NOVEL WEB Chapter 9: The Wax Museum
The car fell into silence, and everyone's expressions grew strange.
Lucy awkwardly chuckled, and Andrew sneered, not believing the driver's words.
The driver laughed heartily, "Just kidding. How could we eat mermaids? It's just our local seafood specialty."
He calmly steered the car toward a building, "We're here, the wax museum. Get out."
Once everyone had exited the car, the driver added, "Go ahead and look around. Call me when you're ready, and I'll pick you up for the mermaid fishing event."
He drove off after saying that.
Liam got out of the car and looked around at the surroundings. In front of him stood a tall building, so tall that he had to tilt his head back to see its top. At the top, several ornate cursive letters spell out "Siren Wax Museum" in English.
[System prompt: Scene unlocked — Siren Wax Museum]
The entire wax museum had a deep ocean-like color scheme, supported by several large granite columns at the top. From the entrance, Liam could see several mermaid wax figures faintly outlined inside, displayed in a shadowy manner.
The interior of the wax museum seemed newly renovated, but the exterior walls, made of red brick stacked on top of one another, appeared somewhat worn.
Old missing person notices were plastered on the walls, and as the wind blew, one of the notices stuck to Liam's face.
Liam removed the newspaper from his face, and the first thing he saw was a bold, black headline:
[Police Notice: Twelve people have gone missing in Siren Town this month. Please contact the police if you recognize anyone from the missing person's photos below. Tourists are advised to stay safe while sightseeing in Siren Town, avoid playing with large fish, and be cautious near the water.]
Below the notice were twelve black-and-white photos. The people in the photos were smiling joyfully as if they were enjoying their vacation in Siren Town. However, the yellowed, old newspaper made their smiles seem strangely unsettling.
After carefully reading the entire article, Liam was about to fold the newspaper and put it away. But when he folded it, he suddenly noticed something odd—the paper felt unusually stiff.
Even if it had dried out from the sea breeze, a newspaper shouldn't feel this hard... It was as though it wasn't just a sheet of paper.
Liam looked closely at the cross-section of the paper.
The cross-section appeared thick, but there were no obvious signs of multiple layers. The paper seemed compacted by the wind, making it hard to tell if there were more sheets.
Liam tucked the newspaper into his jacket, planning to find some warm water inside the wax museum to check if it had multiple layers that could be separated.
[Triggered side mission — Find a warm water pool in the wax museum, separate the glued-together newspaper, and reward 10 points.]
The museum keeper was an elderly man with cataracts. His eyes were cloudy white, but curiously, he seemed to still be able to see people without much issue.
When Liam and the others entered, the old man quickly turned his head toward them. His vacant, aged face wore an almost automatic politeness, and his quick approach made Lucy gasp softly.
The keeper spoke with a peculiar tone, "It's been a long time since anyone's visited here… Ever since last month when people started going missing, no tourists have come to the Siren Wax Museum. And we haven't received any new mermaid wax figures either."
Liam, intrigued, asked, "Why haven't there been any new mermaid wax figures? Does it have something to do with the lack of tourists?"
"Of course," the keeper's voice grew agitated, and he even waved his stiff old arms, "Without tourists, we don't do the mermaid fishing activities, which are time-consuming and labor-intensive. Without mermaids to catch, we can't—"
He abruptly stopped speaking and fell silent, refusing to answer more questions.
Liam quickly shifted topics, "Has the museum always received a continuous influx of mermaid wax figures? But this wax museum has limited space, right? You can't fit them all in if you keep adding new figures."
"No!" The keeper's lips twisted into an eerie smile, and his cloudy eyes shifted toward Liam. His voice dropped to a mysterious tone, "For every new wax figure that arrives at this museum, an old one leaves."
"The Siren Wax Museum can never be filled."
Liam raised an eyebrow slightly, his curiosity piqued. He continued, "So, where do the mermaid wax figures go after they leave the museum? Do you throw them back into the sea?"
The keeper fell silent, realizing he had said something he shouldn't have.
But Liam pressed on, sensing an opportunity, "What happens when tourists arrive?"
"Nothing," the keeper murmured, "You'll have a pleasant vacation in Siren Town and then leave."
When Liam tried to ask again, the keeper refused to say anything further.
After finding out where the warm water pool was located, Liam gave up on pressing him for more information. He took the tickets and led the group into the Siren Wax Museum.
Upon entering, Liam immediately saw a golden wax statue of a middle-aged man standing at the entrance. The figure was dressed in a suit and a hat, strikingly different from the mermaid wax figures. It didn't have a fish tail and was entirely gold. Its face was adorned with an official smile, and it waved at the visitors as they entered.
The lighting inside the wax museum was dim, with shadows falling over the statue's face, making the polite smile look almost sinister.
On the black stone pedestal was a brief introduction to the statue. Liam leaned in to read it—it was a statue of the mayor of Siren Town, unveiled when the wax museum opened.
The pedestal also exaggerated the mayor's contributions to the town, mentioning how he had supported the development of tourism after finding mermaid's bones and how he had contributed to building the museum, turning the previously impoverished seaside Siren Town into a thriving place.
The pedestal also engraved the following:
[Mayor Harris has an unconditional love for every villager in Siren Town as if they were his children.]
Liam was carefully reading this when Gerald, who had been silent until then, suddenly leaned in and whispered, "Do you believe in mermaids? Do you think everything the plaque says about Siren Town is true?"
Of course, he didn't believe it all.
The wax museum was built as a quirky tourist attraction to promote the town's development, and although it seemed legitimate, only about 30% of it was probably true. Most of it was fabricated for marketing purposes to attract visitors.
But this was a horror game.
Liam replied, "I think it's true."
Andrew crossed his arms and scoffed heavily as if mocking Gerald and Liam for believing, but he said nothing more and followed Gerald into the wax museum.
Liam and Lucy had originally planned to go together, but since Liam wanted to find the warm water pool to separate the damp newspaper, he told Lucy to go ahead and explore on her own.
Lucy expressed her regret but said she'd wait for him in the exhibition hall and then explore. Liam walked toward the direction the keeper had mentioned for the warm water room.