Godmode: The Dead Game Odyssey

Chapter 13: Eclipse Harbor

The keeper stood silently at the door, watching as they slowly disappeared. Behind him, countless wax figures with vague, shadowy outlines began to emerge from the darkness, their marble faces expressionless, like fish rising from the depths of the sea.

[Main Quest: Explore the Wax Museum of Eclipse Harbor — Completion Reward: 50 Points]

[Current Balance: 81 Points. Would you like to purchase any items?]

81 points... Liam Watson stroked his chin thoughtfully and asked, "Do you have high-concentration alcohol?"

[Opening Shop — Yes, there are 218 different types of specialty alcohol available, of which 18 can be purchased in this instance.]

[What's the cheapest option?]

[9 points for 25L. Friendly reminder: the alcohol in this game is not the same as real-world alcohol. The system has modified it, and its effects may vary. Please read the instructions carefully before purchasing.]

[System Recommendation: The system detects that your points are plentiful. It suggests purchasing a Flame Torch for this instance. Its effects are better and safer!]

Liam Watson thought momentarily, "I'll read the alcohol item instructions."

The system interface suddenly popped up with dozens of pages of instructions, the text as small as ants, so dense that even glancing at it would strain your eyes.

Liam wasn't surprised and opened a page, reading slowly and deliberately.

This was how the game worked. The cheaper the item, the longer the instruction manual. In contrast, the more popular items in the promotional section had short, straightforward, and enticing descriptions, directly stating their effects. These tempting players were eager to survive by buying them without hesitation.

As a player with little money, Liam was all too familiar with these marketing tactics, always searching for the most useful and affordable products amidst the flood of ads during shopping events.

The cheaper and more useful the item, the more obstacles to purchasing it.

One of those obstacles was the excessive instructions attached to cheap items. These instructions were hard to understand at first glance, causing players to skip over them and buy something else.

Because of this, cheap items were rarely bought, leading to low sales numbers, some even in the single digits. It was likely no one had bothered to carefully read these instructions.

Liam narrowed his eyes, scanning the menu bar where "Flame Torch" and "3D Projector" had new price adjustments.

[Flame Torch: Price reduced to 17 points in Eclipse Harbor]

[3D Projector: Price restored to 6 points]

The prices for both items he had noticed earlier had changed.

Items like [Flashlight] and [Flame Torch] seemed to have higher prices, which were common in horror games, but it appeared that after Liam used certain items, their prices shifted. He suspected it was because the number of players purchasing these items had changed during his gameplay session, causing the price fluctuations.

Liam took his time, carefully reading through the alcohol instructions before choosing the cheapest option.

With a flourish, Liam declared, "I'll take them all."

[9 bottles of high-concentration alcohol have been added to Liam Watson's shopping bag. We look forward to your next visit!]

Nearby, Shawn watched Liam's sudden expenditure and slapped his leg. "Hey! What's this newbie doing?"

"Is he planning to use alcohol to burn the wax figures? Those figures might fear light, but they aren't afraid of fire! If he melts the wax, the monsters inside will come out! Why spend all his points at once? Is he stupid or what?"

Other players whispered among themselves:

"What's this guy doing? Spends all 81 points on the cheapest alcohol? Is he an alcoholic? Nobody's ever bought this before, I bet."

"He probably thinks the mermaid wax figures are afraid of fire because they fear light. A newbie did the same thing before—tried to burn the figures with a torch instead of using it to shine on the mermaid statues. The moment the torch's light dimmed, they were torn apart."

"Forget it; I thought he was cool, but he's just lucky..."

"The quality of the central screen is dropping. If this kind of newbie can make it, the players in the past, like those gods of gameplay, were the real deal..."

---

[0 Likes for Liam Watson's small screen, two bookmarks, 166 dislikes. No one has powered up Liam Watson's small screen.]

[1447 viewers are watching Liam Watson's small screen; half have disliked it. Liam Watson has earned the 'Misleading Name' title. Everyone hopes you die soon.]

[The promotion slot on Liam Watson's central screen has expired.]

[The rapid increase in dislikes has moved Liam Watson to the 'Death Comedy' section. Use your absurd death and gameplay skills to entertain the crowd!]

Shawn watched the screen flicker as Liam's small screen darkened.

Pushing up his glasses, Shawn glanced at the uncollected information about the god-level wandering NPCs, hesitated momentarily, and stood up. He walked toward the Death Comedy section amidst the whispers of disappointment and mockery directed at the newbie.

---

In the Game:

Nightfall came.

The driver steered the van down the darkened street, the streetlights flickering to life. Dragging fishing nets and carrying curved knives, fishermen walked with a blank, near-dazed gaze, watching the van pass by.

These were the fishermen preparing for tonight's mermaid catch.

Under the dim streetlights, their faces were marked with marbled, dark-blue streaks that crisscrossed their skin. Some had slime dripping from their bodies. These townsfolk looked even more terrifying in the night, their eyes glowing with a sinister green hue.

The driver warned again, "These townspeople are dangerous. They haven't earned anything in a long time. Just watch the mermaid catch from the designated boats and don't interact with them. You look like outsiders, so be careful of getting robbed."

The driver chewed loudly on his sandwich, taking big bites.

He was eating a sandwich for dinner, bits of fish fillet spilling from his mouth. Liam could smell the foul, rotten fish stench, which made him want to puke. But the others in the van didn't seem to mind the smell. Andrew was staring at the driver's sandwich, drooling, nervously scratching the back of his ear.

Lucy couldn't hold back and said, "That sandwich smells so good."

In a fit of frustration, Andrew snapped, "What are we eating for dinner? I'm starving!" He shot a nasty look at Liam.

Earlier that evening, they had eaten at the Wax Museum. Liam had ordered the cheapest vegetarian banquet, rejecting all fish. Not only had Andrew thrown a tantrum, but even Lucy had been surprised. But since Liam paid, he called the shots. If he didn't want fish, they all had to go along.

Andrew had cursed, "If you can't afford it, don't come to play a grown-up's game. Go back to your mommy's vegetarian milk!"

Liam had merely smiled and replied, "If you want meat, Andrew, just order it yourself."

He'd removed Andrew's vegetarian set and ordered the most expensive one. But all the sets at the Wax Museum were ridiculously overpriced, and Andrew couldn't afford it. However, Liam had said no, and that was that.

Andrew hadn't dared to make trouble for Liam, especially since Liam was paying for their hotel that night. He certainly didn't want to end up on the streets of this eerie town.

But Gerald didn't care. He had his vegetarian set taken by Andrew and had been punched a few times. He sat in a corner, clutching his stomach in silence.

Now, smelling the sandwich, Gerald's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he stared at Andrew with longing eyes, his gaze burning red with desire.

[Gerald's Bloody Conspiracy — Side Quest Progress: 30%]

Liam noticed Gerald's odd behavior and glanced at him.