GHG chapter 5: Siren Town

Bai Liu can hear the sound of marble stones banging against the door, and the doorknob jiggled and moved a few times. Although the door has been locked tightly, the doorknob jangles like it is about to break as the mermaid statue outside keeps twisting it with its full force. The door starts rattling as the mermaid statue tries to break in violently, it sounds like it can break at any time.

It seems like this thing wants to get in, its white eye inspects Bai Liu's room. It looks as if there is no one in the room, seemingly thinking that there is no one in the room. As if it has left Bai Liu's door, the door handle isn't moving anymore, and the outside of the door falls completely silent again as if it has already left.

But Bai Liu keeps holding his breath. He remembers that it has a dull dragging sound when that thing moves, something is wrong when there isn't a sound like that. The mermaid statue has not gone away yet, it is most likely waiting in front of his door quietly.

That thing is tricking him to lure him out, Bai Liu thinks as he glances at the peephole. The peephole that turned into the colour of the carpet suddenly turns into the white colour of its eyes.

That thing is really still here!

After waiting for a while, that thing is still refusing to give up trying to get in. The door handle is twisted into a broken shape, rattling and about to slip from the door.

The mermaid statue is about to get in!

The audience in front of Bai Liu's television screen doesn't want to bare the sight and shut their eyes.

"It's not easy to see a competitor with great potential...sigh, too bad."

"It's only because the difficulty of Siren Town is too disgusting, it's not even a difficulty for newbies. Giving that to newbies is basically just murder."

"...How could it be! I had hope in this guy, this guy is a prodigy with a hundred sanity!"

"So what that it's a hundred? His other stats are just mid. Entering an instance dungeon like Siren Town without knowing anything prior is hard even for experienced players, especially when they don't know anything about the mermaid statue's specific weakness. How great of a genius does a newbie have to be to really pass this level..."

The gears in Bai Liu's head spin quickly as his breathing slows down.

The game clearly told him that these monsters have weaknesses, and players can use these weaknesses to escape from these monsters. The only way to survive now is to find its weakness to restrict its movement.

Bai Liu shut his eyes and recalls the whole process of checking into the hotel.

As long as it's a game, there is always a way to solve it, and games without solutions are the trashiest. Bai Liu had been developing horror games for years, he is more than certain that something hinted at the mermaid statue's weakness.

What could it be...

Bai Liu starts to calmly organise the memories of his encounters with the mermaid statues.

The first time is at the fountain outside the hotel. Jeffery cried out that he saw the mermaid statue move. It moved without a sound, simply turning as it followed the car's movements. That mermaid statue didn't look at them, it was looking at the water.

The second time is at the hotel lobby. There were numerous mermaid statues that has a lot of variety, staring straight at them. They didn't move.

The third time is in the hotel room. Except for the mermaid statue that was looking at the mirror, the rest of the mermaid statues were staring at Bai Liu. They all moved after Bai Liu fell asleep, and the mermaid with the mirror moved the fastest. But the statues all stopped moving when Bai Liu woke up.

Though obviously Bai Liu being conscious is not a factor that restricts the mermaid statue since the mermaid statue outside his door is about to break in.

A game wouldn't have a puzzle that can't be solved, there has to be something on him that can restrict the movement of the statue.

It's not a thing from the room, it's not a thing from the hotel either, it has to be something that is on Bai Liu. Nothing from the rooms or the hotel can limit the activity of the mermaid statue, it can be seen when the mermaid statue can move in and out of Jeffery's room freely.

What is it?

Mirror...water...sleep...staring!

Bai Liu knows what it is!

Bai Liu shoots up, pulling the door open to stare directly at the mermaid statue.

The lifeless mermaid statue outside the door is already so close that it is almost touching the tip of Bai Liu's nose. Its hand is still on the doorknob, and its pure white eyes are directed at the corner right -- that is where Bai Liu was hiding.

No wonder this thing is so determined to get in, it must've seen Bai Liu hiding at the corner right behind the door.

It stops moving, its tail is already touching the tip of Bai Liu's toe. Just a second before it steps in, it becomes motionless in front of Bai Liu's door.

Bai Liu lets out a sigh of relief. He's right, the weakness that makes this thing stay still is being stared at by someone.

The audience in front of Bai Liu's television is bewildered.

"Holy fuck!! How did he come up with that?! He didn't even hesitate when he pulled the door open!"

"Players usually won't be able to think of that, even if they did, they wouldn't have the bravery to pull the door open and would only stare through the peephole. But that wouldn't work since having a layer of glass between them only limits its movements partially, it is still enough for the mermaid to break in."

"Jeez, when he stared right at the mermaid, I got goosebumps!"

"What's his name? This newbie is so badass..."

People gradually start to gather around Bai Liu's television.

【168 people are watching Bai Liu's gameplay, Bai Liu has unlocked the achievement Gaining More Than A Hundred Viewers As A Newbie】

【108 people liked Bai Liu's gameplay, 143 people added Bai Liu's gameplay to the collection, 3 people invested in Bai Liu's gameplay. Player Bai Liu gained 3 points】

Bai Liu's face remains calm on the television screen, it was like he didn't even think he did anything impressive.

To figure out the mermaid statue's weakness being 【eyes】is actually quite easy.

Because after Bai Liu is asleep, these statues started moving, but they stopped when Bai Liu woke up. The only difference between him being awake and asleep is his opened eyes, meaning that 【a human's gaze】can restrict the mermaid statue's movements.

But there's a trap in this -- that is going something like mirrors can only partially limit the mermaid statue's movement, the only way to completely stop it from moving is to stare directly at it.

That is because under the stare of a human, the two types of statues that can still move are the mermaid statue in the fountain in front of the hotel and the mermaid statue with a mirror.

The mermaid statue in the fountain is looking at the surface of the water, meaning that they are 【staring】 at the mermaid statue through the water. Even though the mermaid statue was restricted and was unable to move swiftly, it was still able to move slowly and even turn its body, which is why it was able to turn slowly in front of the hotel. Among the mermaid statues in his room, the mermaid statue with the mirror moves the quickest. That is due to the mirror mermaid staring into the mirror, the 【starings】that go through the mirror first cannot restrict the mirror mermaid fully.

The mermaid just now is looking at Bai Liu through the peephole, so it can still move. If Bai Liu is only staring at it through the peephole, the mermaid statue would still be able to move even though there will be some limitations.

At such a close distance, looking at it through the peephole is not enough to prevent the mermaid from breaking it. If it comes in and the player is pressed under the door, they will lose the factor of 【direct human gaze】and be dead soon.

In this kind of state, players that will pull the door open are very rare, most of them would be panicking. Even after they correctly guess the factor of 【direct human gaze】, they wouldn't have the bravery to test it out. That can only be done by people like Bai Liu who doesn't care about his own life as long as he gets money, staying calm even when he is not a hundred percent sure if he is correct or not with his assumptions.

【Renewing《Siren Town's Book of Monsters》】

【Name of Monster: Mermaid Statue (pupa), amulet statue (cocoon)】

【Weakness(es): the gaze of a human (1/3)】

【Attack Method(s): hatching】

The mermaid's gaze is lowered, its head tilting to the right side slightly, and the corner of its lips has a small curve. Its elegant tail and its spotless white body have a kind of mysterious god-like beauty. When it's inanimate, the invasive feeling it gives that sends shivers down people's spines disappears, turning it into a mermaid statue with great artistic value. In the night near the ocean, it stands silently in front of a traveller's door.

【Player Bai Liu gained 3 points from the audience, unlocking in game shop】

【There are too few points, no items can be bought. Please continue to do better, player Bai Liu!】

Looking at the three points he got, he thinks he understands a little, someone must've paid for him. All of the shop items are black and white in this unlocked shop, and the display【unable to buy this item】are on them. He glances over them, finding that there is basically everything from daily necessities to weaponry. There are also a bunch of ridiculous random things such as【a completely undamaged heart】and【love at first sight potion】, but they are all very expensive.

Bai Liu finally understood the thing the system said when he entered the game -- 【you can buy anything with points】.

Bai Liu closes the shop, then he is face to face with the stagnant mermaid statue in front of him.

This thing is not moving anymore, but there is no way that Bai Liu can keep his eyes on it for the whole night. Plus after he has been through this, he has a new understanding of the damage that this thing can do.

He looks at the stainless steel doorknob that is about to fall from his door.

Though from the behaviours of the previous statues, despite that it has very high damage, it can only locate things using vision. Or he could say that it is very sensitive to vision, they are unable to find him when there is a white cloth draped over them even though they are in the same room.

In other words, the mermaid statues seem to not have sensories like hearing or smell.

If they do have those senses, it would be very easy for them to find Bai Liu just from the sound of his breathing and twist Bai Liu's head off like that door handle, they wouldn't need to pull the white cloth off before looking for him. Judging from how it obliterated the door handle with its bare hands, they wouldn't be trapped inside of the toilet or the closet for that long.

...How troublesome, there are so many of them, leaving them being is a burden.

He narrows his eyes, a cruel thought rises up within him -- there is now an unmoving mermaid statue in front of him for him to do whatever he wants. Perhaps he could experiment on it to see what are its weaknesses, like scorching it with fire or shattering it with a stick...

【Hint: if a player attacks a monster directly and the monster didn't die, it will lead to the monster having aggro after the player and continuing to attack the player, lowering the survival probability】

Bai Liu rubs his chin in thought. He smiles, and an innocent dimple appears on the right side of his cheek.

"Attacking it directly will cause the monster to have aggro after me and take revenge on me..." Bai Liu mumbles to himself, "if it is damaged because of itself, then it wouldn't be my fault."

Bai Liu does what he did earlier, wrapping the sheers around the mermaid statue by tying it up, then pushing it toward the front of the hotel stairs with ill intentions.

Without its sight, the mermaid statue will move around aimlessly. Bai Liu places the mermaid statue there so that the mermaid will fall off the stairs on its own accord.

With the existence of monsters having aggro, Bai Liu wouldn't try to break the statues himself. It would be great if he can destroy it, but it would clearly cause him more trouble if he fails.

Though having this many mermaid statues is a huge problem. Bai Liu only has a pair of eyes, if it's like 'red light, green light' and he is surrounded by the statues 360 degrees, he would have no way to see behind him and the vision of humans only has 188 degrees. He would be dead for sure.

Bai Liu likes doing things that give him more benefits. Although the game only requires him to exploit the weakness to escape, he needs to know if there is a way to destroy these statues, or if these statues have any lethal weaknesses.

He wouldn't try to strike or beat the mermaid statues himself, the risk is high for him.

But if the mermaid statue falls down the stairs due to its inability to see, it would have nothing to do with him.

Bai Liu just wants to do a little experiment to prove whether these statues can be broken or not. He backs into his own room, and that mermaid statue starts moving again to his expectations. Bai Liu is lost in his thought. He is actually still staring at the statue, but it is blinded by the cloth so it doesn't know Bai Liu is looking at it, so it starts moving on its own.

This proves that【being stared at by a human】is an objective factor. The mermaid has to know that it is being stared at for it to stop moving.

There are a lot of statues in Bai Liu's room, he doesn't have a way to keep staring at them. Immediately after Bai Liu woke up and didn't have a chance to look around yet, they stopped moving.

To conclude, these mermaid statues have to【think】that it is being stared at for them to stop moving.

These things have to be alive judging from their consciousness, it has to be a thing that has intelligence too, even though their intelligence doesn't seem high.

The mermaid statue in front of the stairs struggles, inching toward the stairs until it slips and falls down with a loud bang as dust flies up in the air. Bai Liu stands at the top of the stairs and looks down at it in an almost condescending manner, dusting his hands off and clicking his tongue in disappointment. He watches the undamaged mermaid statue that curls up at the bottom of the stairs, not even a crack is seen in its marble stone form.

...It really can't be broken...so physical attacks won't work on it...

Bai Liu doesn't know his villain-like demeanour that is shown on his television made the players baffled.

"Holy shit is this really a newbie?! Tying the mermaid statue up and making it fall down the stair...what kind of antagonistic behaviour is this...was this player a kidnapper?! Or is he a terrorist?!"

"I thought he was nervous or scared, but now I can't help but feel bad for that mermaid statue that knocked on his door, it fell so hard that even its tail is curled up, poor thing..."

"I just...when he was looking down from the stairs, he looks like some kinda villain, it feels scarier than the statues..."

"The tables have turned...just a moment ago the mermaid statue is going to kill him, and now he's the one trying to kill the mermaid statue, does this guy even think of himself as a player?!"

"The other players just want to live from the monsters, but this guy straight up just doesn't let them live anymore..."

"Is this the world of boss-class players?!"