Chapter Text
The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish: Quest Notification
The afternoon sun filtered through the ornate windows of Prince Jing's palace, casting rippling patterns of light across the bottom of Li Yu's tank.
He was having an excellent day, quite frankly.
The water temperature was perfect, his scales were gleaming, and he'd just discovered that if he pushed the little ceramic castle decoration just right, it would spin in the current and make entertaining shadows on the glass.
Li Yu nudged the castle again with his nose. Spin, spin, spin. Delightful.
This was the life. No responsibilities, no worries, just—
DING!
The familiar translucent blue screen materialized in front of his fishy face, and Li Yu's fins drooped immediately.
No. Not now. He was busy. The castle was spinning.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
He tried to swim around it. The screen followed him.
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE]
Li Yu blew an irritated stream of bubbles.
Fine. FINE. He focused on the notification, and with the mental equivalent of a heavy sigh, selected it.
The screen expanded, and Li Yu's fish eyes widened as he read the quest title:
[QUEST: "THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS DEMANDS THE DISABLED TYRANT'S DRAMATIC DECLARATION OF DEVOTION (FEATURING: KIDNAPPING, HEROICS, AND HEARTFELT CONFESSIONS)"]
Objective: Get kidnapped. Await rescue. Prove the tyrant's love through his desperate actions to save you!
Rewards: 500 Achievement Points, +50 Affection Rating with Prince Jing
Failure Penalty: -200 Achievement Points, Possible Fish Soup Ending
Li Yu stared. And stared. Then he swam in three rapid circles, the fish equivalent of pacing.
Oh COME ON.
Get kidnapped? Be a damsel in distress?
He was a FISH! A fish in a secure tank in the middle of a heavily guarded palace! Who was going to kidnap him?
HOW was someone going to kidnap him? And more importantly—
Li Yu faced the system screen with the full force of his fishy indignation.
—WHY DID THE QUEST TITLE NEED TO BE THAT RIDICULOUSLY LONG?!
[Quest difficulty: Medium]
[Note: Target kidnapping window is within 48 hours. Prepare yourself. Remember, you are very loveable and kidnap-able!]
[Tip: Try to look extra cute to maximize the tyrant's distress level for optimal affection gains!]
Li Yu wanted to scream, but all that came out was more bubbles. He was a fish. He was ALWAYS cute.
That was the whole problem! Prince Jing was already obsessed with him! The man hand-fed him premium fish food and played with him every evening.
Another notification popped up:
[Sub-objective: Do not reveal your human intelligence during the kidnapping. Maintain fish behaviour for maximum dramatic impact.]
Li Yu swam to the bottom of his tank and contemplated wedging himself behind the decorative rock formation and never coming out.
Forty-eight hours.
He had forty-eight hours before he somehow became fish-napped, all so he could play damsel in distress while Prince Jing had to mount some kind of dramatic rescue.
The system was insane. This whole transmigration situation was insane.
Li Yu gave his ceramic castle one last, mournful nudge. It spun sadly in the water.
He was never going to hear the end of this from the system, was he?
[Quest accepted! Good luck! (ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ.゚]
"I DIDN'T ACCEPT IT!" Li Yu's outraged bubbles went unheard by everyone except possibly the snail who lived on the opposite side of the tank.
The quest timer appeared in the corner of his vision: 47:59:58... 47:59:57...
Li Yu had never felt more betrayed by a game system in his life. Or his death. Or his weird fish-based second chance at life.
He swam up to the surface and did the only thing a fish could do in this situation—he created a dramatic splash.
Maybe if he acted sick, he'd be too "fragile" to kidnap?
The system immediately pinged again:
[Nice try. Quest parameters are non-negotiable. (◕‿◕✿)]
Li Yu sank back to the bottom of his tank in despair.
Being a protagonist was exhausting.
Wait. WAIT. He had an idea.
Li Yu perked up, his fins fluttering with renewed hope. He still had his one hour of human transformation available today! If he turned human, he could just... leave.
Walk out. Hide somewhere. You couldn't kidnap someone who wasn't there! It was foolproof!
He eagerly pulled up his status screen to activate the transformation—
DING!
[QUEST REQUIREMENT UPDATE: User must remain in fish form for the duration of this quest. Human transformation is temporarily locked.]
[Reason: Logic dictates that fish get kidnapped, not suspiciously appearing handsome young men. Please cooperate! (ᵕ—ᴗ—)]
Li Yu's hope shattered like a dropped porcelain bowl.
"SERIOUSLY?!" His bubbles were getting increasingly aggressive. The snail had retreated entirely into its shell.
[Thank you for your understanding! Remember, every challenge is an opportunity for rewards and progression of the story! ☆: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:☆]
Li Yu was contemplating the merits of beaching himself on the decorative rock out of pure spite when he heard the familiar soft footsteps approaching his tank.
His heart—or whatever the fish equivalent was—did a little flip.
Prince Jing.
The prince appeared in Li Yu's field of vision, and despite his terrible mood, Li Yu couldn't help but swim up eagerly.
Mu Tianchi was dressed in his usual dark robes, his long hair partially tied back, his handsome face set in that serious expression everyone else found intimidating.
Mu Tianchi reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small cloth bundle. When he unwrapped it, Li Yu's fish eyes widened.
Peach blossom pastry. Delicious!
The prince carefully pinched off a tiny piece, his long elegant fingers holding it with such care, and extended it toward the water's surface.
Right. This was it. Operation: Be So Cute That Prince Jing Never Lets Me Out Of His Sight And Therefore Cannot Be Kidnapped.
Li Yu threw himself into the performance of his lifetime.
He swam up with enthusiastic wiggles, his tail swishing dramatically.
When he reached the pastry piece, he didn't just eat it—he did a little spin first, showing off his scales in the afternoon light.
Then he took the tiniest, most delicate nibble possible, making sure to brush against the prince's fingertip with his mouth.
Mu Tianchi's eyes widened slightly, and Li Yu could see the corner of his mouth threatening to curve upward.
Encouraged, Li Yu took another nibble, then gently bumped his head against the prince's finger like a cat asking for pets.
When Mu Tianchi didn't immediately remove his hand, Li Yu went for broke—he opened his little fish mouth and very gently, very carefully, nommed on the tip of the prince's finger.
Not hard enough to hurt, obviously. Just... a gentle, affectionate fish-chomp.
Look at me! Look how cute I am! I'm the cutest fish in existence! You can never let anything bad happen to me! I'm too precious! SOB SOB!
The prince's expression softened even further, and he used his other hand to retrieve a document of some kind. With practiced ease, he read with one hand while keeping the other in the water for Li Yu to continue his adorable assault.
Li Yu redoubled his efforts, chasing the prince's finger around the surface of the water, doing loop-de-loops, even breaking the surface to splash playfully.
He was pulling out every cute fish behaviour he'd learned over the past months.
Please, please notice how loveable I am. Please decide to keep me in your sight at all times. Please develop separation anxiety!
Mu Tianchi was definitely smiling now, an expression that made him look years younger. He offered another piece of pastry, and Li Yu performed an elaborate water dance before accepting it, making sure to bump the prince's palm with his nose afterward.
The prince set down his document and simply watched; his dark eyes filled with such open fondness that Li Yu felt a pang of guilt.
Here he was, manipulating this sweet man's affections, just because some insane system wanted to prove said affections through a kidnapping plot.
Mu Tianchi reached into the water with both hands, cupping them slightly, and Li Yu swam right into his palms.
The prince lifted him slightly—just enough that Li Yu was still mostly in water—and looked at him with such tender concern that Li Yu's fish heart clenched.
I'm sorry, Li Yu thought. I'm sorry you're going to have to deal with whatever nonsense is coming.
The prince gently lowered him back fully into the water and picked up his document again, when Wang Xi knocked and came in.
"your highness have a meeting with the ministers this evening."
NO! Li Yu wanted to scream. DON'T LEAVE ME! TAKE ME WITH YOU! KIDNAPPING WINDOW: 47 HOURS AND COUNTING!
But all he could do was swim in increasingly frantic circles as Prince Jing gave him one last fond look and turned to leave.
Li Yu watched helplessly as his only protection walked out the door.
The quest timer in his vision seemed to tick louder: 46:32:15...
From somewhere in the palace, Li Yu could have sworn he heard the distant sound of suspicious footsteps.
He was doomed.