Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 249: Another Suicide

Upon confirming that Ling Ishikawa was indeed Yin En's "alt," Liu Xing felt relieved. After all, Liu Xing was quite familiar with Yin En's abilities, and they had enjoyed good cooperation in the previous two modules.

With renewed confidence in this module, Liu Xing's morale rose considerably. In the Cthulhu RPG Game, the importance of having a good teammate was second only to luck.

Thinking about this, Liu Xing continued to ask, "They're all good people, aren't they? If they hadn't warned us about the sinister intentions of those cultists in advance, we might have already ended up at the bottom of the sea. Unfortunately, their situation isn't great now... By the way, Ishikawa, you haven't told me why you transferred to our school."

After confirming Liu Xing's identity, Ling Ishikawa replied earnestly, "Well, you see, my father is the head of a Swordsmanship dojo, and due to some reasons, we had to move the dojo from Akita to Kyoto. So, I had no choice but to come along. And in Kyoto, Morimoto Academy offers the best value for education, with relatively low admission requirements. That's why I chose to join Morimoto Academy."

Liu Xing nodded and playfully said, "I see. Then, Ishikawa, you should be aware of the recent rumors circulating about the Red-Clothed Female Ghost at Morimoto Academy, right? Although I'm not sure yet if the Red-Clothed Female Ghost actually exists."

Ling Ishikawa chuckled and replied, "I'm well aware of those rumors, and I'm quite interested in this so-called Red-Clothed Female Ghost. If there's a chance, I plan to visit the old school building myself."

"That's great. Actually, I'm planning to check out the old school building as well. Since our opinions align, would you be willing to join us, Ishikawa?" Liu Xing asked with a smile.

Ling Ishikawa naturally didn't refuse this proposition and nodded immediately, saying, "Of course, strength in numbers. If there really is a Red-Clothed Female Ghost, we can face it together."

Thus, Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa reached a preliminary agreement.

Since Watanabe Ryusei was not familiar with Ling Ishikawa at the moment, Liu Xing did not continue to communicate with Yin En. He planned to find a chance to catch up with Ming Hanxing later.

Returning to his seat, Liu Xing was approached by the newly initiated believer, Nobi Nobita, who smiled and said, "Master, I've compiled the information you asked me to collect yesterday."

As Nobi Nobita spoke, he handed a notebook to Liu Xing.

From memory, Liu Xing recalled that "he" had instructed Nobi Nobita to investigate the rumors about the Red-Clothed Female Ghost yesterday.

According to Nobi Nobita's investigation, the Red-Clothed Female Ghost had only been discovered about half a month ago. The student who first encountered the Red-Clothed Female Ghost claimed to have seen her while searching for information in the archives. At that time, the Red-Clothed Female Ghost was standing in a classroom on the third floor of the old school building, staring intently out the window at him.

The student had been terrified at the time, but when he regained his composure, he found that the Red-Clothed Female Ghost had disappeared.

So, the student thought he might have been mistaken. However, the next day, another student at Morimoto Academy committed suicide by slashing their wrists in the old school building. Strangely, no knife was found at the scene.

Therefore, the authorities initially considered it a homicide rather than a suicide. They reviewed the surveillance cameras on the only path leading to the old school building and found that, besides the student who committed suicide, there was no one else present in the old school building at the time.

As a result, the authorities had to reluctantly classify it as a suicide and quickly closed the case.

However, the student who had initially encountered the Red-Clothed Female Ghost suddenly realized, while observing the commotion, that the student who had committed suicide was the same one he had seen in the classroom with the Red-Clothed Female Ghost.

After reading the information gathered by Nobi Nobita, Liu Xing pondered for a moment and said, "So, this Red-Clothed Female Ghost seems to have only appeared recently... Nobita, how long have we been back from the Cosmic Country?"

Checking his phone, Nobita replied, "Well, we returned about half a month ago, but the school gave us a ten-day break, and we only came back to school five days ago."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, and a daring idea began to form in his mind.

At that moment, noise erupted from downstairs, prompting Liu Xing to glance out of the window and see many students rushing in one directionthe direction of the old school building.

Liu Xing furrowed his brow as a fellow student burst into the classroom and loudly exclaimed, "Another student died in the old school building!"

The students in the classroom erupted into commotion and quickly left their seats.

As expected.

Liu Xing stood up and said to Shizuka and the others, "Let's go. Let's go check out the scene."

So, Liu Xing led his believers out of the classroom, and Ling Ishikawa naturally joined the group. Of course, Ming Hanxing followed as well.

Ming Hanxing had a keen eye and immediately identified Liu Xing as the last player. He also noticed that there were so many NPCs willing to follow Liu Xing, which led him to believe that Liu Xing was an experienced player who had participated in modules at Morimoto Academy multiple times and was a local expert.

With this in mind, Ming Hanxing asked Liu Xing, "Excuse me, do you happen to know what's going on? I just arrived at the school, and I'm not familiar with the situation here."

Before Liu Xing could respond, Suneo interjected, "Teacher, don't tell me you know nothing at all and just came here to teach at our school."

Ming Hanxing nodded somewhat embarrassedly and said, "That's actually true. You can tell from my nameI'm a Chinese international student who just graduated from college. I was recommended to work here by a friend, so I've only just arrived at the school today, and I'm almost completely unfamiliar with the school's situation."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow, surprised by Ming Hanxing's peculiar background. It appeared that Ming Hanxing had no knowledge of Morimoto Academy's situation, but that might actually work in Liu Xing's favor. It would make it easier for Liu Xing to persuade Ming Hanxing to join his team.

With a subtle signal to Shizuka, Liu Xing conveyed his intention. Shizuka understood and proceeded to share the dark history of Morimoto Academy with Ming Hanxing, embellishing it to emphasize the school's ominous reputation.

After hearing all these details, Ming Hanxing exclaimed with shock, "What? So Morimoto Academy is this frightening? No wonder my friend had a conflicted expression when recommending this place to me. They mentioned that Morimoto Academy offers high pay, but there are some hidden issues. I didn't pay much attention back then, but now I'm starting to regret coming here."

Liu Xing watched Ming Hanxing's expressive reaction and couldn't help but think that his acting skills were impressive, albeit a bit exaggerated.

At this point, Ling Ishikawa spoke up, "Teacher Ming, are you okay with this situation? You can resign anytime, but for us students, it's not so easy. And if I remember correctly, Morimoto Academy has only had student suicides; there have been no casualties among the teachers."

Speaking of teachers, Liu Xing suddenly remembered Honda Tetsuya. The archives room where Honda Tetsuya was located was just opposite the old school building. Additionally, if Liu Xing wanted to investigate the truth about Higashi Meizi, he would need to visit the archives room.

Therefore, Liu Xing decided that after joining in the commotion at the old school building, he would pay a visit to the archives room and have a chat with Honda Tetsuya.

Following their memories, Liu Xing and his group arrived at a small grove between the new and old school buildings. Just as Juri Sonoda had mentioned, this small grove, although not large, exuded a sinister atmosphere, with overgrown weeds and bushes, some tall enough to hide a person.

However, the presence of many students like Liu Xing, who were eager to witness the events at the old school building, diluted the eerie ambiance of the grove.

Following the crowd, Liu Xing and his group arrived in the vicinity of the old school building.

The cleanliness of the area around the old school building was relatively well-maintained, mainly because there were still people working in the archives room opposite it. However, there were still plenty of weeds growing unchecked.

Apart from the old school building and the archives room, Liu Xing noticed a small building in the distance. According to Watanabe Ryusei's memories, that small building seemed to be a storage room, but the reason for having such a storage room there was a subject of debate. One thing was clear: no student had ever opened it from what he remembered.

Thus, Liu Xing suspected that there might be some hidden secrets inside that storage room.

In addition to this, Liu Xing learned from Watanabe Ryusei's memories that there was a field behind the old school building. However, due to long-term neglect, it had turned into a grassy area. In the upper left corner of the field, there was also a swimming pool. Similar to the field, the swimming pool had fallen into disrepair, with water supply discontinued, making it dilapidated.

As Liu Xing was lost in thought, he suddenly heard exclamations from the people around him. He followed their gazes and saw the body of the student who had committed suicide, hanging from a large tree!

Liu Xing furrowed his brow. It seemed that this student had jumped from the old school building and landed on a tree branch, which had pierced through his abdomen. He likely died from severe bleeding.

"This person... isn't he the one who claimed to have seen the Red-Clothed Female Ghost?" Nobita trembled as he spoke.

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and turned to Nobita, asking seriously, "Are you sure, Nobita?"

Nobita carefully examined the body hanging from the tree, then nodded confidently, saying, "Yes, I'm certain. He's the one who claimed to have seen the Red-Clothed Female Ghost. If I remember correctly, he's a freshman named Suzuki Ryu. It's definitely him."

Liu Xing looked thoughtfully at Suzuki's body and said, "If I'm not mistaken, this Suzuki should be the first male student from our school to commit suicide during this module."

The group exchanged glances, and Shizuka nodded, saying, "You're right. So far, it has always been female students committing suicide in the old school building, and there hasn't been a male suicide until now."

Liu Xing chuckled and said seriously, "It seems that someone is becoming desperate and no longer concerned about appearances. We can be certain now that this isn't a suicide; it's murder!"

As Liu Xing spoke, a female student nearby turned to look at him. She was tall and had a beautiful face, but her expression was extremely serious, and her gaze gave Liu Xing a strange feeling, as if she harbored some hostility toward him.

However, the girl didn't say anything; she simply left with her classmates.

Suneo approached Liu Xing and said, "That girl is the newly appointed Student Council President, Lu Tianya. She's an international student from China, excels in academics, and comes from a wealthy family. However, I know one of her close friends, and that friend told me that Lu Tianya seems to have spiritual abilities and often has strange dreams. It seems she came to Morimoto Academy to investigate something."

Liu Xing watched Lu Tianya's departing figure and remarked, "I see. I didn't expect that this girl would have such a masculine name as Lu Tianya."

Of course, Liu Xing could now be certain that Lu Tianya was an important NPC in this module, and it seemed that she was on the side of the players. However, the awkward part was that Liu Xing's current role was a Cult Leader, and he had caused several deaths. Judging by Lu Tianya's attitude earlier, it seemed she might have already figured out his identity.

This presented a tricky situation. From the beginning of the storyline, Liu Xing had clashed with an important NPC, making it more challenging to advance the plot.

At that moment, school administrators and the police arrived at the scene. Liu Xing and his group, along with the other students, were eventually driven out of the old school building area by the tardy security personnel.

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