Four intense beams of light shot from four directions, converging fiercely upon the mermaid wax figure. For a moment, Bai Liu's small television screen shone far brighter than those nearby—pure white, dazzling, impossible to look at directly.
Under the harsh illumination, the mermaid wax figure stiffened, jerking as it slowly raised its hands to shield its eyes. Its gaze, caught in the flashlight's glare, grew vacant and unfocused. The figures began to retreat, curling in on themselves, pitiful as cornered criminals under a police spotlight, huddling at the very center of the radiance. Some even tried to bury their heads in their arms.
And Bai Liu, like a devilish overlord, crouched before the cowering wax figures, smiling serenely. "Just as I thought—you really are afraid of the light."
The audience before the little TV: "…"
The player who had just critiqued Bai Liu was so flustered by the scene that his face turned crimson. He shouted, "Impossible! How could a discounted projector possibly replicate the full intensity of a high-powered flashlight? This is unscientific!"
"Ha, what a joke. You're looking for science here? How many of these props are even remotely scientific?"
"…Emmm, I just checked the projector's manual. It says it's an optical projector. Most features are useless, but it's especially effective at reflecting light—can preserve at least eighty percent."
"Maybe read the system's instructions before trashing a newcomer. Honestly, speechless…"
"I couldn't help myself—I just bought three 3D projectors…"
Meanwhile, the player who had been praised for choosing the right prop was now frantically waving a torch to fend off the mermaids, while trying to read the newspaper in the hot spring, looking utterly panicked.
The mermaid wax figures, faces twisted and claws bared, kept advancing. The player was forced back, seemingly on the verge of being overwhelmed—a scene of peril and adrenaline.
It should have been a heart-stopping spectacle, but a single glance at Bai Liu's side rendered it strangely bland.
Bai Liu had his three projectors, each holding a flashlight like a squad of police, encircle the mermaid wax figures, while he himself lounged by the hot spring, leisurely unfolding the newspaper as if on holiday.
In the center of the ring, the mermaid wax figures cowered, small and helpless, unmoving.
The contrast was almost absurd.
[347 people have liked Bai Liu's little TV, 355 have bookmarked it, 21 have charged it—Player Bai Liu gains 21 points.]
[Player Bai Liu has received over 300 likes in one minute; reputation is soaring!]
[Congratulations, Player Bai Liu has earned a promotion slot and entered the edge of the central hall's game screens. Viewership is skyrocketing…]
Someone stared at Bai Liu's screen in a daze: "…Wow, this is the first time I've seen a newcomer get promoted to the central game hall, even if it's just the edge."
"I think… we're witnessing the rise of a new legend…"
————————
["Siren Town Monster Book" — Mermaid Wax Figure Panel Updated]
[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Figure (Chrysalis State), Amulet Wax Figure (Cocoon State)]
[Weaknesses: Direct eye contact, intense light (2/3)]
[Attack Method: Hatching]
[Player Bai Liu is one weakness away from completing the "Mermaid Wax Figure" page. Upon completion, corresponding rewards will be unlocked at the end of the game.]
Bai Liu had long suspected that one of the mermaid wax figure's weaknesses was a fear of strong light.
It was, in fact, an easy deduction.
Earlier, the driver had said that big fish were only caught at night, because they avoided the light, and the mermaid fishing event was held at night as well. It was clear that mermaids, like other large fish, were likely photophobic.
But whether the mermaid wax figures shared this trait, Bai Liu had not concluded lightly.
He observed that during the day, there were almost no mermaid wax figures on the streets of Siren Town. In the hotel and the Siren Wax Museum—both dimly lit—there were many. He had previously deduced that mermaid wax figures lacked hearing and smell, but possessed extremely keen vision, making them highly sensitive to light.
The answer was almost self-evident: mermaid wax figures feared strong light.
Once he'd deduced this, Bai Liu sought to maximize the utility of this weakness—
—How strong must the light be to repel how many mermaid wax figures? How long would the effect last? If surrounded, could strong light help him break through?
So, Bai Liu conducted an experiment, deliberately luring the wax figures into a circle, then attempting to break out using strong light and 3D projectors.
Of course, it could have failed, but Bai Liu disliked timidity.
If his calculations gave him even a ten percent chance of success, he would gamble without hesitation.
If he failed, so be it. No risk, no reward. That's the nature of games—of making them, and of playing them.
For now, though, his attention was on the newspaper soaking in the hot spring.
Once he retrieved it, he gently tore the back of the paper in two.
As expected, it was no ordinary newspaper.
[Player Bai Liu has completed the "Separate the Newspaper in the Hot Spring" task. Points awarded: 10]
[Charge points: 21. Current balance: 31. Would you like to purchase an item?]
Bai Liu selected "No," and continued reading.
He felt the two sheets—one was noticeably thinner.
He frowned, pinched the thicker one, and tore it again—another layer separated.
He raised an eyebrow. He'd almost been misled by the task completion prompt; there were still more layers stuck together. If he hadn't checked, he might have missed crucial information.
This game was quite adept at setting traps.
He tore the paper seven or eight times, until the washbasin behind him was filled with soaked, old newsprint. Only after confirming there were no more hidden layers did he glance at the contents.
All nine headlines were police bulletins—missing persons notices for tourists. The total number missing… was not small.
The earliest cases dated back to last year, when the Siren Wax Museum first opened.
At first, the disappearances were few, and often accompanied by signs of robbery.
In a popular tourist spot, one or two missing persons a month was not unusual—such places, especially by the sea, were hotbeds for crime. Drownings, kidnappings, robberies—these were all common, and always reported…
But from what Jerf had told Bai Liu, until last month, the outside world had no idea so many had vanished here. Tourism was still booming.
Only when the number of visitors and disappearances rose, and strange events became frequent, did the story break—last month alone, twelve cases were officially recorded.
Bai Liu guessed that, until then, the disappearances had been covered up by Mayor Harris, who, eager to develop tourism, had suppressed the news. Only when it became unmanageable did it come to light.
From the newspapers, it was clear: the townsfolk here were adept at crime.
Bai Liu packed up the newspaper and projector, shining his flashlight at the mermaid wax figures. When they didn't move, he left the corridor and headed for the central exhibition hall of the Siren Wax Museum, where Lucy and the others waited.
The central hall was said to contain only a single mermaid skeleton, displayed in a bulletproof glass case—the very one the driver had described, the perfect specimen they had dredged from the sea, the origin of everything.
This skeleton was like a gift from the ocean to Siren Town, bringing both fortune and misfortune. Yet all anyone saw was the wealth, never realizing their current misery stemmed from it.
Bai Liu stopped as soon as he entered.
The central hall was circular, with a crystal coffin-like glass case at its heart. Inside, under dazzling 360-degree LED lights, lay the so-called "skeleton" of the mermaid. For once, Bai Liu regarded the mermaid's remains with genuine astonishment.
This could not be called a skeleton—not by Bai Liu's standards.
Lucy gazed at the mermaid in the glass case with rapt adoration. "He's so beautiful. I've never seen such… perfection. Not even computer graphics can compare."
Jerf, deeply shaken, stared up at the mermaid, his thick glasses slipping down his nose, rooted to the spot.
Andrei, as always, regarded such things with utter disdain. "You've all been fooled. It's just a fish tail sewn onto a human body, put in a glass case to attract attention—a cheap trick…"
He trailed off, staring at the skeleton, then added, "But it is well made."
The mermaid's body floated in the glass container. From the right hand to the shoulder, it was bare bone; the rest was covered in lifelike flesh.
Muscles, elegant and taut, sheathed slender bones. In the deep blue liquid, bubbles rose slowly, winding through the mermaid's dark brown hair, finally nestling like pearls among its long, pale lashes.
Its eyes were closed, its features impossibly delicate. Slightly wavy hair drifted in the water, brushing against a face of almost unnatural beauty, revealing a pair of ears unlike any human's.
The left ear was a shell-like, nacreous fin, shimmering with iridescence in the water; the right was a bony fin, stark against the wet hair.
The coiled tail was like a ribbon of silvery blue, trailing across the glass, its inverted-triangle scales glittering under the lights. Between the fingers of the right hand stretched translucent webbing, while the skeletal left hand crossed over the chest, entwined with the right.