Pet King

The wind kept blowing in from the ocean. The abandoned lighthouse was like a sundial, faithfully recording track of the sun.

Zhang Zian rubbed his calf. After a series of serious jump from the rocks, his legs were cramping.

He lifted his phone and focused the camera lens on this creature named Sihwa so he could capture her.

[Game Hints]: Target confirmed––Mermaid!

Indeed so.

In fact, he could recognize it without the game hints, as there was only one half-human, half-fish creature out there; however, the confirmation from the game was more reassuring.

If she was a naturalist girl, he would have been too shy to take a picture of her with his phone. Since she was an elfin, though, it didn’t matter anymore.

He could easily cage her in his phone as soon as he pressed the “capture” button… but he didn’t do it, as she had one last, unfulfilled wish. She wanted to wait for her long-legged Oppa to show up.

When he had captured Old Time Tea in the Treehouse in Hidden Fog, he didn’t press the “capture” button right away, either. Old Time Tea had an unfulfilled wish, also, and it didn’t have time to drink the three cups of tea in front of it. It would have been such a shame to waste such a treasure.

Therefore, he decided to wait. He had plenty of time to waste, anyway.

The mermaid supported her body on the beach with both her arms and flapped water over and over with her wide tail out of boredom. She glanced around while she swung her curly, dark green hair and mumbled about why her long-legged Oppa was still not here.

Frankly speaking, in terms of appearance, the mermaid was indeed a beauty. Her face was delicate and clear-cut. Her big, blue eyes were bright and kind. Her long eyelashes made her seem so smart and witty. Her skin was fair and tender. She looked gorgeous without makeup––much prettier than models and celebrities. Adding in her exquisite curves, she was the spitting image of “the angel’s face and the devil’s body.” The only shame was that… her lower body was a fish tail.

Zhang Zian played with his phone and came across an app for smarta** answers. He posted a question: “What do you do with a mermaid you found on the beach? Waiting online. This is urgent!”

It was already midnight in China, yet there were people answering him within seconds––maybe they were trying to get more attention by posting the first answer.

“Thanks for the invitation! A mermaid found on the beach… I’m just wondering how old you are? Are you a guy or a girl? I’ve had the same dream in the past, but then I woke up! If you are a girl, I’m available for dating!”

Wishful thinking! I never invited you, okay?

“Here is my answer! It depends whether the upper body of the mermaid is fish, or the lower body. This will determine whether you’ll cook Chili Fish Head or Braised Fish Tail later on!”

Crap! Was this dude a food junkie?

“What to do with a mermaid? You enjoy yourself first, of course!”

This was sick!

After flipping through the answers for a while, Zhang Zian didn’t find any useful suggestions so he deleted the smarta** app.

The lighthouse was abandoned, but it was still solid.

Galaxy snuck into the abandoned lighthouse and ran to the top as quick as smoke.

“Meow. Zian! What is that over there?” its voice called from the distant top.

Zhang Zian stood up and entered the lighthouse. He went up the spiral stairs and reached the top, then looked towards where Galaxy was pointing.

Splash. Boom!

A giant sea creature ruptured the sea surface, flipped its body, then dove back into the sea. Its tail flapped on top of the water, making a loud splashing noise.

It was white all over its body, with a bulging forehead like the Chinese Longevity God in traditional paintings. It looked charmingly naïve, as if it were smiling.

Richard saw it, too, then starting screaming. “What is that? A whale? A shark?”

“That’s a white whale.” Zhang Zian gazed on the graceful silhouette swimming in the sea. It swung its tail left and right as it went up and down the surface, like an undulating sinusoidal wave.

“A white whale?” Richard rolled its eyeballs. “Don’t all fish have dorsal fins? Why doesn’t this whale have one?”

“First of all, not all whales have dorsal fins. White whales live under the ice in the arctic. What is the use of dorsal fins for them? If they do have them, they might end up injuring their dorsal fins while swimming under the ice. Second, who told you that whales are fish? They are mammals!” Zhang Zian explained.

“So you are not planning to bring it back to the pet shop? It’s huge and will definitely get a lot of attention if you do!” Richard yelled.

“That’s true, except that I don’t have the space to accommodate it,” he answered with regret. “An adult white whale can reach five meters in length. You need at least a swimming pool to fit it… Plus, it’s an endangered species. I can’t bring it back just like that. Let’s leave it to swim freely in the ocean.”

The white whale stuck its head out of the water, then opened its mouth to call out. The volume was not high, but the pitch was extremely high and sharp. It ripped open the sound of waves crashing against the rocks like a sharp sword from the distant ocean. It was not unpleasant to hear, but instead it was quite beautiful, as if it were singing them a song.

“Hum… According to my genius-level music talents, this big guy’s voice can almost keep up with my worst.” Richard squinted.

Zhang Zian nodded. “The white whales’ sound is always changing and beautiful. They are called the canaries of the sea.”

After hearing the white whale’s song, the mermaid turned her head to look towards it before she also opened her mouth to call back to it. The sound was similar to the white whale––much like a song––except that Zian couldn’t understand what she was singing about.

The white whale seemed reluctant to part and looked towards her before it flapped its tail against water a few times as if it were saying goodbye. It then changed direction and swam deep into the ocean.

“Hey! Ajeossi!” The mermaid put her fingers together to block the sunshine, then looked upon the top of the lighthouse. “Hey! Ajeossi! I’m calling you. Why are you not answering? Ajeossi!” she shouted again as Zhang Zian didn’t respond to her.

Zhang Zian watched the white whale disappear after a deep dive into the sea with a heavy heart.

He wanted to ignore her, but he got annoyed after she yelled at him a few times. He stretched his head out of the lighthouse to look down, then pointed at his own nose and asked, “Are you calling me?”

“Right. Who else could I be calling? Is there a second person around?” she asked as she rolled her eyes, one arm akimbo.

Zhang Zian had a few reasons to be mad. “Why is your long-legged Oppa called Oppa, and I have to be Ajeossi? Don’t you ever think that I don’t understand this. Isn’t Ajeossi ‘uncle’ in Korean? How do I look like an uncle exactly?”　　”

“Well… As an extra on set, aren’t you satisfied?” She took it for granted and said, “Only the main character is Oppa. Any other adult men are Ajeossis, including you!”

Zhang Zian was speechless. This mermaid was very cute while silent, but she could resurrect a dead man with anger as soon as she spoke!

Plus, what was this Korean accent about?