【Congratulations to the player for discovering the first game monster and unlocking the Monster Book—Special Edition of "Siren Town" (1/4)】

A photo appeared on the page: the mermaid statue’s pale face was half-submerged in the deep sea water, revealing half of its face. Its eyes, uncarved and blank, stared out of the photo, silently watching Liam White, as if it was about to crawl out of the picture.

【Monster Name: Mermaid Statue (Chrysalis State)】

【Attack Value: ??? (Unknown, not unlocked, will unlock after battle)】

【Attack Method: ?? (Not explored)】

【Weakness: ?? (Not explored)】

All those question marks looked like wet ink and stains, making the writing impossible to read. Behind them floated an explanation in glowing text.

Below "Weakness" was a line of explanatory text:

【Note: Completing the exploration and filling in all information on this monster’s page will grant corresponding point rewards and special rewards. Collecting all monster pages from a single game instance allows you to take away the most precious thing of a certain monster from that game instance.】

The Monster Book of "Siren Town" had four pages. The following pages could not be turned by Liam White, showing as locked, probably containing monsters from other game instances.

This was a bit like defeating monsters to get rewards—the higher the monster’s danger level, the better the 【thing】 you could ultimately obtain.

But looking at these exploration conditions, there was even combat involved. This was basically encouraging players to risk their lives provoking monsters...

With fighting ability only as much as a high school girl’s backpack, the utterly weak Liam White thoughtfully stroked his chin.

Lucy Carter anxiously clung to Liam White's hand: "...Is it really moving?!"

"How could that be!" Andrew Carter seemed to be affected by Liam White's self-assured words. For a moment, a look of fear flashed across his face, but he quickly suppressed it and mocked Liam White, "If you, Liam White, coward, aren’t willing to prove your love for Lucy Carter, and are making up these excuses to run away out of fear, then just go! Once you’re back, you’ll automatically give up on Lucy Carter, and then kneel down and lick~ the pee off my shoes!"

This was probably the content of the bet between Liam White and this Andrew Carter.

The driver’s expression shifted oddly, but in the end, he joked as if nothing was wrong: "It’s too late at night, you must be seeing things. How could there be a moving statue? If there really was one, our town would have protected it as a tourist attraction long ago! That would make a lot of money! The mermaid statue is just a feature of our town, they’re everywhere, nothing special."

"We’re here, you can get off now. Have a good rest tonight, and enjoy your sightseeing tomorrow morning." The driver opened the door and let them out.

Liam White glanced back at the mermaid statue in the fountain. From a distance, the statue was still facing them, its head gently lowered, gazing at the water’s surface, seemingly not watching them.

But Liam White clearly remembered that when their car had just arrived, the front of the mermaid statue was not facing the hotel entrance, but the entrance to the town.

There were also two mermaid statues placed to the left and right of the hotel entrance, each holding a scepter, with strangely twisted smiles at the corners of their mouths, as if pretending to be attendants welcoming them. Yet their expressions seemed as if they were being forced to stand there to greet travelers.

After they entered the hotel, they found even more mermaid statues of all sizes everywhere inside. There was even a life-sized mermaid statue behind the cashier’s counter, holding money in its hand, as if acting as the cashier.

Just as the driver had said, mermaid statues seemed to be a feature of Siren Town, visible everywhere. But this was a bit much—from the mermaid statue decorations on the floor lamps to the mermaid pen holder on the front desk, this wasn’t just "everywhere," it was inseparable.

And all these mermaid statues had one thing in common: Liam White noticed that no matter where he stood in the room, these mermaid statues placed in different spots all seemed to be staring directly at him. But none of these statues had eyeballs. Logically, statues without pupils shouldn’t give people the feeling of being watched, but Liam White just had that feeling.

Such a large number of densely placed marble mermaid statues staring at you was truly unsettling. Even Andrew Carter, who had been loudly mocking Liam White as a coward, got goosebumps after coming in, rubbing his arms. Jeffrey Howard was even more terrified, trembling as he hid behind Andrew Carter, apparently no longer afraid of being hit by him.

Lucy Carter clung to Liam White's arm like a little bird seeking protection, her rose-like face turning pale, clearly frightened by the bizarre hotel decor.

Meanwhile, Liam White calmly spoke to the front desk: "Hello, my surname is Bai. I made a reservation earlier."

The receptionist was a young man with skin as pale as marble, wearing a floor-length Scottish kilt. He walked with a limp, as if he had some difficulty moving. When standing still, it was hard to tell whether he was a statue or a real person.

As Liam White and the others approached, the man suddenly moved, startling Lucy Carter, who thought the statue had come to life. She covered her face and cried out, "Oh my God! You’re as pale as a statue!"