Chapter 34: Need to Kiss the Mermaid?
"You can all go to hell!"
Seeing the mermaid wobble back to its feet, Liu Cangzhen let out one last, furious roar. He smashed a resentful fist into the wooden door with all his might, then spun around and began hopping desperately toward the other end of the hallway on his single remaining leg.
'Survive… I have to survive… and then I'll kill you all, every last one of you…'
Liu Cangzhen poured every ounce of his focus into the frantic rhythm of his one-legged escape, his mouth a constant stream of curses aimed at Haruto and the others. It was a desperate mantra, a shield of rage meant to hold the terror at bay—the terror of the thing chasing him from behind.
The distance seemed to be widening.
Even those hair-raising, wet footsteps were becoming less distinct.
A flicker of hope, the giddy joy of a survivor, began to bloom in Liu Cangzhen's chest. He didn't dare relax, however, still fighting to control his body as he bounded forward.
But two minutes later, just as he was gasping for breath, chest heaving, convinced he had finally lost the creature—
Thap… thap-thap-thap…
The haunting sound pierced the silence again, drumming against his eardrums with chilling clarity.
"How is that possible!?"
Liu Cangzhen couldn't stop himself. He whipped his head around to look.
A single glance was all it took for his soul to nearly flee his body.
That twisted, disgusting mermaid was moving with impossible speed; it was less than ten meters away! It was striding toward him with an incredibly bizarre gait, an eerie motion that defied description. It was like a toddler learning to walk, yet also like a frail old man on the verge of death—or more accurately, like a non-human creature attempting to mimic the way humans move.
Sheer, primal terror seized Liu Cangzhen. He snapped his head back and threw his entire being into hopping forward, but his single leg was already trembling violently from overexertion. His speed plummeted.
Finally, his muscles gave out completely. He lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground with a sickening thud. In a final, desperate gamble, he fumbled inside his clothes and pulled out the fairy tale book. He pointed it tremblingly at the approaching mermaid, his voice a high-pitched, fawning plea.
"Look! Look, quickly! This is your favorite storybook! I'll give it back to you! Go kill my companions instead, I still have companions!"
But… it was just as Haruto had predicted. The moment the mermaid's eyes fell upon the fairy tale book, it was as if a switch had been flipped inside its monstrous head. It began to frantically tear at its own scalp, the fire of rage in its eyes burning with a new, distorted intensity. Its sharp claws swung out, a blur of motion that ripped through Liu Cangzhen's clothes and tore open his belly in a single, brutal slash.
"No… no! Get away! GET AWAY!"
Even with his stomach sliced open, Liu Cangzhen refused to give up. He kicked out wildly, managing to shove the mermaid back, then slammed the fairy tale book directly into its face. Seizing the opportunity afforded by the creature's momentary daze, he used the last of his strength to crawl forward, his mind finally breaking. A choked cry escaped his lips as saliva and tears mixed with the blood streaming from his temple, coating his entire face in a gruesome mask.
The footsteps behind him grew closer, clearer. Abruptly, a cold, slimy claw clamped down on his ankle…
On the other side of the instance, Haruto closed the Gap, his expression uncharacteristically solemn.
The worst-case scenario had come to pass.
The mermaid could adapt. The speed it had just displayed was clearly several times faster than when they had first encountered it.
The others stood frozen, their faces pale, a knot of dread tightening in their throats. The scene of Liu Cangzhen being flayed alive was too horrifying. Even if they closed their eyes, the image of his desperate, crazed stare was burned into their minds.
"Are there… really more than one of these monsters?" Liu Wensong's voice was a hoarse whisper. Even as a veteran player, he couldn't help but feel a wave of despair wash over him.
"I don't know," Haruto replied, his tone level. "But what's certain is that there was definitely more than one mermaid being raised in this hellhole. Whether they've all turned into ghosts is another question."
At some point, a familiar fairy tale book had appeared in Haruto's hand—it was the very same one Liu Cangzhen had been holding moments ago.
Everyone's pupils constricted.
'Telekinesis?'
They had just been wondering how they could possibly retrieve that book, certain it held important clues. They never imagined it would simply materialize in Haruto's hand.
The number of shocks Haruto kept providing was piling up. First Kaguya's potion, now this. They refused to believe these were abilities someone participating in the Death Game for only the second time could possess.
This power definitely didn't come from the Death Game.
A fresh prickle of unease crawled up their spines.
The only possibility was that these were items and abilities he possessed in the real world.
"What does it say?" Kaguya asked, her curiosity piqued when she noticed Haruto staring at the book for a long time without speaking.
Haruto said nothing, simply handing the book to her.
"Huh?" Kaguya's eyes widened as she read the first page. "The kind prince was transformed into a mermaid, and only… only by being kissed can he turn back into a human!?"
Wasn't this just a cheap knock-off of the Frog Prince?
And… a kiss? Seriously?
Her gaze involuntarily drifted toward Liu Wensong and the other two men. Such a task obviously couldn't be performed by her, Haruto, or Miko. But the expressions on the faces of Liu Wensong's trio were etched with pure, unadulterated refusal.
And who could blame them? Facing a mermaid was terrifying enough; the thought of having to kiss one was beyond revolting.
"The story doesn't end with a kiss," Haruto interrupted, gesturing for Kaguya to flip further. "The prince had no intention of becoming human again. Instead, he planned to gain a new life through death, roaming the free ocean as a mermaid."
"Oh, oh…"
Kaguya continued flipping. It was indeed as Haruto had said. But when she reached the part where the prince, imprisoned in the palace, planned his escape, her face suddenly darkened.
"What's wrong?" Liu Wensong immediately noticed the shift in her expression.
The Newcomer asked fearfully, "It wasn't torn out, was it?"
The key page was neither torn nor blank. Instead, it was covered in a blurry, dark grey film, completely hiding the answer they sought.
"What is this? Why is it all blacked out? Which bastard did this?" The Newcomer's voice carried a sob. He couldn't believe the path to survival they had just found was cut off right before their eyes.
"No, this is a puzzle book," Liu Wensong explained, forcing himself to remain calm. "Usually, they come with a special decryption card. By overlaying it or rotating it, you can reveal the hidden content."
He took the book and searched through it again and again, but he could not find the crucial card.
"Um… actually, there might be another way to see it…"
Yotsuya Miko weakly raised her hand.
Under everyone's expectant gazes, she took the fairy tale book and pressed her phone's flashlight against the bottom of the page. As the light penetrated the paper at a specific angle, a layer of blurry handwriting gradually emerged from beneath the grey film.
"The Mermaid Prince found the magic recipe left behind by the witch…" Miko softly read out the emerging text, her voice a beacon in the tense silence. "He gathered all the necessary ingredients and scattered them into the tank where he was imprisoned. The water's surface turned into a rippling mirror, reflecting the free ocean on the other side. Without hesitation, the Mermaid Prince leaped in…"
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