The Mermaid Incident in Langhuan Town

Tang Su has slumbered beneath the sea for hundreds of millions of years. Every so often, he wakes and comes ashore to blend in among humans.

Passing himself off as human.

This time, Tang Su awakens on Langhuan Island, where he becomes a strange transfer student.

The students at Langhuan Middle School soon notice something odd about Tang Su. His skin is far too moist, and a fine haze of water vapor seems to cling to his whole body.

Someone sees his legs covered in dazzling, shimmering fish scales.

A hallucination? A monster? A mermaid?

Tang Su is an unsolvable mystery.

A... fascinating mystery.

Ever since the day Tang Su hooked his little finger around Mu Zhe's, Mu Zhe has shared an inexplicable connection with him.

Mu Zhe is always anxiously thinking:

Tang Su is too strange... He should keep his distance.

Yet every morning before dawn, Mu Zhe still buries his face in the scent Tang Su left behind. Those briny, sweet, viscous smells worm their way into his mind, sending pleasurable melodies reverberating through his brain.

He lifts his head. The moon is hovering outside the window, laughing wildly without end.

The strange creatures lurking in the island's shadows are stirring. They spy on Tang Su and whisper among themselves all over the island.

A typhoon is on its way.

The island's secrets can no longer stay hidden.

“Offer a love song to our strange little town.”

The artist who drew the map of Langhuan Island has put a lifetime's worth of skill into it. The final section of the story will make more sense if you look at the map alongside it.

Lastly, thanks to Kimi for creating Tang Su's cute little face.

A few things I wasn't happy with about this story:

1. I focused on creating vivid imagery at the expense of the story.

2. The mysteries only scratch the surface.

3. Tang Su's experiences are only recounted by him. I didn't describe the people, surroundings, or buildings involved, or develop them into readable stories. It all stays on the surface.

4. The ending is abrupt and makes no sense: he somehow saves the town. The earlier chapters could have introduced relevant characters or factions.

5. Since the story is about music, there should have been local music too. I don't listen to much music, so I left it out completely. I usually only listen while doing things or thinking, and music in my native language tends to interrupt my train of thought. As a result, the town is supposed to be somewhere around Zhejiang or Fujian, but the characters came across like a bunch of foreigners (?).

6. I didn't do enough with the town's livelihoods or main industries. They're still just shallow, flashy details that barely scratch the surface.

7. The school bullying should have been explored from more angles and through concrete stories, not just discussed by the protagonist.

8. The school ghost stories are weak.

9. The town lacks little, everyday characters who could bring it to life.

10. Even though I tagged it as Lovecraftian, it's not Lovecraftian enough. There should be more strange characters to create interesting conflicts.

Those are the ten things that come to mind for now. I hope I can address them in a revision. So, when am I going to revise it?

Theme: Bring laughter into life and always yearn for better things.