Free Web NovelWang Shun’s eyes lit up. “He’s collecting the Monster Book! He’s confirming the final weakness of every mermaid monster! Then he’ll use that weakness to drive them back!”
The others began discussing it in shock and disbelief.
“No way. He really wants to complete the whole Monster Book?”
“I heard only God Mu has ever completed the Siren Town Monster Book before. Ordinary players are lucky if they collect even one page. Can a newcomer really do it?”
“I don’t think he can complete it. I’ve watched a ton of Siren Town gameplay videos, and I’ve never seen anyone find the third weakness of the Mermaid Wax Figures or the Mermaid Sailors.”
...
Bai Liu could not hear any of their comments. He merely raised the pickaxe in his hand, his expression lazy, then brought it down hard on the glass display case containing the Siren King.
With a crash, the glass shattered everywhere. The Siren King slid out with the liquid inside and landed at Bai Liu’s feet.
The Mermaid Wax Figures seemed to suffer a terrible fright. One after another, they retreated from the central exhibition hall, scattering in all directions. Even Lucy and Jeff, who had been on either side of Bai Liu, clutched their heads as though they had seen a demon and screamed wildly as they fled the hall.
Wang Shun looked up at Bai Liu, who was wiping the liquid from his fingers one by one, his eyes shining. He took a deep breath and said:
“The third weakness of the Mermaid Wax Figures and Mermaid Sailors is the Siren King!”
Bai Liu crouched down and lifted the Siren King’s chin.
The Siren King’s eyelashes, clumped together by the liquid, dripped moisture onto his vivid lips. It glistened in the fine cracks there, like an invitation to kiss him. Seen from this angle, the face was soul-stirringly beautiful, surpassing the limits of human imagination when it came to refinement and loveliness.
Only words like “Siren” or “Mermaid,” things beyond ordinary convention, could contain such a face.
The texture beneath Bai Liu’s fingertips was cold, delicate, and incredibly smooth. What Bai Liu had originally wanted to say was that the NPC modeling in this game was quite impressive, to have created such a beautiful NPC.
But at the critical moment, Bai Liu suddenly remembered that he seemed to be on a live broadcast. At a moment like this—an exciting climax where he had collected three pages of the Monster Book—the audience probably wanted to see some chuunibyou-style grandstanding.
So Bai Liu exhaled slowly and, with great seriousness, smiled and said, “Everything began with you, and everything will end with you, beautiful Siren King.”
Bai Liu bent down, moved the Siren King onto his small trolley, and looked up with a faint smile. He stepped onto the cart, and the trolley carried the Siren King out of the wax museum in triumphant fashion.
Not a single Mermaid Wax Figure dared approach. They stood far away in the dark corners of the wax museum, watching in terror, none daring to step forward.
[The Siren Town Monster Book has been refreshed — Mermaid Wax Figure (1/4)]
[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Figure (Pupa state), Amulet Wax Figure (Cocoon state)]
[Weakness: Direct human gaze, strong light, Siren King]
[Attack Method: Hatching]
[This page of the Monster Book for Mermaid Wax Figure (Pupa and Cocoon state) has been collected. We hope the player continues to work hard.]
[The Siren Town Monster Book — Mermaid Sailor (3/4)]
[Monster Name: Mermaid Sailor (Butterfly state)]
[Weakness: Fear of strong light, Amulet, Siren King]
[Attack Method: Tearing and scratching (Being scratched has a certain probability of triggering an alienation state)]
[This page of the Monster Book for Mermaid Wax Figure (Pupa and Cocoon state) has been collected. We hope the player continues to work hard.]
[System Notification: Player Bai Liu is only one step away from collecting the entire Siren Town Monster Book. Please keep up the good work!]
In front of Bai Liu’s small TV, silence lasted for three whole minutes. It was so quiet one could hear a pin drop. Even Li Gou was stunned for a moment.
In the end, it was Wang Shun’s excited shout—“He’s almost collected it all!”—that shattered the excessive silence.
Then, in an instant, like a drop of water falling into a pan of hot oil, all the players watching Bai Liu’s broadcast were swept up by the emotion of watching him fall into a certain-death situation and then casually turn the tables. Almost everyone began shouting, the crowd boiling over.
“Only one page left!”
“A Monster Book just one step from completion. Damn, this is the first time I’ve seen a pure newcomer get this far. So cool.”
“I really want those people on the forums who were talking trash and saying ‘I could do it too’ to come see this. I bet if they ran into the same situation, Bai Liu would be leveling up while they’d be on their way to the grave.”
“He’s so strong. Even when he runs into a God-level NPC, he doesn’t care at all—he just smashes it open and drags it out to use as a tool.”
Li Gou’s face was dark and grim. He slammed his knife a few times, but he still could not suppress the voices praising Bai Liu.
Many of the people who had been making sarcastic remarks about Bai Liu on the forums had also come over to watch his small TV. After being slapped in the face by Bai Liu’s performance, their expressions were already ugly. Hearing people call them out, they cursed and retorted, “If he’s really that amazing, let him get onto the central screen! He’s only showing off in the single-player game zone. What’s so impressive about that?”
At that moment, the system announced:
[10,003 people liked Bai Liu’s small TV, 9,607 people bookmarked Bai Liu’s small TV, 1,300 people charged Bai Liu’s small TV, player Bai Liu received 1,300 points.]
[Player Bai Liu gained over 10,000 likes within one minute. His reputation is irresistible! Player Bai Liu has achieved the ‘Famous for a Time’ achievement!]
[Congratulations to player Bai Liu for obtaining a promotion slot and entering the high-intensity recommendation position of the single-player game sub-screen in the Central Hall. Wow, well done, you’ve gained a central promotion slot, and the view count is rising rapidly...]
Wang Shun took a deep breath, his heart suddenly pounding for some reason.
This feeling—the excitement of watching a thrilling, brilliant game recording—was something he had not felt in a very, very long time. He took one last deep look at Bai Liu’s dimmed small TV, then turned and ran.
From now on, he would not miss a single minute of this player Bai Liu’s videos!
Wang Shun turning and running reminded the other players.
“Shit! A central promotion slot! Awesome! A pure newcomer made it there on his first run!”
“Stop shouting and go! If we miss any plot later, we’ll have to pay for a membership to watch it. A high-quality video like this will definitely enter the VIP library! Watching it now is basically making money!”
The player who had just said, “If he’s really that amazing, let him get onto the central screen,” went livid. After being mocked by a group of playful gazes, he glared hatefully at Bai Liu’s small TV and scurried away.
At the back of the crowd, Li Gou’s expression had turned utterly dark. He gripped his large knife until it creaked, then also walked toward the Central Hall.
Central Hall.
A young man wearing enormous over-ear headphones was squatting on the ground, sucking on a lollipop as he looked up and scanned the entire central screen with interest, as though choosing a video that caught his eye.
On his headphones was a fluffy monkey that looked a little like Paul Frank, its long arms wrapped around both ear cups.
The monkey’s eyes glowed red, and its cloth-strip teeth were countless sharp triangles. It looked like a cartoon character, but there was a thread of horror hidden in its cuteness.
The young man’s appearance bore a subtle resemblance to the monkey as well. He had a round face, slightly dark-red eyes, and sharp tiger teeth at both corners of his mouth. Even when his mouth was closed, the tiger teeth still showed. He, too, had that kind of look—cute, but with something frightening beneath it.
The lollipop rolled in his mouth, making one cheek bulge.
He complained impatiently, “Why isn’t there a single player with even a bit of potential? Today’s rankings are getting worse and worse. Not even one player who can complete a Monster Book. I don’t know how they even got up here.”
As he spoke, he patted off his pants and prepared to leave.
Just then, a ranking list slightly to the right of the center of the central screen suddenly jumped. The small TV of the player who had been there before went dark. Then the face that lit up was fair, clean, and especially harmless-looking.
This player, who looked like a top student or an obedient good boy, was smiling as he dragged a trolley, as though he were handing homework to a teacher. His movements, however, were crisp and agile as he pushed the trolley, along with the breathtakingly beautiful mermaid on it, toward the ugly Mermaid Sailors like a cannon.
The Mermaid Sailors let out sharp, terrified screams and fled at once, tears of fear falling from their ugly eyes.
Behind them, Bai Liu could not help letting out a light, pleasant laugh as he continued relentlessly pursuing the poor Mermaid Sailors.
Mu Shicheng, who was waiting in front of the big screen, slowly went: “...”
Then: “???????”
Damn. Where did this wild player come from? This playstyle was too reckless!
How could someone push a monster all over the map?
Mu Shicheng quickly opened the profile for the player in this promotion slot, slowly frowning. “Bai Liu... why does that name sound so familiar? Have I heard it somewhere before?”
He continued flipping through the pages. “This guy plays well. He’s collected three pages of the Monster Book, triggered a side quest, and has a 100% completion rate on that side quest... I remember now!”
Mu Shicheng suddenly recalled that this was the newcomer player the forums had said might break his single-player points record for Siren Town.
Not long ago, people had said this newcomer would not make it past the True Love Ship. But now, his Monster Book was nearly complete, and he had finished the side quest Jeff’s Bloody Conspiracy—something even Mu Shicheng himself had not completed.
Moreover, this person’s charging points for Siren Town had already surpassed his!
This person really might unseat him from the highest-point record in Siren Town.
With curiosity and a subtle sense of defiance, Mu Shicheng entered the crowd watching Bai Liu’s small TV without hesitation.
[Mu Shicheng, ranked fourth on the Rising Star Points Leaderboard, has entered Bai Liu’s small TV. He hasn’t shown his attitude toward you yet; you must work hard to move him~]
The other spectators who saw this notification sucked in a cold breath and began looking around for Mu Shicheng.
“God Mu is here!”
“Shit, shit, shit, where is God Mu?”
“This newcomer is awesome enough to draw God Mu over. God Mu hasn’t watched someone else’s small TV in ages. He usually watches premium videos straight from the VIP library. The last time God Mu watched a small TV, it was for Spades.”
“Spades is the King of this game, number one on the total points leaderboard. It’s normal for God Mu to watch him, but where did this newcomer come from, to be able to draw God Mu out?”
Mu Shicheng stood in the corner. The giant monkey headphones on his head had transformed into a monkey baseball cap.
He pulled the brim down a little, and beneath its shadow, his eyes had turned completely dark red as he looked up at the overly relaxed person on Bai Liu’s small TV.
With a crack, Mu Shicheng bit through the lollipop in his mouth with his sharp canine teeth. Then he suddenly tilted his head and smiled thoughtfully.
“This newcomer is pretty interesting.”
Bai Liu pushed the Siren King, walking grandly down the street in a straight line with a leisurely, punchable smile on his face. He had turned a tense, thrilling horror game into a casual mini-game.
At a distance behind him, the Mermaid Sailors following Bai Liu wore distorted, hideous faces. They tried to draw closer, but whenever they looked at the Siren King on Bai Liu’s trolley, fear stopped them. They could only stare at Bai Liu with resentment.
Bai Liu acted as if he sensed nothing at all. He pushed the trolley toward the seaside, looking very much like someone “holding the Emperor hostage to command the feudal lords.”
But the relationship between the Siren King and these Mermaid Sailors and Wax Figures was not as simple as that between an Emperor and his feudal lords.
In fact, deducing that the Siren King was the final weakness of the Mermaid Sailors and Wax Figures was very simple. Bai Liu’s main evidence had two parts.
First, the Siren King had no weaknesses. That meant he was essentially the strongest existence in the game. In that sense, comparatively speaking, the Siren King did indeed pose the greatest threat to the players.
But at the same time, the same was true for the monsters.
The Siren King had no weaknesses and could not be defeated. This applied to both monsters and players. Through that point, Bai Liu instantly transferred the threat the Siren King posed to him onto the other monsters.
Second, there was the game’s plot.
Through the previous series of plot points, it could be seen that Mermaids, Mermaid Wax Figures, and Mermaid Sailors formed three progressive stages, corresponding respectively to larvae, pupae, and butterflies.
But these three kinds of monsters did not merely have an evolutionary relationship in terms of form. There was also a food-chain relationship between them.
Mermaid Sailors and Mermaid Wax Figures, including the stronger Mermaids, would eat the flesh of weaker Mermaids. Mermaid fishermen in the process of alienation could only serve the fully alienated Mermaid Sailors, working like laborers and only eating after the Mermaid Sailors had finished. They even had to fish for the Mermaid Sailors on the ship for free.
And the Mermaid Sailors decided which Mermaid Wax Figures could hatch. For example, last night, it was the Mermaid Sailors who decided to send Lucy and Jeff to the Siren Wax Museum and which wax figures would be hatched.
This was clearly the attitude of an upper class toward a lower class, just like the CEO of Bai Liu’s company deciding who could be promoted.
It could be seen that there was an obvious hierarchy among the monsters:
[Mermaid (servant and food) → Mermaid Wax Figure (subordinate) → Mermaid Sailor]
The Siren King was clearly at the very top of this food chain, possessing a certain degree of control and deterrent power over all other monsters. The other mermaid monsters were obviously afraid of the Siren King.
But through the events of last night, Bai Liu had discovered that these mermaid monsters were not only afraid of the Siren King; they were wary of him.
He had discovered this through the strangeness of the Siren Wax Museum.
Since almost the entire town was under the rule of the mermaid monsters, there was actually no need for the Siren Wax Museum to exist. Previously, the Siren Wax Museum had existed mainly to cover up evidence of crimes.
But for the mermaids, there was no need for that.
The Mermaid Wax Figures could simply wander around the town, just like those wax figures in the hotel. So why did there still need to be a fixed number of Mermaid Wax Figures in this wax museum, and why did any missing ones have to be replaced immediately to keep that number constant? ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
There was a more appropriate term for the act of keeping a fixed number of monsters in one place, not allowing them to leave, in order to watch over something.
Guarding.
The Siren Wax Museum was less like a wax museum and more like a prison, strictly guarded by a fixed number of soldiers.
Yes, that was it. These Mermaid Wax Figures were guarding the Siren King inside the Siren Wax Museum.
These mermaid monsters had likely used some method unknown to Bai Liu to suppress the Siren King and prevent him from waking. It was very likely that the liquid inside the glass display case had a certain restraining effect on the Siren King.
Bai Liu noticed that the liquid was as viscous as glue, almost forming a thin shell over the Siren King’s eyelashes, and it emitted a strange, dizzying scent. If the game had told Bai Liu that the Siren King had a weakness, Bai Liu would have guessed with 100% certainty that it was this liquid.
Unfortunately, the Siren King had no weaknesses. This liquid could only restrain him for a while. Soon enough, he would wake up from it on his own.
In fact, strictly speaking, Bai Liu was not wrong, because the weakness of the normal version of the Siren Banshee was indeed this liquid.
The Siren Banshee could not wake from this liquid on its own and needed to be rescued by the player. At the same time, the player also had to use the liquid to limit the Siren Banshee’s level of consciousness, preventing it from attacking the player after fully waking up.
Unfortunately, what Bai Liu had encountered was the Siren King: a bugged version possessed and strengthened by a God-level NPC, capable of waking purely on his own.
So even though Bai Liu had guessed correctly, it was completely useless, because the liquid’s effect on the Siren King was extremely limited. Expecting the liquid to knock the Siren King unconscious again was unrealistic.
The Siren Wax Museum was the Siren King’s prison, and the reason these mermaid monsters were so afraid of him waking up was likely because once the Siren King woke, it would basically mean the end of all the monsters in Siren Town.
These monsters had only begun appearing after the Siren King was fished up. Conversely, if the Siren King sank back into the ocean, these monsters should disappear.
That was why the monsters were so afraid of the Siren King and did not dare come over to interfere with Bai Liu, who was rampaging around with the trolley. They were afraid of disturbing the still-sleeping Siren King, so they acted with extraordinary caution.
But what these mermaid monsters did not know was that, for Bai Liu, if the Siren King woke up, he would also definitely die.
Bai Liu dared to be so arrogant mainly because he already knew that the Siren King would not wake within a short period of time. The system had notified him that it would take five hours. That was why Bai Liu dared to use the Siren King as a “hostage” to repel the mermaid monsters.
Now all Bai Liu had to do was take a boat to the sea area of Siren’s Gift and sink the Siren King back into the ocean to end the game.
[Congratulations to the player for unlocking the entire story plot and entering the final prologue.]
[Because player Bai Liu escaped from the wax museum during the day, and Mermaid Wax Figures cannot move during the day, in order to allow the Mermaid Wax Figures to go out and participate in the final plot, and because the player currently possesses a huge advantage that has strongly affected the gameplay, in order to weaken the player’s current advantage and balance the gameplay, the weather is about to change. Please be prepared, player.]
[Weather conversion: Cloudy → Heavy Rain]
Rain came pouring down without warning. Pea-sized raindrops crackled against the ground, kicking up dust and forming puddles. Bai Liu was instantly drenched like a drowned rat.
One hand held the trolley, while the other pushed back the wet hair plastered to his eyelids. Water dripped from the ends of his hair onto his lashes, then slid down to the ground.
In just a few seconds, the world before his eyes blurred into a curtain of white mist.
Bai Liu had been washed into an utterly sorry state by the rain, but the Mermaid Sailors who had been pursuing him raised their heads and greedily gulped down the rainwater.
They seemed to gain some kind of energy from the rain, growing increasingly bizarre and hideous. Gills rose beside their mouths, membranes grew between their fingers, and green light burst from their eyes as they began approaching Bai Liu step by step.
Some Mermaid Wax Figures that had been hiding in the shadows along the road also began closing in. Their pure-white stone fishtails seemed to come alive in the rain, moving along the ground as though lubricated, much faster than before.
The expressions on the wax figures’ faces changed as well, from uniform smiles to twisted, arrogant laughter. Gray-black cracks spread across their bodies from the whites of their eyes, and their upper bodies shed the human appearance of wax figures, becoming more like rugged fish from the deep sea.
Bai Liu used the coin game manager hanging around his neck to scan these monsters.
[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Figure (Strengthening in the rain, movement speed on land increased, Siren King’s deterrence decreased, attack power increased)]
[Monster Name: Mermaid Sailor (Strengthening in the rain, movement speed on land increased, Siren King’s deterrence decreased, attack power increased)]
[Monster Name: Siren King (No strengthening effect from rain, but due to the drug liquid being washed away, the Siren King’s waking time has advanced. Only three hours left before «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the Siren King wakes up. Player, please speed up the game progress.)]
Bai Liu scanned all the panel information with a casual expression and said, “This game is kind of a bully. If it can’t win, it forcibly nerfs the player.”
“And isn’t this a bit too much? Not only did it strengthen all the monsters, it also shortened my completion time. This heavy rain also limits my movement speed and sense of direction. My panel index is still in the red. Under these circumstances, a player could easily die during a chase...”
“However, it’s not completely unplayable.” Bai Liu brushed back all the hair dripping into his eyes and blocking his vision.
Rainwater slid down his jaw. His soaked shirt collar clung even tighter, and combined with the suffocating downpour, it made Bai Liu’s breathing somewhat labored.
Bai Liu unbuttoned the first button of his soaked white shirt and suddenly raised his eyes, smiling faintly. “I hope the final reward the game gives me will match my effort. I don’t play games with unbalanced rewards.”
[If you can win, you will not be disappointed with our game rewards; they will surely satisfy the desires in your heart.]
Bai Liu smiled. “Then I’ll thank you for the reward in advance.”
His tone and attitude were perfectly natural, as though he had already received the system’s reward. However, the group of people in front of the screen were all dumbfounded.
Because he was in the Central Hall’s high-intensity single-player game recommendation slot, many new viewers had come to Bai Liu’s small TV. Some had been drawn by the gimmick of “the small TV of a newcomer player God Mu is watching.”
These people had not seen Bai Liu’s various God-level operations before. They had only seen the segment of the broadcast after Bai Liu entered the High-Intensity Recommendation List. Seeing Bai Liu in this life-or-death predicament and still making such an absurdly confident statement left them speechless for a while.
“I thought God Mu was watching some amazing player, but I didn’t expect it to be this kind of guy. The monsters are strengthened, his own panel is entirely in the red, and the game time has been shortened, yet he still has the mind to act cool and chat. Maybe I just don’t understand.”
“I saw people raving on the forums earlier, but now that I’m watching him play, he’s just so-so. I don’t know how he got onto the high-intensity recommendation slot. Is it because of his face?”
There were also people defending Bai Liu, most of whom had followed him all the way from the Single-Player Game Zone.
“He’s collected three pages of the Monster Book and you’re still calling him weak? You have hands and know how to play games too, right? If you’re so capable, show us your game record and let’s see how many Monster Book pages you’ve collected.”
“Let me see who said they’re stronger than Bai Liu. Oh, just a bunch of viewers whose charging points haven’t even exceeded ten. Never mind, then.”
Players could check one another’s charging points. That immediately struck the sore spot of those mocking Bai Liu, and they began arguing even more fiercely.
Wang Shun said nothing from the side, watching Bai Liu on the small TV with worried eyes.
Bai Liu really did have a luck value of 0. He was being targeted both inside and outside the game.
And he was being targeted by the meanest audience in the entire system.
Wang Shun looked at the group of viewers walking at the very front and could not help letting out a long sigh. This was a game with a guild system. Some guild players relied on their guilds’ backing to cause trouble everywhere. Although they had no real skill, they were extremely vicious toward newcomers who had the potential to rise to the top and seize a promotion slot, doing everything they could to trample them down.
For example, what Bai Liu was facing now was precisely such a group of viewers.
[32 people liked Bai Liu’s small TV, 89 people bookmarked Bai Liu’s small TV, 0 people charged Bai Liu’s small TV, 3,807 people disliked Bai Liu’s small TV.]
[Player Bai Liu received over three thousand dislikes within one minute, and your small TV has been disliked by over five thousand people, earning you the ‘Detestable’ title.]
[It seems everyone can’t wait for you to leave this place—oh wait, they want you to die here.]
[Player Bai Liu’s central hall single-player game high-intensity recommendation slot is about to expire.]
Wang Shun sighed when he saw the system notification. As expected, it had turned out like this.
The viewers who had followed Bai Liu from the sub-zone were so angry their eyes turned red, while those in the central zone who resented Bai Liu for snatching the promotion slot were triumphant.
At that moment, someone exclaimed, “Another newcomer from the newcomer zone made it onto the Central Hall edge-zone promotion slot!”
Another one. The previous one had been Bai Liu. Who was this?
Wang Shun looked over in confusion and saw a player holding a flaming torch and an underwater air bubble.
This player was snorkeling across the sea surface, using the torch to repel the Mermaid Sailors chasing him. In his right hand, he also held a mermaid skeleton—a real skeleton, bleached white. It was the normal Siren Banshee, not Bai Liu’s Siren King version.
And this player was clearly alienated. His face was covered in fish scales, and his lower body had become somewhat similar to a fishtail, with his thighs fused together and his heels gone. This allowed him to swim very quickly through the water.
This player had clearly reached the final prologue as well. As long as he returned the Siren Banshee to the bottom of the sea, he would clear the game.
This player’s survival rate was obviously much higher than Bai Liu’s, who was surrounded on all sides.
That drew even louder mocking laughter from the guild-player audience.
“I’m dying of laughter. Weren’t they bragging about this Bai Liu like he was unmatched under heaven? Other newcomers using traditional solutions are finishing the game even earlier than Bai Liu!”
“This Bai Liu just likes acting cool. I advise you to watch more videos from real great gods. Spending a little money is better than watching Bai Liu’s free live broadcast.”
“Let’s go, let’s go. Distinguished players from big guilds like us have nothing to say to these individual players. Stop watching. It’s a waste of time.”
People kept leaving Bai Liu’s small TV. The viewing area that had been densely packed quickly emptied out. Wang Shun sighed and walked to the very front of Bai Liu’s small TV—the position he had wanted earlier, but had been pushed away from because of the crowd.
[7,060 people left player Bai Liu’s small TV, of which 3,900 entered the neighboring newcomer’s small TV.]
[Player Bai Liu’s performance is really too poor; no one is watching and no one is liking, and there are a large number of dislikes. You only win contempt in this position. The system that strongly recommended you is very disappointed and has decided to exchange player Bai Liu’s promotion slot with the neighboring newcomer’s promotion slot.]
Wang Shun froze. Soon, another system notification popped up:
[Player Bai Liu has been demoted to the Central Hall edge zone promotion slot.]
[Player Mu Ke has been promoted to the Central Hall single-player game high-intensity recommendation slot.]
Bai Liu had not even stayed in that position for ten minutes before being taken down.
Not many viewers followed Bai Liu’s promotion slot, but one person wearing a strange monkey hat caught Wang Shun’s attention. Like Wang Shun, he stood in the front row before the small TV.
Wang Shun gave the person a strange look.
After experiencing Bai Liu’s rise and fall, as a viewer who had followed him the whole way, Wang Shun felt deeply emotional.
So he struck up a conversation with this person, who had also followed over. “Why did you come over? Do you also like Bai Liu a lot?”
The person wearing the monkey hat lifted the brim slightly, revealing a pair of crafty red eyes. “Because I think this person, who supposedly has a chance to replace me, definitely doesn’t only have this level of skill.”
Replace whom? Wang Shun was stunned. Then he reacted and nearly cried out in shock.
But Mu Shicheng quickly made a shushing gesture and continued smiling in a low voice.
“And he really did play well earlier, didn’t he? Three pages of the Monster Book. Apart from me, this is the first time I’ve seen a player collect this much. And if the last page weren’t the Siren King, I believe he would have already completed the whole thing by now.”
“This guy isn’t acting cool. He’s genuinely strong.” Mu Shicheng turned his head to look at Bai Liu’s small TV, grinning. “I’ve never seen the system go this far just to weaken a player’s advantage.”
“The system said it’s for gameplay balance. That means player Bai Liu needs to be weakened to this extent for the game to count as balanced. How could anyone think such a strong player won’t clear the game...”
“How should I put it?” Mu Shicheng let out a soft laugh. “These guild players who think they’re so high and mighty are kind of hilarious.”
[Mu Shicheng, ranked fourth on the Rising Star Points Leaderboard, has entered Bai Liu’s small TV.]
[Mu Shicheng liked player Bai Liu’s small TV. It seems he has a lot of favor for the player~]
[Mu Shicheng used the authority of the fourth-ranked player on the Rising Star Leaderboard to recommend Bai Liu’s current small TV on his own small TV that hasn’t started broadcasting yet. A large number of viewers are about to swarm in~]
Wang Shun was completely stunned. After a moment, he asked Mu Shicheng in confusion, “Then God Mu, if you think Bai Liu is very strong, why didn’t you say so just now? Why wait until he fell to the edge zone to recommend him?”
If Mu Shicheng had stood up and said those words earlier, Bai Liu might have been able to keep his high-intensity recommendation slot. A recommendation from a great god like Mu Shicheng would be extremely beneficial for a newcomer like Bai Liu.
Mu Shicheng curled his lips and glanced sideways at Wang Shun. “But I was waiting for him to fall to the edge zone.”
“For a strong player like this, help in a time of need is much better than adding flowers to brocade. My purpose in recommending him now is to make him owe me a favor.”
Wang Shun was choked by Mu Shicheng’s blunt shamelessness. He looked at this legendary God Mu in utter incomprehension.
This God Mu was completely different from what he had imagined, and completely different from the decisive, cold image he had seen in games.
His skin was too thick, and he was far too shameless.
Bai Liu knew nothing about any of these external events.
The Mermaid Wax Figures and Mermaid Sailors behind him were moving rapidly, chasing him through the rain. Bai Liu was pushing the trolley around, and his movement speed was very slow. He had already been caught several times. Whenever he was caught, Bai Liu would push the trolley carrying the Siren King back to repel the pursuing mermaid monsters.
But it was becoming less and less effective, because more and more monsters were chasing Bai Liu, and their fear of the Siren King seemed to be fading under the rain’s enhancement.
A Mermaid Sailor’s sharp claws scratched Bai Liu’s arm, and blood spurted out. He turned and dragged the trolley into an alley to hide. A buzz rang suddenly in his head, and the system popped up a red warning panel:
[Warning: Player Bai Liu has been alienated after being scratched by a Mermaid Sailor. Mental value has dropped to 60, about to drop below the safe mental value. Once it drops below 60, the player will experience hallucinations.]
Bai Liu clutched his still-bleeding arm and leaned his head against the alley wall, gasping for breath. He was so drenched by the rain that he looked as though he had been fished out of the sea.
He closed his eyes, adjusting his breathing and enduring the sudden dizziness and sluggishness.
The sensation of his alienation value dropping to sixty was like a black hole or vortex sweeping away his bodily senses and ability to think. Bai Liu had dropped once before, but that time he had endured the initial discomfort and, relying on his high mental value and strong resistance, had actually recovered quickly.
This time, things were not as good.
Bai Liu’s knees weakened, and he knelt on the ground while clutching his arm. Gray-black patterns rapidly covered his face, and dark-green scales began growing beneath his eyes. His skin turned even more deathly pale.
He lowered his head and kept gasping. Rain poured down from above. Bai Liu looked like a dying fish that had been caught and thrown ashore.
“This was my miscalculation.” Bai Liu’s tone was still calm. “I didn’t expect the mental value dropping to sixty to have such a large impact on me.”
Wang Shun looked at Bai Liu on the small TV with a tense expression. “His mental value is really right on the edge. One more point and he’ll start hallucinating.”
Mu Shicheng’s expression also became much more serious. “If it really drops below sixty, it’s very easy to GG during a chase. Because of the hallucinations, he won’t be able to tell real monsters from hallucinated ones, and he won’t be able to find the right direction to escape.”
“Would buying mental-value cleansing items help now?” Wang Shun asked nervously. “Bai Liu has enough points now to buy items that cleanse mental value. After cleansing, his mental value can go back up.”
Mu Shicheng shook his head. “In other games, maybe. But in this game, it’s best not to cleanse mental value.”
Wang Shun grew even more confused. “Why?”
Mu Shicheng stopped answering.
On the small TV, Bai Liu suddenly braced himself against the wall and stood up shakily. He narrowed his eyes and looked toward the mouth of the alley where he was hiding. Several Mermaid Sailors and Mermaid Wax Figures were closing in. The monsters’ black silhouettes loomed within the misty downpour.
After Bai Liu’s mental value dropped, his movement speed became even slower. If he rushed out now, he would be caught by these monsters with 100% certainty.
His mental value only needed to be caught one more time, and it would instantly break through the sixty mark.
Rain plus hallucinations—he would have no way to distinguish direction.
He had to think of a way, Bai Liu thought as he leaned against the wall.
Outside the alley, the mermaid monsters were sniffing as they crawled along the walls like geckos, rapidly searching everywhere. Vivid green light shone from their eyes, and mucus dripped from their slightly open mouths.
When they reached the area near the alley, the monsters raised their heads and sniffed twice. Their fish lips split into hair-raising smiles, and with their hands and feet clinging to the wall, they rapidly approached the alley.
Wang Shun held his breath. The words “Bai Liu, run!” nearly burst out of his mouth, but he forced them back and clenched his fists.
Running was useless now, because Bai Liu’s movement speed was far slower than that of the mermaid monsters. Running out would only attract their attention, which was no different from delivering himself as a meal.
The only thing he could do now was pray these monsters would not find Bai Liu in the alley and would allow him to hide.
But with all these monsters converging toward the alley entrance, the situation was extremely unfavorable.
Before Wang Shun could even finish that thought, Bai Liu pulled the trolley and, drenched by the heavy rain, rushed out of the alley without hesitation.
Wang Shun: “!!!!”
Wang Shun blurted out in panic, “You can’t run! If you run, it’s over!”
Just as Wang Shun expected, those mermaid monsters converged at the alley entrance in the blink of an eye. Immediately afterward, many Mermaid Wax Figures also crowded over.
The narrow alley entrance was instantly surrounded so tightly by monsters that not even water could leak through. Bai Liu pulled the trolley, his steps not stopping for even a moment, his gaze calm as he approached the monsters surrounding him.
Wang Shun understood—Bai Liu was going to force his way through the encirclement!
Wang Shun was so anxious he was about to stomp his feet.
He could not believe Bai Liu would make such a fatal mistake at such a critical moment. Even if Bai Liu forced his way through here, these monsters were faster than him and could catch and tear him apart at any time. Running out like this was completely useless!
Mu Shicheng frowned. “The drop in mental value may have affected part of his thinking ability. He shouldn’t have run out here.”
“Yes.” Wang Shun took a deep breath. “We all forgot to account for how much the mental-value drop would affect Bai Liu’s thinking and physical strength. He must really be panicking here.”
The expressions of the other viewers became even harder to describe.
Some people even started complaining that Mu Shicheng’s tastes had changed recently, saying he now liked watching “noobs,” since the player he recommended was this bad.
Mu Shicheng pretended not to hear, but lowered the brim of his hat slightly.
Bai Liu swung his hand back, using the trolley carrying the Siren King to break through the encirclement. The monsters’ eyes locked onto the fleeing Bai Liu.
Wang Shun’s heart leaped into his throat. They were going to chase! These monsters were going to chase!
Then, strangely, the mermaid monsters on the small TV hesitated at the alley entrance for a moment. They actually turned a blind eye to the fleeing Bai Liu and, bizarrely, all swarmed into the alley.
Wang Shun: “??”
Mu Shicheng: “???”
Other viewers: “???????????”
Why weren’t the monsters chasing the player? Why were they all running into the alley?
The small TV’s screen slowly switched to the inside of the alley. There was actually another Bai Liu inside.
This Bai Liu held the trolley as though facing a great enemy, confronting those monsters while constantly making extremely aggressive movements.
He even lifted his chin and crooked his index finger slightly at the mermaid monsters, seemingly provoking them to come over and duel him face-to-face. These mermaid monsters were indeed provoked, gnashing their teeth as they attacked.
This strange “other Bai Liu” sparked discussion among the viewers.
“Whoa, what is that?”
“Shit, what kind of item is this? Isn’t that too much of a cheat? Can a high-level clone item like that be used in a level-one dungeon like Siren Town?”
“High-level items shouldn’t be usable, right? If you use an item that’s too high-level in a low-level dungeon, the system will kick you out for breaking the balance.”
“Then what is this thing?”
But under the furious scratching of the first mermaid monster, the Bai Liu in the alley turned into an afterimage—then quickly recovered, still wearing that lazy, punchable smile.
Wang Shun suddenly remembered an item in Bai Liu’s item library. He shouted, “It’s a 3D projector! What Bai Liu is using is a 3D projector!”
“The monsters in the Siren Town dungeon have very low intelligence. They can’t distinguish between projected images and real people.”
Wang Shun clicked open the 3D projector’s instruction manual, rapidly scanning it as he spoke at high speed. “The projection produced by this 3D projector in rainy weather gives the images a more solid feel. Add in the provocative movements Bai Liu’s image is making, and it really is very easy to anger and attract these low-intelligence mermaid monsters.”
“So between a player fleeing with his head down and a player taking a fighting stance, the monsters’ thinking ability will make them lean toward dealing with the one that looks more dangerous first.”
Wang Shun’s eyes brightened. “He used this item to successfully shake off the monsters.”
A viewer questioned, “But no matter how low their intelligence is, once these monsters attack it several times and realize it doesn’t work, they’ll know they’ve been fooled and go after the real Bai Liu. And the real Bai Liu’s movement speed is far lower than theirs.”
“Even if he shakes them off here, he’ll still be caught unless he limits their movement.”
Before the viewer’s questioning voice had even fallen, the monsters on the small TV began suspiciously approaching Bai Liu’s image to sniff it. After clawing at the image with their webbed hands and realizing it truly was not solid, the monsters let out piercing screams of rage at being toyed with.
A group of monsters was about to rush out of the alley to chase the real Bai Liu.
At that moment, the Bai Liu image behind them smiled, leisurely took out a flashlight, held it level, and aimed it at the monsters’ backs. As if pulling a trigger, he switched on the flashlight.
A blindingly bright beam of light shot out, passing through the howling Mermaid Wax Figures covering their eyes in the alley, and pierced straight into the curtain of rain.
