And upon feeling the remaining pages, interstellar readers did breathe a sigh of relief.
Because this meant that Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ new story wasn’t over yet,there was still more to come.
At the same time, anyone who spotted someone in any corner of the universe reading a copy of the magazine would notice the tense yet eager way they flipped to the next page.
In the story, after repeatedly failing to reopen the “Ocean Mysteries” app, Zhu Yao finally packed up his belongings, preparing to leave the small town with a sense of loss.
When bidding farewell to his grandmother’s seafood shop and the dock workers he had helped during the summer, everyone hugged Zhu Yao warmly, reluctant to part with him.
Captain Glief from the dock even gave Zhu Yao, one of the rare young university students in town, a red envelope.
“You must come back next summer! Our fleet needs young university students like you!”
Captain Glief heartily patted Zhu Yao on the shoulder, which made Zhu Yao’s smile even more bitter.
In fact, much of his knowledge about the ocean had been learned while growing up and traveling the seas with Zhu Yu.
Not only did he gain firsthand understanding of more and more aquatic creatures, but he also became increasingly familiar with their habits and traits. His vast knowledge eventually won over the dock workers, who had initially dismissed him as just another young student.
As a result, even his summer job wages had increased significantly.
Unfortunately, it seemed he would no longer have any use for that bonus.
If the app were still working, he could have used that bonus to upgrade Zhu Yu’s fish tank to the highest-tier version.
With a backpack on his shoulders, Zhu Yao boarded the water train once more. Watching the sunset over the sea,just as stunning as when he had first arrived,he felt as if this summer had been nothing more than a dream.
A dream where he had witnessed the most magnificent ocean wonders and personally raised a mysterious mermaid.
Was Zhu Yu doing well in the game now?
Absentmindedly, he touched the scale hanging from his neck like a lucky charm and sank into deep thought.
After returning to school, Zhu Yao, whose major was in ecology, chose to specialize in marine ecology. By the time he graduated, his solid expertise earned him a spot in the most prestigious marine documentary production team in the universe, where he became a marine documentary producer.
His team traveled across the universe, capturing the breathtaking beauty of famous oceanic regions.
One day, as their ship passed through Kails Port on the Central Star, they happened to witness the spectacular sight of a massive whale expelling a mist of water, with a brilliant rainbow arching across the sky. The entire crew cheered excitedly and snapped photos.
But, Zhu Yao had seen this exact scene before,with Zhu Yu.
In fact, the visuals in the “Ocean Mysteries” app had been even more awe-inspiring than reality.
As memories of that summer resurfaced, Zhu Yao absentmindedly touched the dark blue scale hanging at his chest, only to find that it was gone!
His pupils contracted, and in the next second, he frantically searched his surroundings.
Had he lost the scale that Zhu Yu had left him?
Then wouldn’t that mean the last proof of the app’s existence had disappeared as well?]]
“Ahhh, what is going on? How did the scale disappear too?”
“This is bad! I don’t even dare turn the page now! Is Teacher Fish Soup Noodles really giving us a B.E this time?”
At this moment, the young aquatic descendants felt an unbearable feeling in their hearts.
Although watching Zhu Yao grow and transform after the app’s disappearance had been deeply gratifying, the more he thrived, the more readers intensely missed Zhu Yu, who had once accompanied him through mountains, lakes, and seas.
From a tiny mermaid who slept in the fish tank with his tail in his arms at the beginning, to a grown one who could hold Zhu Yao’s hand and swim through the ocean, everyone had long since developed deep feelings for Zhu Yu.
“Damn it! If Zhu Yao could enter the game and become a mermaid, then why couldn’t Zhu Yu come to the real world and grow legs?!”
Even Ke Ke forgot her initial wariness and couldn’t help but change her stance.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Zhu Yu could step out of the game?
The moment Ke Ke voiced her frustration, she suddenly noticed everyone who had flipped to the next page staring at the magazine with wide eyes, before they excitedly turned their faces toward her.
“Ke Ke… D-did you secretly read Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ manuscript?!”
[[As Zhu Yao continued his frantic search, he run back to his cabin bedroom, only to suddenly freeze in place.
There was the sound of water coming from the bathroom?
Holding his breath, he gripped the doorknob and, with a “click”, instantly pushed the door open.
There, in the bathtub, the dark blue fish tail he had seen countless times in his dreams was swaying gently.
And Zhu Yu was leaning against the edge of the bathtub, smiling at him.
“Zhu Yu?!”
Zhu Yao lunged toward the bathtub and embraced him tightly despite the splashing water.
The fish tail that Zhu Yu had once been unwilling to let anyone touch now gently curled around Zhu Yao’s side.
[Congratulations, player!! The hidden secret ending after full favorability has been successfully unlocked. Thank you for your in-game purchases and experience~]
The long-vanished game notification sounded once more, and the “Mermaid Care Manual” displayed its final rule.
It turned out that for someone they truly liked, a mermaid would give them their most beautiful scale.
^o^
Congratulations! You have received the mermaid’s most precious gift!]]
As this cute and magical short story came to an end, everyone realized that the final page of Star Beast World’s “Mysteries Of The Ocean” special issue actually contained an exclusive custom gift.
It was none other than the same mermaid scale necklace that Zhu Yu had given Zhu Yao in the story.
“There’s really a scale necklace!”
Ke Ke immediately picked up the necklace, staring at the radiant, fan-shaped scale in her hands with disbelief.
It was unknown what material it was made of, but its color and texture were exactly the same as Zhu Yu’s scale described in the book, dark blue like the starry sky over the ocean, reflecting different hues of starlight from different angles.
“This is too beautiful… Are mermaid scales really like this?”
The friends gathered around, murmuring in awe as they gazed at the scale necklace.
Even though none of them had ever seen a real mermaid scale, they suddenly felt that if mermaids still existed, their scales might truly be this breathtaking and cool to the touch.
Damn it, now they suddenly wanted to buy ten or eight copies of this issue all at once, what to do?
How could just one mermaid scale necklace be enough for everyone’s collection?!
As for the countless peers in the magazine industry, after reading this peculiar ocean-themed short story about a fish-raising game and then touched the complimentary gift at the end of the magazine, they knew without thinking:
This issue of “Star Beast World” was going to sell out again.
Who would have thought that such a theme could be used to write a short story about the deep sea?
In a way, Yu Mian’s new short story was the perfect way to conclude Star Beast World’s “Mysteries Of The Ocean” special edition.
After all, beyond the extraordinary encounter between the two protagonists, the countless lovely creatures and the majestic natural wonders in the book’s vast, mysterious ocean had definitely ignited endless fascination and anticipation for the ocean world among many interstellar readers.
The blue oceans across the various star systems were undoubtedly the most dazzling sapphires gifted to the universe by nature.
[Most importantly, when will it be my turn for my light brain to glitch too?! I want to meet my own little mermaid and explore the ocean world together! [crying_face.jpg]]
[Exactly! After reading the entire story, I feel ridiculously powerful, like I’ve become an expert in mermaid care! So when are they sending me a fish?!]
Of course, after reading the short story, countless interstellar readers flooded the comment section of Star Beast World’s official account, demanding their own fish.
Teacher Fish Soup Noodles, how could you write such a dreamy story, it leaves us tossing and turning all night, thinking:
When will we get to live a life with a fish too? When will we become part of the “Fish Raising Clan”?
Shouldn’t we be given a fish to raise as well?!
Not to mention that in the end, Zhu Yu personally gifted a mermaid scale with such a special meaning, leaving many interstellar readers grinning non-stop after finishing the story. And for the countless aquatic-descendant readers, this was a top-tier sweet and satisfying story.
After all, who could resist a custom-made ocean romance about “a mysterious mermaid falling in love with me”?
Absolutely no one!
Seeing the overwhelming response from readers, Yu Mian simply went ahead and released several extra side stories on StarBlog, filling in the romance arc that couldn’t be fully explored in the magazine.
Fish Soup Noodles, who was dedicated to showering readers with sweetness for a hundred years, successfully turned the entire comment section into a feast, where countless fish fans were practically howling as if they had reverted to their ancestors.
Readers from outer star systems went to great lengths to sneak in just to get a taste of the freshest and hottest meal.
As a result, the team at Star Beast World soon noticed that, when tallying up the avalanche of orders, the largest purchasing demographic for this issue turned out to be from the neighboring water star systems!
These readers weren’t just buying one or two copies, they were ordering in dozens, even hundreds at a time, as if Fish Soup Noodles’ new mermaid story had an addictive effect on them.
The mermaid scale necklace included as a bonus with the book was extremely popular in the outer star systems. There were even reports of people frantically searching for agents to buy them, with no purchase limit.
“Could it be that Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ mermaid scale necklace is just that aesthetically perfect for these water planet readers?”
The magazine team couldn’t help but be curious.
After all, the necklace’s model and design were indeed based on a reference image sent by Fish Soup Noodles, only the color was different.
The one in the model reference was an incredibly beautiful light gold scale, whereas Zhu Yu’s scale in the book was dark blue.
“But it really is stunning. Aren’t you all curious how breathtaking an actual fish tail like this would be?”
An editor propped their chin on their hand, unable to resist fantasizing while gazing at the lucky scale.
Of course, with this issue’s booming sales, nearly every interstellar reader now owned a mermaid scale necklace.
Some of the younger readers even wholeheartedly believed that these were real mermaid scales shed during their growth stages.
On star network, it had become trendy to post check-in photos by the sea while wearing a mermaid scale necklace, just like Zhu Yao in the book.
Or, like the fanatical Ernis, who posted a whole desk full of mermaid scale necklaces, earning millions of likes.
[By the way, since this scale is so pretty, why not release some chibi mermaid plushies as merchandise? They could have this scale sewn onto their tails,wouldn’t that be adorable?!]
After seeing so many of these posts, a lot of readers started hoping that the Star Beast World team would release mermaid plushies for them to buy.
Though among the countless photos of mermaid scales being shown off, one nearly included a real one by accident.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Yu Mian swiftly pressed down on Huo Ting’s hand as he attempted to open the box, and stared at him silently, as if he had caught him doing something childish.
“…Nothing.”
Caught red-handed, Huo Ting cleared his throat lightly and closed the box nonchalantly.
Yu Mian narrowed his eyes. “Really?”
For once, Huo Ting had no ground to stand on. “Really.”
But in that brief moment of eye contact, a smile flickered in his eyes.
“It’s just… the real scale is even more beautiful.”
Huo Ting attempted to cover up his tracks with a quiet explanation.
Secretary Hals, who was nearby, was one step away from facepalming, but at the same time, he was relieved that Young Master Yu Mian had finally caught on and put a stop to it.
He knew all too well that this was the only real scale in the entire universe. Looking at it for half the day at home was one thing, but posting it on star network… that was best avoided.
Otherwise, it was simply unimaginable what consequences might occur.
What many people didn’t expect was that after the explosive success of Star Beast World’s “Mysteries Of The Ocean” finale, a group of critics emerged, unable to accept the overwhelming popularity and actively looking for flaws in the article.
Unlike the disgruntled staff at “Star Beast World” magazine, Yu Mian remained calm. “This is normal, so there’s no need to worry.”
Just like the pandas on Earth back then, they were so cute and popular that even they had black fans.
As an author’s popularity grows, different opinions are inevitable, and a work will be subjected to more scrutiny and judgment.
Yu Mian believed that the depictions of jellyfish, pufferfish, whales, and other aquatic creatures in the article were carefully designed based on extensive research, making it difficult to find any real errors or inconsistencies.
For this reason, when Yu Mian habitually opened his light brain to write and suddenly saw the hot search “#FishSoupNoodlesDoesn’tUnderstandMermaids!#” he froze for a moment, caught off guard.
Stop talking. The fish is thinking. How did they even come up with this bizarre angle?
