ICTEUWMN Chapter 7

Not long after Huo Yan successfully made his call, a booming voice suddenly rang out from the fishing pier in the East Coast Resort:

“What? That brat Huo Ting wants to throw away the aquarium?”

Huo Yuejiang, now in his seventies but still robust, was gripping his fishing rod when he heard the news over the light brain and he nearly jumped to his feet in anger.

“I’ve said it before! That conch shell was a gift from a mermaid couple back then. I’m not so senile as to forget something like that!”

“In any case, the aquarium and conch shell are absolutely not to be thrown away. If Huo Ting has a problem, he can come talk to me himself.”

When Secretary Munir on the other end of the light brain confirmed the order, Huo Yuejiang almost blew his beard out in anger.

Soon, another voice came through the light brain. This time, it was Huo Yan’s chirping, incessant chatter.

“Alright, alright. Grandpa will bring you all some goodies when I get back.”

Hearing Huo Yan’s voice, Huo Yuejiang’s face lit up with a broad smile, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling with joy.

“This little brat is terrified of his cousin. He doesn’t dare confront Huo Ting, but he’s smart enough to come to me,” he said with a chuckle.

The elderly woman not far away couldn’t help but smile when she overheard the exchange.

It was no secret in the family that Huo Yan feared nothing except his cousin. The elders found this amusing and were more than happy to let it be.

“Who would’ve thought that after staying here so long, he’s not interested in much but took a fancy to your aquarium,” she remarked.

Huo Yuejiang, however, defended himself with conviction:

“That aquarium is beautiful and fun! It’s just that stubborn Huo Ting who doesn’t like it.”

Unfortunately, his wife was unconvinced.

“Even if you stop it now, it’ll be easy for Huo Ting to deal with Huo Yan when he gets back. After all, this all started because of your antics back then.”

As he fished, Huo Yuejiang couldn’t help but reminisce about the fateful sea voyage of his youth.

Back then, during a seemingly ordinary outing, he unintentionally ventured into an unfamiliar deep-sea area where the weather turned dangerously treacherous. Just when his ship was on the verge of sinking, he was unexpectedly rescued by a mermaid couple.

At first, he thought he was hallucinating. But it turned out they were indeed a very beautiful pair of mermaids, just like the myths and legends described.

They even chatted for a while once the danger had passed. During the conversation, Huo Yuejiang couldn’t resist showing them a photo he kept close to his heart—his grandson, Huo Ting.

In the picture, young Huo Ting hadn’t yet grown up. He looked adorably serious wearing a military uniform.

To his surprise, the mermaid couple adored the photo so much that, half-jokingly, they gifted him a conch shell and suggested a betrothal between their children.

However, they vanished without a trace afterward.

Despite using the conch as a clue, his entire secretarial team scoured records and surveillance of the main star’s waters from that day but found nothing. It was as if the young mermaid couple had never existed.

At times, Huo Yuejiang wondered if it had all been just a dream.

“Ah, if that brat insists on throwing it away when he gets back, so be it,” he sighed.

If that memory were real, even without any deeper meaning, wouldn’t it be nice for the children to meet and simply become friends?

—

Meanwhile, Yu Mian was completely unaware of how long he had been asleep.

He only felt dazed, his dreams filled with strange and vivid scenarios.

He dreamt of his childhood, being led onto a ship by his carefree parents, only to cry and hide in their arms when the sea breeze messed up his hair.

He dreamt of growing older, seeing his parents less often, but occasionally receiving letters and trinkets from their sea voyages.

The letters contained all sorts of things—beautiful shells, small beads, and other odd little treasures, all would be sent back.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t received a letter in a long time…

Wait!

Hadn’t he died from overwork while writing?

Realizing something was wrong, Yu Mian finally opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the intricate pattern of a conch shell.

With a flick of his tail and a shake of his head, he noticed that he seemed to have been sleeping inside the conch for quite a while.

He was a fish again, back in the aquarium? He had not left this small world after all?

Had the task not failed?

[Ding Dong—]

[The initial mission “Starlight Spark”, Phase 1, complete! Unlocking basic tutorial for exploring the small world: Mental Power Basics.]

[Additional Warning! Popularity points contain 73% blackening value, and data is rising rapidly. Tasker, please address this immediately to avoid unknown risks of failure!]

As soon as Yu Mian woke up, a series of reward notifications appeared in his mind.

‘Mental Power Basics?’

‘And there was a blackening value to deal with?’

He noticed a small ball of golden mist in his mind. When he focused on it, the mist began to flow, and when he directed it toward his tail…

Splash!

The water churned violently as he transformed.

“It really changed back!”

Now familiar with the transformation technique, Yu Mian happily pressed against the aquarium wall, swishing his light golden tail.

This reward was incredibly useful!

If this was just the beginner guide, would there be advanced levels?

For example, turning his tail back into legs?

He tried focusing all the mist on his tail again, but it was clearly insufficient. Just maintaining the flow was already difficult.

“Well, one can’t be too greedy when cooking fish,” he muttered as he tapped the water’s surface with his tail.

Now he had a rough idea of how to use his mental power, but the meaning of the blackening value was still unclear…

“Hey! You’re awake? How do you feel?”

The fish watching from the side shouted in surprise.

Hearing the excited voices nearby, Yu Mian looked around and only then did he notice that a school of fish had left some cute fish food near his conch shell.

“I feel much better. Thank you.”

Yu Mian’s words of gratitude immediately made the school of fish a little bashful.

“Ahem, it’s nothing, really.”

“But that little two-legged beast you ran into seems to have successfully driven away those old two-legged beasts planning to move the aquarium!”

“Exactly! No two-legged beast has come to the study since then. It seems to have been locked up.”

‘Right, the aquarium.’

Yu Mian finally noticed that the study had returned to its usual quiet state, and the aquarium was still quietly placed at the center.

Could it really be that the little water bottle he saw that day had helped?

He didn’t even mention his existence to anyone?

And then there was the matter of his serialized novel.

If the study was locked and no one was around, wasn’t this the perfect time to hurry and write updates while stockpiling drafts?

“But you’ve been asleep for five days. Aren’t you hungry?”

The fish watched as Yu Mian left the aquarium again and returned to that strange light brain device. This time, they weren’t particularly surprised but instead showed concern.

?

“Huh? I’ve been asleep for five days?”

Yu Mian, who was in the middle of activating the light brain, froze upon hearing this question.

“Yes, five whole days. If your tail hadn’t been flicking occasionally, we would’ve thought something had happened to you!”

The fish confirmed this with certainty, and Yu Mian was shocked.

At this moment, as Yu Mian logged into the author’s backend, he suddenly felt like things had become far more thrilling.

Could this be the blackening value that the system mentioned?

After all, as the author, he knew the plot’s development very well.

The beginning chapters he had updated left the plot at an emotional volcanic point.

Due to a shocking misunderstanding, the two protagonists signed a contract and had a wedding by accident.

Both had developed deep misunderstandings about each other.

Gu Bai, burdened by his mother’s medical bills, had reluctantly agreed to the arrangement. He also felt disheartened, mistakenly believing he had overestimated a close friend’s feelings.

Meanwhile, Caesar, the prideful blonde tsundere CEO, was sulking angrily, bitterly resenting his misplaced first love.

This heart-wrenching narrative cliffhanger was impossible for any reasonable person to endure.

And yet, as the author, he had arrogantly stopped updating for five whole days at such a crucial point!

Reader blackening seemed entirely understandable.

But what exactly did 73% blackening mean? Was it the level of anger where they wanted to scatter his ashes?

Even so, Yu Mian was stunned when he opened the book’s page and saw the data that popped up.

Collections: 329,760

Comments: 178,790

Achievements: No. 1 on the New Stellar List

Were the task rewards so generous because he’d completed them so well?

And with only 30,000 words posted, this was just the most basic recommendation list for newcomers, yet it had already garnered over 320,000 collections.

The comments section was even more terrifying, with more than 170,000 comments.

At this point, Yu Mian was really shocked, but when he looked at the rewards page, he started doubting his own eyes.

A total of more than 300,000 Star Points in tips?

Wow, were interstellar readers this generous? Even an unsigned, unknown book received such big rewards.

Clicking further, Yu Mian discovered that the bulk of the tips came from a single person.

However, this only seemed to spell more trouble.

The readers enthusiastically supported the book with tips, but the stupid author disappeared for five days…

This really did feel like taking the money and running!

Yu Mian broke into a cold sweat, feeling like his five days of unconsciousness had transformed him into an interstellar literary scammer.

A scammer who used a few tens of thousands of words to hook interstellar readers’ enthusiasm and emotions before vanishing into thin air.

[Merit -100,000]

He had to deal with this blackening issue immediately.

In fact, the comments section after five days was indeed a chaotic mess.

New readers, drawn by recommendations from various channels, had clicked in out of curiosity or boredom.

The moment they finished reading, their worldview was completely shattered.

Just like the first wave of readers five days ago, their brains were exploding.

They flocked to the comments section, chirping like sparrows as they debated the plot and the two protagonists.

Meanwhile, the older readers who had been stuck in the pit for five days were too numb to join the newbies. They were busy frantically speculating why there were no updates.

Had the author suffered a heart attack and decided to retire?

Or had some accident occurred—or maybe they simply forgot their account password?

Either way, it was absolutely unacceptable to stop updating for five days!

[No one understands how I survived these five days. There wasn’t even an update alert, yet I kept refreshing like a madman!]

[I planned to finish my exams and come back to binge-read, but I cried when I saw not a single update. Author, where are you!?]

The more impatient ones had already begun questioning Yu Mian’s motives and identity.

[I’m starting to suspect this author is a mole sent by a rival platform. They wrote a few chapters, left us desperate, and disappeared. Now, even seeing the icon of the Huanyu Reading Platform gives me a headache! (Frustrated]

Even the headquarters of the Huanyu Reading Platform had been alerted.

Because over these five days, their customer service department had received countless identical complaints.

The hotline was nearly blown up by these relentless readers!

“Hello, is this the Huanyu Editorial Department? The novel I’m reading hasn’t been updated for a long time. Did you forget to publish the author’s drafts? Is your server made of potatoes? I want to file a complaint!”