LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 28: Siren Town
Bonus ko-fi chapter
The moment the notification was heard, Bai Liu’s mouth curled up in a smile. At the same time, his various panel attributes that had been red started to soar.
[Player Name: Bai Liu (Rage attribute bonus panel)]
[Physical strength: 7 → 151]
[Agility: 3 → 149]
[Attack power: 6 → 167]
[Resistance: 2 → 166]
[Comprehensive defense and attack power has increased. The total of the panel attribute points has exceeded 500 and the player is rated as a C level player. The player Bai Liu’s level has increased. It rose from F (?) to C level and you can resist the attack of the merfolk.]
Wang Shun was stunned for a moment before reacting. “Yes, if the mental value level is lower than 20, the player will be judged to be in a crazy state because their mental value is too low. The rage state will turn on and this can increase the panel attributes. After 20, the lower the mental value, the higher the panel attributes. It will rise to the limit of the player’s potential!”
Wang Shun thought quickly. “This is a good thing for Bai Liu! At least he can fight back against the merfolk!”
“Not necessarily.” Mu Sicheng wasn’t so optimistic. His expression had become more solemn. “The player’s panel attributes will indeed rise and the strengthening of attack power is a good thing.”
“However, most players have lost their minds at this stage. The lower the player’s mental value, the more they will look like the monster in the game. It has no meaning even if the panel attributes are high. Players will only attack like monsters. As the player goes mad, their mental value will accelerate then decrease until it reaches zero.”
On the small TV, Bai Liu’s eyes slowly opened. Sharp nails grew on his hands and his lower limbs swayed softly like a fish tail. There were no blacks in his eyes. Just gray-black cracks that spread and the uncomfortable whites of the eyes. There were also fangs at the corners of his mouth.
He attacked a merfolk with the back of his hand. The merfolk was cut in two by his nails. It opened its mouth and the gills shook with pain before it slowly sank to the bottom of the sea. Bai Liu just stared at it in an expressionless manner. If it wasn’t for the Siren King being held by his right hand, he would be just like any other merfolk monster.
[System warning: Player Bai Liu’s mental value has continued to decrease. The current mental value is 15 and the rage state has intensified.]
[Player Name: Bai Liu (Rage attribute bonus panel)]
[Physical strength: 151 → 351]
[Agility: 149 → 249]
[Attack power: 167 → 667]
[Resistance: 166 → 966]
[Comprehensive defense and attack power has increased. The total of the panel attribute points has exceeded 2000 and the player is rated as a B level player. The player Bai Liu’s level has increased. It rose from C to B level.]
Wang Shun stared. “Bai Liu’s panel attributes have risen too fast! He has reached the B level so soon. This potential is too amazing!”
Then Wang Shun soon became worried again. “However, Bai Liu’s mental value has dropped again. If he can’t stay awake and his mental value drops below 10 then he will be completely finished—”
Before Wang Shun’s words, finished, the system on Bai Liu’s small TV gave a sharp alarm.
[Strong system warning: Player Bai Liu’s mental value has continued to decline. The current mental value is 9 and the rage state has intensified.]
[System warning: There are only 3 minutes before the Siren King wakes up. Please clear the game quickly!]
“Only three minutes! His mental value is only 9 points!” Wang Shun had followed Bai Liu’s ups and downs the entire way but he had never experienced such an exciting situation.
He was now looking at Bai Liu, who had no emotions on his face, and the Siren King whose eyes were slowly opening. Wang Shun was nervous as he watched Bai Liu play the game. He pinched the web of his hand and barely maintained his calm as he cried out, “Bai Liu, hold on!”
The instance clearance might be a fantasy at this point but Wang Shun had followed Bai Liu all this way. He didn’t want to see a potential player like Bai Liu just die. He stared at Bai Liu’s small TV without shifting his gaze.
Mu Sicheng’s right hand was also strongly gripping the elbow of his left arm. His jaw was tight and his tone was a bit slow and dignified. “In three minutes, he can send the Siren King directly to the bottom of the sea and pass the instance. I just don’t know if Bai Liu has maintained a bit of sanity under the control of the hallucinations and rage state. Does he know he is a player, not a…” monster in the game.
Other viewers were also collapsing at Bai Liu stopping at this critical juncture. They screamed and couldn’t believe that Bai Liu couldn’t pass. They watched Bai Liu’s small TV, liking it and charging it, using all types of methods to awaken Bai Liu’s consciousness. Only the audience mocking Bai Liu in the small corner laughed a few times as if they had anticipated this situation.
On the small TV, the system was still giving a warning.
[System warning: Player Bai Liu’s mental value has continued to decrease. The current mental value is 8 and the rage state has intensified.]
[Player Name: Bai Liu (Rage attribute bonus panel)]
[Physical strength: 351 → 655]
[Agility: 249 → 733]
[Attack power: 667 → 1555]
[Resistance: 966 → 1776]
[Comprehensive defense and attack power has increased. The total of the panel attribute points has exceeded 4000 and the player is rated as an A level player. The player Bai Liu’s level has increased. It rose from B to A level.]
Bai Liu’s face was gradually covered with fish scales and his eyes emitted a dark green light in the sea. Every scale exuded danger as Bai Liu dragged the Siren King, slowly sinking. The Siren King changed from the state of being dragged and floating without support to using his fish tail to maintain his balance in the water.
The moment the Siren King’s fins spread out in the water, all the merfolk surrounding Bai Liu screamed and fled. The flawless face of the Siren King was reflected on the small TV and everyone held their breath at this beauty and the danger behind the beauty.
Bai Liu’s face was full of armor-like scales, dark and hard. Scales were also constantly growing on his hands.
The Siren King’s face was pure and clean, his fingers long and clear. They held hands in the sea where dirt and corpses floated, shaking their tails while sinking. However, they looked somewhat strange and carefree, like two mermen playing on the seabed.
Yet the harmony of this scene would be destroyed in a bloody manner as long as the Siren King opened his eyes. It was because as soon as the Siren King woke up, Bai Liu would undoubtedly die.
“Bai Liu has been promoted to an A level player.” Wang Shun felt complicated and nervous. “I didn’t misunderstand him. He really has potential. There is a lot of room for him to rise. If he enters the rage state then he can really do many things.”
Mu Sicheng, who was currently an A level player, heard these words and seemed to remember something. His eyes narrowed. “Wait—Bai Liu knows that he can enter the rage state by lowering his mental value. The moment he entered the game, the system would’ve warned him that he would enter the rage state if his mental value fell below 20.”
Mu Sicheng stared at Bai Liu slowly sinking on the small TV and spoke in a certain tone. “Bai Liu deliberately took advantage of this. He let the monsters attack him so his mental value would drop and he would enter the rage state. In this way, his panel attributes will improve!”
Wang Shun couldn’t understand it. “Why would he do this? Bai Liu can completely pass the level without strengthening the rage state.”
“Yes, not only that. Bai Liu didn’t have to care about the merfolk monsters. He could just hide in the water bubble, send the Siren King to the bottom of the sea and easily pass the level.” Mu Sicheng seemed to figure it out and continued with a bit of disbelief and a sudden realization. “…The reason Bai Liu wants to kill all the monsters is because they might hinder his plan.”
“What plan?” Wang Shun became even more confused as he listened. “He currently only has a mental value of 7. What plan can he have?”
“Bai Liu deliberately let his mental value fall to this number.” Mu Sicheng took a deep breath and raised his eyes to look at Bai Liu on the small TV.
“Do you remember when I said that Bai Liu chose the true ending in order to collect the monster book? Bai Liu has almost finished the Siren Town Monster Book. Only one piece is missing—the attack method on the Siren King page. If Bai Liu wants to gather this piece, he must let the Siren King wake up and attack him. However, in normal circumstances, Bai Liu can’t bear the attack of the Siren King. So—”
“Bai Liu let the fish monsters attack him to lower his mental value, forcing himself into the rage state to improve the panel attributes so he can take an attack from the Siren King?” Wang Shun finished Mu Sicheng’s words but he was dumbfounded after he finished speaking.
Wang Shun was too shocked and stammered helplessly at Mu Sicheng. “B-But this is a god-level NPC! To take an attack from a god-level NPC requires at least an S level player attribute panel like Spades!”
“Yes.” Mu Sicheng stared at Wang Shun. “You forgot the most important point. Bai Liu doesn’t know he is facing a god-level NPC. He regards this as a normal game.”
“He guessed everything but missed a small thing. He doesn’t know that he is facing a bug.” Mu Sicheng opened a lollipop and placed it in his mouth. “This madman thinks there will be a perfect way to clear the game.”
“Bai Liu is obviously a player who can make the best solution. He solved the merfolk sailors, statues and merfolk in order to avoid these monsters causing trouble when he finally takes the attack of the Siren King. He wants to save his spare energy to deal with the Siren King.”
“It can be said that this guy has done everything to the extreme. It has the least risk, the smallest points cost and the highest rewards. Bai Liu never questioned that he chose the best solution from beginning to end. The execution is almost perfect. It is clear that his attributes panel is only F level, which is too—”
Mu Sicheng was quiet for a few seconds as he recalled Bai Liu during the entire game. Then he used one word to describe Bai Liu. “Terrible.”
“Is it possible for Bai Liu to clear the instance?” Wang Shun listened to Mu Sicheng’s analysis and his heart was about to jump out of his throat. “God Mu, I don’t understand what you mean. Is Bai Liu likely to clear the instance or not?”
“I don’t know.” Mu Sicheng bit the lollipop and chewed on it absent-mindedly.
The red light in his eyes flickered and he stared at Bai Liu’s small TV as if he had found something extremely strange. “Bai Liu has two endings. First, he fails and dies.”
“The second… he successfully clears it.”
“This means that Bai Liu will break my single player points record and will become the first player to collect a god-level NPC monster page. As you said, to resist the attack of the god-level NPC, you need an S level attributes panel. At present, only Spades who is first on the overall leaderboard has an S level attributes panel.”
Mu Sicheng’s expression was somewhat unclear. “If Bai Liu achieves it then it means his potential in the rage state can reach S level. Then he will become the second player in this game who is likely to become S level.”
Wang Shun stared at Bai Liu on the small TV and repeated Mu Sicheng’s words. “The second S level player?”
Bai Liu and the Siren King were slowly sinking in the water while holding hands. In front of Bai Liu were various overlapping illusions. These illusions looked like various colors because they were too densely overlapped. They spread out in front of him and even his senses started to be consistent with the things in the illusion. Bai Liu’s brain seemed to be manipulated by something strange and the sensory experience corresponding to the various illusions appeared.
Even so, Bai Liu didn’t know why but he could determine what was an illusion and what was reality. Bai Liu saw in the illusion that he was being bitten and scratched by a group of merfolk. Bai Liu did indeed experience this pain. All his senses were completely deceived. If he was an ordinary person then he might suspect that he was being killed by the merfolk.
However, Bai Liu calmly remembered that all the merfolk were trapped in the water bubble. He couldn’t rule out that some of them came out to bite him but Bai Liu chose to believe in himself at this time. After all, Bai Liu felt that the reliability of his plan was more credible than the illusion.
Bai Liu relied on this self-confidence that came from nowhere and remained motionless in the midst of the thousands of maddening hallucinations. He maintained an eerie calmness as he used his heartbeat to calculate the remaining time to the Siren King’s awakening. Bai Liu slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.
[System warning: There is only 1 minute remaining before the Siren King wakes up. The countdown has started. Please clear the game quickly! 59… 58… 57…]
Wang Shun couldn’t breathe and he felt more nervous than Bai Liu. “There is only one minute.”
“He is almost at the bottom of the sea.” Mu Sicheng also watched Bai Liu’s small TV intently.
The audience couldn’t speak at all. They raised their heads and held their breaths, their eyeballs almost sticking to the screen. Even the group of viewers who had been ridiculing Bai Liu were staring at his small TV.
Bai Liu clearing this instance or not depended on this one minute.
The Siren King finally slowly opened his eyes. At the same time, Bai Liu seemed to know that the Siren King would wake up at this moment and he released the Siren King’s hand.
The Siren King floated quietly in the water. He stared at Bai Liu, his eyes a pure white like fresh snow, a white that was as abnormal as marble. His light colored eyelashes covered his silver pupils and his long hair floated around the Siren King’s expressionless face.
His breathtaking face combined with this pair of white eyes was like a fairy from legends or some rumored beautiful creature. He shone uncontrollably at the bottom of the sea. The audience saw this face filled with divinity and were dazzled and bewitched. They couldn’t bear to attack him.
[System warning: The Siren King has awakened! Please stay away from the small TV screen! There is a risk of being contaminated by the spirit of the god-level NPC if you get too close to the screen!]
The audience in Bai Liu’s viewing area moved toward the small TV like they were fascinated. Mu Sicheng keenly noticed that some of them started to experience a rapid drop in mental value.
Next to him, Wang Shun was also caught. He stared at the Siren King’s eyes in a daze. “He is so beautiful. Don’t hurt him.” As Wang Shun said this, his eyes showed the same silvery-white color as the Siren King on the screen.
Mu Sicheng took out a mint-flavored lollipop which was a long-lasting slow release item to maintain his mental value. He stared at the Siren King on the screen and raised his eyebrow. “Wow, this is a god-level NPC. The mental pollution effect can penetrate through the small TV screen.”
Most of the monsters in the game polluted through contact but the god-level NPC was worthy of being the god-level NPC. The pollution method was ‘radiation’ and these players couldn’t hide behind a screen.
[System warning: A large number of viewers have been contaminated and their mental values decreased in the viewing area of player Bai Liu’s small TV. The protection mechanism is activated and all mental values cleansed.]
[The source of the pollution, the Siren King, has been detected. Image blurring has been done and players can rest assured to continue watching.]
A burst of white fog occurred in Bai Liu’s viewing area. Wang Shun, who was walking in the direction of the small TV in a daze, suddenly woke up. He coughed twice and his pupils returned to black. On the small TV, the Siren King’s face was covered with a mosaic by the system. Wang Shun stared at the fuzzy image of the Siren King with lingering fear and couldn’t help moving his eyes to Bai Liu’s body.
The viewers were affected so strongly across the screen. Bai Liu, who dragged the Siren King all the way until the Siren King was about to wake up, had his mental value affected and it started to decline. What type of monster was Bai Liu…
Proofreader: Purichan