Gods, lying dormant beneath the ocean city of R'lyeh in the South Pacific. Under certain cosmic influences or external factors, Cthulhu's seal can be broken, and it erges from the sea. However, as the seal isn't fully released, Cthulhu cannot leave R'lyeh. When cosmic conditions change and the seal's power is restored, Cthulhu returns to its deep slumber. The day Cthulhu fully breaks free, it will undoubtedly devastate the world.
From Cthulhu's description, it's evident that it possesses world-ending power. Still, Cthulhu isn't the most potent entity in the mythos. In the ga setting, Cthulhu can unconditionally kill a random number of players, acting much faster than them, making an encounter with it almost certain death for players.
Naturally, as a boss-level entity, Cthulhu won't appear randomly. Beneath it are various mythical creatures, with the weakest being entities like Ghoul and Deep One (essentially fish-n, albeit with so differences). But even these beings are comparable in fighting prowess to world boxing champions or martial arts masters.
The then-newbie Liu Xing once asked the friend who introduced him to the ga, pointing out that even a martial arts master could be taken down with a single gunshot.
His friend chuckled and told Liu Xing that he was overthinking. In Cthulhu role-playing gas, players typically portray ordinary individuals, or at most detectives or police officers, ard with just a handgun. Although the ga is very open-ended, every action must follow established rules. Commoners wouldn't possess assault rifles, nor would they casually roam with weapons. Additionally, creatures like Ghouls and Deep Ones are fundantally superior to average humans.
Generally, humans stand little chance against these mythical beings, though there are so exceptions. Given the ga's freedom, so sessions might opt for customized rules or add peculiar skills.
The Cthulhu role-playing ga can be divided into Tabletop and Online Ga Groups. Tabletop refers to players gathering physically, while Online Ga Groups an playing via communication apps like QQ and other tools. These gas require considerable ti and commitnt. A session could last from a few hours to several years, unlike quicker gas like "Werewolf" and "Three Kingdoms Kill." Hence, not many players in China delve into Cthulhu role-playing gas.
Moreover, unlike other gas, the Cthulhu role-playing ga doesn't have dedicated online platforms or mobile apps. This has often left enthusiasts feeling lost after successfully introducing friends to the ga, as they can't find an appropriate venue to play. Liu Xing faced this challenge, wanting to try the ga but lacking the chance. Organizing a tabletop session isn't easy, as all participants must find several hours to dedicate simultaneously. Online groups also suffer from the absence of a professional platform.
But now, staring at the "Cthulhu Role-Playing Ga Hall" on his computer desktop, Liu Xing couldn't help but smile. He hadn't expected to find a dedicated platform for the Cthulhu role-playing ga, a pleasant surprise indeed.
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