Free Web NovelBai Liu knew nothing about the discussions happening outside the game.
Something else had already caught his attention.
Jeff.
Jeff was sneaking around beneath the staircase, whispering to someone before quietly heading back upstairs once the conversation ended.
He had slipped out in the middle of the night earlier—and now he had returned.
From his position near the stairs, Bai Liu had a clear view below. Someone stood behind Jeff. The man’s height and clothing matched the driver who had brought them to Siren Town earlier that day.
The two spoke in low voices. Jeff handed the driver a stack of colorful bills and appeared to give him a few instructions.
If Bai Liu wasn’t mistaken, it was this world’s currency.
[You have triggered a hidden side plot for a story character—Jeff’s Bloody Conspiracy]
[Complete the entire side plot for a reward of 50 points. Current side plot completion: 15%]
Bai Liu narrowed his eyes slightly.
He reached beneath his collar and pulled out the one-yuan coin with a hole punched through it, aiming it toward the driver. An information panel immediately appeared.
[NPC: Driver]
[Character Description: Your driver. The man who transported your group to Siren Town. He was hired by Jeff, who claims to be very familiar with Siren Town. The driver possesses a criminal record involving arson, robbery, and other violent crimes.]
As expected, this was another NPC with a fixed identity.
Bai Liu had barely interacted with the driver before. During the ride, the man stayed in the front seat while Bai Liu sat in the back row, making it impossible to clearly see his face.
Even after they arrived, the driver never got out of the vehicle.
Only now did Bai Liu realize that Jeff had been subtly preventing contact between them all along.
Whether it was deliberately choosing a seat between Bai Liu and the driver, or suddenly shouting in alarm while they were getting out of the car—
Jeff had intentionally diverted Bai Liu’s attention.
What exactly were these two hiding? freēwēbnovel.com
Based on the current information, Bai Liu guessed Jeff was paying the driver to handle something for him. The exact details were still unclear, but Bai Liu suspected it had something to do with revenge against Andre.
(T/N: If someone punched me on sight every day while my friends stood around doing nothing, I’d probably want revenge too.)
When they first entered town, the driver had already warned them that many people in Siren Town had been without income for a long time.
At first, Bai Liu thought it was simply a warning.
Now, however, it sounded more like a territorial declaration.
The driver had been warning Jeff:
Without his cooperation and protection, Jeff could easily become prey for the people in this town.
Of course, the driver himself was one of those desperate residents.
Short on money and carrying a criminal history, robbery was hardly beyond him. Ever since entering Siren Town, he had been subtly threatening them.
No wonder Jeff had snuck out in the middle of the night just to deliver money.
If he failed to pay on time, there was no telling what the driver might do.
Before Jeff returned upstairs, Bai Liu slipped quietly back into his room and casually helped close Jeff’s still-open door.
As Jeff passed Andre’s room, he hesitated briefly.
Then he crouched down and placed something dark near the door.
Watching through the peephole, Bai Liu realized it looked like—
A chunk of raw fish meat.
Not long afterward, pale mermaid wax figures began gathering outside Andre’s room.
The corridor once again filled with the dull scraping sounds of moving wax.
To be safe, Bai Liu covered his own peephole with white cloth to stop the mermaids from peering inside. He also shoved a cabinet against the door, hoping that if anything broke in, the noise would wake him.
His stamina had already bottomed out.
After finishing all this, Bai Liu collapsed onto the bed and closed his eyes.
A dreamless night passed.
———
The next morning, Bai Liu woke to find both the wardrobe door and the room door still shut.
The bathroom door, however, hung partially open.
He pushed it wider and looked inside.
Every mermaid wax figure he had previously tied up had broken free from the cloth.
They were piled together in twisted, unnatural poses, all pressing toward the bathroom door. Several hands had already reached the doorknob, only moments away from turning it.
The scene reminded Bai Liu of playing “1, 2, 3, Wooden Man” as a child—the awkward frozen postures people ended up stuck in when someone suddenly turned around.
The image was deeply unsettling.
The pale marble figures crowded tightly together, their eyes densely packed into the narrow bathroom space as they stared directly at Bai Liu.
Anyone would feel disturbed under that gaze.
Or rather—
Any normal person would.
Bai Liu calmly shut the bathroom door again.
This time, he didn’t bother tying them back up.
There was no point.
These things were escaping faster and faster. Unless he found another weakness capable of controlling them, constantly wrapping and restraining them was inefficient.
At worst, he might simply be training them to escape more quickly.
The moment Bai Liu opened his room door, a new system notification appeared.
[Player Bai Liu has completed the main task—Survive the night in the room without being alienated. Reward: 20 points]
[Current balance: 23 points. Items can now be purchased. Does the player wish to access the shop?]
Bai Liu immediately opened the shop ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) interface.
At the moment, he was dirt poor. The number of items he could afford was pitifully small.
After browsing briefly, he purchased a high-powered searchlight flashlight for 15 points, leaving himself with 8.
Then he paused thoughtfully.
“...Do you sell 3D holographic projectors?”
[Yes. 4 points each.]
[Limited promotion currently active: 3 for 8 points. Would the player like to purchase?]
Bai Liu answered instantly:
[Yes.]
As a corporate slave perpetually short on money, there were two words Bai Liu could never resist:
Discount.
Promotion.
After purchasing them, he immediately began experimenting with the projectors.
Surprisingly, the quality was excellent despite the discount. After recording his own image, the projected effect looked incredibly realistic. Under dim lighting, it was almost indistinguishable from a real person.
Bai Liu was extremely satisfied with his purchase.
His audience, however, was not.
Within the game, it was tradition for viewers to develop expectations once a newcomer gained attention, likes, and followers.
A crowd stood before Bai Liu’s small theater screen, sighing and pointing animatedly.
“Is this newcomer seriously trying to use projectors as fake human eyes to fool the mermaid wax figures? The Monster Book clearly says ‘direct gaze of human eyes.’ These things might fool the mermaids briefly, but it definitely won’t last.”
“He actually bought the discounted projectors! They look high-tech, but they’re completely useless! Otherwise they wouldn’t still be sitting in clearance after all these years!”
“What is this newcomer thinking?!”
“Seriously. Those projectors were already on sale when I first entered the game. It’s been years and nobody still buys them.”
“Damn it! He had 23 points—the highest score in the newbie zone right now—and wasted everything! Not a single useful purchase! Is there water in his brain?!”
Suddenly, a player standing before another screen shouted excitedly:
“Over here! Someone bought the Blazing Torch!”
“That thing counters mermaids! This newbie’s definitely clearing!”
The crowd immediately abandoned Bai Liu’s screen and surged toward the other player’s theater.
Many nodded approvingly.
“Now that’s the standard clear-route item.”
“This newcomer knows what he’s doing.”
“The Blazing Torch has three uses. If he manages it properly, he’ll probably be the only newbie this round who clears the game.”
...
Only a handful of people remained in front of Bai Liu’s screen.
[34 people are watching Bai Liu’s small theater]
[167 viewers have left]
[50 people canceled their likes on Bai Liu’s small theater]
[44 people canceled their bookmarks]
[17 people disliked Bai Liu’s small theater]
[No one has charged Bai Liu’s small theater]
...
After testing his new equipment, Bai Liu left his room and headed to Jeff’s room first.
Jeff looked terrible.
His face was pale, and dark circles hung heavily beneath his glasses.
The number of mermaid wax figures in Jeff’s room was roughly the same as in Bai Liu’s.
But unlike the ones Bai Liu had locked away, the wax figures here stood quietly in their original positions.
And somehow—
They looked more alive.
Bai Liu wasn’t sure whether it was merely his imagination, but the wax figures’ facial features had begun to subtly resemble Jeff himself.
Beneath the white waxy surface, faint translucent red tones had started appearing. Their eyeballs looked capable of moving at any moment. Their expressions seemed strangely relaxed and natural, like fish fully soaked in water, while the scales along their fishtails spread slightly outward.
A faint fishy smell permeated the room.
Bai Liu then visited Lucy’s and Andre’s rooms as well.
After carefully comparing the figures in each room, he confirmed that the mermaid wax figures there also appeared more flesh-like than the ones in his own room.
Their coloration was closer to real skin.
Their texture was softer.
And their faces were slowly beginning to resemble the people staying in those rooms.
