It had to be said that the final result was much better than Bai Liu had expected.
The items in the game seemed to have bonus effects. The burning effect of those barrels of high-density alcohol was far more exaggerated than anything Bai Liu had seen in real life. The strong flashlight from earlier had also been so bright that it nearly blinded people.
As the sun rose and the sky brightened, the mermaids, who were afraid of the light, gradually dove beneath the surface of the sea and disappeared without a trace.
After confirming that there were no mermaids nearby, Bai Liu opened the panel. He hadn't looked at it before because he had been too busy fighting them. Now, when he saw the information displayed, he couldn't help narrowing his eyes.
[Side Task — Jeff's Bloody Conspiracy: 90% Progress]
Andre had been killed, and the driver had been burned to death by Bai Liu, yet there was still 10% progress remaining for this side task… How was he supposed to complete the remaining 10% of this bloody conspiracy?
[Current points balance: 684. Do you wish to purchase items?]
Bai Liu was stunned. He stared at his points, which had suddenly soared, before opening the detailed breakdown. He discovered that more than 500 points had come from "charging."
In other words, after struggling all night, more than 80% of his points hadn't been earned from the game system for completing tasks. They had come from audience rewards. Thoughtfully, Bai Liu fiddled with the coin hanging against his chest. This meant he could earn far more points from the audience than from the game itself.
That wasn't reasonable.
If in-game rewards were lower than external rewards, players would become passive participants. They would make choices to please those outside the game or rely on gimmicks to attract viewers instead of focusing on gameplay.
Moreover, these points could be used to purchase items. If the points earned from charging were sufficient, Bai Liu could simply buy a large number of items and forcefully clear the instance, making the gameplay itself meaningless.
Bai Liu wouldn't design such a game, and he didn't believe the system would either. There had to be some type of reward within the game that balanced the internal and external reward systems—something that would motivate players to pursue in-game rewards over audience rewards.
His fingers repeatedly flipped the coin. All task rewards in this game were granted instantly. In other words, he received the points immediately upon completing a task.
There was only one exception.
The monster book.
The rewards for collecting all the pages would only be issued after clearing the instance. Generally speaking, such delayed rewards should be substantial. Looking at his current points, Bai Liu realized he might have underestimated the importance of the monster book.
Now he felt that the rewards from the monster book might not only be large but also extremely precious—items that couldn't be easily purchased with points. That would balance the reward mechanism inside and outside the game.
Bai Liu opened the monster book and examined each page carefully. Finally, his gaze settled on the Siren King page, which still had nothing unlocked. He paused.
[Siren Town Monster Book — Siren King (2/4)]
[Monster Name: Siren King]
[Weaknesses: None (the player is not required to explore the monster's weaknesses)]
[Attack Method: ??? (Unexplored)]
[Note: This god-level wandering NPC has an extremely high danger level. Player, please proceed with caution.]
So he needed to explore the attack method…
Based on the previous monsters, exploring the attack method meant provoking them into launching an attack, after which the exploration would be completed. However, if a monster at the Siren King's level attacked, Bai Liu suspected it would be instant death.
Still, knowing there was such a huge reward waiting, it wasn't in Bai Liu's miserly nature to ignore it.
If he had known how ferocious this NPC truly was—or heard the rumors about this bug-like existence—he might have given up. After all, what he feared most in games were bugs. Bugs were nearly impossible to deal with. They weren't part of the intended design and didn't follow logic. Players couldn't fight against something that defied the rules.
However, Bai Liu didn't know any of that. Instead, he regarded this NPC as nothing more than a gatekeeping boss. He believed that if he defeated it, the rewards would be tremendous. And in his view, every game had solutions. No matter how powerful the boss, there was always a way to win.
After staring at the page for a while, Bai Liu chuckled softly and closed the monster book. Then he opened the game shop.
"I want to buy items."
[What items do you need? There is currently a promotional price reduction on the Water Bubble. Would you like to purchase it?]
Bai Liu glanced at the listing. Sure enough, the Water Bubble had dropped from 70 points to 40. Next to it in the popular items section was the High-Concentration Alcohol he had previously bought. Its price had risen from 9 points per barrel to nearly 13.
Seeing the price changes, Bai Liu revealed a sly, triumphant smile.
He had guessed correctly.
The game process on his side was fed back to the audience, influencing their purchasing choices—just like a livestream. As long as Bai Liu used cheaper items to achieve effective results, players would rush to buy them, driving up demand and altering prices.
For example, he had previously used the 3D projector and flashlight in the Siren Museum. The conventional solution for that map should have been a fire torch, but Bai Liu had cleared it using a few non-consumable items instead, achieving even better results than the consumable torch.
At similar prices, players would naturally prefer durable items. As a result, the fire torch's price decreased while the 3D projector's price increased. This time, he had deliberately repeated the same strategy to lower the price of the Water Bubble. That way, he could profit from the price difference.
Bai Liu smiled. "I want to buy a Water Bubble."
[Okay. 40 points have been deducted. Thank you for your patronage.]
Wang Shun rushed all the way from the Death Comedy Division to the single-player game area. He approached the TV in confusion. After confirming that Bai Liu had really bought the Water Bubble, Wang Shun became even more bewildered.
"Why did he buy the Water Bubble?"
"As far as I remember, the rest of Siren Town is almost entirely land chases. There's nowhere to use a Water Bubble…"
A player who had followed him over stood beside him and offered a reasonable analysis. "Bai Liu has plenty of points now, and he doesn't know that only land chases remain. Maybe he bought one just in case. It's not expensive anyway—only 40 points."
"He has over 600 points. Spending 40 to buy a Water Bubble is basically buying insurance. After all, using alcohol is still pretty risky."
However, Wang Shun had followed Bai Liu this far. He already understood the style of this man who always spent his points on the knife's edge.
Previously, Bai Liu would rather take the risk and buy alcohol, choosing a high-risk, high-loss strategy instead of spending more points on a Water Bubble. And now he had spent 40 points just in case…?
Wang Shun didn't think that was something Bai Liu would do.
An absurd thought even crossed Wang Shun's mind: what if Bai Liu had deliberately waited until now to buy the Water Bubble? In other words, what if he had manipulated the prices through a series of actions, waiting for the moment the Water Bubble dropped in price so he could purchase it cheaply and save points?
Wang Shun muttered to himself as he thought. He was so immersed in his own reasoning that he didn't lower his voice. The player next to him overheard everything.
The player couldn't help retorting, "Are you some kind of brainless Bai Liu fan? Manipulating prices? He's just a newcomer who hasn't even played many games. I admit he has some skill, but controlling item prices? That's going too far."
The player's tone was casual and dismissive. "I think he was just scared after such a thrilling night. He saw he had enough points and immediately bought a few life-saving items. Using alcohol earlier was basically a huge gamble…"
Wang Shun noticed the player's lips curl downward as he muttered, "It was just luck. Nothing impressive. And he actually managed to get into the single-player division like this."
There was obvious jealousy in the player's expression. He seemed to believe that Bai Liu had used a bit of cleverness to rise to the single-player division—but that most of it was just luck.
The forum was also buzzing with discussion about Bai Liu's use of alcohol to kill the mermaid. After an initial wave of praise, many people began mocking him, calling him opportunistic and lucky. Like the player beside Wang Shun, most of them spoke with disdain, carrying a sour, "I could've done that too" attitude.
[What was the point of that move? After thinking about it, there are many safer plans. Why choose the riskier one?]
[Fuck, he's just trying to act weird. It's not like the Death Comedy section doesn't have plenty of strange plays already.]
[I'm dying of laughter. He bought nine barrels of alcohol and only used four. There are still five left. Is he planning to use them to raise mermaid or something? For those bragging about how this plan saved money, I'll buy you a calculator. 81 points is 11 more than the original price of the Water Bubble!]
[Some people really just brag with their eyes closed, huh? Aside from the flashy visual effects, his method of clearing the instance was useless. And right after getting the rewards, he immediately bought a Water Bubble. Isn't that basically admitting alcohol wasn't that good and the Water Bubble is better? If he's so capable, I'd like to see how he plans to keep burning alcohol once he's on land. The mermaid statues don't burn at all!]