Million-Gold Pet Fish

For a moment, Li Yu thought he was hearing things.

He waited and waited, but he didn't seem to be turning back into a human.

Not only had he failed to change back, some inexplicable system had popped up. Apparently, it was called the... Cute Pet System?

The instant Li Yu thought of that name, a light flashed before his eyes, and two lines of large, shimmering gold text appeared out of nowhere.

The system voice that had prompted him earlier spoke up. "Host, please select main quests or side quests."

Li Yu blinked. He seemed to have stumbled into a system by accident.

Since this system called him its host, it had to be his very own cheat ability. So he hadn't turned into a fish for nothing, after all. He was still a fish and hadn't managed to become human again, but now that he had a cheat ability, perhaps following the system's instructions would lead him to a way to change back?

He remembered the earlier notification saying he'd completed the first step of a certain main quest...

Out of habit, Li Yu tried to tap the words "Main Quests" as though he were using a touchscreen. But what was perfectly ordinary for a human wasn't so easy for a fish: his fins were too short to reach.

Li Yu fluttered his fins anxiously, wishing he could just tap it. Suddenly, "Main Quests" flashed twice on its own and expanded into several lines of text.

Li Yu: Got it. No hands required. He could operate this system just by thinking.

Of the lines beneath "Main Quests," only the top one was lit up. All the others were dim. They presumably represented the different main quests.

Desperate to become human again, Li Yu skimmed their titles. Every single one involved fish. Not a human in sight.

Besides "The Tyrant's Million-Gold Pet Fish," which he'd already heard of, there were "The Tyrant Raises a Fish to Revitalize His Family," "Postpartum Care for a Fish," and so on and so forth. Each looked more baffling than the last.

The one glowing at the top was "Million-Gold Pet Fish." He could select it to see the details, but the other quests were unavailable for now.

With no other choice, Li Yu selected it dispiritedly. A description and progress tracker for "The Tyrant's Million-Gold Pet Fish" immediately popped up.

He read the description first. It was ridiculously simple: become a pet fish beloved by the tyrant. The title was a little clickbaity, but the quest certainly lived up to the name Cute Pet System.

Wait. Was he overlooking something?

The word "tyrant" kept appearing everywhere, but he still didn't know who this tyrant was.

As though sensing his confusion, the system instantly brought up a transparent, three-dimensional frame with rose petals drifting around it. Inside was Prince Jing's outrageously handsome face.

So Prince Jing was the tyrant.

Li Yu grinned. Had "First Meeting with the Tyrant" been marked complete simply because he'd met Prince Jing?

Come to think of it, Prince Jing merely looked cold and didn't like talking. Why did the system call him a tyrant?

This time, the system gave no response. Prince Jing's handsome face remained in the frame, unchanged.

Was this... its way of telling him to keep tapping?

After a moment's thought, Li Yu poked at Prince Jing's cheek from a distance with the tip of his tail.

This time, the system produced some additional information.

The swirling rose petals arranged themselves into a description of Prince Jing. His name was Mu Tianchi, and he was the fifth son of the Emperor of Great Chu. He had been born unable to speak.

Li Yu: "..."

So Prince Jing's name was—Mu. Tian. Chi??

Li Yu felt as though he'd been struck by lightning. No wonder the title Prince Jing had sounded familiar the first time he'd heard it. No wonder Prince Jing was so unusually quiet compared with Wang Xi and Xiao Linzi. He'd been too busy trying to stay alive to make the connection then, but now he finally knew what he'd gotten himself into!

He couldn't have been more familiar with the name Mu Tianchi. Wasn't that the male lead of The Tyrant and His Delicate Little Consort, a web novel he'd stayed up late reading out of sheer boredom? A cold, sinister tyrant who would have all nine clans of someone's kin exterminated at the slightest displeasure, yet was also a little pitiable because he'd been born unable to speak.

He'd transmigrated into a novel—with a system!

Don't ask why he'd ended up as a fish in a novel about a tyrant. Don't ask why a tyrant novel had saddled him with a Cute Pet System, either, or why every quest was about fish. The answer was—

"You've already transmigrated, so you might as well accept your fate. They say keeping pets makes people more loving. Your purpose here is to reform the tyrant male lead." The system leisurely sent him an audio message.

Li Yu: "..."

He'd known this system was up to no good!

He had absolutely no desire to do these bizarre quests. What if he refused? Could it really force him?

The system promptly replied, "The Cute Pet System cannot force its host. However, if the host fails to complete the quests, he will never be able to become human for the rest of his life."

Li Yu: What?! So dying really won't send me back?

"No," the system said with absolute certainty. "If you cannot become human, you will have only a fish's lifespan. In the end, you will become fish bones and ashes."

Li Yu: ...Then what if I abandon the quests?

The system: "You will immediately become fish bones and ashes."

Li Yu was ready to start swearing. How the fuck was that not coercion with extra steps?

The system reiterated, "The Cute Pet System will not force its host..."

Li Yu: Could you stop repeating the same damn line?!

Li Yu didn't want to become fish bones and ashes, and he still had no interest in reforming a tyrant. All he wanted to know was exactly what he had to do to become human again.

The system: "Once you have progressed far enough through the main quests, one of the steps will involve becoming human again."

Li Yu: That's more like it... Fine. It's just a main quest, right? I'll do it.

Despite his show of indifference, he knew perfectly well that he couldn't gamble with his life. The Cute Pet System had been right about one thing: he'd already transmigrated. Since this system was the cheat ability that had come with his journey into the novel, and could appear in his mental world, he ought to trust it.

Having decided to do the quests, Li Yu calmed down and began seriously studying "Million-Gold Pet Fish," the quest currently in progress.

The quest was divided into several steps. The first, "First Meeting with the Tyrant," was already complete. The second, "Interacting with the Tyrant," was glowing. Nothing appeared after that. Apparently, the next step wouldn't be displayed until he completed the second.

...What a stingy system. It wouldn't even give him a more detailed hint. Interact with the tyrant? How was he supposed to do that?

Prince Jing was a prince. He was just a fish from the palace kitchen, destined for the dinner table. What connection could the two of them possibly have? Li Yu was getting worried. Was he supposed to turn himself into fish soup or braised fish, get served up on a plate, and let Prince Jing eat him?

The system: "Use your brain. Put your heart into it."

Li Yu: "..."

Why did he get the feeling this bastard of a system was mocking him?

Unable to make any sense of the absurd main quest, Li Yu's eyes shifted as he remembered to check the side quests.

Side quests were, by definition, optional. Anyone who'd played an online game knew they generally weren't too difficult and could offer generous rewards. With the main quest this ridiculous, perhaps he could find a clue in the side quests instead.

Li Yu selected the side quests and found that every title beneath the heading was dim, indicating that he couldn't attempt any of them yet.

For instance, one of the side quests was—

"Becoming a Koi."

That looked pretty good. If he had to be a fish for now, surely being a koi was better than being an ordinary carp destined for the cooking pot?

Even an idiot knew koi had fantastic luck. Why was a quest like that unavailable?

The system: "All side quests have prerequisites. They can only be undertaken once those prerequisites have been met."

Li Yu: What are the prerequisites for the koi quest?

The system: "Complete the main quest—Million-Gold Pet Fish."

Li Yu: ...Fuck!! So there's really no getting around this pet-fish thing?!

The system: "Correct."

Li Yu thought that he was a man, yet he had to become another man's pet fish. And this man had a terrible temper and couldn't speak. Wasn't that asking a bit much?

He didn't even know what the rewards for completing the quest were. If they weren't any good, wouldn't he be getting a raw deal?

Li Yu: Then what rewards do I get for completing Million-Gold Pet Fish? There are rewards... right?

The system: "Yes. You have completed the first step, and your tail strength has been enhanced. Please use it with care. The reward for completing the second step is a personal storage space in which you may store items. Further rewards will be revealed as the quest updates."

Li Yu's eyes lit up. He couldn't tell yet what good a stronger fish tail would do him, but a personal storage space? That was great! He could keep things in it. Life as a fish was terribly inconvenient. He'd better get over his embarrassment and get on with the quest!

As he came to that conclusion, the system reminded him that it was time to exit.

...

Li Yu regained consciousness and opened his fish eyes to find himself lying in a blue-and-white porcelain bowl filled with water.

His conversation with the system had taken place in his mental world, invisible from outside. In reality, the large white cat's bite and his prolonged time out of water had left him unconscious for two hours.

A wave of pain passed through him. The wound from the white cat's bite hadn't healed yet. Li Yu looked around in confusion.

He remembered nearly battering his tail to pieces before he lost consciousness, without anyone answering his cries for help. He should still have been lying on the floor tiles. How had he ended up somewhere else?

Whatever had happened, he needed to recover from his injuries and figure out where he was. He also had to find Prince Jing as soon as possible and complete the interaction step.

With his thoughts in order, Li Yu began carefully examining the world inside the bowl.

This blue-and-white porcelain bowl was much nicer than the pitch-dark fish basket he'd first found himself in after transmigrating. There was no smell of cooking grease from the palace kitchen, either. It was bright and airy, but the rim was rather high from his perspective. Looking up, he could see only a patch of ceiling. Small as that patch was, he could still tell that the room had carved beams and painted rafters. Clearly, he was somewhere luxurious now.

The water was very clear, and as far as he could see, he was the only fish. Beside him grew several emerald-green aquatic plants, swaying gently with the water.

Beneath him lay a bed of snow-white pebbles. Li Yu examined them: every pebble was round and smooth, its sharp edges worn away. Lying on them didn't hurt at all. This was actually a fine place to recover.

Li Yu intended to pull a leaf off one of the aquatic plants. But after a good deal of awkward maneuvering, he found that merely holding the plant steady with both fins was difficult enough, never mind using those fins like hands to tear off a leaf. Nothing he tried worked.

Suddenly, he remembered what the system had said about strengthening his tail. Perhaps he could try using that?

Without much hope, Li Yu flicked his tail at the plant.

Sss! Ow, ow, ow!!

The motion tugged at his wound, and Li Yu grimaced in pain, regretting his rashness.

After that sweep of his tail, nothing seemed to have changed. Li Yu thought the system had been feeding him a fish story. Just then, a lush green leaf drifted slowly down and settled on his head.

Excited, Li Yu glanced at his tail, then tried gripping the severed leaf in his mouth and tugging it down. Once it covered most of his fish body, he lay down on his bed of white stones.

Recovering from an injury called for a blanket. He'd rest a little longer and get his energy back. Once he felt a bit better, he'd go find Prince Jing.

He didn't know how long he'd slept before a faint creak reached his ears.

Li Yu recognized the sound of a door opening. Someone must have entered the room he was in.

Whoever had come in was the person who had finally rescued him and placed him in the porcelain bowl.

The bowl contained water, aquatic plants, and rounded pebbles. It looked like a fishbowl no matter how he considered it. Anyone who'd gone to the trouble of arranging all this probably meant to keep him, not eat him.

Who... could it be?

The sound of unhurried footsteps drew closer. For some reason, Li Yu found himself looking forward to it.

He tilted his head up a little and waited. Before long, a face of unparalleled beauty appeared above the fishbowl.

Li Yu: !!!

Oh my God. Wasn't this—his quest target, Prince Jing, Mu Tianchi??

...So Prince Jing was the one who'd saved him?

Li Yu was both astonished and delighted. Talk about having exactly what he needed drop right into his lap!

Deep down, he'd never quite gotten over his resistance to becoming a pet fish. But faced with both his savior and his quest target, he could put up with it!

What was a proper pet fish... supposed to do again?

Please his owner and make him happy!

With his aquatic-leaf blanket still perched on his head, Li Yu gave his head a shake and ingratiatingly blew a tiny, clear bubble at Prince Jing.

I'm such a cute little fish. Please don't chop off my head, okay?

Author's Note:

Mini-Theater (Blowing Bubbles)

Li Yu: Blow (let's) some (play) bubbles (together).

Prince Jing: Come—eat—me.

Li Yu shakes his head: No, no! It's blow (let's) some (play) bubbles (together).

Prince Jing: So—very—tasty.

Prince Jing: I know you can't wait for me to eat you.

Li Yu: ...