Below were twelve black-and-white photos published in the newspaper. The people in the photos all wore the joyful smiles of tourists newly arrived in Siren Town, but as the yellowed, old newspaper fell under Liam White's gaze, the smiles on those faces took on an indescribable strangeness.

Liam White carefully finished reading the entire newspaper. As he prepared to fold it up and put it in his bag, after folding it twice, Liam White suddenly felt something off about the texture—it was a bit too stiff.

For a newspaper, even if it had been dried and made brittle by the sea breeze, it shouldn't feel this hard... as if it was more than just a single sheet of paper.

Looking at the cross-section of the newspaper, Liam White saw that it did indeed look thick, but there were no visible signs of multiple layers. Mainly, the newspaper had been compacted by the wind, so even if there were multiple sheets, it wouldn't be easy to tell. Liam White frowned, tucked the newspaper away, and decided to find some warm water in the museum to see if the newspaper was layered and could be separated.

[Side quest triggered—Find a hot water pool in the museum to separate the stuck-together newspaper. Reward: 10 points]

The caretaker of the Siren Museum was an old man with cataracts. His eyes were clouded and white, but, strangely, he didn't seem to have much trouble seeing people. As soon as Liam White and the others entered, the old man quickly turned his head and shuffled over. The caretaker's eyes were vacant, but his aged face wore a formulaic, polite smile. The way he hurried over made Lucy Carter let out a small gasp.

The caretaker's expression was somewhat odd and wistful: "It's been a long time since anyone came here... Ever since people started having accidents last month, no tourists have come to the Siren Museum, and it's been a long time since a new mermaid sculpture was brought in."

Liam White heard this and asked the caretaker, "Why hasn't a new mermaid sculpture been brought in for so long? Is it related to the lack of tourists?"

"Of course it is." The caretaker's tone grew agitated; he even waved his somewhat stiff old arms and legs. "Without tourists, we rarely hold the time-consuming and labor-intensive mermaid fishing events. Without mermaid fishing, we can't make new mermaid sculptures to put in the museum."

"Has the Siren Museum always had a steady stream of new mermaid sculptures coming in?" Liam White immediately realized a problem. "The museum's capacity must be limited, right? If you keep bringing in new sculptures, there can't be room for that many."

"No." The caretaker chewed out a strange smile at the corner of his mouth. His cloudy eyes rolled in their sockets and fixed on Liam White, his tone mysterious. "These mermaid sculptures leave the museum. The Siren Museum can never be filled, because however many sculptures come in, that many mermaid sculptures will leave."

Liam White subtly raised an eyebrow and continued, "So after these mermaid sculptures leave the museum, where do they go? Are they thrown back into the sea?"

The caretaker fell silent, as if realizing he'd said something he shouldn't have. But Liam White pressed on sharply, "After the tourists arrive, then what?"

"Nothing will happen." The caretaker muttered, "You'll have a pleasant holiday in Siren Town, and then you'll leave."

No matter how much more they asked, the caretaker refused to say another word. After finding out where the hot water was in the museum, Liam White gave up on trying to get more information. He took the tickets and led the group into the Siren Museum.

As soon as they entered, Liam White saw a gold-painted statue standing at the entrance. It was a humanoid sculpture dressed in a suit and wearing a hat, completely different from the mermaid sculptures Liam White had seen before. There was no fish tail, the whole figure gleamed gold, and the face wore an official smile. It was a statue of a dignified middle-aged man standing on a black stone pedestal, waving in greeting to the incoming visitors.

The lighting inside the museum was very dim. Light fell from above, casting indistinct shadows on the statue's face, making the polite smile seem eerie.

Some explanations about the statue were carved into the black stone pedestal. Liam White leaned in to read—it was a statue of the mayor of Siren Town, erected when the Siren Museum was inaugurated.

The pedestal also featured some highly exaggerated praise for the mayor's contributions to Siren Town: how, after salvaging mermaid remains, he vigorously developed tourism; how he supported the construction of the highly scenic Siren Museum, turning the once backward seaside town into a thriving place.

Carved into the pedestal was—[Harris the mayor loves every villager of Siren Town unconditionally, just as he loves his own children.]

As Liam White was reading intently, the long-silent Jeffrey Howard suddenly leaned in beside him. "Do you believe in mermaids? Do you think what they say about Siren Town is true?"

Of course, he didn't believe it all.

The things said in this kind of museum, built specifically to boost tourism with bizarre attractions, might look official, but if even a third of it is true, that's already a lot. Most of it is local fabrication, hyped up to attract tourists.

But this was a horror game.

Liam White: "I think it's true."