The Siren's Hollow Gambit

Liam scanned the in-game shop and spotted a highly demanded item called "Underwater Bubble." This tool allowed players to breathe inside a floating air bubble for two hours while repelling nearby fish. 

It was useful, sure, but it cost over seventy points and could only be used twice before being consumed. 

To Liam's discerning eye, the item was an overpriced scam. Aside from the breathing function, it had no real value. Charging seventy-plus points for it was daylight robbery. Whoever bought it was basically paying a stupidity tax to the game store. 

Not that his refusal had anything to do with his inability to swim. Absolutely not. 

Liam was a pragmatic player who refused to waste points on an inelegant game mechanic. 

He glanced toward the warehouse door. As expected, it began to creak—someone was returning to lock it up. 

Most players then would panic, scrambling to escape the eerie sea of pale, lifeless wax figures. But Liam simply switched off his flashlight, stepped among the statues, and found a dark corner where he wrapped himself in a dusty cloth, concealing his lower half to blend in with the wax figures. 

The mermaid cocoon statues had poor vision. They briefly scanned the room, but failing to spot an intruder, they settled back into place. 

The warehouse door swung open. 

Two sailors descended the stairs, carrying an old-fashioned oil lamp that cast flickering, yellow light against their unnervingly pale faces. Their voices were hoarse as they muttered: 

"Count the wax figures again…" 

"I already did—no mistakes." 

"By tomorrow, there will be four more. We'll send them to the wax museum first. The ones there have been guarding the Siren King too long… it's time they came out to stretch their fins." 

"Make sure to keep the Siren King locked away. If he wakes and returns to the sea, we're all—" 

Liam remained motionless. 

The sailors were too pale. Not just pale—their skin was chalk white, devoid of veins or translucency. Under such close lighting, there was no sign of human warmth. 

They weren't human. 

But something was off. 

The bestiary listed them as "Mermaid Sailors," yet they still had human forms. 

Liam frowned slightly. A sense of foreboding crept up his spine. 

One of the sailors—the same one who had warned them not to wander the ship earlier—spoke in a lifeless tone: 

"Check the charms. If they're intact, lock the warehouse. We can't have another one breaking in the storm. Last time, one of the charms broke, and that sailor still hasn't returned from the sea." 

The two sailors moved through the warehouse, securing the wax figures with heavy chains. 

Liam held his breath. His gaze flicked toward the open warehouse door. Slowly, he began inching toward it. 

Then— 

One of the sailors paused. His head tilted as if listening to something. 

"… You saw someone in here?" 

Liam's face darkened. 

Damn. He hadn't accounted for the sailors being able to communicate with their wax figure charms. 

A chase was now inevitable. 

But it was still better than being surrounded by more sailors on the deck. 

Liam's mind raced. He wasn't physically strong. If it turned into a full-blown pursuit, he was dead. That was why he had avoided triggering a chase event in the first place. 

But this warehouse was a trap. No matter which choice he made, he had to run. 

Running wasn't an option. The upper deck was swarming with more sailors. 

That left only one choice—jump into the sea. 

…But he hated the ocean. 

The sailor laughed. A dry, grating sound echoed in the cargo hold. 

"Well, well. A guest has arrived early. No need to be impatient." His lamp flickered, casting shadows across his grinning, corpse-like face. "You'll be joining them soon enough." 

He stepped forward, lifting the oil lamp to illuminate the dark corners. 

"…Come out, guest. It's almost time for the evening's catch. The sirens are waiting for you in the sea." 

Liam's mind worked at lightning speed. 

These sailors were monsters. But monsters always had weaknesses. 

He needed to identify it. 

But what was it? 

One sailor approached his hiding spot. 

Liam struck first. 

He flashed his high-powered flashlight directly at the sailor's face. 

The sailor barely flinched. He raised a hand to block the light before lowering it again, his smile widening. 

"We're not like those things. Light doesn't affect us." 

Not afraid of light? That didn't make sense. 

Liam's theory was that mermaid sailors were nocturnal—otherwise, they wouldn't avoid the daylight. 

He didn't believe he was wrong. 

The mermaid wax figures had already proven they feared strong light. 

Then why…? 

His gaze flicked across the room— 

And landed on a single wax figure, cracked across the forehead. 

The realization hit him instantly. 

The sailors weren't immune. 

Something was protecting them. 

Their charms. 

Liam lunged, grabbing the cracked wax figure. He kicked it over, shattering it against the ground. 

The sailor screamed. 

A high-pitched, inhuman shriek reverberated through the cargo hold. The sound was so high-frequency it hurt Liam's ears. 

Like a dying fish. 

That was it. 

Without hesitation, Liam grabbed another wax figure—the charm of the second sailor—and smashed it over his knee. 

The wax shattered like an eggshell. 

Thick, black, rotting blood oozed from within. 

Both sailors convulsed. 

Their perfectly pale skin darkened to a sickly blue-green. Their human eyes slid to the sides of their heads, migrating toward their temples. 

Their legs fused, twisting into long, eel-like tails. Their mouths, once human, split open—revealing rows of jagged, saw-like teeth. 

The air filled with the pungent stench of fish. 

They were no longer sailors. 

They were mermaids. 

The creatures lunged at Liam. 

Liam shone his flashlight at them. 

This time—they recoiled. 

Without their charms, they were vulnerable. 

Liam backed up the staircase, keeping the light trained on them. The creatures hissed, clinging to the darkness, unable to get close. 

He stepped out of the cargo hold and slammed the door shut. 

The creatures thrashed against the walls, their horrific, slithering movements echoing behind him. 

["Siren's Hollow Bestiary" Updated: Mermaid Sailors (3/4)] 

[Monster Name: Mermaid/Sailor (Butterfly Form)] 

[Weakness: Strong Light, Charms (2/3)] 

[Attack Method: Bites & Scratches (May cause Corruption)] 

Liam adjusted his collar and stepped out onto the deck. 

Immediately, Lucy found him. 

She clung to his arm, her nails oddly rough against his skin. 

"Where'd you go?" she pouted. "They're about to start the night's catch." 

Liam glanced at her. 

She had changed. 

Faint scales shimmered under her skin. Her pupils gleamed in the dark. 

Lucy smiled. 

"The mermaids are here."