chapter 21

Although Bai Liu was aware that his plan had a chance of success, he had to admit that the outcome far exceeded his expectations.

The items within the game seemed to possess some kind of bonus effect; the flames produced by these barrels of high-concentration alcohol were far more intense than any Bai Liu had witnessed in real life, almost to an exaggerated degree. The same could be said for that powerful flashlight from before, which shone so brightly it nearly blinded him.

As the sun rose over the sea and daylight flooded the sky, the light-fearing, nocturnal merfolk gradually slipped beneath the waves, vanishing without a trace.

Only after confirming that not a single mermaid remained nearby did Bai Liu allow himself to relax and open his panel.

He had not had the chance to check it before, being preoccupied with grilling—no, with fighting the merfolk. Now, as Bai Liu glanced at the information displayed on the panel, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

[Side Quest: Jelf's Bloody Conspiracy, Completion: 90%]

Andre was already dead, and the driver had been burned alive by Bai Liu, yet there was still ten percent of the side quest left unfinished… How, then, was he to advance this final ten percent of the "Bloody Conspiracy"?

[Points Balance: 684. Would you like to purchase an item?]

Bai Liu stared at the suddenly inflated number for a moment, then swiped open the panel to check the points breakdown, discovering that over five hundred points had come from "tips."

In other words, after a night of struggle, more than eighty percent of his points had not been earned through completing in-game tasks, but rather from the "audience" rewarding him.

Bai Liu mused—put another way, it was far easier, and far more lucrative, to earn points from the audience than from the game itself.

This was illogical. If the game's internal rewards were lower than those from outside, players would lose motivation to play, choosing instead to pander to external factors, or even abandon the game altogether in favor of attracting tips from the audience with flashy antics.

Especially since points could be used to purchase items directly—if tips alone could provide enough points, Bai Liu could simply buy a mountain of items and brute-force his way through, stripping the game of any real experience.

Bai Liu would never design such a game, and he doubted the system would either.

There must be some kind of in-game reward to balance the internal and external reward systems, something that would make players crave in-game rewards over those from outside.

Bai Liu's fingers toyed with the coin, pondering. All in-game quest rewards were immediate—complete a quest, and the points were granted at once. But there was one exception—

—The Monster Book.

This was a reward only granted upon collecting all the pages and clearing the game, and such post-clear rewards were usually of great significance.

Yet, looking at the points he'd earned from tips, Bai Liu realized he had underestimated the value of the Monster Book.

He now suspected that the final reward from the Monster Book would not only be substantial, but also exceedingly rare—something that could not be easily bought with points, thus maintaining the balance between in-game and external rewards.

Bai Liu opened the Monster Book, studying each page before his gaze settled on the still-locked entry for the "Siren King." He paused.

["Siren Town Monster Book"—Siren King (2/4)]

[Monster Name: Siren King]

[Weakness: None (players are not required to discover this monster's weakness)]

[Attack Method: ??? (Unknown, to be explored)]

[Note: A roaming god-level NPC, extremely dangerous. Players are advised to proceed with caution.]

So, he needed to explore the attack method… Judging by previous monsters, the attack method was revealed once they attacked, and the player survived.

But for a monster of the Siren King's caliber, Bai Liu was certain he would be doomed if it attacked.

Yet, to leave such a bountiful reward untouched was not in the nature of this notorious miser.

Had Bai Liu known just how fearsome this NPC was, or heard the tales of its bug-like exploits, he might have given up.

After all, in game design, the most dreaded thing is a bug—something outside the game's logic, impossible for players to counter.

But Bai Liu did not know.

Not only was he unaware, he even regarded this NPC as a mere gatekeeper boss, convinced that defeating it would yield a grand reward, and that every boss, no matter how formidable, must have a weakness to exploit.

He stared for a while, clicked his tongue softly, closed the Monster Book, and opened the in-game shop: [I want to purchase an item.]

[What item do you need? There is currently a discount on Water Bubbles. Would you like to take advantage of this offer?]

Sure enough, the price of "Water Bubble" in Siren Town had dropped from 70 points to 40 points each.

Meanwhile, in the popular items section, the "High-Concentration Alcohol" Bai Liu had previously purchased had risen from 9 points a barrel to nearly 13.

Observing these price fluctuations, Bai Liu smiled.

His guess was correct—the progress of his game was being broadcast to the audience, influencing their purchasing preferences, much like a live-streamed sales pitch.

As long as Bai Liu could achieve the same effect with cheaper items, players would flock to buy them, causing the price curve to shift.

Moreover, Siren Town seemed to be a game instance with a relatively small player pool, which explained the rapid price changes.

For example, when Bai Liu used a 3D projector and flashlight to clear the Siren Wax Museum map—a map typically solved with a flaming torch—he had breezed through with a few durable items, thoroughly outshining the consumable torch.

Given similar prices, players would naturally prefer durable items, causing the torch's price to fall and the projector's to rise.

This time, Bai Liu repeated his strategy, aiming to lower the price of Water Bubbles so he could save on the price difference.

Bai Liu smiled: [I would like to purchase one Water Bubble.]

[Certainly. That will be 40 points. Thank you for your patronage.]

Seeing Bai Liu about to buy a Water Bubble, Wang Shun, who had rushed from the Death Comedy section to the solo game area, leaned in toward the small screen, utterly perplexed.

After confirming that Bai Liu had indeed bought a Water Bubble, Wang Shun grew even more bewildered. "Why is he buying Water Bubbles again?"

"I remember that the rest of Siren Town is almost entirely land-based chases—there shouldn't be any need for Water Bubbles…"

Another player, who had followed along, analyzed reasonably, "Now that Bai Liu has more points, and he doesn't know that the rest is mostly land chases, maybe he's just buying one as a precaution. It's not expensive, only forty points."

"He's got over six hundred points now, so spending forty on a Water Bubble is like buying insurance. Alcohol is still a bit too risky."

But Wang Shun, having watched Bai Liu's every move, was well aware of his habit of spending points only where they mattered most.

Previously, Bai Liu had chosen a riskier, low-investment plan with alcohol rather than spending more points on Water Bubbles for a safer, high-investment approach.

But now, to avoid risk, he was spending an extra fifty points on a Water Bubble as a precaution… This didn't seem like something Bai Liu would do.

Wang Shun even entertained a ludicrous notion: that Bai Liu had only now bought a Water Bubble because he had manipulated the price through his actions, waiting for this very moment to buy it at a discount.

Lost in thought, Wang Shun muttered to himself.

His voice was not low, and his musings were overheard by a nearby audience member.

Unable to resist, the player retorted, "Are you seriously becoming a Bai Liu fanboy? Manipulating prices? He's a rookie who hasn't even cleared a game yet. I'll admit he's got some skills, but manipulating item prices? That's a stretch."

The player's tone was dismissive. "I think he just had a wild night, got scared out of his wits, and now that he's got some points, he's buying a few life-saving items. His use of alcohol before was mostly a gamble…"

He finished with a muttered, slightly pouty, "It's just luck, nothing special. And yet he managed to make it to the solo section with that?"

Jealousy flickered in his expression, as if he believed Bai Liu's ascent to the solo game area was due less to wit and more to opportunistic luck.

The forums, too, were ablaze with debate over Bai Liu's use of alcohol to defeat the merfolk. After an initial wave of praise, more and more voices began to mock his supposed opportunism.

Much like the player just now, most adopted a tone of disdainful envy, the classic "I could have done that too" attitude:

"What's so special about this? I thought of it too, but with a safer option available, why would I choose the riskier one?"

"Please, just another show-off. Haven't we seen enough of those in Death Comedy?"

"Hilarious—he bought nine bottles of alcohol, used four, and left five unused. For those claiming this method is economical, let me do the math: that's eighty-one points, eleven more than the original Water Bubble!"

"Some people just praise blindly, huh? Aside from the visual spectacle, this method is utterly useless."

"And after clearing the level and getting his reward, he immediately bought a Water Bubble. Isn't that just admitting defeat? If alcohol was so great, why not keep using it? Let's see how you burn things on land—mermaid wax statues won't burn at all!"