Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shang Qinghua had always assumed death would be a rather straightforward thing. Not that he thought about death a lot! Don't get him wrong, he thought about it a healthy amount! But this definitely wasn’t how he’d thought he would go.

He had only wanted to go for a walk to take a break from his stuffy apartment, just something to gather his thoughts about the upcoming chapter of his hit novel ‘Proud Immortal Sirens way’. Sure it wasn’t exactly what he had wanted the novel to be! But it still paid enough for him to afford his one bedroom apartment so it was what it was.

What had originally been an epic fantasy adventure had slowly turned into porn filled slop between the half siren protagonist and his many mates as he took the mantle of The Emperor of the Sea. Being half human Luo Binghe had the ability to shift between having legs and having his tail, which his readers absolutely ate up.

But now he struggled against the powerful waves of the ocean, watching helplessly as the surface got further and further away. It had been a stupid mistake. A last minute decision to take a bridge that went over a portion of the beach. He didn’t know that the maintenance on the bridge wasn't up to date! How was he supposed to know that the railing would give out the moment he leaned on it!?

He didn’t want to die yet! He still had to upload the last chapter of his novel!

He kicked his legs as he tried to push himself back up only to be dragged back down as a wave crashed over him. Another wave hit and sent him into a rock, a sharp gasp leaving him as he hit his head, water flooding into his mouth and lungs as he gave a few more futile twitches. His vision blurred as a stream of bubbles slipped past his lips.

There were wisps of red in the water that swirled in his vision but he couldn’t quite tell where they had come from. In fact, he felt rather loopy. Something in his chest ached sharply as his eyes slipped closed. He had always thought he’d die differently, not to something like drowning! Maybe electrocution? Not that he did anything that could get him electrocuted.

With a final twitch he let himself slip off into unconsciousness. At least this wasn’t as painful as he thought it’d be. It was almost peaceful, if not for the persistent ache in the back of his throat and chest. Maybe this wasn’t the worst way to go, better than getting hit by a car or something.

 

—------------------------------------------------

The last thing Shang Qinghua had expected was to wake up. Even more so to an annoying google translate voice in his ears.
[The System has been successfully activated! Bound role: {error.exe}]

[{rebooting..}]

[{backup role loading…}]

[Bound role: {NPC - CR_LE} role: background worldbuilding npc, blank character]

…what?

[Welcome, User 001! This System hopes that User 001 is able to enjoy his second chance! ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ]

Forcing his eyes open was a chore. Everything in his body throbbed and ached, especially his head. So much so that his vision was blurry and spotty around the edges. Around him was a rather strange sight but he could swear that there was seaweed and sand in front of his face.

Wait… he pushed himself up onto his hands as he looked around himself. It almost looked like he was… on the bottom of the ocean.

[User 001 is correct! (≧◡≦) ]

Shang Qinghua startled at the excited voice that chimed from somewhere around him, making something on the sides of his head flare out in surprise. One of his hands came up to brush over something slippery. Pulling his hand away in shock he noticed that his hand was covered in small blue scales all the way up to his elbow while his nails were curved into sharp black claws.

The fins on the sides of his head twitched in his shock, a small confused rumbling sound forcing its way out of his throat. Was he a fish!!? Shang Qinhua looked down at himself and… oh.

Where his very normal human legs should have been there was a long almost eel-like tail that was covered in dark blue scales. The almost lionfish-like fins at his hips flared out as he experimentally wiggled the new long tail… He could at least say it was pretty?

The scales on his tail were a deep royal blue that was only broken occasionally by round golden dots that ran down the entire length of it along the sides. His fins were a lighter blue mixed in with some yellowish gold that caught the sparse light just enough to glimmer like treasure.

“... what am I?” his voice was tinged with pure fascination as he shifted his tail, his fins shifting to help with the movement. He had a rather spiky dorsal fin that ran all the way from his lower back down to where a flatter end of his tail started. They flexed and popped up before falling flat as he flexed something in the new limb.

[User 001 has been bound to the role of a Crowned Abyssal Leviathan Mer!]

“WHAT?!” His voice cracked slightly making the word oddly squeaky as he felt the fins on the side of his head flare up in alarm. Shang Qinghua knew that species. If he didn't he would have to be an idiot! The crowned abyssal leviathan merpeople were one of the extinct species in Proud Immortal Siren Way!

The Crowned Abyssal Leviathans were what Heavenly Marked Sirens descended from after all! Not that he wrote a whole lot about the large sea monsters. But hey! They were still in his notes!... Somewhere… they were killed off by their offspring due to their tendency to just… eat whatever moved. Whales, sharks, other mers. If it moved it could be killed and eaten!

Although he did write them as able to eat basically anything. As long as he didn't go crazy with his diet he shouldn't be hunted down! Easy! Simple!

The only problem was that Crowned Abyssal Leviathans grew rather large and as such needed a large amount of energy to sustain themselves. Which you could get from either eating living things or from ambient qi. Which meant cultivation!

[User 001 is correct! User 001’s body has low level cultivation already but can be pushed higher and to immortality! (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+]

…. Well that was gonna be useful.

“So… are you always gonna be around if I need help?” He didn't quite like the idea of being completely alone in this world given that remembering even half of the clusterfuck of a novel was going to be near impossible.

[This System will be available 24/7 to help User 001 in all things fishy! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)]

All things considered, that was actually really reassuring. He was about to ask more questions when his stomach rumbled quite loudly, making him aware of a deep aching hunger. When was the last time this person/fish had eaten!?

[Several weeks ago! User 001’s host body died from loss of energy! This System would recommend finding something to replenish it before 24 hours or else User 001 will be kicked from this world. (⁠・⁠∀⁠・⁠)]

WHAT!!?? This thing was a scam! How was he supposed to hunt something when he could barely move!?

He wiggled his tail around for a few moments, trying to balance himself as he scooted along the sandy bottom of the sea. The long stalks of kelp swayed around him like they were mocking his efforts. How did he even get off the ground?! He didn't have a normal tail! All he had was basically a long scaley rope that occasionally sparkled in the light!

With a hiss he wiggled around more frantically, kicking up sand around him in his mini fit. But he also managed to push himself off the ground! Progress! He mimicked the wiggling motion from before and watched as the flatter end of his tail flicked at his command. It had indeed pushed him forward with a jerk but that didn't necessarily mean he had full control on where he was going.

The fins at his waist fanned out at a pathetic attempt to stop him from running face first into a wall of kelp, the slimy texture immediately making him want to jerk away. It just so happened that he'd managed to get himself tangled in the long stalks.

[This System is glad to have put User 001 in a safer environment to practice… (⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠;⁠)]

Oh shut up! He was trying!

With a few grunts he finally tore himself free of the kelp, using his claws to snap the stalks. He had a feeling this would take awhile…

 

—---------------------

 

It was indeed several hours of just wiggling around before Shang Qinghua figured out how to worm his way through the water, his long tail wiggling behind him much like an eel. It'd taken the longest amount of time to figure out how to use both the fins at his hips and the fins that sat around a third down his tail.

Apparently the second set, which were more decorative, were usually used in threat or mating displays. Shang Qinghua could see why considering they were a stunning golden color that glimmered like real gold. They were bright and striking when flared out. Not to mention rather large and long, shaped like a lionfish’s fins much like the ones on his hips.

He'd also gotten a decent idea on how big he was. Really fucking big. He'd startled a seal so badly the poor animal had darted away making distressed noises, but he roughly knew how big a seal was and compared to him it was… very small. It wasn’t even the size of one of his fins! The seal also told him there was land somewhere nearby. Not that he planned to leave the kelp forest anytime soon!

Leaving would be giving up tons of free food! The kelp forest was thriving with wildlife, from fish to small sharks, even a few seals would dart by him occasionally if they were brave enough! And it was pretty obvious that the person he took over had lived here too if the den he'd found was any indicator.

Said den was really just a large cave he could slip into with relative ease. It had a narrow entrance that opened up into a single larger chamber. In the far back of the den was a nest of kelp laid out that could be used as a bed. It wasn't exactly the softest or the best, specifically because the kelp was in need of replacing. But it was good enough. And the soft sandy bottom of the cave made it possible to lay down wherever without any rocks digging into his tail.

There were even holes in the ceiling of the cave that allowed light in so he could see clearly! It was obviously a home of sorts! And it didn’t seem like anyone was going to be coming back anytime soon so it was fair game! Plus, there were even a few personal items he could use that he’d found shoved into a small natural shelf. The woven seaweed bag had been an absolute score of a find.

Along with what was basically a knife fashioned out of some sort of bone. The handle hadn’t even been wrapped with anything, making it slightly hard to keep a hold of. To fix this he wrapped some of the cord from the bag. It made it slightly easier to use and more comfortable to hold.

The only real downside of his newly stolen cave was that the entrance was rather easy to spot and not at all hidden. Which meant that random wildlife would wander into his home which he often saw just from the few hours of being here. Just another thing to stress about! Not to mention the mission from the system that would occasionally pop up with reminders about how much time he had left.

What did that even mean?! He had already started snacking on the kelp, even if it got stuck in his now slightly sharper teeth and made him gag at the slimy texture. He wasn’t even hungry anymore!

[This System reminds User 001 that Crowned Abyssal Leviathans have to eat living things to absorb qi. Until User 001 reaches higher cultivation this System does not recommend trying a vegetarian diet! (っ＾▿＾)]

The stupid little chime from the system made him jump, his fins flaring out in surprise as a hiss left his throat. That was also a new thing, the sounds. Not that Shang Qinghua necessarily minded the random chirps, clicks, whistles, and hisses that now left him randomly. It could be a little annoying sometimes but it was fine! Really! He didn’t mind one bit!

“What, am I just supposed to start snapping up random fish? Bleg, live fish does not sound good… and how am I even supposed to cultivate!? Just because I wrote this doesn’t mean I know everything! And how are you making emoticons into sounds!?”

There was a moment of silence before the system chimed again. This time a semi opaque teal box popped into existence in front of him, three little dots in the center before the text changed and the google translate voice spoke again.

[Would User 001 like to purchase ‘Cultivation for Dummies 101?’ for 30 B-points?]

“... What the fuck is a B-point? There's a shop?! System why didn’t you say that earlier, yes! Give me the book!” The system chimed again and a book appeared in his hands. He stared at it for a few moments before an almost hysterical laugh bubbled up from his throat. It was made out of some sort of thick hide! Why did he think it would be paper!? How stupid of him to expect a normal book!

[B-points are points given out or taken away depending on User 001’s actions. If B-points reach {0} User 001’s account will be terminated! (◔◡◔)]

“WHAT?! Why didn’t you tell me that earlier!? How many B-points do I have right now!?” Shang Qinghua’s voice was shrill as he clutched his new book to his chest. Why did this system have to be such a scammer!? Not telling him important information until after he’d done something stupid!

[User 001 has 70 B-points currently! Work hard and complete missions to gain more B-points! (˚▽˚)]

“How much is this new mission worth? Restoring this body’s qi or whatever? A lot right?”

[User 001’s reward for completing his first mission is his continued existence in PISW! ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ]

“... you… you’re such a scammer! What do you mean there's no reward!?”

[User 001’s reward is his continued existence. (◔◡◔)]

“So what? I just have to eat some fish and the mission is complete?" There was, once again, a moment of silence before the teal screen changed once more, showing a time limit. A significantly shorter time limit than before. “... system, why is there only three hours left on the mission timer? I thought I had at least another ten!? What is this!?”

[This System is only trying to speed up User 001’s progress! Since User 001 now knows how to complete the mission this System does not think he needs so much time! (⁠・⁠∀⁠・⁠) This System recominds User 001 catches at least {3} fish!]

With that the System screen blinked out of existence and stopped responding to his questions and angry shouts. Not that he had the time to nag at it, he had fish to catch! And ‘account termination’ sounded a lot like instant death and he was not about to die twice! He absolutely refused to die from not being able to catch three fish!

It wasn’t like it’d be impossible, he already knew how to swim so hunting couldn’t be too hard! He’d just have to go after the slower ones!

Thirty minutes later it became abundantly clear that fish were a lot harder to catch than he had first thought. Every time he managed to get close enough to a small school of fat fish they always darted off before he could sink his claws into them. It was infuriating! How was he supposed to complete the mission when the damn fish fled and hid before he could even get close enough to grab them!? But still he had to keep trying! He was nothing if not determined! He just had to change his tactics, instead of chasing his prey he would just have to try ambushing them instead. It was what Leviathans were good at after all.

The golden scales on his body weren’t just for decoration! They were shiny and small, just like a small fish. And with the rest of his scales being a deep blue he blended in with the open water just beyond the kelp forest. There was even a drop off that led into water so deep he couldn’t see the bottom! Just a watery abyss that stretched on for miles.

It was also the perfect spot to ambush prey. There was nowhere for the fish to dart off to, nowhere for them to hide. So that’s how he found himself just beyond the rock shelf and floating above the wide stretch of open water. It was hard to wiggle his tail just right to catch the sun's rays on the golden patches, the glimmer drawing in larger fish that he could snatch up.

After two hours he had managed to grab two decent sized fish that were easily a third of his size. There were bigger ones but Shang Qinghua was quite proud of his catches so far. And the blood from the other two drew in larger fish! It was basically free bait!

The only problem with the fish blood in the water was that he didn’t think about the things it would attract. He didn’t see the lurking shadow beneath him until it was too late. He had just been about to snag another curious fish when something large slammed into him, teeth digging through his scales like they were butter and into his soft flesh.

Blood poured into the water around him from the bite, clouding his vision with plumes of deep red. Pain jolted his senses as he twisted and tore at the animal currently trying to take a chunk out of him. A snarl pulled at his lips as he managed to hook a hand into the shark's gills, the animal releasing his tail as he twisted and pulled.

More red spilled into the water, only this time it wasn’t his own.

Shang Qinghua didn’t stop even when he was released. His claws tore through tough hide, pouring more and more red into the water around them. He didn’t stop even when the sharks thrashing lessened. No, he only sunk his teeth into rich meat once the thrashing didn’t threaten to throw him off. He was dully aware of something chiming to his left, not that he stopped his feast.

It was good. The taste. The texture as he swallowed down chunks of still twitching flesh. He was insatiable as his vision clouded over with more red. There was only him and his prey in this moment.

It was only a few hours later when he managed to pull himself back from a rather groggy edge, his eyes drooping with satisfaction and exhaustion. He felt full. More than full. It was a strange sensation, like a new thrum of pleasant warmth was coursing under his skin and through his veins. It made him feel sleepy and relaxed.

[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! Good things must be said thrice! User 001 has completed his first mission! +B-points {60} for taking down a shark and improving your cultivation! Absorb more life force to continue improving your cultivation and reach immortality! ᕙ(`▿´)ᕗ ]

A long and groggy groan made its way from him as he slipped back into his den, leaving the torn apart carcass of the shark behind to sink into the void. He had a feeling this was going to be an awful experience.

—--------------------------------------------------------

 

Shang Qinghua woke up in pain. The bite on his tail ached and pulsed whenever he shifted ever so slightly. It felt like hot nails digging into him. Luckily, after a quick check just to be sure, he came to the conclusion it would heal okay. The bite wasn’t even bleeding anymore! It was, however, sore.

The attack had peeled off some of his scales which left the area around the wound a little sensitive to touch. Not that he wanted to touch the wound! It just… looked weird. Apparently his… meat was a very light pink, almost white with how light it was. Not that he was surprised considering he looked like a weird mutated eel.

But all things considered he didn’t actually know how to fix the bite mark. Or at least make sure it didn’t get infected. He was a writer, not a doctor! Sure he knew how to bullshit his way through his novel but how much of that actually crossed over into this world? It wasn’t like doing papapa would magically fix his tail! That was reserved for the protagonist!

And plus, Luo Binghe’s natural healing factor made it so he didn’t need to actually research how things actually heal! Wound care was not included in his stallion novel! Not that he couldn’t have written about some nice soft scenes to draw more people in! He just… hadn’t really wanted to? Why bother with unnecessary research when he could just have a protagonist capable of regenerating in seconds?

Would seaweed work as a bandage? It would at least protect the wound from anything getting in it… right?

Oh well! One way to find out!

Gathering the seaweed had been the easiest part, figuring out how to actually make it stick to him was… less so. Why didn’t book logic apply to him?! He should be able to just slap things on himself and they should just work! They always did for the protagonist! But then again he wasn’t the protagonist of PISW, he wasn’t even sure if he was a side character that so much as appeared in the main story! Was the person he took over even mentioned!?

Being a side character wasn’t too bad considering he wouldn’t have to be around Luo Binghe while he seized power. The downside was that he was technically in a position of power, which meant that he’d eventually have to face the blackened protagonist but it wasn’t something a little bit of thigh hugging couldn’t fix!

If his son came sniffing around he could just suck up to him and pledge his allegiance and then go on his merry way! Hopefully.

He winced as one of his claws caught on his wound, drawing a small cloud of red into the water before it dissipated into the water. It didn’t bleed more than that luckily, his natural healing factor stopping the bleeding before it became a problem. Being a mer was honestly amazing! He didn’t have to worry about bleeding out! Even from rather large gashes.

Could he leave the bite open to the water? Would it get infected?

Thinking back to some characters he had written about that had some nasty scars… it should be fine? As long as he didn’t like… roll around on some sharp rocks and reopen it. He’d just have to keep his eyes on it as it healed!

Having come to a conclusion he instead shoved the seaweed he had collected into his mouth, grimacing at the texture before forcing himself to swallow. It would be bad to let it go to waste!

If he wanted to stay here though he’d have to mark out his territory, otherwise some other mer could swoop in and challenge him for the unclaimed land. First things first was to mark out the perimeter! And if he remembered right, marking territory required infusing some qi into some stones and then marking them with his claws. Really, it should be easy enough!

The only problem was how stiff his tail was. His muscles ached and twinged whenever he moved. It really didn’t feel good at all, but if he didn’t get his territory marked he’d be a sitting duckling for other mers! It didn’t help that the previous mer hadn’t bothered marking a territory, instead choosing to just laze about!

So with a muffled groan of discomfort he reluctantly swam from his home and out into the water, trying to mentally mark where he was going to set up his border. There was a way for him to basically set up an alarm system; the only problem was that he had never actually written out how to do it! Which wasn’t really a problem! It was fine! He’d just have to figure it out himself!

Coming to a stop in front of a rather large rock that was just before the drop off he paused. His fins flared out as he thought for a moment, his face scrunching up before he reached out and dragged his claws down the front of the rock. He waited for a moment for something to happen before he frowned. Wasn’t there supposed to be like… a snapping feeling as his qi infused with the rock?

He scratched the rock again, deeper this time. It was pretty impressive how easily his claws gouged into the rock to leave deep marks that were slightly lighter than the surrounding rock.

[User 001 should pool his qi into his claws before making the mark. (╥﹏╥)]

Oh! That would make sense!

This time when he clawed at the rock he pooled his qi, feeling it leave him in a short burst that sent shivers down his spine. And then something seemed to click. He was aware of the rock but duly, like a marker that distantly pinged in the back of his mind. It was honestly a little strange feeling.

But he had the first marker now!

He repeated the steps all around the island he had claimed as his own. Once the ring was complete it was like he became aware of everything within the perimeter. Every fish that darted from spot to spot, even the animals on the island pinged like the ocean animals did. If something darted into his borders he could practically feel it, like someone had snapped a rubber band that rippled back to him.

It was… weird. But helpful! It would make hunting so much easier! “Hah! Take that System! This is going to be easy to grow my cultivation now!” He didn’t get a response other than a soft ding from it. Not even a transparent screen popped up!

He grumbled as he swam back to his cave, maybe he should explore the island. If it had any streams that led into the ocean he could get fresh fruit!

 

{main story…. Loading…}
{successful… loading main characters…}
{complete!}

Chapter Text

As it turned out the island wasn’t exactly a good spot for trees to grow. While there were trees none of them were fruit bearing. It also didn’t help that it was hard to wiggle his way up the narrow streams that bled out into the ocean from somewhere inland. The water was fresh surprisingly and burned his gills whenever he was in it too long. Not to mention how badly his body would ache after he turned back and fled into the ocean again.

All in all, exploring the inland streams wasn’t something he could do. Not to mention none of the channels were deep enough to fully submerge him and his long tail. Oh yeah! That was another thing that had happened after he woke up from his run in with a shark. Whenever he killed something he would get ever so slightly longer, bigger and more dangerous.

He’d probably grown a total of a few feet just living and eating the fish he could catch. He could also feel the energy within his body swell after each hunt, a slight tingle that zipped through his body whenever he focused on his body. It was a strange feeling but it also made him feel stronger and more energized.

Shang Qinghua also discovered how much easier it was to hunt now that he had set up a territory. He could practically just ping fish and track them down instead of putting effort into tracking them! It was amazing really!

It had been a few months since he first woke up and he would say he’d adjusted rather well. It was almost second nature to swim now! He more glided through the water now than swam and it made hunting all the more easier! Catching fish and whatever crustaceans he could get his claws on wasn’t such an impossible task anymore either, they practically swam into his claws!

The only downside was that his cave had gotten smaller which led to him having to dig out some of the sand around the entrance so he could fit through the narrow gap. It honestly wasn’t fair! Why couldn’t he have been put into some smaller species of mer!?

His fins and scales had also slightly shifted in color. They were brighter now. His light blue scales had shifted into a more sky blue around his hips and continued all the way down until the paddle at the end of his tail started. From there they turned into a deep navy blue that shifted into an almost black color with how dark it was at the tip of his tail. His fins were also different now, longer and more flowy.

The fins that were near his hips had changed the most out of everything. They went from long and pointed to almost fan shaped and flowing. Like some sort of decorative betta fish! Not to mention they were a rich golden color now only having brief stripes of sky blue lines running through them where they connected to his body. Even the long fin that stretched down the length of his tail from his lower back had changed! Don’t get him wrong, it was still shaped sharply with sudden dips and sharp spines, but it was also a rich golden color now too!

And his golden patches that ran down the sides of his tail had also shrunk, sadly. Not that he needed them anymore to catch fish! But they were still useful! (they were pretty but he wasn’t going to admit that!)

The only good thing that came with the sudden change was that the system had decided to fuck off. In fact, he hadn’t heard a peep from it for a month now. It had said something about low power and promptly stopped replying to him whenever he had tried to speak to it. And in all honesty? It was nice not having to do random tasks in order to not die!

Not to mention that after the system disappeared Shang Qinghua had discovered that he could influence the world around him. Not like physically interacting with it! But something… weirder. If he put enough qi into a hand motion he could almost control how the water flowed around him. Or he could lure fish to him without having to swim after them. The only downside was how exhausting it got to use the ability. It drained his qi like crazy and only left him enough to stay alive.

Not conscious though, he’d passed out a few times already trying to get better at manipulating the fish around him. So far he could make them do little tricks but it was limited to the smaller fish and only around three at once. His water manipulation was a lot easier! Water didn’t have a brain to think with so it just did anything he told it to do! Within reason of course! He could coax it into making stuff float into his territory like random loose kelp and some treasures.

So far he had a bunch of random pieces of wood, a few gold coins, and a broken mirror. The coins had been embedded in the wood and the mirror was made out of wood with a large sharp of the reflective material stuck in it. It was the only way he could see himself though so he had kept it, stashing it away in his den under a stray strip of cloth he had found.

It wasn’t like he hated the way he looked now, it was just way too different than what he was used to! He used to have brown eyes! Brown normal eyes! Now though he had golden eyes with a long thin slit as a pupil! Not to mention the colored part of his eyes completely took up where his eye whites were supposed to be. It made him look… weird…

Not to mention how much his face had changed! He still looked squirrelish, don’t get him wrong! But it was different now. He didn’t have perpetual bags under his eyes from long nights and his cheeks were a tad bit rounder than they had been before. He looked healthy. Like he ate properly and wasn’t living off of instant noodles and energy drinks.

God did he miss energy drinks.

He also looked a little more fishy than he had before he died. His ears were now tough fins that flared from the sides of his head in an impressive fan shape when fully flared, touching both his chin and the sides of his head. When not fully flared out they rested against the sides of his head and pointed back, looking slightly pointy. Kind of like some high elf nonsense.

There was also the fact he had sharp teeth now. That was something that hadn’t been too surprising considering he could feel them with his tongue. But the soft yellow scales that decorated his cheeks just under his eyes had been a surprise. Not to mention the sparse scattering thickened as it curled down towards his neck and back where the scales covered his skin completely. In fact, the only areas where his regular skin was visible was his face, hands, and chest. Everything else was covered.

Even the spot where he had been bitten had fully healed without a scar! Well, there was a slightly darker color than the surrounding scales. It wasn’t noticeable though! Unless you were really looking for it and you knew what you were looking for. But the scales there did catch the light a little different, making it stand out if the light hit just right.

He was also pretty sure it was hitting summer or spring. It was subtle at first but the temperature was definitely rising and there were more fish flooding into the kelp forest and the smaller caves. Not to mention that there were now small little babies that would dart from cover to cover. It was honestly pretty funny to watch.

Not that he did that often! Don’t get him wrong he liked watching the fish dart around but it wasn’t like he spent hours watching them…

How long had he been sitting here?

Shang Qinghua stirred from his spot in the sand, kicking up the grains into a cloud as he stretched. His arms gave a weak ache as he moved after sitting for so long, the fish that had swarmed him scattering away. He’d found that by lying still for long enough that the fish would come and clean his scales of any junk that built up.

In all honesty it worked out pretty well, they got a snack and he got out of having itchy scales. But they would scatter if he moved at all, darting off to hide. He groaned as his fins flared out, glittering golden in the sparse light. Turning to look around he paused.

Had that always been there?

Sitting a few feet away from him was a glittering necklace with embedded rubies. The gold was shiny and well kept with a surprising lack of dents in it. The chain even looked like it would still move fluently instead of getting locked up.

He briefly looked around as he approached it, his fins flaring out slightly. It wasn’t possible someone was in his territory, he would've been pinged when they crossed the border… right? And even if someone did break into his territory why would they have left him something like this? It must’ve been a really strong current that pushed it in.

Having come up with a semi reasonable explanation Shang Qinghua huffed and snatched the necklace up, his claws curling around the metal delicately. It really was pretty. The shiny metal seemed to make something in his brain purr in delight and urge him to hide the item away in his den. Which really was such a good idea! Honestly, something like this should be protected!

He didn’t notice the flash of red fins darting away back into the murky depths of the drop off in his rush to get back to his den. Nor did he notice the small sea snake creeping along the sandy kelp forest floor away from his den.

 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Someone was stalking him. He was sure of it now.

Random stuff kept on showing up, trinkets and jewelry popping up in places there shouldn’t have been anything! Shang Qinghua wasn’t even sure how someone was managing this because he had his territory set up and functioning! No one should have been able to sneak in. and it wasn’t a problem with his borders, he had checked twice today for any abnormalities!

But now fish were popping up outside his den whenever he was in there longer than a few hours. It was frustrating and honestly a little scary! Was someone threatening him??? Why else would they leave mauled fish outside his home, sliced open down their bellies and gutted with deadly precision.

And there were the times he would catch glimpses of red and black out of the corner of his eyes whenever he patrolled his territory. It was honestly a little scary. Not that he wasn’t ready to hug some thighs (or tails) to save his fins! If he knew anything about this world it was that he could definitely survive if he managed to befriend the right people! Not that he was going to go and seek them out! That was a one way road to getting clawed to death by an angry mer or siren!

Man, imagine if he had been forced into a villain role! He would probably be skewered on a stake within the first ten minutes if he didn’t start hugging thighs immediately!

He didn’t even know if whoever was stalking him was a mer or siren! Which they were different by the way! One was a lot stronger and had a tendency for violence. Not to mention sirens were usually solitary or only had one or two pack members. Mermaids on the other hand were pack creatures that were smaller and usually kept to large schools of trusted individuals.

While sirens lived in deeper waters and grew large, mermaids tended to stick to reefs and rocky groves. Honestly the differences had to do with size, scale colors, habitat, and diet. Not that mers didn't eat meat! They did! It just wasn’t as often as sirens did! He did put some world building into his masterpiece after all! Not that he remembered all of it. But that was just because of how much he had written.

Both merfolk and sirens could be red and black! So the colors didn’t narrow down what could be stalking him. It didn’t help that he couldn’t get a good look at the fish! If he could he could guess the overall size he could figure out the species and then he could figure out how to deal with them.

A mer would be straightforward, just rough them up a bit until they submit and scurry off. That was if Shang Qinghua was even strong enough to overpower a mer. All of the species he made were a nuisance to humans, some would even willingly eat humans and those smaller than them. He was starting to slightly regret making such a violent world.

A siren would be a different problem.

He couldn’t just fight a siren considering their size. And sirens usually had some sort of power that made them even more dangerous to fight. Like Mobei-jun who had rather deadly ice and teleportation powers. Not to mention all sirens had the ability to ensnare any unsuspecting victims with their voice, something a lot of sirens used against any sailors that came too close to their territory.

And siren territory could be absolutely massive. The more people under the siren's control or in their pod the bigger they could make their hunting grounds. Kind of like how Mobei-jun ruled over the northern seas. Having such a large territory meant that he couldn’t patrol all of it so what did you do? You send other people to patrol for you when you couldn’t go yourself!

However, Shang Qinghua doubted he was anywhere near the northern seas. It was WAY too warm for that. If he had to guess he was further south, closer to a more tropical zone. So at least he didn’t have to deal with any grumpy northern merfolk who would definitely nip and claw at him for whatever he had. And he also didn’t really want to deal with other people.

So his little territory was nice! He didn’t have to deal with any other mers and he was warm! Other than the random stalker he hadn’t met another mer in months, since he woke up hes been absolutely alone.

He huffed and turned towards the drop off, only to flinch back in surprise as a sea snake wiggled right past his face. The animal startled and swam away, slinking behind some kelp. Shang Qinghua only had a moment to breathe before there was a flash of color to his left, something big moving much faster than he could react.

There was a split second where he managed to twitch his fins before the black mass of scales slammed into him full force and pushed him down onto the sand. The mer- no, the siren was not bigger than him length wise, but he was a lot thicker. While Shang Qinghua was long he wasn’t exactly wide. He was an eel afterall. This siren dwarfed his more human part easily, he could probably wrap his hands around Shang Qinghua’s waist without any effort!

Shang Qinghua flailed as he was pushed face first into the sand, a large hand grabbing the back of his head to keep him pinned. He would never willingly admit it out loud but the feeling of the siren's claws in his hair actually felt pretty nice. But still! He was not going to just sit here and be thrown around!

He went to smack the siren with his tail but froze up as the hand in his hair slipped down to grab the back of his neck, his claws resting right over the gills there. They dug in just ever so slightly and Shang Qinghua went limp as a shiver raced down his spine. Before he could stop himself his fins flared out fully, brushing against the sand below him.

Shifting slightly he managed to look up just enough to get a glimpse of the face that looked down at him. The first thing he noticed was that he was not entirely sure if this siren was a girl or a boy. They had sharp features, sure, but there was also an ever so slight feminine touch to them which softened their rather sharp features.

It didn’t help that the slightly curly hair that drifted around the oversized fish was longer than he’d ever seen a man have. But then again men having long hair here would be considered normal. It was expected even! His own hair was also pretty long so he didn’t really have room to talk.

But when his eyes strayed down it all but confirmed that this was a man given he didn’t have any boobs. Not to say his chest wasn’t soft looking (It was!) but it wasn’t quite as big as a woman's would be.

He let out a small ‘eep’ as the siren squeezed his hand over Shang Qinghua’s gills, his fins shuddering slightly in response. The siren only grinned at the noise and reaction from Shang Qinghua, his eyes crinkling at the edges to show his amusment. Oh shit, did this guy always have red eyes? Or that mark on his forehead?

He was so fucked.

He couldn’t even twist out of the siren's grip because his body had locked up. He never wrote about any species being immobilized like this! How was this fair!? He was completely defenseless right now! Not that he would have been able to fight the siren even if he could move. In all honesty he probably would have just darted off to his den to hide.

It was obvious he was smaller than this siren and even he had to squeeze into the entrance of his den! The siren wouldn’t have been able to follow him! Not that that was an option now considering he was being held down.

There was a moment of silence before something odd happened. Instead of finding himself being torn to shreds, the siren laughed. His grin widened before a soft and musical laugh trickled out and into the water.

“What do we have here? And here I thought leviathans were well extinct! What’s your name, little leviathan?”

Oh.

Oh no.

Why did he sound hot!? Who even was this man!? But still, there was still a chance of being killed so it would be better to play along.

It just so happened that when he went to reply, instead of words coming from him, a long and drawn out trill left his lips instead. Shang Qinghua paused and scrunched up his face as he tried again, trilling and clicking lightly.

System what was this!? Why couldn’t he talk!?

[user 001 is a Crowned Abyssal leviathan. Deep sea leviathans do not have the vocal cords to speak in the common tongue and instead rely on clicks, whistles, chirps, and other sounds to get their point across! 💪 (`▿´) 👊 hope this helps user 001!]

What!? Then how was he supposed to hug thighs!?

The siren above him tilted his head for a moment before laughing again. “Oh! I had almost forgotten that! Not to worry, my deep speech might be a little out of date but I'd say it’s passable!”

He watched as the man cleared his throat before letting out a long whistle followed by three sharp clicks after that the man paused before letting out a quick chirp followed immediately by a long warbling trill. The man continued with another long whistle and a sharp sounding cheep sound followed by two clicks.

Above him a semi translucent screen appeared with words on it, no doubt the system translating things for him.

‘Whistle click click click. Chirp churuuup. Whistle cheeeep click click.’
[: I am called. Tianlang-jun. Call you what? :]

Well that was helpful. Even if the noises sounded a little funny. Not that he was going to start laughing in this man's face for how weird it was to be communicating in little chirps and whistles!

Once again he tried to speak, chirping and clicking softly. This was not fair at all. How come he could speak fully fine when he was talking to the system but the second he tried to talk to someone else he was forced to chirp like some sort of bird!? It wasn’t fair at all!

[This system had to keep User 001 lore accurate for other characters! (>‿◠)✌]

That's bullshit! What kind of scam was this?!

[This System is not a scammer. - 5 B-points]

How was that fair!? He didn’t even do anything!?

[User is being shoved around by a considerably weaker mer species than he is. This system is embarrassed for User 001 (╥﹏╥)]

Shang Qinghua flushed at that. It wasn’t like he was wanting to fight this guy! He wasn’t stupid! This guy would rip him to shreds if he tried to fight him! The guy still had his hand around his throat for crying out loud!

And now that he was thinking about it, this guy's name sounded rather familiar. Like something just stuck on the tip of his tongue. It was so very familiar… his eyes, his hair, and the zuiyin on his forehead… it hit him like a spark. Tianlang- jun. That was Luo Binghe’s dad! What was he doing here!? He had only written about the man in his notes! He wasn’t supposed to be anywhere in the story!

But then again it might’ve been possible that he had shown up because Shang Qinghua was a side character and not someone extremely important to the story… that was worse. That was so much worse because he had no plot protection! If Tianlang-jun really wanted to, he could absolutely kill him and not think anything of it!

Just because the siren shouldn’t be here didn’t change the fact that the man still had a hand around his neck and over his neck gills! It was by pure luck that Shang Qinghua wasn’t choking to death right now. That or the larger gills on his sides. He wiggled around as Tianlang-jun tightened his grip slightly, the siren grinning as another blubbered stream of clicks and chirps left his newly found prey.

[... User is pathetic (ㆆ_ㆆ)]

Oh shut up! It wasn’t even the system being harassed so it had no right to speak!

His pathetic act just seemed to make Tianlang-jun more interested, the siren's ear fins flaring out in a way that could be nothing other than threatening. The mark on Tianlang-jun’s forehead pulsed as he abruptly pulled away, sending Shang Qinghua into the sand again as he was suddenly dropped. An offended chirp left him as he pushed himself back up while spitting out sand. The audacity of this man!

The series of angry chirps was cut off with a choked noise as something cold touched his tail. Whipping around he blanched at the… mer? That was now making his way to Tianlang-jun’s side. The new mer looked weird, for a lack of a better word. He looked snake-like for sure.

He had a long serpentine tail covered in light green diamond shaped scales. His tail even ended in a paddle shape like most sea snakes. The only issue was that he had large fan shaped fins that sprouted from his hips. The fins started out green but then faded to a light yellow towards the tips of them. Not to mention the long dorsal fin that started from his upper back and continued until it reached the middle of his tail.

There was also the distinct mark of a siren on his forehead, green instead of red like Tianlang-jun’s. The snake-mer’s eyes were also striking in their coloration, shining a bright yellow with oval shaped pupils.

Tianlang-jun seemed to notice his momentary shock as he just grinned and gestured towards the snake-mer. “This is my nephew, Zhuzhi-lang.” he didn’t continue speaking after that so Shang Qinghua just nodded a little dumbly. What even were these two!? Why were they out in the middle of nowhere harassing random Leviathans!?

He was about to speak when Tianlang-jun cut him off when he opened his mouth. “Have you seen any small boats around? I was supposed to meet someone here but I haven't seen any sign of her since I got here. In fact, I've only seen you.” The hint of suspicion in the siren's voice was unmistakable. He was being accused of something!

He quickly shook his head, watching as a subtle tension seemed to drain from the siren. Tianlang-jun waited for a moment before turning to his nephew. “We are in the right spot, aren't we? This is the right island that was mentioned in the message?”

The snake-mer nodded his head before speaking, keeping a wary gaze on Shang Qinghua the whole time. “Yes, Junshang. This is Bai Lu Island.” the snake-mer’s smaller fin ears twitched from where they had been pinned back. It was only then that Shang Qinghua noticed the ungodly large sea snake that had coiled itself around Zhuzhi-lang’s shoulder. How did he not notice that! That thing was huge! And not to mention a deep gray color that looked nothing like the snake-mer!

Tianlang-jun hummed before nodding his head with a grin. “Well I suppose we’re just early then. She wouldn’t just give us a location to meet up and then leave. She must just be running late. It’s a good thing there's already someone here with an open den.”

Shang Qinghua felt something close to dread as four eyes locked onto him.