KP snapped his fingers crisply, and a card popped up in front of everyone, displaying attributes such as identity, physical stats, and various skills.
The cards floated in the air. Shen Lin reached out to touch one, and his fingers passed through the card, creating ripples in the air. When he withdrew his hand, the ripples dissipated, and the card became intact again.
KP explained, “This is your identity card, also your attribute card, including basic stats like strength, agility, intelligence, inspiration, and education. All your character settings are written on this card, and it will accompany you throughout the entire game. You can summon it whenever you want to take a look. I must say, all attributes are randomly generated by rolling dice, absolutely fair and just.”
“Too bad it’s not public,” Zhang Yang adjusted his glasses.
“This is a beginner’s session. In the next round, you’ll be able to roll the dice and create your own cards. No complaints! Pay attention! This is a very important tutorial for beginners. Do you know what happens if you skip the tutorial?”
“I never read tutorials when I play games,” Han Qianqiu looked around curiously, not listening to a single word.
“Troublemaker… Stop looking. You can’t see each other’s character cards, but you can get to know each other through conversation. Now, let me give you a brief introduction.”
KP said, “Liu Facai1, your character is Shawn2, a student at the Lyon Noble Academy’s Medical Department.”
“Wait, who’s Liu Facai?” Zhang Yang interrupted.
Everyone fell silent for a moment, then their eyes turned to the only person who hadn’t introduced himself by his real nameโAlex. The silence deepened.
Alex: “…”
Shen Lin: “Names are given by parents, it’s understandable.”
Alex: “…………”
Han Qianqiu wailed, “Can we change the setting? Is it really okay to give such an important role as the healer to Facai?”
Alex immediately flared up, “Don’t call me Facai!”
Han Qianqiu remained unfazed, “Okay, Facai.”
Although Alex couldn’t stand up, he was tall with long limbs. Under the table, he kicked Han Qianqiu in the groin. Han Qianqiu let out a howl and slumped over the table in pain.
What goes around comes around.
Shen Lin silently mourned.
“Do you have any more questions about Liu Facai?” KP asked with a smile. “If not, I’ll continue the introductions.”
He clearly introduced everyone’s roles and positions:
Han Qianqiu played Brian3, a short physics student skilled in stealth and reconnaissance;
Zhang Yang played Freud, a history student with brown curly hair and glasses, skilled in library use and history;
Kate was a music student, playing Nana, gentle and slender, skilled in listening, persuasion, and throwing;
Alex played Shawn, a medical student skilled in medicine and first aid;
Yan Xiuyi played Felton, a sports student, tall and handsome, silent, with skills in climbing, jumping, and brawling;
Finally, Shen Lin was introduced. He was Orion, the youngest, a performing arts student with golden hair, blue eyes, and a handsome, elegant appearance, skilled in disguise and charm.
KP proudly said, “By the way, all the specialties and skills were assigned based on your life experiences and personality traits. Everyone has their strengths. What a perfect team.”
Shen Lin: “…………What the hell is this ‘charm’ skill?”
Han Qianqiu laughed so hard he snorted, slapping Shen Lin’s shoulder, “It means exactly what it says, right?”
Yan Xiuyi’s cold gaze fell on Han Qianqiu’s hand.
Han Qianqiu stiffened, withdrew his hand, and awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Kate looked at his introduction in confusion, “Why do I, a music student, have a throwing skill?”
KP admitted frankly, “Because your strength stat rolled high.”
“…………So?”
KP tried to salvage the setting, “I gave you throwing so you can lift a piano or cello to smash someone in a critical moment. It’s a great combat skill.”
“Wait, wait,” Shen Lin caught the secret revealed in KP’s words, “Combat skill? There’s combat?”
KP politely responded, “Yes, dear.”
Everyone fell into an awkward silence again.
“What happens if we fail? Can we run from combat?”
“I think I need to repeat this: this is a free world. You can freely decide all your actions. The only rule is that the success of your actions depends on the dice roll. In other words, it’s all about luck.”
Alex frowned, “Explain in more detail.”
“During the game, you may encounter some events. When you want to use your skills to solve these events or gather clues, you need to make a dice roll. The number you roll must be lower than your attribute stat, meaning you have the ability to solve the problem.”
Zhang Yang looked at Han Qianqiu, “Did you understand that?”
Han Qianqiu looked resigned, “To be honest, when I play games, I rely on two words: fate.” He glanced at Shen Lin, who was deep in thought, and added, “And teammates.”
Shen Lin: “…”
He sighed and explained, “For example, if we encounter an unknown creature and need to make a biology check, and our biology stat is 60, if we roll a number less than 60, we can identify the creature.”
“You’re smart,” KP said, “That’s the basic rule. Other gameplay and techniques can be gradually discovered and accumulated during the game. So, players, are you ready?”
Yan Xiuyi: “You’ve been avoiding one question.”
“Hmm?”
“What happens if we fail?” Yan Xiuyi’s pale eyes, cold and piercing, exuded an intimidating aura, sharp like a straight steel blade, its edge gleaming with a chilling light.
As he spoke, the sea suddenly churned. Everyone was startled by the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, and they all shivered.
The once endless, azure sea had somehow mixed with red. The red, rolling with the white waves, grew thicker and thicker, gradually turning into patches of crimson.
The waves rolled onto the beach, leaving bright red stains like dye. They vaguely saw something being pushed ashore by the waves, more and moreโ
Kate suddenly screamed, “Handsโsevered hands, they’re severed hands!”
The others: “…!”
The waves reached their feet, the red water covering their shoes. Something hooked onto Shen Lin’s shoelace. He looked down and saw a small, curled finger bone clinging to his shoelace.
Shen Lin: “…” Nothing could scare him anymore.
“Holy crap!” Han Qianqiu shrieked, “Mom, something grabbed my ankle!”
“Don’t scare me!!”
“Sorry,” KP chuckled with delight, “It’s my first time as KP, and I forgot to close the game room door, letting these execution objects flow in from the ‘corridor.’”
Execution objectsโ
Everyone’s faces turned pale.
A pale piece of paper cracked open, curving into a strange arc, “Don’t worry, I was also scared by this scene back then. Looking back, it’s just some severed limbs of living beings. This is the ultimate fate of humans, nothing special.”
Everyone: “…”
The arc on the paper face widened, almost reaching both sides. The paper figure tilted its head to look at them, “But you probably won’t ask that question again.”
There was no need to ask.
The massive amount of blood enough to dye the sea red and the countless bones and fragmented torsos mixed in the water clearly told themโ
The game rule “either escape or die” was not a joke.
After some time, KP closed the door. The sea’s color no longer deepened, and the bones pushed ashore by the tide piled up along the coast. The air was filled with a nauseating mix of fishy stench and salty sea breeze.
No one dared to ask about the consequences of failure, as the consequences were right before their eyes.
Ten minutes later, KP No. 98 officially announced the start of the game.
The most boisterous person fell silent. The six of them sat by the sea, utterly at a loss.
The sea returned to its original color, and the bones disappeared, replaced by the broken remains of ship planks, tables, chairs, and cabinets that had washed ashore with them during the shipwreck.
Shen Lin tried to sense the presence of KP No. 98, but the world was empty except for a few subdued quails and the howling sea wind.
After a long silence, Yan Xiuyi’s cold voice broke the stillness like a handful of snow thrown in their faces, “First, check what you have on you and figure out how to survive.”
Hearing this, everyone perked up and started searching their pockets for items.
The final tally: one small knife, two hair ties, one lipstick, four pens, three pocket watches, one cigar box, one lighter, and one waterlogged notebook the size of a palm.
It truly reflected their identities as students, with nothing extra.
Han Qianqiu, now Brian, looked at Yan Xiuyi with pleading eyes, “Boss, can we survive with just these?”
Shen Lin looked up at him.
Yan Xiuyi met Shen Lin’s gaze and nodded, “Yes.”
Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The souls that had been scared away by the shattered bones and broken limbs finally returned.
Shen Lin found this man quite remarkable. Despite having such a poor memory that he could forget what had just happened, he exuded a calm and composed demeanor, as if anything handed to him could be easily resolved.
He attributed this omnipotent aura to the spirit of a soldier.
“What should we do next?” Brian asked with innocent eyes.
Shen Lin: “Let’s exchange information first. What’s your relationship with Dylan?”
“Classmates, we attended a public lecture together, and he invited me to his birthday party.”
“Same here.”
“Me too.”
From the conversation, except for Nana, who was Dylan’s girlfriend, everyone present was his classmate.
“From what I remember, Dylan always kept to himself, very lonely and eccentric,” Shen Lin shared Orion’s memories with everyone and pointed out what he found suspicious, “But among the six of us here, we have physics, sports, history, music, medical, and performing arts students… It’s unlikely we would have crossed paths. How did Dylan know so many people?”
He paused, then asked, “How long have you known Dylan?”
They each reported the time, all around a month.
“Alright,” Shen Lin’s golden hair shimmered brightly in the sunlight, his green eyes ringed with a golden glow, “From these ‘coincidences,’ we can conclude that meeting Dylan and this birthday party were likely part of a premeditated plan. Soโ”
He paused, gazing at everyone, “Where is Dylan Harrison?”
Author’s Note:
The essence of a tabletop RPG is a role-playing game. To make it easier for everyone to understand, I’ve simplified many rules and made some modifications. Don’t worry if you don’t get it; you can just follow the protagonists as they solve mysteries and embark on adventures~
In short, each player has some attributes and specialties, represented by specific numbers. When you want to use these specialties, you need to roll dice to determine if you can successfully use them.
Generally, tabletop RPGs emphasize cooperation and exploration, with some degree of competition. There are also special forms of RPGs, like R18 pink campaigns4 ( อกยฐ อส อกยฐ).
If you’re interested, you can check out the tabletop RPG videos by Bilibili UP Three-Day Slacker5. They’re really fun 233336.
- ๅ่ดข (Fฤcรกi): Means “to get rich” or “to make a fortune.” โฉ๏ธ
- Xiuwen: I think Shawn sounds more or less similar โฉ๏ธ
- ๆๅฐ (Bร i’ฤr): Brian โฉ๏ธ
- ็ฒ็บขๅข (fฤn hรณng tuรกn): Pink campaigns (R18-themed RPGs) โฉ๏ธ
- B็ซUPไธปๆดๅคฉๆธ้ฑผ็ไธๆฅๅไธป (Bilibili UP Three-Day Slacker): A Bilibili content creator known for their tabletop RPG videos. โฉ๏ธ
- “23333” is a numeric expression commonly used in Chinese online culture, particularly in forums, chat rooms, and social media platforms like Bilibili. It represents laughter or amusement, similar to how “LOL” (laugh out loud) is used in English โฉ๏ธ
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