Chapter 45 Turned into a Mermaid

Chapter 45 Becoming a Mermaid

"Glub—"

Among the vibrant coral reefs, colorful fish lazily flicked their tails, circling a seashell bed and happily blowing streams of tiny bubbles.

Lying on the seashell bed was a mermaid with a blue tail. She was sweet and lovely, a faint smile gracing her lips even in sleep. Her fair, delicate face and blue, seaweed-like hair gave her the gentle, approachable charm of a girl next door.

Suddenly, her brows furrowed, and her eyes flew open. Those large, ocean-blue eyes were filled with terror, lingering fear, and a mix of other complex emotions. Then, her face twisted as she opened her mouth, blowing a few bubbles before flailing wildly.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What’s going on?

Hua Diao widened her eyes, greedily taking in her surroundings, her mind momentarily blank.

Hadn’t she just been hiding behind a large rock with the Bao Brothers, preparing to ambush the monster?

Then, because of the commotion caused by those damn fools, the monster plucking the harp by the shore had discovered them and attacked with its song—after which she blacked out.

So, was this the illusion the Bao Brothers had mentioned?

This is way too realistic!

Look at this coral, the colorful fish swimming around, this seashell bed, and the seaweed cushion inside—plush and yielding under her fingers, the texture was absolutely perfect. It didn’t feel fake at all.

No wonder smartypants Xiao Bao had warned the Bao Brothers about getting lost in the illusion. If she hadn’t retained her memories, she might’ve believed this was real too.

Hua Diao took a deep breath to calm herself, biting her lower lip as she analyzed the situation.

This was clearly the ocean depths. She was lying on a seashell bed and had a blue tail—her identity was obviously that of a mermaid.

Venturing a bold guess, she might even be the same mermaid that had appeared on the shore earlier. The reason that mermaid’s scales were black and blue was likely due to some kind of corruption, which had robbed it of reason, turned its eyes pitch-black, and caused its body to warp and fester.

Given the fantasy continent setting from the novel, it might’ve been corrupted by the abyss, turning into a fallen creature.

Damn—

Wasn’t this just the beginning of the apocalypse? How had they already dived into the fantasy continent arc?

Holy hell, we jumped straight from Chapter 1 to over a hundred chapters in.

The male and female leads in the novel hadn’t encountered anything like this at the start, right?

Even this fallen mermaid hadn’t appeared in the original plot.

Hua Diao frowned, feeling restless and uneasy. Even if this was an illusion, it was still a domain for the intelligent races of the fantasy continent. As a pathetic Level 3 novice, how could she possibly stand a chance against them?

Or was the key to breaking the illusion figuring out why this mermaid had turned into a fallen creature?

Just then, a few lilting, musical voices sounded from the distance. Two beautiful mermaids of different colors swam toward her.

"Annie, Annie, are you awake? We’re going to decorate Princess Haiwei’s wedding hall!"

Annie? Was that her?

Wait, even though the language wasn’t Mandarin from China, she could somehow understand it.

And when she spoke, would it come out as Mandarin or mermaid language?

Before the two mermaids reached her, Hua Diao quickly muttered under her breath, "Oh! I-I'm awake."

Hmm—sounded like mermaid language. That was a relief.

Since she was here, she might as well roll with it. Cowering in ignorance wouldn’t help—better to explore and figure out how to escape this illusion.

"Ah, I’m awake! I’m here—I’ll go with you!" Hua Diao (Annie) called back loudly, then flicked her tail, lurching through the water out of the seashell bed toward the two mermaids.

"Oh, Annie, you seem much livelier today! That’s good—us female mermaids should be like this. Being too timid just invites bullying from the males," a pink mermaid said proudly, thrusting out her chest as she patted Hua Diao (Annie) on the shoulder with a sweet smile.

She looked petite, with slender arms, but that one pat nearly sent the still-unsteady Hua Diao crashing into the coral. Hua Diao wriggled her tail a few times to right herself.

"Alright, Rebecca. Annie was only recently rescued by Princess Haiwei—there’s no rush about her personality. Don’t bully her," the other mermaid, a deep blue, elegant, and more mature-looking older sister, said helplessly, pulling Hua Diao back up.

Hua Diao gave her a grateful smile, inwardly sighing in relief.

So Annie was a shy, introverted mermaid? She’d just broken character—no, gone OOC.

But these two mermaids didn’t seem suspicious of her odd behavior. Instead, they handwaved it away for her. That probably meant they weren’t the key to breaking the illusion.

Hua Diao lowered her eyes thoughtfully, then donned her performance. Maintaining a timid smile, she swam alongside the two mermaids, struggling to coordinate her tail properly. She kept her fish-set of playing the strong silent type, only offering shy smiles when questioned. Sure enough, the two mermaids didn’t notice anything amiss.

From Rebecca’s verbal waterfall, Hua Diao gathered quite a bit of information.

For example, the deep-blue mermaid sister was named Meili, the head maid serving Mermaid Princess Haiwei.

Annie had been rescued by her and Princess Haiwei from a terrifying oceanic storm over a month ago and was now also serving the princess.

They were heading to Princess Haiwei’s mermaid palace to decorate it as a wedding hall. Tomorrow, Haiwei would hold her handfasting ceremony there with her fiancé.

The fiancé’s name was Luo Laiyi—handsome, gentle, and considerate, unlike many brutish males. He charmed many female mermaids, and quite a few in the palace adored him. He’d quickly won Princess Haiwei’s heart, making her eager to bond with him.

Another crucial detail Hua Diao picked up: this fiancé had also been rescued by the princess during that same storm over a month ago. Though he’d been found far from Annie’s location, Hua Diao’s lifetime of soap opera addiction made her sense the stench of drama.

This fiancé probably had some connection to Annie.

Her guess was soon confirmed. While decorating the hall, the famously charming and beloved fiancé showed up, claiming he wanted to personally prepare the venue for his beautiful princess. The female mermaids praised him endlessly for it.

Luo Laiyi preened under their praise, his face all gentle radiance—until he saw Hua Diao. Or rather, Annie.

The moment he spotted Annie, his smile froze and twisted, his eyes widening in horror, as if seeing something that shouldn’t exist.

Bingo!

These two definitely knew each other before!

Hua Diao’s inner actress awakened. Drawing from years of soap opera experience and Annie’s timid personality, she put on an expression of stunned recognition, then paled, her eyes glistening with heartbreak.

Without a word, she turned away, shoulders quaking as if heartbroken.

Then, peeking furtively, she caught Luo Laiyi’s face clouding over. Hah! Now it was clear—these two had either been lovers or star-crossed lovers on the verge of engagement.