Chapter 37: Trap, End?
"If the Mermaid is smart enough to avoid the well, and its intelligence is on par with a human's, what could possibly make it jump in willingly?" the newcomer asked, his voice tight with panic. He turned to King Chen, his face a mask of desperation. "We can't just throw it in with brute force, can we?"
He clutched the fairy tale book to his chest. "Brother Chen, can you set up some kind of trap? Something to make that Mermaid fall into the well?"
King Chen didn't answer right away. His gaze swept across the damp, shadowed corners of the Water Room before he finally spoke. "I can," he said, his tone measured. "But it's not a very feasible plan. That thing is already deeply suspicious of this room. Tricking it to come inside won't be easy."
"Have you all forgotten something?"
Huiye, who had been standing quietly nearby, let out a soft sigh. She gestured toward the book in the newcomer's hands.
A wave of realization washed over the group, their eyes lighting up with a flicker of hope.
"That's right!" the newcomer exclaimed, his voice rising with excitement. "The Mermaid goes absolutely insane whenever it sees this book! As long as we hold it, we can lure it in, and then we just have to throw the book into the well..."
He grew more animated with every word, as if he could already taste the sweet relief of victory.
Haruto, however, was quick to shatter his fantasy. "Don't start celebrating just yet. The Mermaid might chase you in, but what's your guarantee that it'll follow the book into the well instead of just continuing to chase whoever was holding it?"
The newcomer's face fell, the sudden dose of reality feeling like a bucket of ice water.
"Still," Haruto continued, "until we come up with something better, using the fairy tale book as bait is our best bet. But King Chen, you should prepare a physical trap as a backup. That way, even if the Mermaid doesn't jump, we can forcibly send it into the well."
With that, the discussion ended. The group fell into a focused silence, moving to assist King Chen. Despite having only simple parts and scavenged tools, the veteran player was clearly experienced. With everyone's help, the trap was assembled in less than an hour.
It was a simple but effective design. The floor of the Water Room was made of wooden planks, and the well itself was covered by a large footboard. As long as the Mermaid stepped onto it, a person hidden in the corner could yank away the wooden support beam propping it up from below. The footboard's balance would be instantly destroyed, causing it to collapse downward, taking the Mermaid with it straight into the well.
"Should we work on another backup plan?" someone asked. "We still have plenty of time."
"No need," Haruto refuted. Even if this trap failed, he had his own contingencies. Besides, there were more pressing matters. "Hasn't anyone noticed the real problem? It's already the fourth day. Are you really planning to just sit here and wait for the Mermaid to come to us tonight?"
A heavy silence descended upon the Water Room.
The newcomer finally asked in a small voice, "But how do we find it? It must have gone back to the sea by now."
"Back to the sea? It doesn't matter," Haruto said with a shrug. "Just take the fairy tale book and go for a walk along the beach. And remember to face the ocean."
"It can see us from there?" Liu Wensong asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Of course, it can. In fact, when we were gathering food on the beach the day before yesterday, it was already watching us from the water. You just didn't notice."
A cold sweat broke out across the group. Everyone present, aside from Huiye, had been outside that day.
"Then why didn't it attack us?" one of them stammered. "We were so close. It could have easily seized the chance to drag one or two of us into the sea while we weren't looking."
"Because—" Haruto began, but Huiye preempted him.
"Because it's afraid of the sand," she answered calmly. "It doesn't dare to touch it."
It was a simple, damning fact. The female newcomer who had died on the first day had been truly, terribly unlucky. If she had only pitched her tent a little farther from the Mermaid Pension's entrance, the creature wouldn't have been able to frighten her. She wouldn't have panicked and fled into the inn, sealing her own fate. She could have at least survived until the Mermaid acquired its foot-coverings of human skin, which allowed it to walk on two legs.
"So," Haruto said, his gaze sweeping over the tense faces, "who's going to be the bait?"
This time, no one volunteered. The silence was thick with understanding. Unlike their previous tasks, this one was lethally dangerous. One misstep, one moment of hesitation, and their life would end here.
"In that case, I'll go. The rest of you work with King Chen—"
Just as Haruto was about to take on the role himself, King Chen spoke up.
"I'll go," he stated, his voice firm. "I have good stamina. I'm the most suitable person for this."
"Alright." Haruto didn't argue; he had other preparations to make.
At the entrance to the inn, Haruto handed the fairy tale book and five Talisman Cards to King Chen. The veteran player took the book, held it high, and began his solitary walk toward the distant shoreline.
His steps were heavy, deliberate. His eyes scanned every direction, his body coiled and ready to sprint back at a moment's notice.
Suddenly, a blurry figure slowly broke the surface of the water. Its swollen, dead eyes instantly locked onto the fairy tale book in King Chen's hand.
It was the Mermaid.
A shriek tore from its throat, a sound so sharp and piercing it was utterly inhuman. It launched itself from the shallows, its two feet—gruesomely clad in human skin—slapping against the wet sand. It charged toward King Chen with a gait that was both horribly awkward and astonishingly fast.
King Chen didn't hesitate for a second. He spun on his heel and ran.
The Mermaid was unnaturally swift, the distance between them shrinking with visible speed. Just as it seemed he was about to be caught, King Chen whipped his arm back, flinging the Talisman Cards Haruto had given him.
Fwish! Fwish!
Blades of pure light sliced through the air.
Two deep gashes split open on the Mermaid's abdomen, spraying a foul mixture of dark green and blackish-red blood. The creature tumbled to the ground, but it scrambled back to its feet without the slightest pause and lunged again, its shriek unabated.
Every time the Mermaid closed the distance, another Talisman Card would fly back and strike it.
Relying on those five precious talismans, King Chen finally burst back into the Water Room, the Mermaid hot on his heels.
Haruto and the others were already in position, hidden and waiting.
King Chen vaulted over the rigged footboard and tossed the fairy tale book onto its center—the final piece of bait.
All they needed was for the Mermaid to step onto the trap. Then, Haruto and the others would simultaneously pull the support beams away.
But reality is rarely as clean as one's imagination.
The Mermaid skidded to a halt at the very edge of the well, its head snapping around with a violent twist. A pair of venomous, hate-filled eyes locked onto Haruto and the others in their hiding spots.
The next second, however, was not its own.
Three Talisman Cards had already screamed through the air, converging on its face.
Fwish! Fwish—
Fwish! Fwish! Fwish! Fwish—!
The sickening sound of blades carving through solid flesh echoed in the small room.
The Mermaid was struck by the barrage of light. The onslaught was so vicious that its neck was nearly severed, its head left hanging by a mere ribbon of skin. The sheer impact of the sword energy slammed it backward half a step—
"Now!" Haruto roared, yanking hard on the rope in his hands.
The others, already prepared, threw their weight into the pull at the exact same moment.
The wooden supports were ripped away in unison. The footboard, and the mangled Mermaid upon it, instantly gave way.
PLOP!
A heavy, definitive splash echoed up from the bottom of the well.
Faces broke into expressions of overwhelming joy.
Success!
The tension that had held everyone in a vice-like grip finally snapped. A wave of bone-deep exhaustion, the kind that only comes after cheating death, washed over them.
Even Haruto let out a quiet sigh of relief.
But before that breath had fully escaped his lips—
A hand, its fingers connected by grotesque, web-like membranes, shot up from the darkness of the well. It clamped onto the stone curb with a death grip. A figure began to pull itself up. It was the Mermaid, but its head was gone.
At that moment, Haruto felt a thousand curses raging through his mind.
Its head had been chopped off, and it was still alive, still trying to climb out.
He was about to unleash another volley of Talisman Cards, backed by a full blast of Boundary Power, but Kaguya had already appeared at the well's edge. She was holding a withered branch, upon which were strung several impossibly vibrant, colorful beads.
She raised the branch high and brought it down, hard, on the hand that was clawing at the edge of the well.
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