Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

For a moment, Fang Zheng just wanted to turn around and leave.

In fact, when he heard the name Innsmouth, Fang Zheng wanted to run away.

Because he already knew what kind of damn place this was.

Damn Cthulhu World!

Goddess of Order, what the hell are you doing!

Fang Zheng never imagined that right next to the Main World would be Cthulhu?

Are you kidding me?

In this case, the tragic state of those soldiers can be understood. No need to think about it, they definitely saw something ”indescribable,” and then became ”indescribable” themselves.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng sighed deeply in his heart and then glanced down. According to his experience, the system should now pop up a main task.

Yet......

”—————”

The system continued to play dead, as if it knew nothing. No reaction at all, giving no task, no hint. This made Fang Zheng even more uneasy; there must be something strange about this unusual situation. What the hell are you doing? You should at least throw me a task so that I know what to do, but you say nothing, what do you mean by that?

”Master, is there something wrong with this world?”

Seeing Fang Zheng’s furrowed brows, the Nymph asked with confusion, while Fang Zheng shrugged his shoulders.

”To say there’s a problem, there definitely is. I just don’t know what the problem is or how to solve it......”

Could it be asking me to kill all the Elder Ones in this world? From Cthulhu all the way to Azathoth?

Damn, could it really be that deadly.

To be honest, Fang Zheng isn’t afraid of dealing with Cthulhu, a matter that even a fishing boat can handle, but Azathoth......well, he wouldn’t be afraid if he had the Star Forging Dragon King!

But isn’t there none here?!

Alright, better draw a Soulstone first!

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng immediately opened the system. Currently, he and the Nymph were enjoying the view at the cliff on the other side of Innsmouth Town, while the guy called Francis went off to explore the town’s mysteries himself......usually, such people don’t last long, but given that they are courting death themselves, there’s no way for Fang Zheng to stop them, right?

However, when Fang Zheng opened the card draw system, he found......at some unknown time, the system had silently locked the ten draws, allowing only single draws, and only ten times, not using Dimensional Points but some strange thing called a Soul Scroll instead......what the heck is that?

Laozi isn’t participating in some limited event draw, what is this nonsense!

Fang Zheng was so angry he nearly flipped the table.

Is this really forcing Laozi to farm all the Elder Ones and Outer Gods in this world until they’re cleared out?!

To be honest, if you ask Fang Zheng which world he least wants to go to, the Cthulhu World ranks in the top three for sure.

Because this world is really too bizarre.

About the Cthulhu World, Fang Zheng knows a little, but to explain why he has a psychological shadow, it goes back to his university days. Back then, Fang Zheng’s roommate invited him to play a tabletop game. Never having tried tabletop games before, Fang Zheng naturally agreed.

Unexpectedly, those bastards were playing a Cthulhu role-playing game, and back then, Fang Zheng knew nothing about Cthulhu, totally thrown into the deep end by them, which led to Fang Zheng being totally lost when facing problems. For instance, when his character discovered a mysterious magic book on the map that needed deciphering.

However, based on traditional thinking, Fang Zheng surely needed to decipher it.

The result of deciphering was failure, turning into a lunatic.

This made Fang Zheng very upset; he demanded a redo, successfully deciphered, and then———became a lunatic.

Or Fang Zheng went to a town to investigate a mysterious event, discovered a strange shadow, followed it to investigate, entered a mysterious lair, got captured by cultists for sacrifice, failed to struggle, and died.

Or succeeded in escaping, but because during the escape the other side summoned an Elder Evil God, failed the spirit appraisal, and went insane again.

Then starting over, Fang Zheng smartened up, directly avoiding people and hiding in the inn, only for cultists to successfully summon an evil god in the middle of the night, resulting in the world’s destruction, GAME OVER.

At that moment, Fang Zheng just wanted to shout MMP.

Initially, Fang Zheng thought others were ganging up against him, but later, with classmates’ help, he went over Cthulhu’s settings and novels and finally understood what was going on.

Frankly speaking, the world view of Cthulhu does have its charming aspect, but more importantly, unlike the clichéd trope where ultimate justice always triumphs over evil, Cthulhu’s worldview emphasizes reverence and fear of the unknown. Throughout the entire worldview, it reveals the admonition that humanity’s excessive arrogance, fanatic pursuit of power beyond their own, eventually leads to destruction.

In the Cthulhu mythos, those deities are actually extraterrestrial beings, possessing mysteries and knowledge beyond human comprehension. Often, these extraterrestrial beings have no particular regard for humanity, much like how a person might observe a group of ants out of curiosity or glance at them and then turn away, or even step on them out of disdain.

To humans, ants are insignificant.

And ants cannot harm them in any way.

However, what makes Fang Zheng most wary is the ”toxicity” in the Cthulhu World. According to the Cthulhu World, just looking at these Elder Gods or their artifacts would drive a person insane, as they are existences incomprehensible to humans. But Fang Zheng has never understood the reason behind this. Of course, it makes sense if the mental breakdown is due to the stimulation of Divine Might and Dragon Might, as in the Main World, but what about objects?

Why does mental collapse occur?

What is the principle behind this? Can I be exempt?

Because of this, Fang Zheng has always kept a respectful distance from the Cthulhu World, as it is not just superstitions, but rather, everything about it seems informed yet wholly unknown. For instance, deciphering Cthulhu’s magic book generally drives people insane, whether the deciphering is successful or not, perhaps because humans are inherently mentally fragile. But what if those things carry inherent mental pollution?

At the time, Fang Zheng also suffered a psychological shadow in the board game.

Fortunately, Innsmouth... in Fang Zheng’s memory, can be considered a beginner’s area. If he remembers correctly, according to the setting of the novel he read, this is the nest of the Deep Divers, the Enchanted Clan of Cthulhu—Cthulhu is not here. The Deep Divers are weaklings with a combat power under five, so even the national army of this era could send them to the Western Paradise.

Starting with them might help uncover what’s going on in this world, and then decide what to do next.

As for going back... that’s impossible. Fang Zheng recently had Nymph circle the tunnel they came from, but found it completely blocked. Luckily, he could still contact Heavenly Dao Palace, and in an emergency, he could open the Dimensional Passage to bring over his subordinate fleet and soldiers, so he’s not really worried about any major problems.

”Hey, sir! Sir!”

Just as Fang Zheng was staring at the scenery without much interest, that energetic voice rang out, and Nymph disappeared into thin air once more. Turning his head, Fang Zheng saw Francis waving and running towards him.

”What are you doing here?”

”Just looking at the scenery. Although there’s not much to see, I really have nothing else to do.”

”That’s true...”

Listening to Fang Zheng’s reply, Francis wore a somewhat complex expression, while Fang Zheng squinted his eyes, carefully examining the young man before him from head to toe. If he remembered correctly, the Francis before him should be the protagonist from the Cthulhu series novel, ”Shadow over Innsmouth,” and according to that story, this young man also bore the bloodline of a Deep Diver. In fact, shortly after Innsmouth’s destruction, he was completely brainwashed and voluntarily headed to the sunken city R’lyeh, becoming one of the Deep Divers.

Perhaps by staying by his side, I could study what’s really going on here?

”How’s your exploration journey going?”

With this thought, Fang Zheng pulled back his gaze, smiling as he asked Francis, who sighed helplessly.

”Not much luck. To be honest, I just heard some things from a delirious old man... just superstitions, ancient legends, and ignorant memories, but...”

Saying this, Francis shivered.

”Frankly, it’s really frightening.”

”There are all kinds of legends in the countryside, that’s not surprising.”

Fang Zheng soothed Francis a bit, which eased his originally panic-stricken expression.

”Is there anything else?”

”Well, I was just about to inform you that we could board, but the driver told me there’s an issue with the vehicle, and it will take a day to repair. So we might have to stay overnight here.”

Said Francis, rubbing his hands and looking somewhat embarrassedly at Fang Zheng.

”So... if possible, I was wondering if you’d be willing to stay with me? To be honest, I heard many bad rumors before coming here. At the time, I didn’t pay much attention to them, but now I’m a bit worried, seeing as this is a desolate countryside... I’m a helpless outsider in such a rural place, it’s really not very safe...”

”Of course, no problem.”

Fang Zheng nodded slightly while recalling the plot, responding to Francis.

”But I’m curious, aren’t you worried that I might be one of them?”

”Hahaha, you’re joking, sir. I can tell that your demeanor and gestures are completely different from the people here. Of course, I know you might be concerned, but I assure you that if we get to Arkham safely, I’ll reward you. Although I’m a poor student, my mother’s family is there and has a bit of wealth...”

”Alright, I understand.”

Hearing this, Fang Zheng chuckled. This young man, though brash, wasn’t dumb. He realized that under the circumstances, asking someone he just met to face danger together seemed unlikely. So, he wisely proposed a small condition...

”Since you’ve put it that way, I’ll ensure your safety on this journey.”

With those words, Fang Zheng grasped the hand extended toward him.