Horror Game

Volume 1 Central Hall-Chapter 12: Siren Town

Chu Qiu understood why the driver had described the first mermaid to be fished out as beautiful and high-class.

Compared to this mermaid skeleton, those originally meticulously crafted mermaid waxworks resemble crudely made and shoddily produced cheap tourist souvenirs.

Chu Qiu had a fondness for items that looked expensive, so he stepped forward to take a look at the description next to the mermaid.

[Siren, on the evening of xx month xx day of xx year in Siren Town, creatures caught during a collective fishing activity were verified by relevant institutions and confirmed to be rare organisms that grew naturally under pure natural conditions without artificial synthesis.]

【...After being caught, they are already in a skeletal state and are later sealed in a solidifying liquid, preserved in the central exhibition hall of the Siren Wax Museum for visitors to see】

"This thing should be a very powerful monster," Chu Qiu thought.

As Chu Qiu looked down at the introduction of the mermaid skeleton, the fingers of the mermaid's right hand in the cabinet flickered imperceptibly.

The sudden coin on Chu Qiu's chest started vibrating crazily, and countless bright red panels popped up one after another, superimposing in front of Chu Qiu like a system malfunction.

"Refresh of 'The Monster Book of Siren Town' - Siren King (2/4)"

[Monster Name: Siren King]

"Weakness: None (Players are not required to explore the monster's weakness)"

[Attack method: ??? (unknown, to be explored)]

"You have triggered the Siren King, a level-99 NPC!!"

The survival rate of the game instance "Siren Town" is rapidly declining, recalculating... The original game completion rate was 51%, but it has now dropped to ??%

Warning! Warning! This NPC is extremely dangerous and currently has no known weaknesses. Once the NPC wants to kill, players cannot use any weaknesses to escape and will only face death. Players are advised to accelerate their progress in cracking the game and quickly flee from Siren Town before this NPC awakens

"It is estimated that this NPC will wake up in one day. Players, please expedite your exploration progress!"

Chu Qiu raised his eyebrows. Had he encountered something extraordinary?

Chu Qiu was looking at the red warning text on the panel and still pondering over countermeasures, unaware that this warning had nearly frightened a senior cloud gamer who had accidentally passed by the large screen in the central game lobby.

Wang Shun is a seasoned cloud gamer who has been camping in front of the large screen in the central gaming hall for many years. Now, he is squatting in front of the central screen, staring blankly at Chu Qiu's small TV.

The term "cloud player" refers to someone who spends less time playing the game themselves and more time watching others play. Wang Shun is more often responsible for collecting game information from players and submitting it to his affiliated player guild organization.

But despite watching game videos for so long, it was still the first time he saw a god-level roaming NPC on the central game screen.

Wang Shun looked at the screen and spoke in a daze after confirming it twice

"Did I see it correctly?! This... is indeed that god-level roaming NPC, right?! Who is so unlucky as to enter an instance with a god-level roaming NPC..."

In the entire system, there are countless horror games, each representing an independent game instance.

The NPCs and monsters in each game are distinct and fixed, just like different games displayed in a game store, without interfering or affecting each other.

The gameplay process of each game instance is independent, and players will not be able to switch between or merge with each other.

But at some point, a peculiar wandering NPC appeared.

This NPC will randomly appear in each horror game's dungeon, shuttling through the game in an unreasonable manner. It may even possess one of the monsters within, transforming it from an ordinary creature into a god-level monster with immense destructive power, leaving players in agony. Every time they enter the game, they are on tenterhooks, fearing the triggering of this god-level roaming NPC.

However, the trigger probability of this NPC is actually very low. Wang Shun has been watching [Xiaodian Shi] for many years, but he has never seen anyone trigger this god-level roaming NPC.

However, it is also because the destructive power of this god-level roaming NPC is immense. Usually, when it appears, the entire team is instantly wiped out before the audience even has time to see it. Players are all dead, so there are many rumors about god-level roaming NPCs, but there is very little information available. Once they appear, for cloud players like Wang Shun, that is the top-level news!

If we collect all the necessary information, we might even be able to sell it for points!

Wang Shun instantly became engrossed. He was determined to stay in front of Chu Qiu's small TV set today!

But what was amazing was that such an exciting game video featuring a god-level NPC was actually at the very edge of the central screen. If it weren't for Wang Shun's habit of carefully scanning the entire screen, he might have missed it if he hadn't noticed the red warnings filling the small screen here.

"Is the system's algorithm at fault?" Wang Shun muttered to himself as he stood in front of Chu Qiu's screen. "This kind of video shouldn't be in such a marginal position. This player is performing very well. They're almost done collecting the first page of the monster book. Moreover, they remain so calm even when encountering a wandering god-level NPC, and they're not playing passively. Their psychological resilience is truly impressive..."

As he spoke, he clicked on his game manager to check the player information behind the small TV of Chu Qiu, and then slowly widened his eyes:

"… This is actually a newbie who's playing games for the first time?! Are you serious?!"

——————

[Game forum - Has anyone seen the new player who just ascended from the novice area on the central screen?]

1l: He rose up in the first round, impressive! Will he be the Rookie of the Year in this year's standings?

2l: It's impossible. This person is doomed. I'm watching his little TV screen, and his luck is terrible. He's just summoned a god-level roaming NPC. This might be the last game of his life.

3l: He used to perform very well in the rookie zone. How could he be so bad now... But he's really good. He doesn't necessarily have to die

4l: Does anyone else not understand that wandering npc writing npc reads as a bug?

This NPC has no weaknesses. Every time it appears, the player team is basically wiped out because they can't escape. I feel like it has already disrupted the game balance. I think the system is just giving a name to an unsolvable bug and calling it a roaming NPC to deceive the players

5l: Oh, I was quite optimistic about him before. I thought he had a chance to break the highest score record for "Siren Town", because his thinking is really impressive.

6l: The highest score record for 'Siren Town' is from Mushen, right? I remember it was over 1,300 points without charging. Mushen is currently ranked fourth on the Nightmare Rookie List. This newcomer won't last long, he's jumping the ranks and trying to take credit.

7l: It's a pity. This newcomer has decent looks. If he doesn't die, with his looks, he might even have a chance to make it into the top ten high-looks players

8l: Bullshit, with his pretty boy look, he's not even close to getting in. The top ten high-looks players first look at the gameplay and then the face, okay? He's definitely going to lose this match

………

"One new person has liked Chu Qiu's small TV, 416 new people have collected Chu Qiu's small TV, and no one has charged Chu Qiu as a player."

【512 new viewers are watching Chu Qiu's little TV show, but no one likes it. It's really strange. Is it because the players performed poorly? Please give a like, viewers!】

The number of new likes is too low, and the promotion slot for player Chu Qiu on the edge of the central screen is about to expire

………

Chu Qiu knew nothing about these discussions and just silently gazed at the mermaid in the glass case - this was undoubtedly the highest-level boss in the entire game, and Xi had explicitly told him so. Facing this boss, players had no way to exploit weaknesses to escape.

After waking up, certain death is inevitable.

Although Chu Qiu didn't like the feeling of being absolutely pinned down, since the game had said so, he really had no choice but to accept it.

But before regaining consciousness, this mermaid might not be unable to bring a glimmer of hope to Chu Qiu.

Chu Qiu stroked his chin and audaciously attempted to use the Siren King to gain some benefits for himself. If he were to reveal this idea, the crowd of onlookers outside would probably be speechless and say he was a fearless newcomer.

Unfortunately, he knew nothing about it. Chu Qiu treated the Siren King as a monster NPC that he could easily deal with, just a bit more advanced and tricky.

In the game, there is no boss that players are completely helpless against, even if the monster's stats seem intimidating.

As long as the game is bug-free, even if the game tells players how impossible the monster is, it is most likely one of the designer's tricks to keep players on the edge of their seats and create suspense.

What Chu Qiu didn't know was that the person he encountered was the "God-level roaming NPC" known as the bug in this game.

……

They lingered in the wax museum until evening. When the driver arrived to pick them up, the museum attendant, with a voice aged and worn, bid them farewell with joy: "...It's been a long time since we had such a large mermaid fishing event. After tonight, the Siren Wax Museum can finally welcome new mermaid waxworks again."

His smile carried a peculiar joy. He rolled his eyes, which had no pupils, and stared at Chu Qiu, saying, "I wish you all a pleasant evening."