"Hoo—hoo! That's hot!"
Neville fanned himself away from the increasingly sexual tension between the characters in the novel. Despite closing the book, he still kept a finger in the section where he left off.
It might be strange to others' eyes, but at the age of 20, this was the first time that Neville questioned his sexuality.
He had friends of most of both genders. He got along with them just fine. But one day, he saw a girl reading Boy's Love manhwa. As much as he should've reminded her that she was at work, he also became absorbed with what she was reading.
From then on, they both shared this secret. At first, he thought that with their closeness, one day they could be in a relationship. However, nothing came to him; he became even more obsessed—rather, reading hardcore BL novels.
I'm not blaming BL novels for opening up this new world. Rather, this is milder than the other gay content on the internet, I think? (⊙x⊙;)
Neville opened his eyes again and read where he left off. The risqué illustration from 'The Alpha General's Captive Omega' was still seared into his retinas.
At some point, he fell asleep after reading Chapter 69 (naturally). This may be the spiciest BL novel to hit the internet since '50 Shades of Nothingness[1].'
However, he didn't know that as he drifted off to a peaceful sleep, the changes around him were nothing but peaceful. It was even more absurd than those BL novels.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥
Blub
While half awake, Neville started to hear bubbling and popping similar to his breathing. Then he started to notice this, barely warm coldness covering his entire body. Like his body was naked when he slept, and was poured in by a bucket of summer…water.
He felt a shiver down his spine—cold, unrelenting, and wet.
Very—very wet.
The Fu—?
Did someone just prank me in the middle of my sleep? Well, I didn't wake up so maybe they just let me sleep naked?
Who would do that?!
Angry, Neville opened his eyes, ready to take revenge on whoever did this to him.
However, he was faced with an abyss-like darkness that gradually filtered the shimmering sunlight that barely passed through from above.
He looked left and right, and there was nothing but water—barely any sea creatures around him. Not to mention that he was actually sitting inside the giant clam that was lying on top of the towering rock formation.
AAAHHHHHH!!!!
His instinctive scream was muffled by the bubbling water that came flooding through his throat. This unfamiliar sensation made Neville think that he was drowning in a dam of water. Although he was trying to calm himself down, he couldn't help but thrash around wildly in a panic.
Impossible.
With that much water, how come he hasn't drowned and fainted to death?
Then, as he instinctively parted his legs to swim, a faint pain struck him.
My legs—
He thought his legs were stuck mid-swim, so he looked down at his legs.
There were no legs.
None. Nada. Zilch.
A powerful iridescent silver-black tail flexed and writhed. He was distracted enough by the beauty of his tail to go round and round like a cat reaching for its tail. When he finally stretched enough to hold the tail—it's heavy.
But it was also strangely just right for it to be heavy. He felt like this tail was what was missing his whole life as a human.
—That he should be swimming with his tail in this vast deep ocean.
This sudden calmness cleared Neville's mind.
He looked up and a muted sunlight filtered through the depths of the ocean.
An unfamiliar scenery.
Where the hell am I?
Neville thought as he felt a chill down his spine. As if thinking more would make him lose his mind again.
He naturally propelled his tails back inside the giant clam shell. Just like those fake mermaids in the aquariums, but more beautifully executed.
This is such a weird dream.
If this is not a dream, how am I supposed to explain this weird breathing under the water? Isekai-ed into a fish hell?
No, I may not be sure about my face but I'm pretty sure as hell that I'm a human, a real human.
So—Transmigration it is?
Ding ding!
Just as he was thinking about it, a bell-like sound rang unusually echoing in the vast depths of the ocean—was it just his imagination?
Before he could even think about it, a dazzling holographic screen hung mid-air a few inches away from him. With no reflection or refraction of the light, Neville knew that this couldn't be seen in real life.
Real life?
[Welcome, Host#143!]
A bubbly, synthesized voice chirped.
[The Chosen One System is online! Activating emergency support system!]
A warm pulse of energy spread through Neville's body. It cleared his lungs and sickly mermaid body.
Just that, there was a weird, itchy sensation that ran behind his neck.
After this sensation passed, he could now naturally gasp for breath in the seawater without feeling the subtle feeling of choking before. Then the newly repaired gills and tail naturally accepted the familiar sensation of the ocean.
Now, that's something. Neville thought. I'm breathing underwater. A fish—no, a merman? A mermaid? Nevermind—
Neville twirled around, making himself familiar with the newly acquired tail and swimming around.
A sexy man-half-fish, how cool! This is too good to be a dream! What a fine tail~! I'm falling in love with my own tail~
Ding!
Another ding was heard, and a text appeared on the holographic screen.
[Main Quest:]
The synthesized voice announced. The sentence on the holographic screen was written in bold letters. It was an impossible-to-ignore lettering.
[Become CEO Grayson Maxwell's Favorite!]
A 3D wireframe of this CEO materialized and slowly rotated to showcase the man's perfect features. He had the kind of face that could make a thousand thirsty women drop their underwear for him if he wanted them to—gross but true.
While this man was indeed a top-tier husbando, he didn't feel like he was like those second rich generation nor those overly stiff, cold, constipated megacorp vibe. Rather, he had the aura of an unshakeable man that you could rely on even when the sky fell one day.
For lack of a better word, that was the extent Neville could describe this man named Grayson.
I really need to read more non-fiction books.
But—man, those piercing silver eyes were really terrifying! I felt like I would die on the spot if I made a single mistake. Brr!
Apparently, Neville now had to be someone close to that person.
While there was no specific explanation on how to become Grayson's favorite—maybe favorite friend? Slave? Either way, these transmigration stories usually came with a dreadful fate.
A flashing red warning confirmed his sneaking suspicions.
[Host's body: A cannon fodder also named 'Neville,'
Original Novel: "100% In Love."
Original Fate: Death by dissection in a scientist's lab.]
Cannon fodder?
100% In Love? What tacky name was that? I don't even read those kinds of novels.
Dissection?! What the hell was that?!
Neville felt like his world was falling apart. His tail lashed the water in agitation.
What kind of nightmare-fueled cheesy romance novel nonsense is this?!
The screen dissolved into a cloud of pink sparkles, leaving the most adorable thing that Nevills had ever seen—a tiny pink pearly shell with big, soulful anime eyes.
[Don't panic, Neville!]
When the living accessory spoke, it felt like its voice went straight to his brain. It had a distinct, soft, feminine voice with seemingly soothing properties.
[Just think of this as a high-paying—high-stakes job. If you complete your mission, you will acquire a fully customized second life! Isn't that exciting?]
Then the pink pearly shell twirled in excitement.
[You can even choose which world you want to live in next! Waaaah! No one had ever gotten this lucky for a long time! How about one of those novels you've been reading? Hmm~ lemme browse your—]
"—You stop there!" Neville snapped abruptly back to his senses to prevent this disastrous invasion of privacy.
Judging by his horrific taste in novels, there was no way he would want to be transmigrated to one of those in case he completed his mission in this world.
Wait—this wasn't his last stop?
"You—" Neville was furrowing his eyebrows. He didn't know how to address this—creature that appeared before him.
It seemed that the creature also knew what he was thinking about and proceeded to introduce himself.
[Lemme introduce myself, dear host. My name is Shelly. Obviously named after my cute appearance. I'm the system avatar, your helpful guide to completing this mission. Nice to meet you~o(≧v≦)o~❤]
"Uhh," Unable to make heads or tails on how to make of this situation, Neville decided to greet this system avatar named Shelly first, "Nice to meet you, Shelly."
Excited, Shelly decided to go around Neville a couple of times while talking.
[Don't worry too much, host. Your dear Shelly is always at your service. If you have difficulties or things you don't understand, you can just ask with your inner voice. Shelly is actually going to live in your brain for this time period. No one can see me even if I come out. You can also use your inner voice to communicate, and also give me certain restrictions if you don't want to. Just don't forget about me. ( ╹▽╹❤ )]
"Um, okay." Neville awkwardly replied to this overly talkative guide. "As my guide, can you explain this situation to me? I'm still a bit overwhelmed. How can I still talk underwater?"
[Hmm, to answer your question, I think you figured out that you transmigrated into this world—a world from a novel. You died in your sleep of a heart attack—]
—Wait
"Heart attack?" Neville asked.
Shelly's eyes instantly brightened. [Yeah~ It's really amazing, you know? How come you didn't know you had a weak heart? Must be a bliss to not know you could've died several times in your life~]
Although Neville agreed with Shelly's sentiment, it was still a bit ridiculous to die in his sleep.
Shelly abruptly stopped Neville's thoughts, [It's still a relief that you died from excitement—]
"Excitement?" Neville was confused.
[Yeah~ You died because of how amazingly exciting those novels turned out to be. By the way, can you let me access your memories of the novels? I'm curious about what the scene was where you ended up dying. Must be amazing! (❤ ω ❤)]
"NO!" Neville felt like he was stabbed at point-blank at the casual comment of a system avatar.
Before they continue this carnage of social death. Neville urged Shelly to continue explaining the situation.
With no parental filter, Shelly showed a video.
In the video, Neville saw Grayson's cold and empty eyes getting rejected by a petite man.
Wow, a live rejection!
It was exciting enough that Shelly even brought its own popcorn. He was kinda jealous.
The next scene showed Grayson controlling a starship that was equipped with the most dangerous weapon that could basically destroy a whole galaxy. Before detonating this weapon, Grayson muttered, "If I can't have you, no one will." The space cracked and disintegrated the world in a flash.
Woah, what a cliche!
The video ended, and Shelly spoke, [That's how this world originally ended]
"Then, what does the system want me to do?" Neville asked.
[It's simple.] Shelly briefed. [The system wanted you to distract Grayson. The timeline you transmigrated to is 5 years before the original story started. The body you occupy is cannon fodder that will die a few months after the original story starts. It was really an unfortunate fellow that the system chose to save. (╥ ω ╥)]
Yeah, he really didn't want to end up like in the original story.
[Anyways, the reward after is really rewarding.] Shelly uplifted the atmosphere and explained. [This is the body of a male omega. Grayson Maxwell is a dominant alpha. Just do some calculations from there.]
As if on cue, a strange smell started to permeate around Neville—as if it were his natural scent.
An ABO world on top of being a trash romance cliche? Haaa. He's really going to work to the bone by the system.
Neville glanced at the still-rotating 3D version of Grayson and felt the sting of tears in his eyes.
You want me to be this scary yandere man's favorite? Aren't the system just trying to make him an endangered species?
But relying on sheer will and obsession with beauty, Neville braced himself.
—Probably. Most likely. Okay, like a solid 23% confidence.
While Neville was hypnotizing himself, Shelly's eyes flashed with sudden urgency.
[Abnormality Detected!]Shelly's eyes became black and robotic. A synthesized voice echoed with her voice in alarm.[Proximity to poacher vessels is 87%! Engaging Emergency Placement Protocol to ensure Host's safety!]
"Wait, wait, wait," Neville babbled, his tail churning the water in frantic denial. "Poachers? Placement wha—? What the actual f—"
While panicking, Shelly shoved Neville into the black hole that appeared out of nowhere. He felt like he was going to die prematurely because of dizziness.
After the vertigo subsided, Neville found himself in a cramped room. He could hear the crowd outside.
What's happen—?
Neville noticed that his tail was gone. It was replaced with human feet.
My feet!
Before he could cry in joy, a young man grumpily opened the door. It looked like this person was his roommate.
Sensing his gaze, the young man arrogantly looked back at him. "What?"
Neville instinctively shook his head.
"Tsk." The young man turned his back on him and said, "Pack up your things and go back to the orphanage. No one will pick you up like the others. You're a grown-up now, you should find your own place while you still have a roof to sleep under."
Puzzled, Neville just did as he was told and packed up.
It seemed that he had already graduated and that he was an orphan. He was calmer than before. This was way better than when he woke up in the somewhat dark ocean with a tail.
When the young man went out, a holographic screen floated mid-air with text written on it.
[Name: Neville
Age: 20 years old.
Background Details: Parents died in an asteroid mining accident. Raised in New Hope Orphanage.]
When he read this, Neville was confused. Isn't he a mermaid? What's with this background?
"Shelly, what the hell is going on?" Neville called out.
But silence answered him.
Neville was pissed, who was it that said they were at my service now? Nowhere to be found? MIA? Or AWOL?
Helpless, Neville didn't know how he found his way back to the orphanage, but he made it. It was machine machine-operated orphanage that detected when a child was of age and would kick them out immediately.
No wonder that young man told him to find his new place immediately.
Although the interstellar provided adequate help to the orphans, they still relied on the machines to manage the places they didn't want to be hands-on with.
Kind but still cruel.
Neville slumped onto his bed and decided to find a few books to read. It seemed that this body also liked reading novels, but not the novels that he liked.
This will do for now.
…
…
Somewhere in the vast, uncaring universe, the system—that meddlesome and snob entity—giggled in pure joy.
[1] Nothing is happening in 50 Shades (///▽///)