Horror Game

Volume 1 Central Hall-Chapter 5: Siren Town

Chu Qiu could hear the crisp sound of marble hitting the door, and the doorknob also moved twice at this moment.

Although the door was already locked, the door handle, under the strong twisting of the mermaid wax statue outside, emitted a crisp metallic cracking sound, sounding as if it was about to be scrapped.

This thing seemed to want to come in. Its dead white eyes searched around Chu Qiu's room, as if it had noticed that there was no one in the room. It seemed to have left Chu Qiu's door, and the doorknob hadn't moved either. The outside of the room became quiet and silent, as if the other party had left.

But Chu Qiu still held his breath. He remembered that this thing would make a dull sliding sound when it moved, and it wouldn't be right without that sound.

The mermaid waxwork hasn't moved at all; it's probably still quietly standing guard in front of his door.

This thing is tricking him, luring him out, Chu Qiu thought. He glanced sideways and noticed that the cat's eye, which had originally returned to the color of the carpet, suddenly turned white with protruding eyeballs.

That thing is indeed still there.

After waiting for a while, this thing didn't seem to give up and still wanted to get in. The doorknob was suddenly twisted into a protruding and broken shape, teetering on the brink of falling off the door.

The mermaid waxwork outside the door is about to enter.

Some of the viewers in front of the TV screen in Chu Qiu were kind-hearted and had already closed their eyes in distress.

"It's rare to see a seeded player... Sigh, what a pity."

"The main issue is that the Siren Town dungeon is just too disgusting. It's not at all the difficulty level of a novice dungeon. It's just like killing people for novices."

Chu Qiu's mind was racing, and his breathing slowed down.

The game clearly informs him that these ghosts and monsters have weaknesses, and players can exploit these weaknesses to escape from these monsters. Therefore, the current method to break the situation is to find the weakness that restricts the movement of this thing.

Chu Qiu closed his eyes and recalled the entire process of checking in tonight.

As long as it's a game, there must be a solution. A game without a solution is the worst. Chu Qiu has been making horror games for so many years, and he is absolutely certain that there must be some hint somewhere that reveals the weakness of the mermaid waxwork.

What on earth is it

Chu Qiu calmly began to recall all the scenes where he encountered the mermaid waxwork.

The first time was at the fountain outside the hotel. Jelf exclaimed that he saw the mermaid waxwork move. The movement was silent and imperceptible, just like a car turning behind them. The mermaid waxwork wasn't looking directly at them; it was gazing into the water.

The second time was in the hotel lobby, where a huge number of waxworks of various mermaids stared straight at them, unmoving.

The third time was in a hotel room. Except for the huge mermaid waxwork that was looking in the mirror, all the other mermaid waxworks were staring straight at Chu Qiu. After Chu Qiu fell asleep, they began to move. The mermaid in the mirror moved the fastest, but after Chu Qiu woke up, these waxworks stopped moving.

But it was clear that Chu Qiu's remaining conscious was not a condition that restricted the movement of the mermaid waxwork, as the mermaid waxwork outside the door was already preparing to break in.

There can't be a situation where the game is unbeatable. There must be something on him that can restrict the movement of the mermaid waxwork.

It's not something from the room or the hotel; it must be something brought by Chu Qiu, because the items in the hotel and room cannot restrict the movement of the mermaid waxwork. The fact that this waxwork could freely enter and exit Jelf's room before proves this point.

What exactly is it?

Mirror... Water... Sleeping... Look straight ahead!

Chu Qiu knew what it was.

Chu Qiu suddenly stood up and opened the door, staring straight at the mermaid waxwork.

The waxwork outside the door was so close that from Chu Qiu's perspective, the lifeless mermaid waxwork seemed to be right up against Chu Qiu's nose. Its palm was still resting on Chu Qiu's door handle, and its pure white, beadless eyes were looking through the peephole towards the lower right corner - that was where Chu Qiu was hiding.

No wonder this thing had to come in. It must have seen Chu Qiu hiding in the lower right corner behind the door.

Its movement halted, and its fish tail had already touched the tip of Chu Qiu's toe. At the last moment before entering Chu Qiu's room, it stopped motionless in front of Chu Qiu's door.

Chu Qiu breathed a sigh of relief. Indeed, the weakness that keeps this thing still is direct eye contact.

The crowd gathered in front of Chu Qiu's small TV was stunned.

"F*ck!! How did he think of that!! He didn't hesitate when he just pulled the door open!"

"Most new players wouldn't even think of it. Even if they did, they wouldn't dare to open the door. They would only dare to stare through the peephole, but that would still guarantee their death. Because at such a close distance, looking through the peephole, the movement of the mermaid waxwork would only be partially restricted, which was enough to break into the room."

"Wow, when he just looked at the mermaid waxwork, I got goosebumps!"

"What's his name? This newcomer is so impressive..."

The crowd gradually gathered around Chu Qiu's small TV.

"168 players watched player Chu Qiu's small TV broadcast, and player Chu Qiu achieved the 'Newbie Hundred Kills' achievement."

"102 people have liked Chu Qiu's mini TV, 143 people have favorited it, 3 people have charged it, and player Chu Qiu has gained 3 points."

In the small TV screen, Chu Qiu's expression remained calm and composed, as if he didn't think he had done anything remarkable.

It's actually quite simple to deduce that the weakness of restricting the movement of mermaid waxworks is that they are visible to the human eye.

After Chu Qiu went to sleep, these waxworks began to move, but upon waking up, they instantly stopped. The only difference between before and after his sleep was that he opened his eyes, indicating that human sight can restrict the movement of mermaid waxworks.

But there's a catch here - looking at this kind of thing through a mirror-like object will only slow down the movement of some mermaid waxworks. You have to look directly at it to completely stop the movement of the mermaid waxworks.

Because there are two types of waxworks that can still be moved when viewed directly by the human eye: the fountain waxwork at the entrance of the hotel and the mermaid waxwork in the mirror inside the room.

The mermaid waxwork in the fountain outside the hotel door gazes into the water, and the person is looking straight at the mermaid waxwork through the water. Although the mermaid waxwork is restricted and cannot move swiftly, it can still move slowly or even rotate, which is why it rotates slowly at the entrance.

Among the mermaid waxworks in the room, the one in the mirror moves the fastest. This is because when the mermaid in the mirror looks into the mirror, and the person looks directly at the waxwork through the mirror, the restraining force given is limited. Therefore, the mermaid in the mirror runs the fastest.

The mermaid statue that was just seen through the peephole was movable, so if Chu Qiu simply looked directly at the mermaid statue through the peephole, although there would be certain restrictions, the mermaid statue should still be movable.

At such a close distance, the peephole is definitely not enough to restrict the mermaid from moving and breaking through the door. If it gets in, the player will be pinned under the door and lose the condition of "direct gaze with human eyes". The player will soon be defeated.

But it must be said that in this situation, there are indeed very few new players who can open the door and look directly at the mermaid waxwork.

Most of the players panicked. Even if they deduced the condition of "direct eye contact", they didn't have the courage to verify it. Only Chu Qiu, who was willing to risk his life for money, had the calmness to remain unapologetic even if he wasn't 100% certain that his deduction was correct.

"Mermaid Waxwork Panel Refresh in 'Siren Town Monster Book'"

[Monster Name: Mermaid Wax Figure (Pupa Stage), Talisman Wax Figure (Cocoon Stage)]

【Weakness: direct gaze (1/3)】

[Attack method: Incubation]

The mermaid waxwork has drooping eyes, with its head slightly tilted to the right and a hint of a smile on its lips. Its fish tail is graceful, and its body is flawlessly white, exuding an indescribable and mysterious beauty and divinity.

Once the waxwork is fixed and motionless, the chilling sense of invasion it exudes disappears, transforming into a waxwork of great aesthetic value, standing silently in front of the stranger's house in the midnight of the seaside.

【Player Chu Qiu has earned 3 points for watching other players' charging, unlocking the game's merchandise store】

【Points are too low to purchase any items. Please keep trying, player!】

That player has charged three points, and Chu Qiu somewhat understands. It seems that someone who watched him gave him a reward. As for the unlocked merchandise shop, all the items are displayed in black and white, with the status shown as "cannot be purchased".

He took a brief glance and noticed that this merchandise shop offered everything from daily necessities to weapons, as well as a plethora of miscellaneous items. There were even seemingly unbelievable items like "Intact Heart" and "Love at First Sight Potion" for sale, but correspondingly, the prices of such items were exorbitant.

Chu Qiu understood the sentence when he entered the game - "Points can buy everything you want.".

Chu Qiu closed the merchandise store and stared at the waxwork of a mermaid that remained motionless in front of him.

Now, this thing is indeed not moving, but Chu Qiu can't stay up all night confronting it. Moreover, after this incident, Chu Qiu has gained a new understanding of this thing's destructive power.

He looked at the stainless steel handle that was about to fall off from his door.

Judging from the behavior of those waxworks in his room before, although this thing possesses immense destructive power, it seems to only rely on its eyesight to locate targets, or rather, it is only sensitive to visual stimuli. Once covered by a white cloth, it would be impossible to locate Chu Qiu, and even within the same room, it would be difficult to find him.

In other words, the mermaid waxwork appears to lack senses such as hearing and smell.

Otherwise, if Chu Qiu were to be in the same room with so many waxworks of mermaids, it would be easy to locate and find Chu Qiu just by listening to his breathing. Then, they could easily twist off Chu Qiu's head like a doorknob, without having to tear off the white cloth and search for him. With this ability to twist off a doorknob with bare hands, Chu Qiu wouldn't still be trapped in the bathroom closet.

"It's so troublesome, and there are so many of them. Keeping them is really a burden.".

Chu Qiu squinted slightly, and a wicked thought stirred in his heart - now he had a wax figure in front of him, motionless and at his mercy. Could he conduct some experiments on it, to test what its weaknesses were, such as killing or crushing it with fire or a stick

[Note: If players directly attack this monster and it survives, it will have a long-term hatred towards the players, constantly attacking them and reducing their survival rate.]

Chu Qiu stroked his chin thoughtfully, and then smiled, revealing a harmless little dimple on his right cheek.

"Attacking it directly will make it hold a grudge against me and seek revenge, right?" Chu Qiu muttered to himself. "Then if something happens to it, I can't be blamed."

Chu Qiu repeated his old trick, wrapping the mermaid wax figure with a bed sheet and tying up the opening at the bottom with a rope. Then, with malicious intentions, he placed the mermaid wax figure at the entrance of the hotel staircase.

The mermaid waxwork would wander around aimlessly without a head if it couldn't see. Chu Qiu placed the mermaid waxwork in this spot so that it would voluntarily fall down the stairs.

Under the premise of having a grudge, Chu Qiu would not take the initiative to smash these waxworks. If he could smash them directly, it would be fine, but if he couldn't, it would obviously cause trouble for himself.

However, with such a large number of mermaid waxworks, it posed a significant risk. Chu Qiu only had one pair of eyes. If he were surrounded by waxworks in a 360-degree manner, as if he were a wooden figure, and given that the human eye can only see up to 188 degrees horizontally, Chu Qiu would not be able to see all the mermaid waxworks with his eyes positioned at the back of his head. He would undoubtedly be doomed to die.

Chu Qiu enjoys doing things that offer better value for money. Although the game suggests exploiting weaknesses to escape from monsters, he wants to know if there's a way to directly destroy these waxworks.

Or, are there any other fatal weaknesses in these waxworks.

He would not be the one to actively smash or strike the mermaid waxwork, as the risk was too great for him to bear - no one knew what would crawl out from inside after the pupa or cocoon was broken.

But if the mermaid waxwork fell down the stairs due to his poor vision, it had nothing to do with him.

Chu Qiu just wanted to conduct a small experiment to verify whether this thing could be smashed. He retreated back into the room.

Sure enough, the mermaid waxwork soon began to move. Chu Qiu seemed to be lost in thought. Actually, he was still looking at the waxwork, but its head was covered with a white cloth, so it didn't know Chu Qiu was looking at it and just moved on its own.

This proves that "direct gaze from the human eye" is merely an objective condition. Only when the mermaid waxwork subjectively feels itself being directly gazed at can it stop moving.

There were so many waxworks in Chu Qiu's room that he couldn't look at them all. Before Chu Qiu woke up and had time to look around, they stopped moving on their own.

So, as long as the mermaid waxwork [feels] itself being looked at directly, it will stop moving.

Being able to realize this level of self-awareness, these things are indeed living beings, or living beings with a certain degree of intelligence, although their level of intelligence may not seem high.

The mermaid waxwork at the staircase struggled a few times, then slid from the edge of the staircase and crashed down with a loud thud, sending dust flying everywhere.

Standing on the stairs, Chu Qiu looked down from a commanding height, patted the dust off his hands, and let out a regretful tsk. He gazed at the mermaid waxwork below, which was unscathed and only slightly curled up, with not even a c***k on the marble.

... It's not broken after being dropped, as expected... Physical attacks are ineffective

Chu Qiu didn't know that his villainous appearance on the small screen had stunned a group of players.

"Is this person really a newcomer? Covering his head with a sheet and throwing a mermaid wax statue down the stairs... Was this newcomer a kidnapper or a terrorist before he came in?"

"I was just feeling nervous and scared for him, but now I'm starting to pity the mermaid wax statue that knocked on the door. It's so tragic, its tail is even bent up from the fall..."

"…Does this person really consider themselves a player?!"

"Other players are trying to survive from monsters, but he's different. He doesn't even want the monsters to survive..."

The author has something to say:

The "Direct Gaze" meme is inspired by the pattern of "123 Wooden Man", which means the other person has to see you looking at them. The reference pattern is similar to that of "SCP-173"

The inspiration for this copy comes from Mr. Loft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth"