ICTEUWMN Chapter 132.2

And so, on their first night back on Federation Star, the lights in the couple’s bedroom room remained on until dawn.

It was hard to describe the feeling. Still, Huo Dong and Inas couldn’t help but devour “I Picked Up a Traveling Light Brain” in one sitting, driven by a thrilling sense of anxiety that made their scalps tingle.

The author seemed to be a master of manipulating readers’ emotions. Once you read the first few lines, you couldn’t stop, no matter how pale with fear you became, you had to read on, desperate to uncover the truth.

When Huo Dong finally tried to turn to the next page, only to be met with the message:

[Dear reader, you’ve caught up to the latest chapter.]

They both snapped out of their daze and looked at each other.

Honestly, after all these years as a married couple, it had been a very long time since they had sat so close together, heads almost touching, holding hands as they finished reading a book.

Who would have thought that a novel would bring them back to such a moment?

“Dad, Mom, are we going out today?”

The next morning, Huo Yan came knocking on the door with Qiao Ni. He pushed the door and peeked his head in, only to be shocked at the sight of his parents’ dark circles.

Shocking.

His mom had always been so mindful of her elegant image. She had never looked like this before!

“Did you two… stay up all night playing games without me?”

For a moment, Huo Yan wasn’t even sure.

“No, we just… stayed up all night reading.”

Huo Dong replied in an inexplicably complicated tone.

What great writing! No wonder Huo Ting had specifically reminded them not to read it at night.

So that kid already knew how terrifying this book would be?

Meanwhile, after returning to the Starry Sky Lake residence from the old residence, Yu Mian hesitated for a long time before quietly placing the conch shell into the display aquarium.

Just then, the latest update from Editor Shaxs came through regarding the haunted house project:

[Crispy Shark: Teacher Fish Soup Noodles! We’ve come up with a design plan for the haunted house you mentioned. How does this look to you?]

[Crispy Shark: I think it perfectly complements your recent plot update. The offline haunted house event combined with your ongoing serialization will definitely have an amazing promotional effect.]

During this period, as the plot of “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain” gradually deepened, its popularity continued to rise. At the same time, Fish Soup Noodles’ new book, with its unheard-of “unlimited flow” style, began attracting widespread attention.

Many other authors on star network also started studying how to write works in this thrilling genre, as it was obvious that this uniquely styled novel had a remarkably broad audience.

Huanyu naturally did not want to miss out on this wave of popularity or be outpaced by other platforms or individuals. Therefore, they planned to organize offline promotional events during the serialization period of the new book.

In response, Yu Mian proposed an idea for a “haunted house”, a venue where fans could experience key scenes from the book firsthand.

Initially shocked by the suggestion, the internal team at Huanyu found the idea feasible the more they thought about it.

“After all, the current technology is very mature. I believe we can realistically recreate many scenes and interactive segments from the book using various light and shadow effects. Fans would thoroughly enjoy checking in and experiencing the fun,” said the technical director of an amusement park, who had been summoned by Huanyu. At first, he could not understand why a novel platform would approach him, but after hearing the haunted house concept, his imagination ran wild.

“Although I’m not sure how effective it will be, building a small pop-up haunted house in the square in front of Huanyu Tower seems very doable.”

“This way, the costs remain controllable. If the effect isn’t good, we can dismantle it anytime.”

“Exactly, exactly! Hurry up and write that down!”

As the brainstorming session gained momentum, the marketing team staff also contributed new ideas.

“Wait a minute, I think we can incorporate the ‘highlight moments’ commonly found in amusement parks. We could capture fun footage of fans experiencing the haunted house and then give them the photos for free. Once fans post these on star network, the secondary spread will definitely be interesting.”

Moreover, this wouldn’t cost much, just a few extra cameras.

“Good idea, brilliant! Let’s add that too!”

Ironically, everyone in the conference room had been trembling with fear when they first read “I Picked Up A Traveling Light Brain”, they were now very enthusiastic about planning the offline reading experience.

Just imagining the terrified expressions of fans made everyone smile mysteriously.

Could it be that when Teacher Fish Soup Noodles wrote the story, he felt the same way?

Leaving the terror to the readers, while keeping the joy for himself?

Evil, very evil.

“By the way, do you think Teacher Fish Soup Noodles would consider coming to experience the haunted house in person?” someone asked.

“Uh, well, there’s a chance?” In response to the question from the person in charge, Shaxs felt that while he wasn’t sure whether Fish Soup Noodles would attend other events, this particular one seemed fun enough that he might be tempted.

“Then should we tone it down? What if we scare him too badly and he stops updating?”

One editor hesitantly raised this concern.

After three seconds of silent reflection, the entire room responded in unison:
“No way!”

“On the contrary, we should make it even more realistic! Let Teacher Fish Soup Noodles experience exactly what it feels like to read his story.”

This sinister suggestion from the deputy chief editor immediately won everyone’s approval.

“Shaxs, you absolutely cannot leak any information this time.”

Just as Shaxs reached for his light brain to notify Fish Soup Noodles, everyone caught his subtle movement. After all, Shaxs’ blind favoritism toward Fish Soup Noodles was already common knowledge in the editorial department.

“If you tell him in advance, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles won’t get the full experience!”

Forced by this collective threat, Shaxs could only hint vaguely on StarMessage that the haunted house concept was indeed underway, progressing swiftly, and looking very promising.

[Fish: WOW, you editors are really efficient, amazing!]

However, after receiving the message, Yu Mian completely missed Shacs’ hints. Instead, he stared at the light brain with great anticipation.

As expected of the interstellar era, the efficiency really was unmatched.

[Fish: Plus, starting with an experimental haunted house sounds great! After all, there are so many other themes coming later. I think we could make a large series of haunted houses. That would be even more interesting.]

While rapidly typing his manuscript, Yu Mian discussed many details with Shaxs, which made him almost forget his original mission.

“Those people think they can scare Teacher Fish Soup Noodles? Ha! In the end, they might be the ones scared out of their wits.”

Having already seen Yu Mian’s outline, Shaxs was sure the first dungeon wasn’t even the most intense one.

[Crispy Shark: By the way, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, why hasn’t the romance line started in the new book? Readers are saying it’s not quite your usual style.]

After talking about the new book, Shaxs couldn’t resist sharing some feedback from readers. After all, a large portion of Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ fanbase loved romance plots, and had silently gathered from the very first book, “Contract Marriage”.

Unfortunately, “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” and “Bei Xing’s Necklace” were both entirely CP-free, and even “God of Cooking” barely touched on romantic subplots. Many readers were now eagerly anticipating the potential romance between Si Yao and Experimental Subject 114 in the new book.

Besides, wouldn’t the love line in a horror setting be more exciting?

[Fish: Uh… The thing is, I’ve been thinking about it lately. I feel like my understanding of romance plots isn’t solid enough. I’m just not confident.]

Shaxs was stunned by Yu Mian’s unexpected reply after a moment of silence.

[Crispy Shark: Where did you see negative reviews from haters this time?! How could you not write romance well? Even now, some of the most iconic scenes from “Eternal Night Rose” are still being clipped and replayed nonstop…]

[Fish: Ahh, stop! Please, I beg you orz]

Yu Mian felt his face heat up just seeing “Eternal Night Rose”, recalling the utterly mortifying incident when he had invited Huo Ting to watch the movie, only for the driving scene to start playing right there in the theater.

[Fish: It’s not that I received any negative reviews. It’s mainly because I encountered a romance plot in the three-dimensional world and realized I’m actually not very good at romance.]

This made Yu Mian question his entire existence as a writer. He reflected on how he had managed to write romance lines before, and how he could drive so wildly.

Among the people he knew, Editor Shaxs wasn’t just his editor but also a good friend. Yu Mian wondered if Shaxs might have some different, useful advice in this area, so he couldn’t help but ask for a little guidance.

[Crispy Shark: Three-dimensional romance plot!?]

However, the hidden information in Yu Mian’s stammering explanation set off alarms in Shaxs’ mind.

[Crispy Shark: Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, is someone trying to start a three-dimensional romance with you?]

[Fish: ?]

Yu Mian did not expect Shaxs’ imagination…and typing speed to explode like this.

[Crispy Shark: This won’t do, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles! With how much you’re earning in royalties, that person could be after your money…or your good looks! One careless move and you’ll lose both love and wealth!]

If it were someone else, Shaxs might not have been so nervous. But when it came to his own author, Yu Mian, who had always quietly focused on writing, Shaxs became extremely anxious.

“Who is trying to kidnap my author away?”

“After my royalties?”

Yu Mian silently denied this possibility while flicking his fish tail and hugging the light brain.

[Fish: That’s unlikely…]

[Crispy Shark: How is that unlikely? Forget just the royalties, if you add up all your copyright earnings, it’s seriously impressive!]

[Fish: But if you think about it, wouldn’t that guy be more likely to get scammed instead? O.O]

Yu Mian suddenly remembered that Huo Ting’s bank card was still in his possession. The password and account number Huo Ting had given him back then seemed to have never been changed.

As for being seduced for his looks, Yu Mian had to admit that he had always liked Huo Ting’s appearance.

“Could it be that I really share the same taste as my parents?” [Fish Shocked.jpg]

[Crispy Shark: ?]

[Crispy Shark: Wait, could it be some mysterious fan? Don’t trust them! What if it’s all a scheme to trick you into writing a custom romance story!? [Shark Bites Fin in Horror.jpg]]

In his state of confusion, Shaxs started spouting sour nonsense.

[Fish: No, no, no. Although he does read my books, I knew him long before that. Besides, if we’re being honest, it’s kind of my responsibility.]

[Fish: Anyway… forget it. I’m not asking anymore. Editor, today’s update is already posted. I’ll also finish the manuscript for the next volume of “Rebirth Of The Interstellar Soldier King” by next month.]

In the end, Yu Mian chose to shut off his light brain and plunge headfirst into the water to cool down.

Only Editor Shaxs, a super career fan of Fish Soup Noodles, was left boiling with rage.

“Who is it?”

“Who dares try to steal away everyone’s Fish Soup Noodles!”