Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls - Chapter 333: Alice Joins the Fray

Alice furrowed her brows and spoke, “Well, it’s true that Fisher’s Village is quite isolated overseas, and leaving here won’t be easy. According to my conversation with Matsui Yui earlier, I’ve heard that there are many sharks around Fisher’s Village. So, the villagers here are reluctant to venture into the sea since all the boats in Fisher’s Village are manually powered wooden ones. If they were to be attacked by sharks, it would be a death sentence.”

“Panda Pig,” exclaimed with a horrified expression, “There are sharks around Fisher’s Village? Good thing we didn’t make the rash decision to swim away from here.”

Clearly, these sharks were a plot encounter carefully set up by this module to deter players from trying to escape Fisher’s Village using makeshift boats. Even if a player managed to find a seaworthy vessel in Fisher’s Village, they would likely have to rely on a lucky judgment to determine if they would be attacked by sharks upon setting sail.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing couldn’t help but feel frustrated. The difficulty level of this module seemed excessively high. After all, KP Green Light had already stated that even if they completed the main quest, they still needed to find a way to escape Fisher’s Village to conclude the module. Failing to escape would lead to a nearly impossible-to-survive special module…

Wait!

At this moment, Liu Xing suddenly remembered KP Green Light’s previous statement. If players couldn’t successfully escape Fisher’s Village, the next module would become a life-or-death special module.

Initially, Liu Xing and the others had thought that this special module might involve being captured by Matsui Ichiro and taken to the headquarters of the Ocean True Deity Sect. However, considering the current situation, that possibility could be ruled out.

So, what could this life-or-death special module be? Could it involve remaining trapped in Fisher’s Village, with the main quest changed to surviving under the watchful eye of the Shoggoth?

If that were the case, Liu Xing was certain they would need to tear up their cards.

“Yeah,” Alice agreed, “If we rashly head out to sea, it’s highly unlikely we’ll make it safely back to land. But we can’t just sit here and wait for Matsui Ichiro to make a move. Our situation is extremely unfavorable.”

Zhang Jingxu nodded in resignation, saying, “You’re right; our current situation is dire. We’re like pawns on Matsui Ichiro’s chessboard. He can dispose of us whenever he pleases, and attempting to resist him is nearly impossible.”

As Zhang Jingxu spoke, he made a hand gesture behind his back to signal Miyako Goudong.

Miyako Goudong understood the signal and pretended to look clueless as he said, “Damn it, Miss Alice, you’re right. We can’t just wait here. How about this? We’re a group, and we should use our numbers to our advantage. Why don’t we take the initiative and try to control Matsui Ichiro and Matsui Yui before they make a move against us? That way, we can force them to let us leave Fisher’s Village and then report Matsui Ichiro’s crimes to the authorities.”

After listening to Miyako Goudong’s suggestion, Alice firmly shook her head and explained, “Things are not as easy as you think. First of all, we don’t have a numerical advantage. As Mr. Zhang Jingxu just mentioned, although the villagers in Fisher’s Village are now like zombies, their combat abilities are not to be underestimated. Furthermore, Matsui Ichiro, who controls them, probably won’t care about the lives of these villagers. He’ll likely order them to launch a suicidal attack against us, and we’d be doomed for sure.”

“Also,” Alice continued, “I know you might suggest that we could take them by surprise, go directly to Matsui Ichiro’s house before he can react, and apprehend them. This way, we could avoid the villagers turning against us. But I must tell you now, Matsui Ichiro’s house is practically impregnable.”

“These past few days, I’ve been dining at Matsui Yui’s house and have gained some insight into Matsui Ichiro’s residence. Firstly, his house is located within the old Fisher’s Village, right next to the Fisher’s Village Ancestral Hall. You’ve probably seen it; the buildings in the old Fisher’s Village have all been sealed with cement, including the doors and windows. So, there’s no way to enter Matsui Ichiro’s house through the front door. We can only access it through a tunnel around the Fisher’s Village Ancestral Hall, leading underground into Matsui Ichiro’s home.”

“And this tunnel has two iron doors, for which only Matsui Ichiro and Matsui Yui have the keys. If we try to forcefully enter, it’s almost impossible, unless you happen to have C4 explosives. Those doors are a good ten centimeters thick, and most importantly, they’re solid metal.”

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t expected Matsui Ichiro’s house to be located in the old Fisher’s Village, and Alice’s description of the three-story building was something he had noticed earlier that afternoon. However, since the old Fisher’s Village buildings, including this three-story structure, were all sealed with cement, he hadn’t considered that Matsui Ichiro would live there.

After all, in Liu Xing’s understanding, it was highly unlikely for any normal person to reside in such a completely sealed-off house… Of course, Matsui Ichiro and Matsui Yui might not be normal people.

However, what bothered Liu Xing even more now was the fact that while he could understand the idea of using a tunnel to access the house, installing two solid iron doors that were ten centimeters thick inside the tunnel seemed excessive. It was as if they were explicitly telling the players not to attempt to forcibly enter the three-story building.

Of course, Liu Xing had another thought – perhaps these two iron doors were not meant to protect Matsui Ichiro and Matsui Yui but to protect the players themselves. After all, there might be numerous Shoggoths hidden around the three-story building, and players attempting to break through the iron doors would surely attract the attention of the Shoggoths.

So, the actual purpose of these two iron doors might be to discourage players who were unaware of the Shoggoths’ presence.

At this point, Zhang Jingxu couldn’t help but comment, “Are you kidding me? How could Matsui Ichiro and Matsui Yui live in that three-story building? All the doors and windows have been sealed with cement, and Fisher’s Village doesn’t even have electricity. Wouldn’t they be living in darkness 24/7?”

Matsui Yui shook her head, also expressing her confusion. “That’s what I thought too. In that three-story building, I hardly saw any furniture, and each room had an oil lamp for illumination. But you know how dim oil lamps can be. So, during my time at Matsui Ichiro’s house, I would occasionally bump into furniture.”

“But one thing worth mentioning is that, aside from the tunnel, that three-story building isn’t completely sealed off. You can access the rooftop directly, which offers a good vantage point to observe every corner of Fisher’s Village effortlessly. That’s why Matsui Ichiro chose to live there.”

Liu Xing nodded in understanding and asked, “I see, but speaking of that, Alice, did you ask Matsui Yui about why all the buildings in the old Fisher’s Village are sealed with cement?”

Alice furrowed her brows and replied, “Of course, I asked Matsui Yui. Such behavior is indeed peculiar. However, her response at the time was quite vague. Now, I’m convinced that her explanation was incorrect. She told me that when they were constructing the new area of Fisher’s Village, the villagers didn’t want their decades-old homes in the old Fisher’s Village to turn into ruins. So, they decided to preserve all the buildings in the old Fisher’s Village. However, to prevent birds from nesting inside these houses, they sealed the doors and windows with cement.”

Hearing this explanation, Liu Xing couldn’t help but think, “What a load of nonsense,” because that reason seemed quite far-fetched.

Just then, Dogo Aige’s voice came from downstairs, “Hey, everyone, come down for dinner!”

Seeing this, Zhang Jingxu immediately whispered to Alice, “Alice, when we see Dogo Aige downstairs, please don’t tell him about what you just heard regarding Matsui Yui. Dogo Aige has a short temper, and if he finds out about Matsui Yui’s dark history, he’ll likely lose control and confront Matsui Ichiro and Matsui Yui, potentially angering them. It would complicate matters for us.”

Alice furrowed her brows in confusion but said, “Why don’t we just be honest with Dogo Aige? After all, he’s directly involved, and he should know the current situation. While he might act impulsively upon hearing Matsui Yui’s dark history, if we can restrain him and explain the situation, I believe Dogo Aige will make the right decision.”

Alice’s suggestion was reasonable, but Liu Xing and the others couldn’t afford to take that route, as it would likely lead to the failure of the module’s main quest.

So, Zhang Jingxu firmly shook his head, tapping his temple and said, “First of all, let me make it clear that I’m not trying to defame Dogo Aige. It’s just that Dogo Aige tends to be impulsive and has a short fuse. Even if we explain the situation to him, he might only temporarily restrain himself from taking extreme actions. I can assure you that once Dogo Aige sees Matsui Yui, he won’t be able to contain his anger and might even resort to violence. You can guess the consequences of such actions. Therefore, it’s best not to let Dogo Aige know about Matsui Yui’s dark history for as long as possible to prevent him from disrupting our plans.”

Alice reluctantly nodded and said, “Well, in that case, let’s let Dogo Aige continue living in his fantasies about Matsui Yui for now.”

With that, Alice headed downstairs first.

In the ground-floor hall, Dogo Aige looked surprised as he smiled and asked, “Alice, why didn’t you go to Yui’s place for dinner today?”

Hearing Dogo Aige’s question, Alice managed to force a faint smile and replied, “Oh, you might not know, but this afternoon, I had an argument with Yui’s father over some issues. So, I didn’t feel comfortable going to Yui’s place for dinner. But it’s alright; I can use this opportunity to get to know Ryuusei and the others better.”

Dogo Aige nodded in understanding and said, “I see. Well, for the time being, let’s leave it at that. Fortunately, I prepared a bit more food today because I noticed that Ling Ishikawa hasn’t eaten much since he got sick yesterday.”

After a few more exchanges, Dogo Aige left.

Once everyone was seated, Alice suddenly said, “By the way, I forgot to ask earlier, but have any of you felt off these past two days? Personally, I’ve been feeling a bit down, and my nervousness has worsened. I’ve had a bit of a nervous disposition, but it seems to have gotten worse these past few days.”

Zhang Jingxu nodded, looking serious. “Yes, we’ve been experiencing symptoms similar to what Alice described. So, this morning, we decided to inspect our respective rooms and found a Composite Magic Array inscribed on the window frames. The effects of this Composite Magic Array are to induce nervousness and memory loss.”

Since they couldn’t fully trust Alice yet, Zhang Jingxu didn’t disclose all the effects of the Composite Magic Array.

Hearing just the minimal effects of the Composite Magic Array, Alice was stunned. “What? Is this Composite Magic Array really that powerful? My mentor couldn’t create such a potent Composite Magic Array.”

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and immediately asked, “Wait, Alice, your mentor can create magic arrays?”

Alice nodded and smiled, saying, “My mentor was a renowned occultist in England and had worked at the Miskatonic University in the United States of America.”

Miskatonic University? Everyone exchanged astonished glances. They hadn’t expected Alice to have a mentor who had worked at Miskatonic University, which was known as one of the most famous schools in the Cthulhu Mythos and a gathering place for powerful individuals.

After all, Miskatonic University’s gatekeeper had once killed Yog-Sothoth’s son.

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