Godmode: The Dead Game Odyssey

Chapter 4: The Haunting of the Mermaid Statues

Chapter 4: The Haunting of the Mermaid Statues

The system had given Liam his first task, but his attention was not on it. He focused instead on the words "Avoid being hatched."

...Hatched?

Could those wax statues hatch something?

Liam quietly noted the thought, then turned around to see the largest mermaid wax statue he had yet encountered standing opposite his bed.

This was the biggest mermaid statue in the room.

It was breathtakingly beautiful, holding a large, clean mirror nearly as tall as itself. The mirror frame was embedded in wax, and the statue's graceful hands supported the mirror like a stand. 

This was the only statue in the room that didn't seem to be staring directly at Liam.

The mermaid wax statue smiled softly, gazing into the mirror. Liam's reflection stared back at him from the glass, and the statue's hands encircled the mirror as if holding him in an embrace. This made Liam feel slightly uneasy.

The mermaid’s expression was cheerful welcome, as if glad to see the person's reflection in the mirror.

Liam looked into the mirror, where his reflection seemed to smile back at him—a stiff and unnatural smile, much like a wax figure's. In the blink of an eye, it returned to its normal reflection as if it had all been an illusion.

Liam remained unfazed. He swiftly covered the mirror with a white cloth.

Such terrifying imagery didn't affect him. In his previous life, he worked on horror games, often staying up until 2 or 3 AM crafting eerie scenes like this. The typical horror trope of a smiling reflection in a mirror no longer fazed him; it had become mundane.

Liam's thoughts drifted to the strange disappearances of tourists in the hotel, those who vanished without a trace and were never found again. It seemed likely that these mermaid wax statues were responsible for their "hatching."

Though Liam didn't fully understand what hatching meant yet, he was certain it wasn't anything good.

Being cautious, Liam covered all the mermaid wax statues in the room with white sheets from the hotel bed, including the large mirror. He hoped it would block out the eerie, ever-present gaze of the statues. It might not do much, but it was better than nothing.

The most important reason, however, was that he simply couldn't sleep with so many eyes on him.

As he covered the mirror, he brushed his hand along the tail of the mermaid statue. The texture was not the smooth, glossy feel of wax; instead, it was slippery and clammy, like the skin of a fish. 

Liam even felt the wax tail's scales subtly shift.

He paused for a moment, then sniffed his fingers. To his surprise, a strong fishy odor lingered, even though he hadn't detected it when he was near the wax statue itself—only the scent of the room's incense. It could have been something from the car ride earlier, or... perhaps it was something he had picked up.

He frowned. It was more likely that he was somehow emanating this fishy scent, and that feeling didn't sit well with him.

What could these mermaid statues possibly hatch? 

Probably some grotesque fish-like creatures, he thought.

The word "hatch" reminded him of a film called The Mermaid in the Sewer, which he had watched several times for research. Ever since, his fantasies about mermaids had been completely shattered. 

Liam was exhausted from the long ride and the stress. He quickly cleaned himself and collapsed into bed, needing sleep to restore his stamina, which was now at zero.

In the dead of night, he was awoken by a strange, dragging sound.

He opened his eyes to find that some of the white sheets he had used to cover the mermaid statues had fallen off at night, leaving them only partially covered. 

Some statues now revealed only one eye, and their expressions had shifted slightly. What had once been serene pity now seemed more resentful and malicious. They stared at Liam motionlessly as if accusing him of covering them up.

Liam noticed that the statues had moved closer to his bed. They now surrounded him like a group gathering at a dinner table, slowly edging toward him.

Especially the large mirror-holding mermaid statue. As Liam groggily awoke, he realized his feet almost touched the mirror. It had moved to the edge of the bed.

Liam pulled his feet back and sat up, only to see his reflection in the mirror. 

Liam's reflection in the mirror was unnervingly pale. His eyes were completely white and had no pupils. The surrounding area of his eyes looked like marble, with spiderweb-like patterns etched into them. 

His reflection smiled at him with a stiff, eerie grin, but as Liam blinked, the reflection returned to normal. It seemed like it had all been a trick of his tired mind.

Liam remained calm. He stood up and, without hesitation, covered all the statues with white sheets, tying them tightly with some rope. 

To prevent movement, he wrapped the smaller statues in sheets and stuffed them into the wardrobe, locking it. The larger statues were shoved into the bathroom and locked away.

Liam felt these statues could only move when they could see him. As long as they couldn't see him while he was asleep, they couldn't move.

Once the statues were secured, Liam was about to return to bed when he heard a creak—a door opening and footsteps sneaking down the hallway.

Liam froze. He had booked four rooms, all adjacent to each other. To the left was Gerald's room. The creaking sound came from the left—Gerald's room.

Liam quickly got up and pressed his ear to the door. He peeked through the peephole and saw Gerald standing in the hallway. He glanced around, then crept down the stairs.

Liam furrowed his brow. What could Gerald possibly be doing at this hour?

Before Liam could act, he saw the door to Gerald's room slowly turning again. Someone else was about to leave.

Liam's heart skipped a beat. Gerald's room was supposed to be empty. There was no way Lucy would be there at this hour, and Andrew certainly wouldn't go near Gerald. So, who was leaving Gerald's room?

Liam's mind raced. Then, as the door creaked open, he realized: 

It wasn't a person leaving Gerald's room.

A towering mermaid wax statue emerged from the room, its face expressionless and lifeless. Its eyes were completely white, and its fish tail dragged behind it as it moved slowly across the empty hotel corridor.

The sound of its tail dragging against the carpet sent a shiver down Liam's spine.

It was moving by itself—and it could open doors.

The mermaid wax statue stopped near the stairs, then suddenly twisted its head one hundred and eighty degrees as if it sensed something. The wax on its face began to melt, exposing a strange, fleshy glow.

It turned and began to walk straight toward Liam's room.

Liam backed away, pressing himself against the door, holding his breath, wondering what the statue intended to do.

Through the peephole, he saw the white eyes of the mermaid statue, constantly rotating and searching for him inside the room.

It was staring through the peephole, looking for the person inside.

Liam knew it was searching for him. The eerie whiteness of the statue's eyes kept turning in the peephole, sending a cold chill through him.

As the mermaid wax statue approached, Liam grabbed the white sheets from the floor and prepared to use them to cover himself. He needed to hide.

This terrifying scene was broadcast on the small TV screens, watched by the other players in the game.

"Holy crap, this is terrifying! My mental value would definitely drop if I were playing this game…" one Player commented, barely able to control their fear.

Liam was the only one still active on the screen. The rest of the screens in the Newbie Zone flickered and went dark. The other players had already failed the game.

[Player Yi Zhong's mental value dropped to 0, transformed by the Mermaid Wax Statue—Game Over.]

[Player Liu Xiaohong's mental value dropped to 0—Game Over.]

[Player Zou Mingri—Game Over.]

The small TV screens flickered off one by one, and the audience sighed in resignation.

"Yeah, I knew it would be hard to clear this game. Eclipse Port is just too difficult..."

Only Liam remained, staring calmly at the door.

He knew the real test was only just beginning.