Godmode: My Infinite Game Odyssey

The museum keeper had warned Liam that the warm water room he was heading to was somewhat isolated, with several broken light bulbs, so he should be careful. With a sinister smile, he added that many mermaid wax figures were stacked carelessly in that area, so Liam should avoid bumping into them.

Liam navigated through the tall marble columns in the museum. The columns were so wide that it would take two or three people to wrap their arms around them. They stood in the middle of the corridor, with a mermaid wax figure placed at intervals along each side.

The figures were all different, with fishtails dragging on the ground, and their faces were expressionless. Liam noticed that almost all of them were staring out the windows as though they wanted to escape from this place.

At the end of the long corridor was the warm water pool, which seemed to have been turned on by someone. Hot water was gushing out, and steam filled the entire corridor. The mermaid wax figures, under the heat, seemed to be melting slightly, dripping wax from their bodies and making subtle movements.

Walking through the corridor felt like a foggy ocean, surrounded by mermaids swaying beneath the water.

After a few steps, Liam noticed that the mermaid wax figures' heads, which had been facing the windows, slowly started to turn toward him. Their expressionless faces began to look at him directly.

And the wax figures on both sides were closing in on him, moving at a barely perceptible speed. The area around them was melting more and more.

The dim, high-ceilinged European-style building seemed to close in on him as his footsteps echoed softly across the smooth floor. With every blink of his eye, the mermaid wax figures seemed to change positions and expressions, getting closer and closer.

The wax figures, once blank and lifeless, now displayed faint smiles. Their fish tails left greasy wax marks on the floor as they dragged behind them.

They were so pale, so flawless, like a group of ghosts frozen in place, only able to move slowly.

Liam silently counted the wax figures around him, occasionally glancing behind to monitor their movements. But there were so many figures, and every time he focused on the ones behind him, the figure right in front of him would have already stretched out its hands, almost ready to grab him by the neck.

He had timed the movement of these creatures. He carefully adjusted his pace, moving and turning at the right moments, using the columns to navigate around them, trying to avoid them forming a circle around him.

These creatures felt incredibly threatening, but the problem was that they couldn't be destroyed, and their numbers were overwhelming. Once they surrounded him, it would be nearly impossible to escape.

The closer the wax figures got, the more they seemed to shift from a lifeless state to something more alive. The faces of the mermaid wax figures, which had once all seemed similar to Liam, started to change. The factory-made, generic European wax faces began to morph, and the closer they came to him, the more their melted faces started resembling… his own.

The mermaid wax figures now bore a twisted smile that mirrored his own. They approached, claws outstretched, ready to grab him.

Liam finally reached the warm water pool the keeper had mentioned. The yellowed, old sink had rusty spots on the faucet, which looked more like blood or rust stains.

Above the sink, a rectangular iron boiler bubbled as it boiled water, creating a hissing sound.

Amid rushing water, Liam calmly placed the newspaper from his pocket into the sink before turning around.

Behind him, a swarm of mermaid wax figures, each resembling him somehow, stood in several rows, blocking his path. They were packed tightly, surrounding him and making it impossible for him to leave.

Their heads were lowered, and the dim light in the museum cast a shadow over their sightless eyes. They wore strange, unnerving smiles that stretched from the corners of their mouths to their chins.

The smile was full of malice, and their melted, distorted faces exuded a chilling sense of threat.

The mermaid wax figures gazed hungrily at Liam, who stood before the sink. It felt like dozens of versions of himself surrounded him.

They were hunting him.

Liam thought to himself, just moments ago, he had dismissed these creatures as not having the intelligence to surround him, but now, they had somehow figured it out on their own. Their ability to learn was astonishing—just like humans.

Liam calmly faced the figures, and the hot water in the sink overflowed, but he didn't look back. He couldn't—if he did, these creatures would surely charge at him immediately. He couldn't afford to blink either.

Reaching behind him, he turned off the faucet.

He blinked. The mermaid wax figures moved a little closer, their faces growing grotesque, but Liam pretended not to notice. Instead, he studied their faces thoughtfully, rubbing his chin and murmuring.

"Is this what hatching means? The closer they get to me, the more they look like me... So, the things that hatch will probably end up looking like me... The fishy smell on me became stronger when these wax figures got closer, so I was affected during the hatching, too. Those townspeople... are they also in the hatching process?"

Though Liam remained calm, the players watching him on their small screens were far from as composed, and they began mocking him.

"Still analyzing at a time like this? What's he gonna do with all those useless projectors? Is he planning on showing a movie to the mermaid wax figures?"

"Tch, a mental strength of 100. I thought he was supposed to be something special."

Another gasp sounded from nearby. "That newbie with the torch broke through! Come look!"

A male player wielded a blazing torch on the small TV screen in the next slot, furiously swinging it at the encircling mermaid wax figures. "Get back! If you don't want to burn, get away!" he yelled as he swung it, causing the wax figures to slowly retreat. The audience erupted into cheers:

"I told you this player was great, picked the right tool. One of the weaknesses of the mermaid wax figures is that they're afraid of light. The torch is the best tool. Charge complete!"

"Liked it. His panel shows decent combat stats; he could even reach the rising star rankings later."

"Ugh, I should've charged up that guy next door, the 'White Something.' Wasting my points. This one's the real seed player…"

Liam's likes on his small TV screen had dropped to single digits, and only a few viewers remained, but they weren't there to cheer him on—they were there to watch his inevitable death.

On the screen, Liam nonchalantly pulled out the three 3D projectors he'd bought at a discount. The remaining viewers couldn't help but laugh.

"He brought them out? What's he going to do?"

"Still, that torch from next door looks way more useful. It cleared them out in no time."

The mermaid wax figures silently inched closer, their fishtails brushing against Liam's toes as they towered over him, trapping him in a dark corner. Dozens of melted wax hands reached out from all sides, trying to capture him as their prey.

Liam remained unfazed as he tossed one 3D projector behind, to the left, and the right. With a smile, he pressed the switch.

A lifelike projection of Liam himself appeared from the three projectors, smiling just like him. Now, four Liams stood at each corner, creating a standoff. The advancing mermaid wax figures hesitated for a moment and then stopped.

But the audience remained mocking:

"Mermaid wax figures may not be very smart, but they can't tell real from fake projections. They'll be fooled for a while, but it won't last. At most, ten minutes, and that's not enough to get out of here."

The player who had just helped the torch-wielding player scoffed, "And the flashlight he bought? It's just a flashlight; it doesn't have the same power to scare away the mermaid wax figures as a torch. It won't work."

As soon as he finished speaking, the mermaid wax figures on the screen retreated slightly, still staring at the projections.

The player who had criticized Liam earlier remained unhurried: "It'll only last ten minutes. Wait for it. These wax figures will figure out the projections are fake soon."

Sure enough, not long after, the wax figures seemed to realize the projections were fake, and they started moving around the flashlight's light, preparing to charge forward.

The critic's smirk faded as he watched the small TV screen, his voice falling silent as he realized something unexpected had happened. 

Liam, standing before the projections, smiled.

"One flashlight wasn't enough, but four should do the trick."