Bai Liu followed Jeff's line of sight and saw that the mermaid wax figure was still staring into the water, unmoving, her brows slightly lowered.
Startled by Jeff's sudden shout, Andre swung his fist and punched him hard. "The wax figure isn't moving! It hasn't moved at all! If you keep acting like this, I'll rip your voice box out, throw it on the ground, and stomp on it!"
Jeff clutched his aching head and looked at Andre in fear. He curled into himself, mumbling under his breath, "She moved… she really moved…"
Lucy, who was also unsettled by Jeff's reaction, forced a smile. "Jeff, how can you be so sure it wasn't just your eyes? That mermaid doesn't even have pupils. How could you tell she was looking at you?"
It was a creamy white mermaid wax figure, sculpted from cold wax, with a strange translucent texture. Half-melted droplets clung to her face like frozen tears.
The wax figure's eyes were carved but lacked pupils—entirely white, as if belonging to some soulless corpse standing before the hotel.
"Haven't you noticed?" Jeff's voice grew softer and shakier. "No matter where we drove, that wax figure was always looking straight at our car. Her eyes were definitely moving…"
"Oh—that's what you meant." Lucy visibly relaxed and finally let out a laugh. "It's like the Mona Lisa effect, right? No matter the angle, it feels like the eyes are following you."
"No." Bai Liu calmly refuted her. "That illusion only works in two dimensions. This is a three-dimensional object. It's impossible for a wax figure to produce that effect." He lifted his gaze toward the mermaid. "Jeff is right. The wax figure's eyes are moving."
It was the same feeling he'd had with the townspeople—the way they stared at them the moment they entered, like predators watching prey trespass into their hunting grounds.
This thing was definitely some kind of monster.
The coin on Bai Liu's chest suddenly vibrated. A brand-new panel materialized before his eyes, taking the shape of a heavy, antique medieval book that slowly flipped open.
[Congratulations to the player for discovering the first game monster and unlocking the Monster Book — Siren Town Special (1/4)]
A photograph appeared on the page: the pale face of a mermaid wax figure submerged in murky water, only half exposed. Her uncarved eyes gazed silently at Bai Liu, as though she were about to crawl out of the image itself.
[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Figure (Nymph Status)][Attack Value: ????? (Locked — unlocks after battle)][Attack Method: ?? (Unexplored)][Weakness: ?? (Unexplored)]
The question marks were smeared with what looked like damp ink and water stains, rendering them unreadable. Faint fluorescent text hovered behind them, as if concealed beneath the page.
Below the weakness section was a line of explanatory text:
[Note: Exploring to complete this Monster Book entry will grant corresponding point rewards and special items. Collecting all Monster Book pages within a game instance allows the player to take away the most precious possession of a certain monster.]
The Monster Book contained four pages in total. Bai Liu couldn't flip to the next one—it only displayed monsters he had already unlocked in other game instances.
It felt a bit like hunting monsters for loot: the greater the danger, the better the rewards.
But judging from the quest conditions—and even the combat system—it was clearly encouraging players to actively provoke monsters… to the brink of death.
Bai Liu, a scumbag whose combat ability was about on par with a high school girl's backpack, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Lucy suddenly grabbed Bai Liu's hand in panic. "…Is she really moving?"
"How is that possible?!" Andre seemed briefly shaken by Bai Liu's reasoning. Fear flashed across his face before he quickly covered it with mockery. "Bai Liu, you coward! If you're scared out of your mind and making excuses to run away, go ahead! Once we get back, you'll automatically forfeit Lucy—and then you can get on your knees and lick the piss off my shoes!"
That was the bet Bai Liu had made with Andre.
The driver moved strangely for a moment, then laughed as if nothing was wrong. "It's late—you must be mistaken. There's no such thing as a moving wax figure, is there? If there were, our town would have protected it and turned it into a tourist attraction! We'd make a fortune! We produce wax here, and mermaid wax figures are just part of the town—they're everywhere. Nothing special."
"Here we are! Everyone out of the van! Get a good night's rest and enjoy yourselves tomorrow!" The driver opened the door and ushered them out.
Bai Liu glanced back at the mermaid wax figure in the fountain. From a distance, it still faced them, its head bowed meekly as it gazed at the water, giving no indication that it was watching them.
Yet Bai Liu remembered vividly that when their car first arrived, the front of the mermaid faced the hotel entrance, not them.
Two more mermaid wax figures flanked the hotel entrance, each holding a sceptre and sporting a strangely twisted smile, as if pretending to be welcoming attendants—but their posture suggested they were forced to stand there.
Inside the hotel, mermaid wax figures of every size were everywhere. Even behind the cashier's desk, a wax mermaid clutched a handful of money, as if taking payments herself.
As the driver had said, mermaid wax figures were a hallmark of Siren Town—but this was excessive. From the floor lamps adorned with mermaids to the carved mermaid pencil holders at reception, it wasn't just omnipresent—it was inseparable from the very air of the hotel.
One thing Bai Liu noticed: wherever he went, the wax mermaids seemed to be staring directly at him.
And none of these wax figures had eyes. Logically, a wax figure without pupils shouldn't give the impression of watching anyone, but Bai Liu felt it.
Even Andre, who had been calling Bai Liu a coward, got goosebumps and rubbed his arms as they entered. Jeff shivered and hid behind Andre, not out of fear of Andre's fists, but something else entirely.
Lucy clutched Bai Liu's arm like a small, trembling bird, her delicate, rose-like face ghostly pale with fright, clearly unnerved by the bizarre hotel decor.
Bai Liu calmly approached the receptionist. "Hello, my name is Bai Liu. I have a reservation."
Behind the desk was a young man with an unnervingly pale, almost marble-like complexion. He wore a floor-length kilt and walked with a slight lurch, his movements restricted. When he stood still, it was difficult to tell whether he was a wax figure or a real person.
Bai Liu leaned in closer, and when the man moved suddenly, it startled Lucy. She covered her face and exclaimed, "Oh my God! You're so white—you look like a wax figure!"
"I'm sorry." The receptionist looked apologetic. "I have albinism. I'm sorry if I scared you. Mr. Bai, right? You booked four rooms a week ago. The fee has been paid, and here's your room card. Enjoy your stay."
Bai Liu took the room card, relieved that four rooms had been booked. He didn't particularly want to share a room with Lucy.
Lucy seemed to understand, too. The woman, who had just been panicking, quickly recovered and gave Bai Liu a flirtatious look, which he ignored entirely.
"I'd like to ask," Bai Liu said, "why are there so many mermaid wax figures in this hotel?"
The receptionist's tone was calm. "Sir, the mermaids have given us everything. Siren Town had nothing, but since the recovery of the mermaids' remains, more and more tourists have come. We've gained wealth and prosperity, so we are very grateful to the mermaids. That's why there are mermaid wax figures in every home—they are talismans for us."
Bai Liu gestured toward the wax figure behind the receptionist. "You have all kinds of mermaid wax figures. And the one behind you… It looks exactly like you. It seems to be made from a different material than the others."
It wasn't that Lucy couldn't tell the difference between the man and the wax figure—but the mermaid behind the desk looked eerily identical to the receptionist, even more vivid in expression than the real person. Its eyes stared straight at him, unblinking, as if it wanted to leap from the figure and devour the man who looked just like it.
The other mermaids appeared slightly melted, but this one was more translucent and new, not thick or dusty like the others.
"Yes, sir." The receptionist raised his gaze to Bai Liu. "This mermaid behind me is my amulet. We have wax figures made to resemble ourselves, and when disaster strikes, these amulets are mistaken for us by the evil spirits. They melt in our place and bear the disaster for us."
Bai Liu found it fascinating—this amulet wax figure was clearly different from all the others.
[Player Gain New Awareness — Siren Town Monster Book: Mermaid Wax Panel Refreshed]
[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Figure (Chrysalis Status), Amulet Wax Figure (Cocoon Status)]
A chrysalis and a cocoon? This monster called [Mermaid Wax] actually has two different states?
Bai Liu pondered slowly. A chrysalis is the stage in which the adult insect is still encased in its shell, while a cocoon represents the stage after hatching, or the empty shell left behind.
The idea of "protecting one's shell" aligns perfectly with the front desk's earlier claim of a shell that can resist attacks…
It seemed likely that this mermaid wax figure might have two additional states, [Bug] and [Butterfly], which Bai Liu instinctively felt would be far more aggressive than [Chrysalis] and [Cocoon].
At present, the mermaid wax figures in the [Chrysalis] and [Cocoon] states showed no intention of actively attacking anyone—though it was possible their [attack] type was something Bai Liu didn't yet understand, perhaps mental contamination or some other subtle effect.
A hall full of wax mermaids staring at players all the time would certainly be mentally unsettling.
Bai Liu distributed the room cards. Lucy tried to share a room with him, but he refused, claiming, "I haven't proven myself brave enough for you to deserve me!"
Touched, Lucy backed off and, flushed with emotion, bent forward to give Bai Liu a farewell kiss—only to be stopped by an angry Andre.
Thank you, Andre. Bai Liu silently hoped nothing bad would happen to him tonight.
This girl was warm, generous, and clearly fond of him—a type Bai Liu had never been good at handling.
He swiped his room card and stepped inside… then froze.
Bai Liu had splurged a little with this NPC's money, booking a room with detailed furnishings, but even here, mermaid wax figures were everywhere—from the table lamp shaped like a mermaid to the wax figure on the bedside table, which glowed with an oily sheen in the dim light.
As soon as Bai Liu entered, the eyes of the ghastly white mermaid wax figures seemed to shift ever so slightly, all turning toward him in unison.
A panel popped up:
[Activate Main Quest: Player Bai Liu must survive the night safely in the house until tomorrow and avoid being hatched — Quest Completion Reward: 20 points]