Chapter 3 - Priceless Pet Fish

For a moment, Li Yu thought he was imagining things. But sometime had passed, and it didn't seem like he was turning back into a human. Not only did he not change, some random "system" had popped up. It seemed to be called…Moe Pet System? No sooner than he'd thought that, two rows of large golden words appeared before his eyes.The system that had spoken up moments ago chimed in again,without his prompting: ‹User, please select main quest or side quest.› Li Yu blinked. It seemed he had accidentally entered a system.The system called him "user," so this was his personal golden finger, a cheat code for his transmigration. At least this meant his transformation into a fish hadn't been for nothing. Although he was still a fish and hadn't transformed back into a human, as long as he had this golden finger, perhaps he could find a way to get back to normal if he followed the system's instructions?The previous prompt had said he had completed the first step of the main quest…Out of habit, Li Yu tried to tap the words "main quest" as he would on a touch screen, but what was a routine action for a human was quite achallenge for a fish. His fins were too short to reach. He flapped his finsrather desperately, thinking, if only he could tap it…when suddenly, the main quest flashed of its own accord, expanding into several lines of text. Got it. I don't need to touch anything with this system. I can control it using my thoughts. All the text under the main quest was dark, except for the very top line, which was lit up. Each line probably corresponded to a different main quest. With the desperate desire to turn back into a human thrumming through his veins, Li Yu skimmed through each main quest. They were all about fish. There was nothing about humans.Other than "Tyrant's Priceless Pet Fish," which he had seen already, there was also "Tyrant's Pet Fish for Revitalizing the Family," "Postpartum Care for Fish," etc. It got more and more ridiculous as he read on. But the only one he could access was the top most one, which glowed: "Tyrant's Priceless Pet Fish."Li Yu had no other choice but to tap on it, albeit reluctantly. The progress bar and description for "Tyrant's Priceless Pet Fish" immediately popped up.First, he looked through the description. It was super simple. All he needed to do was become the tyrant's beloved pet fish. Although it was alittle clickbaity, it at least matched the name of the system: Moe Pet System.Wait, wasn't he forgetting something? This "tyrant" kept coming up,but he still had no idea who that was supposed to be.The system seemed to sense his confusion, and a transparent window popped out, surrounded by swirling rose petals. The window displayed Prince Jing's frustratingly handsome face.The tyrant was Prince Jing.Li Yu cracked a smile. So he'd completed "First Meeting with theTyrant" when he encountered Prince Jing? Sure, this Prince Jing lookedpretty cold and didn't speak much, but why did the system have to call him a tyrant? The system had no response this time. Prince Jing's handsome face remained unchanged in the pop-up.D-did this mean he had to continue tapping?After some pondering, he poked Prince Jing's face with his tail. The system popped up with another prompt. The fluttering rose petals automatically reconfigured into a blurb about Prince Jing. He was the fifth son of the emperor of Great Chu, Mu Tianchi, and was born with a speech impediment. He couldn't talk.Prince Jing was…Mu…Tian…Chi??? Li Yu felt like he had been struck by lightning. No wonder PrinceJing's name seemed so familiar. No wonder Prince Jing was way too quiet compared to Wang Xi or Xiaolinzi. Li Yu had been so preoccupied with running for his life that he didn't realize it at the time, but now he finally knew which book he had fallen into! He knew the name Mu Tianchi very well indeed. He was the male lead from a webnovel Li Yu had stayed up all night to read when he wasbored: The Tyrant and His Delicate Concubine. Mu Tianchi was a cold,ruthless tyrant who wouldn't hesitate to slaughter someone's entire family ifhe was displeased. But because he was mute, he still inspired a little pity.Li Yu had transmigrated into a novel, with a system!Never mind that this was a book about a tyrant, why did he transmigration into a fish? Let's not worry about tyrants for now; why did he get paired up with the "Moe Pet System," and why were all his quests about fish…?The system cut in with a voice message, speaking slowly. ‹You'vealready transmigrated, so you might as well accept your fate. The purpose of your existence is to help improve the tyrannical male lead's personality.Apparently, having a pet can help cultivate one's tender, caring side.›Li Yu was dumbfounded. He knew this system had ulterior motives!He didn't want to do these weird tasks at all! Was the system going to force him to do them even if he didn't want to?The system answered immediately: ‹The Moe Pet System will notforce its user, but if the user does not complete the quests, then you will never turn back into a human.›‹What?! I can't go back even if I die?›‹You can't.› The system's voice held a note of finality. ‹Failing toregain human form means retaining the life span of a fish. In the end, a fishwill turn into fish bones and fish ash.›‹…What if I choose not to do these quests at all?› asked Li Yu.‹You will turn into fish bones and fish ash. Immediately.›Li Yu wanted to curse. Wasn't this the definition of forcing him?The system piped up again to emphasize, ‹The Moe Pet System will not force its user…›‹Can you please not repeat yourself!›Li Yu didn't want to turn into fish bones or fish ash, but he had no interest in turning the tyrant's personality around either. All he wanted toknow was how he could become human again.The system spoke: ‹Once the main quest has progressed to a certainpoint, one of the steps will involve becoming human again.›‹That's more like it… Okay, it's just a main quest. Fine, I'll do it.›He was acting nonchalant, but Li Yu was hyperaware that he couldnot risk playing around with his own life. The Moe Pet System had onething right: he had already transmigrated. He'd already seen for himself thatthe system was his golden finger and could appear in his consciousness, sohe had to believe it.Now that he'd resolved to do the quests, Li Yu started to calm down.He took a good look at his current quest, "Priceless Pet Fish." There were anumber of steps to this quest. The first step, "First Meeting with theTyrant," was already completed. The second step, "Interact with theTyrant," was glowing. There was nothing else beyond that. It looked likehe'd have to complete step two before he unlocked any more instructionsfor the next step.…What a stingy system. It couldn't even be bothered to give him amore detailed prompt. "Interact with the Tyrant"? Interact how?Li Yu was a little frustrated. What connection did the two of themeven have? Prince Jing was a prince; Li Yu was merely a fish from theimperial kitchen. Did he have to turn himself into fish soup or braised fishso that Prince Jing could eat him?The system chimed in: ‹Use your brain. Think harder.›What the fuck, system? Why did it feel like it was taunting him?!Li Yu couldn't figure anything out from the main quest. Then an ideacame to mind—he went to check on the side quests.Side quests were optional, and anyone who'd ever played a gameknew that side quests usually weren't too hard and could come withgenerous rewards. The main quest was way too weird, but maybe Li Yucould pull some clues from the side quest.His investigation proved to be fruitless, however, when he found theside quests were all grayed out, meaning it wasn't time for them yet. Forexample, one of the side quests was "Turn into a Koi." That one lookedquite nice. If he had to be a fish for the time being, a koi fish would at leastbe better than the kind of carp that was a regular feature on the menu, right?Even an idiot knew koi fish were lucky. Why wasn't this task available?‹Side quests have prerequisites,› the system informed him. ‹You canonly accept the quest once the prerequisites have been met.›‹What prerequisites does the koi quest have?›The system replied, ‹Complete the main quest—'Priceless Pet Fish.'›‹Fuck! I can't skip being a pet fish?!›‹That's right.›Li Yu was clearly a man, but now he had to be another man's pet fish.And not just any man, a man with a bad temper who couldn't talk. Wasn't this way too hard? Did completing this quest even come with rewards? If the rewards weren't all that great, what was even the point? Li Yu asked, ‹What kind of rewards do I get for completing 'PricelessPet Fish'? There will be rewards, right?›‹Yes,› the system said. ‹You've already completed the first step, so the strength of your fish tail has increased. Please use it carefully. The reward for completing the second step is an inventory that you can take around with you. The rest of the rewards will be revealed as you continue to unlock new tasks.›Li Yu's eyes lit up. He didn't know how useful a stronger tail would be, but an inventory would be great! He could put stuff in it. Being a fish was so inconvenient. He needed to get over his embarrassment fast so hecould complete these tasks! While he was wrapped up in his thoughts, the system alerted him he was about to exit.…Li Yu woke up. As he opened his fish eyes, he came to the realisation that he was lying in a blue and white porcelain tank, filled with water. So his conversation with the system had all happened inside his own head. There was no way to tell what had been going on from the outside. Back in reality, he had passed out from everything he'd gone through at the claws of the white cat, and from being out of the water for too long. He'd already been unconscious for two hours. Pain crashed down on his body in waves. He had yet to fully recover from his cat-induced injuries. A little dazed, Li Yu looked around at his surroundings. Before he'd lost consciousness, he remembered thumping his tail on the ground until it nearly broke, yet no one had come to his rescue. Shouldn't he still be lying on the floor tiles right now? How did this change of scenery happen?It didn't matter. He was injured, and he needed to rest, recover, and figure out where he was. He also had to find Prince Jing as soon as possible so he could complete this task. With that figured out, Li Yu set about carefully examining the world inside the tank.This blue and white porcelain tank was a massive upgrade from the dark fish basket he found himself in when he first transmigrated. It didn'thave the oily, smoky smell of the imperial kitchen, and it was bright and well ventilated, although the top of the tank was a bit on the tall side. When he looked up, he could only see a portion of the ceiling. Although theopening was small, he could see he was in a room with carved beams and painted rafters. This was clearly a place of wealth.The water in the tank was very clear. Aside from a few aquatic plants swaying gently in the ripples, he was the tank's only occupant. Snow white stones lay beneath him. Li Yu observed the stones for a while. Each one was round, with any harsh edges smoothed away. When he lay on them, it felt rather comfortable. It made for a good place to heal from his injuries.Li Yu wanted to rip off a piece of the plant, but after several minutesof struggle, he knew he could forget about using his fins as hands to tear it off—he could barely even use them to grab hold of the plant. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get it to work.He remembered what the system had said. It had boosted his tail's power. Perhaps he could try that? Li Yu swished his tail at the plant, not hoping for much. Ow! Ow ow ow!!That simple action tore at his injury. Li Yu grimaced in pain, regretting his impulsiveness slightly. His tail didn't seem to have made any difference… But just as Li Yuwas thinking the system had a habit of lying to fish, a glossy, green leaf drifted down gently and landed on top of his head.Li Yu glanced at his tail excitedly. He pulled the leaf down with his mouth and used it to cover up most of his body, then he lay back down on his bed of white rocks. After all, the best way to heal from an injury was by lying down with a blanket. He'd rest some and recover his energy. Once he felt a little better, he'd look for Prince Jing. He slept for a while before he was woken by a soft creaking sound. Itwas the sound of a door opening, he realized—someone had entered theroom he was in. It must be the person who'd saved him and put him in this tank.This tank contained water, plants, and even smooth stones—there was no way it wasn't supposed to be a fish tank. If someone had gone to the trouble of arranging all this, it must mean they wanted to keep him, not eat him.Who could this person be? The footsteps came closer, unhurried. With an unexpected feeling of anticipation, Li Yu raised his head a little and waited. Before long, a matchlessly handsome face appeared above the tank.Oh my god, wasn't…wasn't that the target of his quests? Prince Jing? Mu Tianchi? Did that mean…Prince Jing was the one who saved him? Li Yu was both surprised and delighted. This was too easy! To behonest, he still rejected the thought of being someone's pet fish—but now that he knew his savior was the target of his quests, he could suck it up! So, what exactly should a good pet fish do…? Please his owner and make him happy, of course! Li Yu tossed his leaf-covered head about and eagerly blew a little bubble toward Prince Jing. I'm such a cute fish! Please don't cut my head off!