Cthulhu Panel: One organ mutates every day

Amidst the prolonged, deafening mechanical vibrations, Wayne slowly opened his eyes.

My mind was blank. What came into view was the walnut wood paneling of the carriage. The sound insulation was so-so. The seats were thick leather upholstery, which felt heavy and comfortable.

Two streams of memories kept flooding in.

One set belongs to Earth: He is a corporate slave who clocks in and out on time, and spends his free time in forums related to the Cthulhu Mythos.

Based on the stories and experiences of various legendary investigators, I have fabricated some short stories and am quite well-known in the field.

The other set is the one we see here now: the incessant whistles of the train tracks, the admission posters of top universities, the faint scent of perfume in my sister's study, and the Weber family business building.

In the memories of this boy named Wayne Weber, after graduating from high school, he worked as his sister's secretary. About two weeks ago, his sister, in her capacity as a director of the Weber family business, took him to a dinner party where major financial giants from the Metropolitan area gathered.

During the meal, he met a little girl with gray hair, and the two hit it off immediately.

As the banquet was ending, the gray-haired little girl quietly stopped him and slipped an object into his palm.

"Brother, this is one of my favorite collectibles. I'm giving it to you."

The pocket watch looked brand new on the front, but the back had fine rust and was engraved with some incomprehensible twisted symbols.

Originally, Wayne found it novel and interesting, so he casually put it in his pocket.

After that, I started having the same dream every night: a misty green fog filled the air, and a gray-haired girl stood on a dark blue stone bridge, waving to me.

Sleep quality plummeted, and daytime mental state declined significantly.

My sister said that dreaming of a girl means I've reached puberty. Everything is normal at work, I don't need any help, and I should go back to university.

Finally, unable to resist her sister's urging, she had no choice but to set off to visit well-known universities in different cities in the north to conduct research for her future university life.

During the journey on the special train, he inadvertently took out the pocket watch and played with it for a while. Seeing the hands spinning rapidly, he became disoriented, gradually lost consciousness, and never woke up again.

Two memories intertwine here.

The boundaries became increasingly blurred, and eventually they became the same person, the reborn Wayne Weber.

Wayne accepted the fact that he had traveled through time and looked out the window.

"First, we need to understand the current situation."

Factory chimneys stand tall, black smoke obscures the sky, and steam locomotives hum incessantly beneath one's feet.

This is the new Commonwealth of the United States, and I should be on a special train heading to Boston, the City of Colleges.

The present era is similar to the industrial golden age of North America before World War II in the previous life, with the steam age leading to the oil age.

As industrial civilization surged forward, economic extravagance and hedonistic revelry flourished, and science and rationality became almost the only truths in the secular world. Yet, some... interesting things also emerged in the shadows.

Wayne was somewhat excited; it seemed like his life was about to become much more interesting.

Suddenly, several jet-black lines twisted and converged in his vision, gradually wriggling into familiar Chinese characters, resembling a virtual control panel:

【physique】

Breathing Lv.——

Sports Lv.——

Eating Lv.——

【Spirit】

Knowledge Level 1

Perception Lv.——

Charm Lv.——

[Features] (Locked)

Sure enough, I have a cheat code!

A smile played on Wei En's lips as he used his mind to navigate and explore the control panel.

The branches of "physical" and "spirit" are clearly visible, but they bounce back as soon as you touch them, as if they haven't been activated yet.

The "Characteristics" section only had a vague lock-shaped symbol. He tried to touch the lock with his consciousness, but there was no response.

Touching it again, another line of even smaller text appeared below the lock:

Only when both body and spirit are awakened can this door be opened.

The condition is clear: unlock all the options under "Physical" and "Mental" before "Traits" will be available.

As for what exactly the "characteristics" are... he withdrew his attention and decided not to think about it for the time being.

[Old Points: 0]

There's nothing here, and it's a little disheartening.

His gaze swept over his feet, where the pocket watch lay on the ground.

Wayne reached out and picked it up. Seeing that the hands of the pocket watch had stopped turning, he prepared to seal it away and see how to study it later.

The moment my fingertip touched the pocket watch, the panel moved.

[Old Points: 0.1]

He was stunned.

It was zero just now, but now it's 0.1.

The fingers didn't loosen, and the numbers kept rising.

0.45……0.63……0.71……It’s as if something unseen is seeping out of the pocket watch.

Wayne turned the pocket watch over and rubbed it between his fingers.

0.82...0.91...

Until the last breath seeped out, so faint as to be almost imperceptible.

[Old Points: 1]

The numbers stopped.

"It seems I can absorb some kind of unseen, mysterious energy and convert it into Old Points."

Wayne placed the pocket watch back in his palm and waited a while, but it didn't rise any further.

The original owner had only played with this thing for a short while before slowly losing consciousness and dying.

Does that little girl know that there's something wrong with this thing?

But one thing is certain: she did not die from the pocket watch like the original owner did. If she knew there was something wrong with the pocket watch, then her act of giving it away must have been for ulterior motives.

Moreover, the scene in the original owner's dream was very familiar: a dark green mist and a dark blue stone bridge, much like the underworld in his memory.

Never mind, we'll investigate that later.

Wayne put the pocket watch into his pocket and looked at the panel again: [Old Points: 1].

I tried focusing my attention on the various branches of "physical" and "mental".

You can invest in each item, but only a little, just enough for one item.

He mentally reviewed the options.

The three aspects of "physical health"—breathing, exercise, and eating—are all very everyday.

Breathing: It happens all the time, without requiring active intervention, consuming no extra energy, or relying on external resources.

Exercise: Exercise requires effort, but other than that, you can't see much difference.

Eating: Eating is limited by food supply, but the Weber family is wealthy and can eat whatever they want.

These three items are all too basic.

Given the wealth of the Weber family business and the prospect of entering university, "spiritual" should be prioritized.

The three aspects of "spirit" are knowledge, perception, and charisma.

They all require proactive actions to accumulate progress.

Reading absorbs content and enhances knowledge; observing details enhances perception; and interpersonal interactions cultivate charm.

Efficiency depends on how much effort is put in and how much output is achieved.

Among them, "reading" depends more on one's state of mind, while "interpersonal communication" depends more on the timing.

Only "observation" can be done at any time.

He focused his attention on the word "perception," touching it lightly with his consciousness.

A line of text slowly appeared: "Confirm?"

Wei En thought for a moment, then suppressed his consciousness.

The jet-black threads twisted and changed.

[Perception Lv.1·Microscopic Observation] Progress: 0%

[Microscopic Observation: Redundant and aberrant synapses in the ocular nerves allow for the observation of minute details]

A slight sense of clarity seeped into the surface of the pupil, as if a cool sensation was flowing along the optic nerve to the brain.

Wayne took a deep breath and suddenly felt that many of the dust particles in his vision became clearer.

If you concentrate, you can vaguely capture every tremor of those floating dust particles.

After adding the points, not only vision but also the overall five senses are improved, and perceiving the environment has become something to enjoy.

He glanced at the panel:

[Perception Lv.1·Microscopic Observation] Progress: 0.01%

Attentive observation has increased progress by a tiny bit, but very little.

Once the progress reaches 100%, it should be able to upgrade. I wonder what changes will occur after the upgrade.

Now that I have the control panel, there's no need to go to university anymore. It would be best to join some secret organizations and infiltrate them to develop. The original owner seemed to have heard some rumors about similar organizations before...

Of course, how to explain this to one's family is also a problem...

Wayne wore a well-tailored fine wool charcoal gray suit, simple yet luxurious.

He glanced up at the carriage number, frowned, and quickly took out his ticket to compare.

Only then did I realize that the carriage number on the ticket was different from the carriage number I was seeing now, and the train that was supposed to run in the morning had become the one that was running in the afternoon, not to mention the starting station and the destination station.

"Strange, the original owner has no memory of taking the wrong bus. It's as if he had a blackout and was controlled for a period of time."

Unable to understand, Wayne decided to observe the environment slowly.

Through his enhanced visual perception, he could clearly see the information on the tickets of passengers on the side across the aisle, which showed that the train was bound for Michigan.

With limited information, we can only take it one step at a time.

Gradually, a middle-aged man with a hunched back and a hooked nose came into view in the aisle of the next carriage, catching Wayne's attention.

The man with the hooked nose wore a black felt hat and carried a dark green kerosene lamp. His clothes were unusual, large like a black cloak. He walked slowly, looking around as if searching for something.

Whether it was an illusion or not, as the light outside the window changed, Wayne felt that the tip of the other person's hooked nose would wriggle slightly, like a maggot.

What a strange person.

[Perception Lv.1·Microscopic Observation] Progress: 0.2%

"It seems that once I observe the results, my perception will improve, even if my ideas are a bit far-fetched," Wei En thought to himself.

Just as Wayne was about to continue observing elsewhere, the hook-nosed man, with his back hunched, turned his head and saw Wayne. He was instantly overjoyed and quickly walked towards Wayne.

"Hmm? Why does it seem like they've come looking for me?" Wayne wondered.

The hook-nosed man came over and sat in the empty seat next to Wayne, staring intently at Wayne, his voice hoarse:

"My Lord, you are finally coming."