The Siren King's Awakening

After Liam Watson disembarked, he followed the sailors' traditions. He had to stay at the wax museum until nightfall to wash off the killing curse from watching the mermaid hunt before he could atone and leave. 

Lucy and Gerald accompanied him to the wax museum. 

The wax museum, dim and unsettling in the morning, greeted them as the sailor who had delivered Liam warned him not to leave before evening and handed him over to the museum's caretaker. With a final glance, the sailor left. 

Curling behind Liam, Lucy murmured, "Why is this wax museum still so terrifying, even in daylight?" 

The museum was filled with wax figures gazing down at Liam and his companions. These mermaid statues looked even lifelike than Liam had seen the previous day. 

Liam noticed that two wax mermaids had shortened tails—the lower legs were still fishtails. Still, the thighs had already transformed into normal human legs. 

Liam studied the two statues with the tail degeneration, and their faces bore a strange resemblance to Lucy and Gerald. 

The wax figures wore eerie smiles and fixed their hollow gazes on Liam and his companions, Lucy and Gerald. 

As Liam suspected, the two were sacrificed and turned into mermaid wax talismans. In contrast, the mermaid statues that had consumed the sacrifices gradually began to resemble "Lucy" and "Gerald." 

The statues were now in a cocooning stage, where the butterflies (the mermaids) had not fully hatched, and the cocoon (Lucy and Gerald) still had a sliver of life left. 

Liam didn't want Lucy and Gerald to fully transform, not out of some saviour complex, but because he'd have two more butterfly-type monsters to deal with once they did. 

With that thought, Liam pulled out his flashlight, ready to fend off the mermaid statues. 

But Lucy and Gerald went into a frenzy before he could turn it on. They screamed, and Gerald, acting like a madman, tried to snatch the flashlight from Liam. He dodged just in time and shut off the light, allowing them to calm down, though barely. 

Lucy collapsed weakly on the floor, glaring at Liam with a trace of resentment in her eyes. "Your flashlight is too bright, Liam. Are you trying to blind us?" 

Still clutching a wax statue for support, Gerald hysterically warned, "You better never turn that thing on again!" 

Liam nonchalantly shrugged, "Sorry, I didn't realize you two were so light-sensitive." 

Of course, Liam knew exactly why—after becoming wax statues, both Lucy and Gerald would develop a light sensitivity. However, he didn't care if they were harmed. He hadn't anticipated them being aggressive in stealing his flashlight. 

Unlike genuine mermaid talisman wax statues, these two were mobile and as fast as Liam. If they went mad over a flashlight, he wouldn't be able to use it at all. 

This limitation on his equipment became clear. 

At this point, it seemed the game was using Lucy and Gerald to restrict the player's ability to use the flashlight—likely setting up a chase involving the mermaid statues. To make it intense, the game disabled strong light tools. 

When designing games, Liam sometimes did something similar—like giving players a tool to drive away monsters but adding a cooldown to make the gameplay scarier. 

Though he found this kind of dark humour fun in the design phase, it wasn't as enjoyable when it happened to him. 

Liam reluctantly put away his flashlight, surrendering both hands to show he wouldn't use it again. At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the museum's door was already guarded by wax figures, which were now inching closer. 

The dilemma was clear: Lucy and Gerald would attack him if he turned on the light. If he didn't, he couldn't ward off the mermaid statues, and with no option to leave before evening, he'd be trapped. 

Not only would these mermaid statues try to possess him, increasing his Mutation, but there was another crucial factor— 

Liam flipped the coin in his hand, and a panel popped up— 

[Warning: The God-tier NPC, Siren King, will awaken in 7 hours. Players must complete the level before then.] 

This warning caused a collective gasp from the viewers watching Liam's small screen. 

Even Mike Li stood up, dragging his knife and squinting at the screen before bursting into laughter. "A real God-tier NPC? This guy's gonna be killed by the Siren King, no chance for me to get him now. Serves you right for taking my spot!" 

Other viewers also groaned: 

"This was supposed to be a survival escape game, where players hide in the wax museum until evening, then face a mermaid statue free-for-all, trying to escape Siren Town. But with a God-tier NPC involved, there's no way he's making it until night." 

"Yeah, just escaping Siren Town would lead to a normal end, low ratings and rewards." 

"I heard Mason Shepherd got the true ending, but to do that, he had to seal the entire town's ghost by returning the Siren's remains to the sea. But here, Liam's going up against the Siren King—once that thing wakes up, it's over for him. What a joke!" 

"This guy's got no chance. He's gonna die." 

Shawn felt his heart race. 

He never expected Liam to really stay in the wax museum! 

If Liam had escaped, there might have been a slim chance left, but now, trapped in the wax museum with no way out, he had no options. 

Shawn sighed regretfully. He objectively admitted that Liam had potential—possibly even as much as Mason Shepherd—but Liam had just run out of luck. 

————— 

Liam walked towards the central hall, with Lucy and Gerald trailing behind him. 

Inside the hall, the Siren King's body floated in a transparent, low-viscosity liquid placed within a glass case. 

Delicate bubbles drifted like snowflakes in the Siren King's long hair and light-coloured lashes, making it seem like a thin layer of snow had settled on his body. 

Liam stood by the glass case, looking at the not-yet-decomposed mermaid corpse. 

The mermaid's face was unnervingly beautiful, with an almost hypnotic quality. It felt like the Siren King could open its eyes at any moment, break free from the bulletproof glass coffin with its powerful tail, and slaughter everyone before returning to the sea. 

Lucy, glancing around, asked, "Liam, do you think Andrew's here? Where is he?" 

Without turning his head, Liam fixed his gaze on the Siren King's glass case and said flatly, "Didn't you pass him on your way in? Gerald even touched him." 

"I touched him?" Gerald pointed at himself in confusion. "Liam, there's no one else here except the three of us." 

"Exactly," Liam responded casually. "When did I ever say Andrew was still human?" 

Lucy hugged her arms, stepping back in fear, shivering. "Liam, stop joking. Where is Andrew?" 

Liam's ears twitched as he caught the sound of dragging, the wax statues moving. He turned and saw a grotesque, mermaid-like Andrew wax figure looming behind Gerald and Lucy, seemingly ready to attack them. 

Liam, unfazed, smirked. "Lucy, Andrew's behind you." 

Lucy and Gerald instinctively turned around, unleashing a shrill duet of screams. Liam, anticipating this, plugged his ears. 

Last night, the mermaids took Andrew's skeleton, and the wax museum received two fresh sacrifices: Gerald and Lucy. 

Theoretically, the Siren Wax Museum should have had two mermaid statues left with the sacrifices. Still, while Lucy and Gerald had not left, Andrew's wax statue had taken place. 

Behind Andrew's statue, a horde of wax figures stood at the entrance, resembling Liam's face, clearly trying to possess him. 

Liam raised an eyebrow, sidestepping Lucy's frantic attempt to grab his arm. 

These wax figures posed no threat to Lucy and Gerald—they were already wax statues, and turning fully into wax was only a matter of time. 

The real trouble was Liam. These statues, hostile to him, could easily possess him, and with his flashlight disabled, he couldn't ward them off. 

These statues were far more resistant than the mermaid larvae. Without any environmental advantages, Liam knew if they caught him, it'd be game over. 

Seeing this, Shawn closed his electronic recorder with a sigh, preparing to leave. 

Like him, many other viewers were losing interest, feeling the game's outcome was already a given. 

But before leaving, Shawn looked up at the small screen. 

He froze, unable to believe his eyes, muttering, "Liam… is he smiling?" 

With his head lowered Liam slowly curled his lips into a smile. Now that it had reached this point, he thought the game was interesting. 

It had been long since he'd played such a highly engaging horror game. 

His fingers quickly flipped the coin, and the panels kept popping up so fast that they dazzled the viewers. 

Curious, some players leaned closer to the screen to see what he was doing: 

"Is he panicking? Is he struggling to survive?" 

"Item shop, monster book, quest panel… Wow, he's pulled out all the panels. What's he trying to do? Spend all his points before he dies?" 

Shawn said nothing, watching Liam's calm face as he quickly navigated between the panels. 

It was clear to him that Liam wasn't panicking. He was just moving so fast that it seemed like chaos. 

At this point, Shawn began to feel tense. He wondered if this mysterious newcomer could still pull off a miraculous comeback. 

Liam, cool-headed, continued to process the situation: 

[Item Shop: I need a pickaxe to break the bulletproof glass.] 

[17 points, transaction complete.] 

[I need a two-meter-long mobile cart to transport large animal corpses.] 

[7 points, transaction complete.] 

[System, open the monster book—mermaid wax statue and mermaid sailor pages.] 

[Opening the Siren Town Monster Book… opened.] 

—————— 

[Siren Town Monster Book—Mermaid Wax Statue (Pupa State), Talisman Wax Statue (Cocoon State)] 

[Weaknesses: Direct Eye Contact, Strong Light (2/3)] 

[Attack Method: Hatching] 

—————————— 

[Siren Town Monster Book—Mermaid Sailor (Butterfly State)] 

[Weakness: Sensitive to Strong Light, Talisman (2/3)] 

[Attack Method: Bite and Scratch (If scratched, there's a high chance of triggering Mutation)] 

———————— 

[Your first and third pages are almost complete—please continue, player!] 

Liam's rapid movements left the viewers in awe, and even those mocking him earlier fell silent, their eyes glued to the screen as Liam navigated with a calm, confident smile. 

The various panels flickering on the screen illuminated his face in fragments, and his poised demeanour made it clear that he wasn't just messing around. Several viewers quietly asked, "What is he actually doing?"