Innsmouth, Massachusetts, a small harbor town.
This ancient harbor town is located at the mouth of the Manuxet River. During the War of Independence, it was known for its shipbuilding industry. In the early 19th century, it had a thriving maritime industry, and later, taking advantage of the Manuxet River, it developed into a modest industrial center.
Around 1927, during Prohibition, the authorities burned down a large number of derelict waterfront houses—said to be uninhabited, dilapidated, and infested with vermin—to make way for new power facilities, arresting many people due to resistance activities.
This was the only time in nearly a century the town made headlines outside of its own community.
And now, it's 201X, and those events have long since faded from public memory.
“Damn, is this really Innsmouth?”
Alexander awoke to find himself alone, sitting on a bench in a small garden. He had nothing with him except a newspaper draped over his body.
“Didn't Carmen say that everyone would be grouped together? Why am I here...”
He was a bit confused. If what Carmen said was true, he was now in Innsmouth, a world belonging to the Cthulhu Mythos.
“If I encounter the Old Ones from the Cthulhu Mythos, I’m definitely done for…”
Alexander flipped through the newspaper in his hand, which contained trivial local news written in English, such as "Town elections proceed as scheduled" and "Cause of fire at Marsh Refinery ruins under investigation," reflecting how dull the local news reporters' jobs were.
He checked his surroundings and found himself wearing a casual jacket instead of a hospital gown, and his feet were shod.
Upon checking his pockets, Alexander found a wallet containing a stack of green bills and some identification documents.
At that moment, a series of tasks from the plot world "New Innsmouth Conundrum" began to unfold in Alexander's mind.
"Act One: Janet, a student at Miskatonic University, arrives in Innsmouth with friends to investigate the disappearance of her cousin Anantan. They will face a series of strange events and uncover layers of hidden mysteries..."
"Task 1: Assist Janet in finding Anantan."
"Side Task 2: Make contact with plot-relevant characters, build relationships, and gain their trust."
Alexander's mind sprang into action, quickly filling with the storyline of "New Innsmouth Conundrum." He felt like an actor who had to play his part according to the script.
In this story, he was a background character with minimal involvement in the plot.
"This means I have a lot of freedom to move around, but on the other hand, if I don’t stick close to the main characters, there's a high chance I’ll get killed off, just like extras in movies."
Extras in films often meet grim fates due to their peripheral involvement in the story—they have a high death rate.
"I need to join the others as soon as possible and find the main characters to bask in the protagonist’s aura!"
It seemed that everyone was scattered; the plot suggested that players had been deliberately dispersed by the malevolent space.
“Looks like Carmen and the experienced members guessed wrong…” Alexander, calm and introspective, considered this before crumpling up the newspaper and tossing it into a nearby trash can, then heading out to the street.
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Outside the small garden was a street where Alexander observed the passersby, noting no one with the peculiar narrow foreheads, flat noses, and bulging fish-like eyes, which reassured him enough to leave the garden.
“The script says it’s 201X, and this is the newly established Innsmouth, which on the surface seems no different from other small northern U.S. towns…”
“It seems the Dagon cult hasn’t dominated the whole town, so I won’t immediately face a mass of Deep Ones.”
Alexander recalled the stories of Cthulhu and Innsmouth.
In the Cthulhu Mythos, the dark edges of the human world are ruled by powerful, indescribable deities. These outer gods differ entirely from the gods of our myths—they are chaotic, evil, and destructive. Their forms vary wildly, and mere exposure to their presence can drive humans mad. Yet, some alien races, ancient civilizations, and deranged cults worship them, hoping to gain their power.
In the original "Shadow Over Innsmouth," the town’s Esht family organized a secret cult, making deals with something beneath Devil Reef to produce offspring, creating many half-human, half-fish creatures.
“Descendants of the Deep Ones are not terrifying in small numbers, but they become a huge problem if they grow in number.”
Alexander sighed with slight relief, as long as the town wasn't overrun by Deep One hybrids, he wouldn't be as worried as before.
“Though I don’t know where Carmen and the others are, I can start by looking for the Gilman House.”
While reading the script earlier, he noted that the main character Janet and her friends were staying in town.
“The newspaper mentioned the Ish family’s gold refinery burning down; if that facility exists, the lodging might too…”
Alexander's English was decent. He stopped a passerby and quickly learned the location of the Gilman House, heading there promptly.
In the original story, the Gilman House was a shabby inn, but in this new Innsmouth, it appeared to be a more formal youth hostel.
Alexander used his identification to check in and secure a room.
He also inquired with the reception staff about Carmen and the others, but the response was disappointing.
“If Carmen understands the script, she should think of the inn…” Alexander was slightly frustrated. This was his first time participating in a script world, and he hadn’t expected this situation. Now he had to figure everything out himself.
“Damn, I told you before, those cops are idiots…” Just then, a group entered the hostel, led by a blond man, his face bruised, shouting loudly as if afraid others wouldn’t notice him.
“That thing is Anantan’s, and they took it by force. Damn it, without it, how can we find Anantan…”
“Roland, calm down. We all want to find Anantan.” A silver-haired woman beside him sighed, her gold-rimmed glasses lending her a sense of reason and sophistication.
“You shouldn’t have gotten physical with the police, Roland. They could throw you in jail according to federal law.”
“Cough, Linda, they might have just shot him instead, but thankfully, he’s not me…”
An African American man interjected with a joke.
“But now we’re in trouble. We lost our lead. Anantan did leave a DV near the refinery, but we found nothing.”
The silver-haired woman turned her gaze toward a quiet black-haired young man, who seemed lost in thought.
“Janet, what are you thinking?”
“Nothing, maybe I have a way to get the DV…”
The black-haired young man rubbed his chin, as if an idea had struck him.
“Janet, that’s the main group…”
Alexander was startled but quickly masked his reaction, picking up a magazine from the nearby rack to cover his face as he moved behind the group.
“So, tonight... find Deep Web Communications… if money isn’t an issue…”
“No way… if it’s illegal…”
“Understand… originally… retrieve it…”
As the four headed toward the stairs, Alexander couldn’t catch all of their conversation.
“What are they planning?” Alexander wondered.
Perhaps I should monitor these four; maybe I can help them find Anantan by following clues.
The main task, marked in red, is the core storyline. According to the narrative, if the main task is completed, the plot ends immediately, typically spanning at least three acts or as many as four or five.
Alexander only knew the first act of the story. However, if he could provide the main characters with extra clues, he might expedite the story’s conclusion in the second or third act.
Once the main task is completed, he would earn 900 survival points and safely return to the Necrospace.
Failure, however, would result in immediate erasure.
I died in a car accident. If erased, I’d face that scene again.
Recalling the horrific crash, Alexander shivered.
Meanwhile, as Alexander encountered the main group, on the other side of Innsmouth, in the famed Elliot family estate, the bespectacled young man, Xu Lin, slammed his fist on the mahogany desk.
“Damn it!”
This was the study of Mayor Lot Elliot, a private space now occupied by Xu Lin and Carmen.
“Don’t be upset; plans never keep up with changes…”
Carmen lit a cigarette for herself.
“The key issue is we haven’t found the new patients from the ‘audition’ in time, which is quite troubling…”
“This is a deliberate move by the script. We were too careless, didn’t consider this possibility.”
Xu Lin calmed himself, pondering: “The previous two scenarios were entirely different, so we didn’t anticipate this situation…”
“Without help from experienced players like us, the newcomers will struggle to find a way to break the plot—they might just wander around like headless chickens.”