Godmode: My Infinite Game Odyssey

No wonder the side quest "Ship of True Love" rewards 100 points; its danger level is far higher than the other tasks.

Andrew couldn't control his hunger anymore and grabbed the sandwich from the driver's hands. "Let me have a bite!"

The driver's sandwich was soon devoured by Andrew, who ate it ravenously, chewing so roughly that he pounded his chest and gulped it down.

The driver didn't try to take it back but looked at Andrew with a pitying expression, as though he were feeding an animal: "Go ahead, my child, eat. You must be starving, haven't eaten much, huh? Enjoy your dinner."

Liam Watson glanced over and said, "This is his second dinner tonight." The first meal was the one Andrew had stolen from Gerald.

Gerald, who had his dinner stolen, flinched at the remark, his face covered by his hands. A pattern resembling fish gills appeared on his skin. Due to anger, Gerald's gills seemed to flare up momentarily, and his teeth turned sharp and shark-like.

But this eerie scene lasted only a moment. When Liam looked again, Gerald lowered his head as if nothing had happened, his hands still covering his face. However, his eyes lingered suspiciously on Liam's face in the rearview mirror.

[Gerald's Bloody Scheme - Side Quest Progress: 50%]

Liam frowned imperceptibly—why had the progress just jumped and then increased again?

Gerald had probably made initial progress when targeting Andrew, but why had it increased again just now?

When they reached the port, Liam recalled the driver's low trust in him. Since the driver was likely involved in [Gerald's Bloody Scheme], Liam decided to increase his trust to ensure his involvement in the quest.

As Liam stepped out of the car, he handed the driver a tip, thanking him. The driver's eyes darkened as he looked at the unoffered money in Liam's bag before curling his lips into a sinister grin, kissing Liam's tip, and waving: "Have a good time."

[Gerald's Bloody Scheme - Side Quest Progress: 80%]

Liam thought the town's residents had a "robber" mentality—eyes lighting up whenever they saw money.

Liam didn't notice the greedy look in the driver's eyes as he openly let the driver see his money. He smiled as usual: "We will."

The place to watch the mermaid fishing activity was on a massive ship.

The ship slowly departed from the port at night, the deck filled with silent sailors while small boats docked below, occupied by fishermen who looked like fish.

They boarded the ship just after it was completely dark, and the fishermen on the smaller boats kept staring up at them with unblinking eyes.

There was a clear difference between the sailors on the deck and the fishermen below. The most important one was that the sailors looked human, not fish. They lacked the bizarre patterns on their faces, and they didn't smell fishy—just a bit pale, reminiscent of the hotel receptionist who claimed to have albinism.

Liam observed carefully and noticed that there weren't many people on the ship. He didn't understand why they needed such a large vessel for the mermaid catch. It seemed like a waste.

Also, the ship seemed odd; Liam had noticed when boarding that it was sitting much deeper in the water, indicating it was carrying something unusually heavy.

The sailors moved about the ship with blank expressions, seemingly ignoring Liam and his group. Occasionally, Liam caught a few sailors in dark corners, staring at them with strange eyes, whispering to each other, then smiling in an unsettling manner.

The ship set sail.

The sea was calm under the night sky, and the searchlight at the ship's bow only illuminated a small patch of the ocean. The rest was swallowed by an abyss of darkness, with the occasional sound of water splashing against the ship's sides. The sailors moved efficiently, distributing tasks, while the fishermen laid out their nets.

The ship sailed further into the uncharted night.

Lucy, draped in a cloak, stood beside Liam, her lips painted with lipstick but now darkened and purple from the cold. She hugged him tightly for warmth: "Why is it so cold, Liam? I asked them, and they said the mermaids can only be caught by taking the ship to the waters where the first mermaid was caught. They call that place 'The Siren's Gift,' and there's a legend behind it."

Liam tilted his head: "The Siren's Gift?"

"Yes." Lucy pulled her cloak tighter, shivering: "Oh, it's so cold. I feel like we're heading into a hell full of ghosts. Only there would the wind be this cold."

Liam didn't feel the cold. He suddenly remembered something and scanned Lucy with a coin.

[NPC Name: Lucy (Mutating)]

Liam reached out and touched Lucy's hand. Her skin was ice-cold and slippery, like wax that had just solidified.

Lucy smiled at Liam. She probably meant to raise her eyebrows, but her facial muscles were stiff, like something made of clay, making her expression look strange, like a figure in a Picasso abstract painting.

Her voice had become hoarse, tinged with an unnatural eagerness: "Your hand is so warm. Can I kiss you?"

Liam gently declined: "No." He explained differently: "There are too many people here."

Lucy wasn't cold from the wind; her body temperature was dropping.

Gerald, who had appeared beside Liam at some point, stared intently at the sea ahead, murmuring softly: "Yes, The Siren's Gift. They say the waters here are a gift from the Siren King, capable of resurrecting the dead."

"When a person accidentally falls into the water and drowns, the Siren King grants them the power to be reborn as a mermaid, so the fishermen can catch mermaids here."

Liam thought the Siren King had already been fished and placed in the wax museum. So why were mermaids still being continuously produced in these waters?

Moreover, ever since the Siren King was captured, mermaids have been appearing in these waters non-stop...

The ghosts of the dead turning into mermaids and returning to the human world didn't sound like a "gift from the gods"; it sounded more like a cursed, twisted cult myth.

Liam filled in the logical conclusion: those who died were turned into mermaid wax figures and displayed in the museum. In contrast, some were turned into food and consumed by the town's residents. Eventually, these mermaid wax figures began to behave strangely, causing tourists to disappear one after another...

This didn't sound like a gift; it sounded more like revenge from the mermaids.

A sailor suddenly came over and said: "We're about to reach The Siren's Gift waters. Please stay on the ship and don't wander around, or we won't be responsible for what happens."

After saying this, the sailor walked off. Liam noticed that all the sailors were heading to the lower decks, and suddenly, the deck was empty.

Liam squinted and wandered around the ship, casually trailing one of the sailors.

The sailors were heading toward the lowest deck, the cargo hold. Each sailor, emotionless, walked one after another down the wooden ladder, then came back up, murmuring: 

"It's fine..." 

"...Make sure these are secure." 

"A few were damaged before, but it's fine. After these four are eaten, we'll have new ones to put in."

It seemed the sailors were checking something important. Once they finished, they emerged from the hold one by one.

Liam hid in a corner, narrowed his eyes, and thought: "So they've got something really heavy down there. Something crucial..."

Liam vaguely knew what it might be, but he still didn't understand why the sailors needed to carry this thing with them for the mermaid hunt.

After all the sailors had left, the last one seemed to forget to lock the cargo hold, leaving the door ajar.

The lock hung loosely on the door, swaying with the waves, almost as if it were inviting Liam to explore: "Come on, explore me~ Come on, explore me~ "

Liam opened the door and went down. A long, narrow wooden staircase creaked under his feet as he descended toward the dimly lit cargo hold, with no lights on either side. The structure resembled a cellar. He didn't go all the way down but instead turned on his flashlight to check if his suspicions were correct.

Liam's breath hitched when the flashlight illuminated the space below, even though he had already expected it.

The hold was filled with various mermaid wax figures. The wax figures were packed tightly in every corner, leaving no space to stand. As far as Liam could see, the entire place was filled with pale, white wax figures.

And these mermaid wax figures all seemed to be stretching their heads back, staring directly at Liam with their white eyes. Liam noticed far more figures around the stairs he was standing on.

It was as if the mermaid figures had crowded around him, attracted by the scent of fish. Two of them had even climbed up to the steps he was on. When the light from the flashlight shone on them, they quickly retreated.

But the light could only illuminate one area at a time. In the dark, unlit parts of the hold, there were constant scratching noises, like the sound of something moving against the floor. More and more mermaid wax figures gathered around the stairs, watching Liam as if waiting for fish bait.

Liam didn't retreat. He stared at the faces of the wax figures for a moment, then suddenly put down his flashlight and walked down the stairs, reaching out to touch one of the figures.

Watching the small TV, Shawn exclaimed: "!!!!"