ICTEUWMN Chapter 1

Alright, I’m back, I chose this relaxing read because of the upcoming festive season, so hope you enjoy it! 🎊And Happy Birthday Lily 🎊

Study, Huo family’s old residence.

A huge blue aquarium dominated the room, unarguably the focal point of the entire study.

Its realistic coral landscape, the vibrant fish swimming around, and the shimmering deep-sea lighting effects all unmistakably displayed the staggering cost of this high-tech aquarium.

However, the most eye-catching thing was a light-colored conch shell that was lying quietly on the milky white sand at the bottom of the tank.

Looking closely inside the shell, one could see a small, light-golden fish hiding within.

Its tail, like a flowing skirt, shone in the water, resembling a fragment of golden moonlight left behind by the sea god.

“But what is this newbie prop of yours even supposed to do?”

In reality, Yu Mian, who had suddenly transformed from a human into a fish, was currently negotiating with the system with a sense of speechlessness.

As a renowned novelist who had died unexpectedly while rushing to finish to meet his manuscript’s deadline, Yu Mian had woken up to find himself inexplicably bound to a strange “Superstar Popularity System”.

It demanded that he complete a task within 12 hours by creating a work that could reach at least 10,000 popularity points to avoid a BE and receive a reward.

As a result, when Yu Mian wished for a light-brain to start his career, he was instantly transported to this luxurious study by the conch shell teleportation prop he had drawn from the newbie gift pack.

The spacious, spotless desk in the study was equipped with a complete set of light-brain devices, with a sleek black design that looked extremely high-end.

It was far more advanced than the equipment he had before transmigrating into this book.

But just as Yu Mian subconsciously “walked” forward, in the next second, he run into a transparent glass wall with a “bang”.

‘Hiss, that hurt—!’

Inside the enormous blue display aquarium, a golden little fish had slammed into the glass and instantly slid down onto the conch shell at the bottom.

Looking down at his fins, Yu Mian finally realized—

He had indeed been teleported into a study in an unfamiliar space, equipped with the necessary light-brain set up for his career.

But it seemed there was a bit of an unexpected twist…

He was no longer human; instead, he was now a fish in the giant aquarium of this luxurious study?!

How was he supposed to change back?

[Uh… perhaps the properties of the conch shell you drew aren’t compatible. After all, we’re a “Superstar Popularity System”, not some Interstellar Writer System!]

The system was equally frustrated at having been bound to a tone-deaf host inexplicably.

It could only be said that this case gave a big warning to the system industry that, in the face of the unprecedented transformations in the book transmigration business of the new era, a host could no longer be selected based solely on appearance!

After all, who would have thought that this guy, despite his good looks, would be a tone-deaf social recluse?

“But didn’t your task say to release a work and collect popularity points? You didn’t specify what kind of work either. =.=”

Yu Mian was also speechless.

Since creating a hit song was an option, why couldn’t he just go back to my old job of writing novels and make them popular?

However, while he and the system were in the middle of negotiating, a sudden sound of footsteps came from outside the study door.

Startled, Yu Mian quickly hid inside the conch, pressing his fish ears against the shell wall in shock (if fish even had ears).

Why was someone coming in?

Could it be that the conch shell hadn’t teleported him to a private writing space but had instead directly and crudely teleported him to someone else’s study with a light-brain setup?

This way of fulfilling wishes was a bit too wild! [kneels]

“Why aren’t you opening the door? What’s in the study that I can’t see?”

Outside the study, Huo Ting frowned as he looked at his secretary, Hals, who was clearly hiding something from him.

“Ah, no, it’s nothing like that…”

Secretary Hals gripped the door handle with a bitter look on his face, and could only open the door under Huo Ting’s sharp gaze.

With a creak, the study door slowly opened.

The brand-new, giant blue aquarium was very conspicuous.

“Who approved this renovation and added an aquarium to the study?”

Huo Ting, who was standing behind Hals, looked at the newly installed aquarium in his study.

“… Reporting, it was specifically ordered by General Huo.”

Unable to help the old master hide the truth from his grandson, Secretary Hals resigned himself to explaining.

“And, the old master isn’t on the main star, he went with Madam to the East Bay Health Resort half a month ago.”

Clearly, the old master knew his grandson would be annoyed by this act, so he left ahead of time.

After a long silence, Huo Ting’s voice finally rang out:

“Restore everything in the study to its original state.”

“Yes. Ah? But what about the conch in the aquarium? Didn’t the old master say it was magical, something about… a mermaid legend?”

But Huo Ting’s silent, final decision made Hals feel like he was about to lose his mind over the contrasting personalities of this grandfather and grandson.

The old one acted like a mischievous child, insisting on keeping it, while the younger one deemed it “a tax on intelligence” and wanted to throw it away. What was going on?!

“Yes, understood!”

With Secretary Hals’s helpless reply and the click of the door closing as the two left, Yu Mian who was hiding inside the conch shell finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He quietly poked his head out from the shell and looked toward the now-empty study door.

Wait, did he hear that correctly?

Who would be willing to throw away such a large and luxurious, brand-new aquarium?

Wouldn’t that mean the teleportation reward from his newbie prop would become invalid?

“Did you all just hear that? That two-legged beast actually wants to dump us all out!”

“Oh heavens, how could a two-legged beast be so heartless!”

Even the normally calm fish in the tank began to panic.

This made Yu Mian realize a pressing problem.

His time seemed to be running out!

Especially with the red countdown timer still visible in his field of view.

[11:00:00]

Exactly one hour had passed!

Only eleven hours remained to complete the initial task.

Yu Mian wasn’t sure if this private study had surveillance, but it seemed he had only one option left.

He needed to use that light-brain, quickly log into an interstellar novel website, complete and publish an original novel, and gain ten thousand popularity points!

It sounded like an incredibly difficult task.

How was a fish supposed to type, anyway?

Yu Mian subconsciously flicked his beautiful, petal-shaped tail and looked up at the water’s surface.

He had transformed from a human and into a fish after falling into the water when he was teleported by the conch shell. So would jumping out of the aquarium turn him back into a human?

Thinking of this, Yu Mian swam up to the water’s surface to conduct a little experiment.

“Hey, do you have a death wish? Fish can’t leave the water!”

However, upon noticing the beautiful fish’s attempt, the fish in the tank quickly screamed in horror.

Just as Yu Mian was about to jump, several concerned fish bit down on the tip of his tail, trying to stop this little fish, who had no basic common sense, from “committing suicide”!

“Ugh… don’t bite my tail!”

The sensation of having his tail tip bitten unexpectedly made Yu Mian’s face flush.

It seemed that after turning into a fish, his tail had become particularly sensitive and could react intensely to even the slightest touch.

And as Yu Mian focused his attention on his tail, it suddenly grew warmer, as if about to undergo some kind of transformation.

With a splash, a huge burst of water resounded as waves churned within the quiet aquarium.

“Ah—the aquarium flipped over?!”

The fish swam around in a daze, screaming in confusion.

After a while, they realized the tank hadn’t actually flipped over—they were all still alive!

But where was the little fish?

When they all looked up, they unexpectedly met a pair of slightly dazed amber eyes.

In front of them was a young man, his well proportioned upper body was completely bare, his hands were gripping the edge of the aquarium and water droplets slid down his well defined butterfly bones and the smooth lines of his back.

“A… two-legged beast?! Wait, no legs?!”

Just as the fish were about to scream again, they noticed that, below the young man’s slender waist, instead of legs, there was a light-golden mermaid tail!

The petal-shaped tail floated dreamily and elegantly in the water, like layers of golden guaze skirts swaying in the sea breeze.

Faced with the stunned fish around him, Yu Mian was equally shocked.

What had he just transformed into?

While this tail was indeed beautiful… it was certainly unexpected.

But with time running out, he didn’t have the luxury of thinking it over.

So, under the fish’s astonished gazes, Yu Mian flicked his tail, climbed out of the aquarium, and finally settled into the high-end black swivel chair nearby.

His tail naturally draped down onto the carpet, and with a flick of his tail, he maneuvered the chair over to the desk and activated the light-brain in an instant.

After all, he now had only one sacred mission:

Writing!

The moment he activated the light-brain, a grand, futuristic interface popped up in front of him.

The Star Network was as rich and colorful as Blue Star’s internet, with games, videos, live streams, and social apps of every kind.

However, Yu Mian didn’t have much time to explore all of these and instead hurriedly searched for his target—the Interstellar Novel Website.

To Yu Mian’s great relief, novel websites in the interstellar era had surprisingly vast audiences.

Not only did their popularity and engagement rival that of mainstream entertainment like videos and games, but there were also numerous reading platforms, each with an astonishingly high number of downloads.

Leading the way was “Huanyu Reading Platform”, the main paid novel platform widely recognized across the stars.

Upon swiftly clicking to install and enter, his light-brain was instantly enveloped by a dark blue cosmic scene, as if his vision were soaring through the galaxy.

[Welcome, new user, to your first login!]

[This platform is sponsored and developed by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Star Institute of Literature Research.]

‘A novel platform has an official background?’

After Yu Mian quickly glanced at the homepage introduction and entered the website, the first thing he did was to click on the subscription ranking board that is a must-have for every novel website.

On the Huanyu Reading Platform, this classic ranking was called the Stellar List.

Just as Yu Mian prepared to dive into a rapid analysis of interstellar reader preferences, he suddenly hesitated.

Wait, did he enter the wrong site?

[Stellar Top Picks]

No.1 [Lake Medra]

With technological progress, people have forgotten the serene beauty of nature. Bailey chooses to return to the rural borders of the star system to experience the harmony between humanity and nature.

No.2 [Hero Claude]

During a space journey, interstellar traveler Harry unexpectedly meets the mysterious Claude, uncovering a tale of interstellar exploration.

No.3 [Cosmic Notes]

This is a great piece of literary nonfiction, portraying universal love and peace across the stars as humanity joins hands to build a shared destiny for all cosmic beings in the interstellar age!

After repeatedly confirming the top books on the list, Yu Mian was dumbfounded.

‘You interstellar readers, don’t you read any web novels?’

‘Are all your tastes in high-end and serious novels?’

Yu Mian suddenly felt that his book transmigration might as well have been titled [Starting a Novel Writing Career in Another World: From Beginning to the Grave].

Please note:

[…] means a system communication or live broadcast comment.

[[…]] is an excerpt from Yu Mian’s novels.