Bai Liu finally understood why the driver had described the first mermaid ever hauled up from the sea as both beautiful and superior.
Compared to this mermaid's remains, those once-meticulously crafted wax figures now seemed nothing more than shoddy, mass-produced trinkets—cheap souvenirs for passing tourists.
Bai Liu had always been partial to things that looked expensive. He stepped closer to read the plaque beside the mermaid.
[Siren. On the night of xx/xx/xx in Siren Town, this creature was caught during a group fishing expedition. After verification by relevant authorities, it was confirmed to be a rare, naturally occurring organism, with no evidence of artificial synthesis.]
[…It was already a corpse when brought up, and was subsequently preserved in a solidifying solution, now displayed in the central hall of the Siren Wax Museum for visitors to view.]
This thing must have been a formidable monster, Bai Liu thought.
As he lowered his head to read the mermaid's description, the fingers of the right hand inside the glass case twitched almost imperceptibly.
Suddenly, the coin on Bai Liu's chest began to vibrate violently, and a cascade of blood-red panels burst forth, one after another, stacking up before his eyes like a system malfunction.
["Siren Town Monster Book" updated—Siren King (2/4)]
[Monster Name: Siren King]
[Weaknesses: None (players are not required to explore this monster's weaknesses)]
[Attack Method: ??? (Unknown, to be discovered)]
[You have triggered the roaming god-level NPC: Siren King!!]
["Siren Town" dungeon survival rate is plummeting, recalculating… Original clearance rate: 51%, now dropping to ??%!]
[Warning! Warning! This NPC is extremely dangerous. There are currently no known weaknesses. If the NPC chooses to kill, players cannot exploit any weakness to escape—there is only death. Players are advised to accelerate game progress and flee Siren Town before this NPC awakens!]
[Estimated time until this NPC awakens: one day. Please hasten your investigation!]
Bai Liu raised his brows. Had he just… encountered something truly extraordinary?
He stared at the crimson warnings on the panel, pondering his next move, unaware that this very warning had just left a veteran cloud player, passing by the central game hall's main screen, utterly dumbfounded.
Wang Shun was a seasoned cloud player, having camped before the central game hall's main screen for years. Now, he sat there, dazed, watching Bai Liu's little TV.
A "cloud player" rarely enters the game themselves, but spends most of their time watching others, collecting information to report back to their player guild.
But in all his years of watching, this was the first time Wang Shun had seen a god-level roaming NPC appear on the central screen.
He stared, double-checking, before muttering in disbelief:
"Am I seeing things? That's… that's the god-level roaming NPC, isn't it? Who's unlucky enough to land in a dungeon with that thing…"
Within the system, there were countless horror games, each an independent dungeon. Every game's NPCs and monsters were unique and fixed, like titles in a game store, never interfering with one another.
Players' experiences in each dungeon were isolated—no crossing over, no merging.
But at some point, a strange roaming NPC had appeared.
This NPC could randomly show up in any horror dungeon, traversing the games at will, even possessing monsters and transforming them into devastating god-level threats. Players dreaded its appearance, entering each game with trepidation, terrified of triggering this anomaly.
Yet the odds of encountering it were vanishingly small. In all his years, Wang Shun had never seen anyone trigger the god-level roaming NPC.
But its destructive power was legendary—when it appeared, teams were wiped out in an instant, often before the audience could even react. Rumors abounded, but information was scarce. For a cloud player like Wang Shun, witnessing it was the ultimate scoop.
If he could gather enough data, he might even sell it for points!
Instantly, Wang Shun was riveted. He wasn't leaving Bai Liu's little TV for anything tonight.
Strangely, though, this explosive footage was relegated to the very edge of the central screen. If not for Wang Shun's habit of scanning every corner, he might have missed the flood of red warnings.
"Is the system's algorithm broken?" Wang Shun muttered, glued to Bai Liu's screen. "This shouldn't be on the edge. The player's doing great—almost completed the first page of the monster book, and he's so calm even after seeing a god-level NPC. No sign of panic… That's some serious mental fortitude…"
He opened his game manager to check the player behind Bai Liu's little TV, then slowly widened his eyes:
"…This is his first game? Are you kidding me?!"
——————
[Game Forum—Did anyone see the newcomer who just got promoted from the rookie zone to the central screen?]
1F: First game and already promoted? Impressive! Could he be this year's rising star on the leaderboard?
2F: No way. He's doomed. I'm watching his little TV—he's so unlucky, triggered the god-level roaming NPC. This is probably his last game ever.
3F: He was amazing in the rookie zone. Such bad luck… But he's really skilled, maybe he'll survive.
4F: Does anyone not know that "roaming NPC" is just a fancy name for a bug?
This NPC has no weaknesses. Every time it appears, the player team is wiped out. It's game-breaking. I think the system just calls it a roaming NPC to cover up an unsolvable bug…
5F: Shame, I thought he might break the "Siren Town" high score. His logic is brilliant.
6F: The "Siren Town" record is held by Shepherd, right? Over 1,300 points without charging. Shepherd is fourth on the Nightmare New Star list. This rookie won't survive this round—he's punching above his weight.
7F: Too bad, he's good-looking too. If he survives, he could make the top ten most attractive players…
8F: Please, with that pretty-boy face? Top ten is about skill, not looks. He's done for…
…
[1 new like for Bai Liu's little TV, 416 new bookmarks, no one charged points for Bai Liu]
[512 new viewers are watching Bai Liu's little TV, but no one is liking it. How odd. Is the player not performing well? Give him a like!]
[Too few new likes—Bai Liu's promotion slot on the central screen is about to expire]
…
Bai Liu was oblivious to all this, silently scrutinizing the mermaid in the glass case—the undisputed apex boss of the game, as the system had made abundantly clear. Against this boss, players had no way to exploit weaknesses to escape.
Once it awakened, death was certain.
Bai Liu disliked being so utterly constrained, but if that was the rule, there was nothing he could do.
Yet before it awoke, perhaps the Siren King could still offer him a sliver of hope.
Rubbing his chin, Bai Liu brazenly considered how to use the Siren King to his advantage. If anyone outside could hear his thoughts, they'd probably call him reckless—fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
But Bai Liu knew nothing of this. He simply regarded the Siren King as a particularly troublesome, high-level NPC.
In games, there was no such thing as an unbeatable boss. Even the most terrifying monsters were, in the end, just part of the design.
As long as the game wasn't bugged, no matter how insurmountable a monster seemed, it was likely just a designer's ploy to keep players on edge.
What Bai Liu didn't know was that he had encountered what many called the game's ultimate "bug"—the god-level roaming NPC.
…
They lingered in the wax museum until nightfall. When the driver came to collect them, the caretaker, his voice frail and withered yet tinged with joy, bid them farewell:
"…It's been so long since we've had such a grand mermaid hunt. After tonight, the Siren Wax Museum will finally welcome a new mermaid wax figure."
His smile was twisted with a strange delight. He turned his sightless eyes on Bai Liu:
"May you all have a most delightful evening."