Chapter 26: The Elder Sign Wallpaper
As the thought crossed Liu Xing's mind, he couldn't help but tease KP004 slightly, "KP, just be honest with me, are you annoyed? If we hadn't achieved a great success in our investigation, would you have turned this manual into an English version?"
Through their time together, Liu Xing had come to realize that KP004 was not just rigid programming code, but a genuine entity—with a slightly twisted sense of humor, or rather, a very twisted one.
But Liu Xing felt that KP004 was like those in reality who hosted Cthulhu RPG Games—they were capable of communication. So now, he tried to initiate a dialogue with KP004. "Well, to be frank with you," KP004 responded with a sullen tone, "you're right, that was my initial thought. But you still had the chance through a luck check to decide if this booklet would be in Chinese or English. And you succeeded remarkably."
"Also, I can give you an extra piece of intelligence. As you should already be aware, in the lower-level areas, the role-playing games are conducted without language barriers, allowing you to communicate with Old John and Old Wayne without any trouble. However, in certain special cases, like if this booklet were in English, even if you passed Level 4 or 6 in English in the real world, you would still need to pass a check using the 'Other Languages' skill to understand its contents," KP004 continued, "Consider this a piece of advice from me. During the interlude growth (where a character card, if it survives the current game session, can grow in attributes and skills due to the experiences gained, and may also undergo certain activities to increase these stats, like attending an English language course to gain the 'Other Languages: English' skill), it would be wise for you to arrange for your character card to learn a foreign language. Because starting from the next area, language barriers will appear. If you come to an area where your mother tongue is not spoken, you might encounter all sorts of difficulties due to communication problems. Naturally, this is also the kind of trouble you'll only encounter when you're ready to advance to the next area."
Liu Xing thought if a luck check were needed now, he would surely triumph, as he not only confirmed his speculation about KP004 but also extracted important intelligence from KP004's own mouth!
Liu Xing had passed Level 6 in English in the real world, but he had never allocated points to the 'Other Languages' skill on his character card. He also reckoned that Wang Qi and the others likely hadn't either. So if this booklet was in English, they would be at a disadvantage, potentially unable to operate the electronic door mechanism.
Moreover, from the next area on, Liu Xing surmised that they were likely to encounter foreign players. If neither party had learned the other's language, they would have to rely solely on eye contact for communication.
Therefore, Liu Xing silently resolved to heed KP004's advice and use the interlude growth to let his character card thoroughly learn a foreign language.
"That's all I have to say. Now, let's continue the game. First, you two need to decide who will open this booklet. The moment it is opened, a 1d30+10 check will be made, which will determine how many minutes it will take for the electronic door mechanism to fully open the gate. Of course, you'll be able to walk out through the gate after roughly half that time," KP004 coughed to draw Liu Xing and Wang Qi's attention before continuing.
Liu Xing and Wang Qi exchanged glances. Without hesitation, Wang Qi handed the booklet to Liu Xing, "You should do it. After all, you've had two great successes already, and your luck is much better than mine."
Although Liu Xing wanted to say that his last great success had led to a successful check, it had outright failed this time...
At that thought, Liu Xing immediately shook his head, casting aside the messy ideas and reminding himself not to be so superstitiously feudal; he should trust in his own imperial European lineage.
Thus, Liu Xing, with a determined expression, opened the small booklet.
Time check for opening the door: 1d30+10, 9+10=19.
"So, after reading through the manual for the electric door opener, Liu Xing understood that by pressing the switch of the electric door opener, it would warm up for ten minutes before it could start working, and after nineteen minutes, it could be fully opened," KP004 commented, without his usual snide remarks this time.
Ten minutes was, after all, an acceptable amount of time.
"Indeed, it's always your good fortune, Liu Xing. If it were me deciding the time to open the door, I'd probably have to..." Wang Qi began excitedly, but suddenly, he realized something and abruptly stopped speaking.
Clearly, Wang Qi recognized that he might have overstepped, as they hadn't activated the "Private Room" status.
Luckily, KP004 was in a relatively good mood, "Although it's only you and Liu Xing here, since you didn't activate the Private Room, you are still in character. Wang Qi, what you just said was a clear breach of role-playing. However, let's not dwell on this. Just this once, I'll turn a blind eye and not count it as a breach."
Wang Qi breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing KP004's words, as the penalty for breaching was exceptionally severe. To put it simply, such a punishment could instantly turn a burly, robust man into a baby who was still learning to walk.
After ensuring there were no other oversights, Liu Xing and Wang Qi returned the booklet to its place and planned to go straight back to the main building to discuss the matter with Bai Hecheng and the others.
However, as Liu Xing was descending the city wall, he slipped accidentally. Fortunately, he managed to brace himself against the wall with his hand in time, preventing a fall.
"Liu Xing, are you okay?" Wang Qi asked with concern from behind.
Liu Xing smiled and shook his head, about to say he was fine when he noticed something odd about the sensation coming from his hand that was braced against the wall—it felt like touching plastic wrap.
Puzzled, Liu Xing looked closely at the city wall emblazoned with the Elder Sign and carefully felt around with his hand, only to arrive at a shocking conclusion: the wall was actually covered with wallpaper, and the dense Elder Sign symbols were just patterns on it.
Now, Liu Xing was utterly bewildered, with only one thought in his mind: was there really such a breathtaking tactic?!
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