"Sorry." The receptionist looked at them apologetically. "I have albinism, sorry if I startled you. Mr. White, is that right? You reserved four rooms a week ago, for a one-week stay. The payment has already been made, here are your room cards. I wish you a pleasant stay."

Liam White took the room cards. In fact, when he saw there were four rooms, he actually breathed a sigh of relief.

He really didn’t want to share a room with Ms. Lucy Carter, who had made him feel like he’d "failed." Lucy Carter seemed to understand this as well. The woman who had just been frightened quickly recovered, and she looked at Liam White with a teasing look that said, "Oh! Darling! You’re just too shy!" Liam White ignored her with an unchanged expression.

"I’d like to ask, why are there so many mermaid statues in your hotel?"

The receptionist answered calmly, "Sir, the mermaids gave us everything. Siren Town originally had nothing. Ever since we fished up the corpse of a mermaid, more and more tourists have come here. We gained wealth and everything we have, so we are very grateful to the mermaids. Here, every household has many mermaid statues. For us, they are like protective charms."

Liam White pointed at the mermaid statue behind the receptionist. "You have a wide variety of mermaid statues. The one behind you looks exactly like you, and it seems to be made of a different material than the others."

Actually, it’s no wonder Lucy Carter couldn’t tell the difference between the person and the statue. The mermaid statue behind the receptionist looked exactly like the receptionist, even more vivid and pained in expression, almost a bit ferocious.

The eyes of this mermaid statue stared straight at the receptionist standing in front of it. No matter where the receptionist went, its gaze never shifted, as if it wanted to leap out of the statue and tear apart the receptionist who looked just like it. It was chilling to look at, but the material seemed more fragile, not as solid as the other mermaid statues, and it looked a bit worn.

"Yes, sir." The receptionist raised their eyes to meet Liam White's gaze. "The mermaid statue behind me is my protective charm. We carve mermaids to look like ourselves. When disaster strikes, these mermaid statue charms will be mistaken by the devil for us and will take the risk in our place."

Liam White found this interesting. This "protective charm statue" was clearly something different from the other mermaid statues.

[Player has gained new knowledge—"Siren Town Monster Book" mermaid statue panel updated]

[Monster Name: Mermaid Statue (Pupa State), Protective Charm Statue (Cocoon State)]

Pupa and cocoon? This monster called "mermaid statue" actually has two different states?

Liam White pondered slowly. A pupa is the state before the adult emerges, breaking out of the shell to become a butterfly. A cocoon is the shell left after the adult successfully hatches, a protective outer layer. This matches what the receptionist said about a shell that protects against attacks...

He guessed that the mermaid statue might also have "insect" and "butterfly" states. Liam White felt these two states would probably be more aggressive than "pupa" and "cocoon." For now, it seemed that mermaid statues in the "pupa" and "cocoon" states didn’t have any intention of actively attacking people. But it was also possible that their "attack" method was something Liam White couldn’t perceive, like mental pollution or something. He felt that the way all the mermaid statues in the lobby kept staring at the players was already quite mentally disturbing.

Liam White handed out the room cards. Lucy Carter tried to cling to him, wanting to share a room, but Liam White sent her away with the excuse, "I haven’t yet proven my courage for you, I’m not worthy of truly having you!" Lucy Carter was deeply moved and left, but before she went, she tried to give Liam White a passionate kiss, only to be stopped by an angry Andrew Carter.

Thank you, Andrew Carter! Let’s hope nothing happens to Andrew Carter tonight!

Liam White sincerely hoped Andrew Carter could survive a bit longer, otherwise he really wouldn’t be able to handle Lucy Carter.

This girl was passionate, bold, and loved to flirt. If the other party had a certain something, Liam White would have absolutely no chance of escaping tonight. Liam White felt that Lucy Carter really wanted to eat him up. Along the way, she’d already taken plenty of liberties with him—sometimes holding his hand, sometimes touching Liam White's thigh—making Liam White, the miser, want to tell Lucy Carter that his body was also his private property, and that touching it would cost five bucks a time.

Liam White swiped his room card and opened his room. As soon as he opened the door, he stopped in his tracks.

The NPC Liam White was playing was wealthy and had booked a nicer room. The furnishings inside were exquisite and detailed, but from the lamp design to the sculpture on the nightstand, everything was mermaids. As soon as Liam White entered, the pale mermaid statues’ eyes seemed to move ever so slightly, looking at Liam White.

A panel popped up:

[Main quest activated: Player Liam White must survive safely in the room tonight, live until tomorrow, and avoid being hatched—Quest reward: 20 points]

Chapter 4: Siren Town

The system gave Liam White his first quest, but Liam White's attention wasn’t on the quest. He stared at the words "avoid being hatched," lost in thought.

...Hatched?

Tsk, can those statues hatch them?

Liam White made a mental note. As soon as he turned around, he saw a life-sized mermaid statue standing across from the bed.