Free Web NovelBai Liu followed Jeff’s line of sight.
The mermaid wax statue still stood motionless within the fountain, head lowered toward the water as though quietly admiring her own reflection.
Andre had clearly been startled by Jeff’s scream. Embarrassment immediately turned into anger.
“Where the hell did it move?!” He punched Jeff viciously across the head. “It didn’t move at all! Keep screaming like that and I’ll rip your vocal cords out myself!”
Jeff clutched his head and shrank away fearfully.
“She moved...” he whispered shakily. “She really moved...”
Lucy looked unsettled as well, though she still forced out a laugh.
“Jeff, are you sure your eyes weren’t just playing tricks on you? That statue doesn’t even have pupils. How could you tell it was looking at you?”
The statue was carved entirely from pale white cold wax, translucent in a strangely organic way. Melted droplets streaked faintly down its face like tears.
Although its eyes had been sculpted in detail, there were no pupils within them at all.
Just blank white hollows.
It stood at the hotel entrance like some soulless thing frozen in place.
“You didn’t notice?” Jeff’s voice trembled lower. “No matter where our car moved, it kept staring at us. Its eyes were following us the whole time...”
“Oh.” Lucy visibly relaxed. “That’s all? It’s probably just like the Mona Lisa effect. No matter what angle you look from, it feels like the painting is watching you.”
“No.” Bai Liu calmly corrected her. “That effect only works on flat images. It shouldn’t happen with a three-dimensional object.”
He looked back toward the statue.
“Jeff is right. The eyes of this wax statue were following us.”
Exactly like the townspeople.
The moment their group entered Siren Town, everything had begun staring at them.
As though prey had wandered into a hunting ground.
The instant that thought surfaced, the coin against Bai Liu’s chest vibrated sharply.
A new panel unfolded before him.
This time, the interface transformed completely. The floating screen became an enormous ancient book bound in dark leather, its yellowed pages turning slowly on their own.
[Congratulations! Player has discovered the first monster of the game instance.]
[Monster Book — “Siren Town” Special Edition unlocked (1/4)]
An image appeared across the page.
The mermaid wax statue floated beneath dark seawater, her pale face half-submerged. Her blank eyes stared silently outward from the page itself, as though she might crawl free at any moment.
[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Statue (Pupa State)]
[Attack Value: ???
(Locked — unlocks after combat)]
[Attack Pattern: ???
(Unexplored)]
[Weakness: ???
(Unexplored)]
The hidden sections resembled blurred ink stains smeared across the page. Fluorescent text drifted faintly beneath them.
Below the entry was an additional note.
[Note: Completing monster information entries grants corresponding point rewards and special bonuses.]
[Collecting all monster pages within an instance allows the player to obtain the most valuable possession belonging to a specific monster.]
There were four total pages within the “Siren Town” Monster Book.
The remaining pages were sealed shut.
Locked.
Probably monsters that had yet to appear.
So the system rewarded players for provoking monsters and gathering information through direct interaction.
Including combat.
Bai Liu thoughtfully rubbed his chin.
This game was practically encouraging players to commit suicide.
Especially unfortunate for someone whose attack power was officially comparable to “a high school girl swinging a schoolbag.”
Lucy grabbed his arm nervously.
“Is it really moving?!”
“How is that possible?” Andre barked immediately.
Although Bai Liu’s certainty had clearly unsettled him, Andre quickly buried the fear beneath ridicule.
“Bai Liu, you coward! If you’re so scared of dying, then just admit it and run away already! Once we get back, you’ll publicly admit defeat, give up on Lucy, and kneel down to lick the piss off my leather boots!”
So that was the contents of their bet.
The driver’s expression shifted strangely for a brief moment before smoothing back into a smile.
“You kids are overthinking things,” he said lightly. “Moving wax statues? If something like that existed, the town would’ve turned it into a tourist attraction years ago. That’d make a fortune.”
He laughed.
“Siren Town produces wax. Mermaid statues are our local specialty. They’re everywhere.”
Then he abruptly clapped his hands.
“Alright, we’re here! Get some rest tonight and enjoy yourselves tomorrow!”
He hurried everyone out of the van.
Bai Liu glanced back toward the fountain one last time.
The mermaid statue still appeared unchanged, head lowered submissively toward the water.
Yet Bai Liu distinctly remembered that when they first arrived, the statue had not been facing the hotel.
It had been facing the road.
Two additional mermaid statues stood on either side of the hotel entrance, each holding a scepter. Their smiles twisted unnaturally across their faces, like attendants welcoming guests against their will.
The moment the group entered the hotel, Bai Liu realized the interior was filled with them.
Large ones.
Small ones.
Mermaid statues stood everywhere.
There was even a life-sized mermaid behind the reception desk holding stacks of money like a cashier.
Just as the driver claimed, mermaid statues truly were everywhere in Siren Town.
But this went beyond decoration.
From the mermaid-shaped floor lamps to the carved pen holders on the reception desk, the entire building felt infested with them.
And every single statue shared one disturbing trait.
No matter where Bai Liu moved, they always seemed to be watching him.
Even stranger, none of them had pupils.
Logically, something without pupils shouldn’t be capable of conveying a gaze.
Yet Bai Liu felt watched constantly.
Dozens of pale wax faces silently staring from every corner of the hotel created an almost suffocating pressure.
Even Andre, who had mocked Bai Liu nonstop moments earlier, instinctively rubbed his arms after entering.
Goosebumps.
Jeff looked even worse. He trembled while hiding behind Andre, apparently deciding that fear of the statues outweighed fear of being beaten.
Lucy clung tightly to Bai Liu’s arm like a frightened bird.
Or more accurately—
A very large bird.
Her rose-like face had gone pale beneath the hotel’s eerie lighting.
Meanwhile, Bai Liu calmly approached the front desk.
“Hello. The reservation should be under the surname Bai.”
The receptionist ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ was a pale young man dressed in a long Scottish-style kilt. His skin was so white it resembled polished marble, and his movements came in stiff, jerking motions, as though his joints did not bend properly.
When he stood still, he looked almost indistinguishable from the wax statues around him.
As Bai Liu approached, the receptionist suddenly moved.
Lucy screamed instantly.
“Oh my God! I thought you were one of the statues!”
“My apologies,” the receptionist said politely. “I have albinism. I didn’t intend to frighten you.”
He lowered his head slightly.
“Mr. Bai, correct? You reserved four rooms for one week. Payment has already been completed. Here are your room cards.”
Then he smiled mechanically.
“We hope you enjoy your stay.”
Bai Liu accepted the key cards.
When he heard there were four rooms, he quietly felt relieved.
He truly did not want to share a room with Lucy.
Lucy seemed to notice immediately. She gave him a teasing look that practically screamed, You’re too shy, babe~, only to be completely ignored by Bai Liu’s expressionless face.
Instead, he asked the receptionist another question.
“Why are there so many mermaid wax statues in this hotel?”
The receptionist answered flatly:
“The mermaids gave Siren Town everything.”
“This town once had nothing. But after the remains of a mermaid were salvaged from the sea, tourists began arriving in increasing numbers. We gained wealth. Prosperity. Opportunity.”
He folded his hands neatly before him.
“So we are deeply grateful to the mermaids.”
“In Siren Town, every household keeps mermaid wax statues as protective talismans.”
Bai Liu pointed behind him.
“That statue resembles you exactly.”
The mermaid statue standing behind the receptionist truly looked identical to him.
If anything, the resemblance was unsettlingly precise.
Lucy’s earlier confusion was understandable.
The only difference was the expression.
The receptionist himself remained emotionless.
But the statue behind him looked twisted with malice.
Its eyes remained fixed upon the receptionist’s back no matter where he moved, as though it longed to leap free from the wax and tear him apart.
Compared to the older statues throughout the hotel, this one also appeared newer—more translucent, smoother, almost alive.
“Yes,” the receptionist replied. “That is my talisman statue.”
“We mold the wax statues into our own likeness. When disaster comes, the devil mistakes the statue for the real person. The statue melts in our place and bears the calamity for us.”
Interesting.
This “talisman statue” was clearly different from the ordinary mermaid statues.
The panel appeared again.
[Player has gained new cognition.]
[“Siren Town Monster Book” updated.]
[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Statue (Pupa State), Talisman Wax Statue (Cocoon State)]
Pupa.
Cocoon.
Two separate forms.
Bai Liu narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
A pupa was the transitional state before metamorphosis.
A cocoon, meanwhile, was an outer shell left behind after emergence.
Protection.
Containment.
The receptionist’s explanation about using the statues as substitutes aligned perfectly with that concept.
Which meant—
If there were “Pupa” and “Cocoon” forms...
Then there were probably “Larva” and “Butterfly” forms as well.
And instinctively, Bai Liu felt those forms would be far more dangerous.
At present, the “Pupa” and “Cocoon” states did not seem openly hostile.
Unless their attacks were psychological.
After all, being trapped inside a hotel full of silently staring wax statues already qualified as mental contamination in Bai Liu’s opinion.
He distributed the room cards afterward.
Lucy repeatedly tried to convince him to share a room with her, only to be rejected with perfect seriousness.
“I haven’t yet proven my bravery for your sake,” Bai Liu declared solemnly. “I am not worthy of possessing you.”
Lucy looked deeply moved.
Andre looked ready to kill him.
Before leaving, Lucy enthusiastically attempted to kiss Bai Liu goodbye, only for Andre to forcibly drag her away in fury.
Bai Liu silently thanked Andre from the bottom of his heart.
He sincerely hoped Andre survived the night.
Lucy was beautiful, passionate, generous, and openly affectionate—
Exactly the kind of woman Bai Liu had absolutely no idea how to deal with.
Using his key card, Bai Liu opened his room door.
Then paused.
The in-game Bai Liu was apparently rich enough to reserve one of the hotel’s premium suites. The furnishings were elegant and expensive. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
But every decoration inside the room was mermaid-themed. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
The table lamps.
The carvings.
The wax statues beside the bed.
Under the dim yellow lighting, the white wax gleamed with an oily sheen.
The moment Bai Liu stepped inside, every mermaid statue in the room seemed to shift subtly.
Their blank eyes turned toward him all at once.
The panel appeared.
[Main Quest Activated:]
[Player Bai Liu must safely survive the night inside the hotel room.]
[Objective: Remain alive until morning and avoid being “hatched.”]
[Reward upon completion: 20 points.]
