“This? Fish Soup Noodles’ new story is too outrageous. How could a mermaid appear in a fish tank?”
Ke Ke, who was the first to finish reading the beginning, struggled to control her expression as she tried to criticize the overly fantastical plot of this new book.
“Our mermaids usually hide in the deep sea and rarely show themselves, okay!”
What kind of game could be so powerful that it allowed players to personally raise a mermaid?
“But Ke Ke, he’s really so cute! Is this what all mermaid babies look like?”
“I can’t help but think about what name would suit this little fish best!”
However, the good friends around her had completely forgotten their initial skepticism, and started discussing potential names one after another.
After all, although the opening was shocking and unbelievable at first glance, the highly interactive plot made it incredibly immersive for readers.
Some even couldn’t help but imagine: What if this good thing happened to them one day?
Maybe I’ll be the next lucky chosen one!
In a way, Yu Mian’s new novel was practically a top level pit for the aquatic races, who were naturally fond of mermaids.
There was no resisting it at all.
“Hey, you guys have no principles at all, do you?”
Hearing the serious discussion about naming around her, Ke Ke started feeling a headache coming on.
This story was really deceptive.
It had effortlessly tricked everyone in!
At the same time, the employees of Taoyuan Studios, who had also rushed to read the newly short story, widened their eyes in shock.
“I think I finally understand why Teacher Fish Soup Noodles said that once this short story is released, everyone’s enthusiasm for the new game might skyrocket.”
After a long pause, Lina finally spoke up with a quiet sigh.
After all, who would have thought that the protagonist of the story, Zhu Yao would meet the mysterious mermaid through a pet-raising game app?
A protagonist who is a player, and another mermaid protagonist who is actually a character in the game…this kind of plot was truly unheard of.
“I originally thought it would be like many recent mermaid stories, where the protagonist accidentally encounters a mysterious mermaid by the sea.”
As expected, even when writing about a popular subject matter, Fish Soup Noodles’ novels always had completely unpredictable plot twists.
“Will he wake up?”
“If he wakes up, will there be more game interactions?”
As people working in the gaming industry, they couldn’t wait to turn the page and read what happened next.
[[Zhu Yao was initially extremely wary of this mysterious app.
However, when his gaze fell on the chibi-style little mermaid curled up in the fish tank, hugging his tail in deep sleep, his hand, which had been about to uninstall the app, suddenly paused.
He looked at the naming dialog box and the message stating that there was only one chance to name him. After hesitating for a long time, he refrained from entering something random.
It wasn’t until Zhu Yao got off the bus at his stop, carried his backpack and luggage all the way back to his grandmother’s house, and lay in bed late at night that he finally reopened the app.
He entered a name: “Zhu Yu,” and clicked confirm.
After all, wasn’t this game supposed to be about raising something?
This gave Zhu Yao the mentality of an old father, so he felt sharing a surname with him was perfectly normal.
But in the next second, he was startled as the screen erupted with bell chimes and confetti, displaying the message: You have officially loaded and started the game.
A string of system notifications appeared:
[Zhu Yu doesn’t seem to dislike this new name.]
[Favorability +1, current favorability: 1/100]
[Warm reminder: Unlocking more favorability and increasing various stats may trigger additional mysterious plot events and rewards!]]
At the moment when the novel’s protagonist, Zhu Yao, finished naming, countless book fans outside the story were so envious and amazed they wanted to bite their blankets.
[Wow, this guy is too smart! He actually used his own surname!]
[Okay, okay, I get it now. Next time I raise a fish, I’ll do the same.]
“Ah? This human is too cunning! He took advantage of the little fish still being asleep to sneak in his own surname!”
As for Ke Ke, she kept turning the pages and couldn’t help but express her opinions.
“But this method is great! Ke Ke, if you had a fish, it could be called Ke Yu!”
Her friend patted Ke Ke on the shoulder.
Ke Ke: “…”
Why did she suddenly feel a strange sense of excitement?
“And what’s with this favorability score? Why is it only at 1 point right now?”
“Doesn’t that mean the little fish isn’t close to us at all?!”
The newly introduced favorability system in the story naturally became the new focus of everyone’s attention.
How could the favorability be so low?
That was completely unacceptable!
Hurry up and think of a way to raise him quickly so we can see what other mysterious game plotlines could be unlocked!
[[The next morning, after naming the little fish, Zhu Yao got up to help his grandmother with chores. When he opened his light-brain device again, he was shocked to discover that the little fish in the Fish tank had actually woken up.
Just like his deep blue tail, the mermaid’s eyes were also a mysterious, dark blue.
However, at that moment, the little mermaid was trying to climb out of the fish tank!
“A forcibly bound in-game character can actually try to escape?”
Zhu Yao was incredulous and instinctively wanted to stop him, after all, it was obvious that a mermaid leaving the water would be dangerous.
But just as his finger touched the screen of his light-brain, a new system notification popped up:
[Your fish tank is too small. Zhu Yu felt extremely uncomfortable after waking up last night. You choose…]
[A: Recharge to buy a deluxe fish tank x1]
[B: Ignore]
Seeing the latest system prompt, Zhu Yao subconsciously opened the recharge page, only to find that the deluxe fish tank cost a whopping 288 game credits.
1 star coin = 1 game credit, and the first recharge had a limited-time double rebate, meaning he could upgrade successfully with just 144 credits!
Zhu Yao: “…”
Zhu Yao suddenly fell silent, feeling as if this mysterious app had finally revealed its true, sinister nature.
This was clearly a krypton pay-to-win game!
However, just as his rational mind urged him to firmly press option B, ignore it, and never open this app again, the little chibi mermaid in the fish tank, who had been touched through the screen, seemed to sense something.
He stared at Zhu Yao quietly and silently across the screen.
Zhu Yao: “…”]]
While the protagonist Zhu Yao in the book fell into deep hesitation, interstellar readers outside the story were very anxious.
[It’s just 288! You won’t lose money, you won’t get scammed, and there’s even a first-recharge double bonus! Rounding up, that’s basically free!]
[This is too cruel. If you never log in again, what if my baby starves to death? (Breaking into tears)]
[I order you to buy it,! This is so unfair! Some of us want to raise one but don’t even have the chance!]
Even though they were only reading text from a novel, those encountering this kind of pay-to-win raising game for the first time felt as if they were truly experiencing a fresh game interaction through Fish Soup Noodles’ story.
The real question was, who could resist recharging?!
After all, just imagining it, wasn’t it obvious that such a tiny fish tank was too uncomfortable for the little fish?
Did this guy even know how to raise fish?
If not, just let us do it, okay!
This overwhelming sense of envy, jealousy, and frustration among readers was so intense that it even led to an unexpected wave of tips in Yu Mian’s author column on the Huanyu Reading Platform.
[Starship reward x1] [Lilith: Buy it. For him.]
Lilith, who hadn’t been able to experience the thrill of reading an ongoing update for a long time, was so eager that when she reached this part, she practically wanted to charge into the book, grab Zhu Yao’s finger, and max out the in-game purchases for him.
As soon as Lilith’s tip and comment appeared, the comment section under the author’s column naturally erupted in response:
[Miss Lilith is covering the cost!!! Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, did you see that?! Hurry up and make Zhu Yao top up, TwT!]
[That’s right, we can’t stand seeing the little fish suffer, okay?]
[Hurry up and spend money, I want to see the favorability increase!]
And sure enough, the story developed in the exact direction everyone wanted to see.
[[At that moment of eye contact, the chibi-style little fish in the image flicked its tail in the water, and its hands gripping the edge of the fish tank slipped, causing it to almost fall heavily onto the ground.
Zhu Yao: !??
Zhu Yao’s hand trembled, and he subconsciously clicked on option A. A fireworks notification confirming the successful payment popped up.
Damn it, this is clearly forcing you to spend money, right?
As an ordinary university student in the Star Academy, he had just spent 144 on a virtual fish tank for a game.
Zhu Yao suddenly felt like he had lost his mind.
However, before he could even clutch his chest in regret, the magic of spending money unfolded.
The originally small fish tank was bathed in white light and upgraded into a luxurious water-feature fish tank, seamlessly catching Zhu Yu, who had been about to fall, into a much wider body of water.
With a soft “plop”, the fish tail submerged completely. The next second, the little guy surfaced again, shaking his tail, eyes widening slightly in curiosity and caution as he examined his new luxurious fish tank.
[The fish tank you purchased made Zhu Yu very happy. His tail can now be fully submerged in the water, and he can even swim back and forth.]
[Favorability +10, current favorability: 11]
Zhu Yao watched as the little guy happily swam around the spacious fish tank. The words “I will never spend another cent on this game” suddenly got stuck in his throat.
The sense of achievement was MAX, and somehow, spending money felt worth it?
[Favorability surpassed 10 points, successfully unlocking the communication panel. Say your first words to your little fish!]
Wait, he could talk to him now?
This game seemed… surprisingly decent.
After hesitating for a long while, Zhu Yao typed two words into the chat box: “Hello,” and clicked confirm.
The next second, the mermaid in the image seemed to have really heard him. The figure playing in the water paused slightly.
A full minute later, a chubby white translucent speech bubble appeared above his head: “…Who are you?”
For some reason, Zhu Yao’s heart skipped a beat from the cuteness.
Just as he was about to type a reply, a new system notification popped up.
[Daily chat limit reached. If you want to continue the conversation, please purchase a Small Megaphone: 50 Star Coins x1]
“…”
So Zhu Yao stared at the game screen as his little guy first looked around expectantly, only to gradually grow dejected upon realizing there was no response.
Before his brain could react, his fingers had already smoothly completed a series of recharge and payment operations.
[Congratulations! You have successfully purchased Small Megaphone x10!]
Finally realizing what he had just done, Zhu Yao: …This is a scam, this has to be a scam app! How did I end up buying another bundle?!
O皿O#[Holding head in disbelief.jpg]]
Meanwhile, outside the story, countless interstellar readers, after following along with Zhu Yao’s “reluctantly spending money but enjoying it” experience, had already flooded the book review sections with nonstop “hahahahahaha” comments.
[I’m dying of laughter, what is this? This nurturing game app in Fish Soup Noodle’s new story feels so evil.]
[I can’t stop reading, and this spending money thing is just unstoppable! If it were me, I’d probably have even less self-control than Zhu Yao. My balance would be maxed out in no time TwT]
No one dared to imagine what would happen if they actually got their hands on this game.
Just like how every book by Fish Soup Noodle always captivated its audience, this time, the in-story game had even managed to remotely manipulate everyone’s emotions.
After all, how could you bear to see the little fish cub look so disappointed?
That would be a heinous crime.
“Oh my god, this is terrifying. I would genuinely be willing to empty out all my saved-up pocket money for this. So where can I download this game? Does this game actually exist on Federation Star?”
Meanwhile, the aquatic-descendant readers along the coastline were just about to clutch their chests tremblingly from the overwhelming cuteness while willingly handing over their wallets.
Federation Star’s games… were actually this fun?
“But at least we haven’t gotten addicted. Don’t you all realize this game is actually really evil?”
Ke Ke’s expression turned odd.
Her grandmother had always warned that the outside world was complicated, and Ke Ke was now beginning to believe it.
Although she had initially planned to read critically, at this moment, Ke Ke had completely forgotten her original intent and instead found herself fully immersed in this new and fantastical story.
Since this was a nurturing game, when will our little mermaid finally grow up? And what would he look like when he did?
How could they max out the favorability system? And what special plotlines would be unlocked once they did?
It had been so long since a story had managed to make readers this curious from start to finish.
