TTAETSC Chapter 1: Not Human Anymore

Translator: Deyonna

Tip me

Arc: Volume One: Endless Sea · Newborn

[So hungry……]

[So hungry……]

[So hungry……so hungry……so hungry, so hungry, so hungry!]

In the chaotic dream, many young voices echoed in Ye Yunfan's mind. They were indistinct, one overlapping the other, as if coming from a very distant place, then getting closer and gradually becoming clearer.

[Wake up... Wake up~]

[Don't sleep!]

[Wake up, wake up, don't sleep!]

The originally vague young voices were layered on top of one another, becoming louder, clearer, and increasingly urgent.

They sounded like children who were anxiously begging for candy, whining and crying non-stop.

[Don't fall asleep! We're going to starve to death!]

[Starve to death, Starve to death!]

[Wuwu, hungry, hungry~]

This feeling was too familiar, and even in the haze of his dream, Ye Yunfan was reminded of the fear he felt during the Chinese New Year when he was dominated by the group of little devils* in his hometown.

*children who are naughty

Those little guys seemed to have endless energy in their bodies. Instead of sleeping on the first day of the New Year, they got up very early and insisted on dragging him out of his warm bed, acting coquettishly and shamelessly, asking Brother Xiaoye to take them to town to buy candies to eat.

Sigh, really troublesome.

Ye Yunfan thought in a daze, planning to buy more next year when he goes back, so he wouldn't have to…

Wait——

It seemed like he had touched a sharp needle, and his wandering thoughts suddenly came to a halt.

Ye Yunfan suddenly remembered something.

This should be something that happened to him a few years ago when he just started university.

He was originally an orphan who grew up eating meals from different families in a small mountain village. He only got out of the mountains after passing the entrance examination and was admitted to a university. That year, he returned home for the Spring Festival* in a hurry, and could only go to the town to buy New Year's goods the next day. So the little devils dragged him out of bed early in the morning.

*Chinese New Year

Many years later, after Ye Yunfan graduated and started working, he earned enough money to buy everything he needed in one go when he returned home from the city, especially candies and snacks that children liked. Since then, no one has disturbed his slumber on the first day of the new year.

As Ye Yunfan subconsciously recalled, related vague images naturally flashed through his mind.

However, before he could fully wake up, the unfamiliar and young voice of children from earlier appeared again.

[......Candy?]

[What is candy? Can it be eaten? Can it be eaten?]

[Can eat it, can eat it. He said it can be eaten.]

Several similar children's voices sounded as if they were asking and also answering themselves, and it sounded like a group of little devils whispering together.

Ye Yunfan's mind was once again filled with noise. He felt like he was being held by a group of kindergarten brats, holding his neck, acting coquettishly and shamelessly in his ear, urgently asking.

[Is it delicious? Is it delicious?]

[So hungry! Hungry, hungry! I want to eat candy! Eat candy!]

[Eat! Eat!]

This is the way children usually speak. They always unconsciously emphasize the things they care about.

So it was too noisy.

Too noisy.

Ye Yunfan thought unconsciously.

His cloudy mind hadn't yet distinguished between dream and reality when suddenly a loud clap of thunder exploded in his ear.

Boom!!!

The sound was too loud. No, it should be said to be shocking. It was even more terrifying than the thunder during a summer storm. The whole world seemed to tremble at that moment, almost shattering people's eardrums.

It was at that moment that Ye Yunfan finally woke up, quickly opening his eyes.

Glug glug……

Tiny bubbles dispersed in front of him.

Through these tiny bubbles, Ye Yunfan saw not the suburban second-hand house he had worked hard to buy for nearly ten years, nor the rural small bungalow he was once so familiar with, but everything that was completely unfamiliar to him——

In the darkness that was close to night, Ye Yunfan saw an incomprehensible sight.

At first, he thought it was a massive and rugged mountain or a strangely shaped cave, until he saw the broken glass windows and the utterly broken red and green traffic light…

And there were other things, such as a part of a bus wreckage, and an advertising banner floating in the seawater…

Collapsed and eroded skyscrapers were piled up, and ruins were everywhere, resembling a giant dragon drowning and dying in the deep sea.

Only a few thick steel bars protruded from the cement, like broken spines, pointing straight up.

Ye Yunfan gradually realized that this seemed to be a sea, a world hidden beneath the vast expanse of seawater.

Or rather, it was more like an underwater cemetery.

Ye Yunfan's heart suddenly tightened.

Boom!!!

Further up in the sky came another shocking thunderclap, but after passing through the layers of seawater, it became muffled, like a heavy blow hitting a person.

[Are you awake?]

[Are you awake? Are you awake?]

[Awake! Awake!]

Those young voices chirped again, and then suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

[Ya!]

Before the words had even finished, everything suddenly began to spin around him.

At this moment, everything was spinning in Ye Yunfan's eyes... no, it should be him that was spinning.

At this moment, the whole world seemed to be shaking.

In his upside-down rotating perspective, Ye Yunfan saw a faint red light appearing in the far distance.

A small crack appeared on the floor, and suddenly seawater poured in without warning, quickly forming a small whirlpool with a diameter of almost ten meters, rapidly sucking in everything around it.

Ye Yunfan quickly realized that he was being sucked in.

He bumped into many debris, some of which seemed to be broken streetlights or fallen helicopter wreckage, and perhaps many others that Ye Yunfan couldn't distinguish because he was so dizzy from the impact.

If someone were to notice this small corner of the sea at this moment, they would probably see a tiny pink octopus hatchling being tossed around, spinning in circles.

Finally, it came to a stop after hitting a rough cement wall, issuing a "plop" that no one could hear.

[Sob, hurts.]

[It hurts, it hurts.]

The six short pink tentacles curled up miserably, huddling together in their head into a ball, while the remaining two clung tightly to the rough broken surface, scurrying quickly to the back, gripping tightly for fear of being washed away again.

This cement wall seemed to be connected to a larger part buried deep below, and although it was trembling slightly from the spiraling water, fortunately, it was not sucked away immediately. So it became Ye Yunfan's temporary shelter, allowing him to finally have some time to catch his breath.

[It hurts, it hurts.]

[Wuwu, hurts.]

Those childish voices screamed miserably that it hurt, carrying an aggrieved and sobbing tone.

Ye Yunfan also felt pain all over his body, just like when he was young and accidentally fell down while walking alone in the dark on a mountain road. He was covered in bruises and injuries everywhere.

However, the pain in his body completely woke him up, finally breaking away from the semi-conscious and chaotic state he was in just now.

Where is this?

Why am I here?

What's happening?

These three urgent and simple questions were in his mind, but Ye Yunfan couldn't find an answer to any of them.

Just as he was feeling a little afraid and confused, those chirping voices of children appeared in his mind again.

[Here, you're right here.]

[We were originally here.]

[Hungry, hungry, hungry~]

Ye Yunfan was stunned and immediately realized that these strange sounds did not come from the dream he had just had, nor were they auditory hallucinations. They actually appeared in his mind.

However, these words seemed to... Could it be that they were answering him?

Where is this?——Here.

Why am I here?——We were originally here.

What's happening?——Hungry.

Ye Yunfan: "......"

It matched, but at the same time, it seemed like it didn't quite match.

When voices suddenly popped up in his mind, a normal person's first reaction would be shock, horror, or anxiety. However, Ye Yunfan's first feeling was a strange sense of amusement.

He rubbed his forehead, took a deep breath, and tentatively asked, "Who... who are you guys?"

Before he could get an answer, Ye Yunfan suddenly felt a smooth and soft head.

Eh, hold on!

My hair is gone?!

He's... b-bald???

In the midst of Ye Yunfan's shock, those soft and immature voices started chirping again.

[What is hair?]

[What is bald?]

[Us?]

[We are who we are.]

[That's right, that's right!]

[It's us~]

Then, several small pink tentacles appeared in Ye Yunfan's field of vision. They wriggled their plump bodies, like children waving their arms unconsciously when speaking, exaggerating their own body language.

Stunned Ye Yunfan: "......"

But he quickly realized and immediately looked down at himself: he had lost his human hands, feet, neck, shoulders, chest, and abdomen. Instead, he had several soft, pink and white little tentacles.

In an instant, a bolt of lightning struck Ye Yunfan's mind.

Us, these tentacles were a part of his body!

He wasn't human anymore?!

Crack!

Ye Yunfan heard the sound of his worldview and self-awareness suddenly shattering into pieces.

He stared at the small tentacles twisting in front of him. His stupefied brain creaked like a rusty gear, and finally, he gradually realized this incredible fact.

He might have turned into a little octopus.

Octopus……

Ye Yunfan recited this word silently. He once accidentally read a short popular science article that mentioned that the octopus has nine brains and three hearts, and each of its tentacles has its own brain.

If... if that's the case, it seems to explain why he can hear the voices of the tentacles. Because they also have brains, they may also have thoughts and possess simple intelligence.

And perhaps it is precisely because of this that their voices appear directly in his mind.

Ye Yunfan stared at the small tentacles twisting in front of him, speculating with uncertainty.

However, these small tentacles were not at all slender, but rather a little short and plump. They had small suction cups on the inside, deep pink in color, and surprisingly heart-shaped.

This suggests that he does not seem to be the type of octopus that is commonly used as food. His physical characteristics also do not seem to have any potential attack power, but rather resemble that of a harmless mascot?

In these few seconds when his self-awareness was shattered, countless thoughts seemed to flash through Ye Yunfan's mind, and they were as chaotic as the bubbles that kept bubbling up in a boiling pot of water.

However, the simple intelligence of the small tentacles couldn't keep up with his lightning-fast thought process, and they couldn't understand at all.

[Aya, dizzy, dizzy.]

[So dizzy, so dizzy.]

[Don't understand, don't understand.]

They waved the tips of their tentacles one after another, shaking their heads like a child playing a rattle drum, and then they came closer and jumped back to the previous topic.

[Us, we are who we are.]

[You're hungry, did you forget?]

[Or did you hit your head and forget?]

After saying that, they all bent into a half arc in unison, like a neat little question mark.

??????

Ye Yunfan, who couldn't say anything: "......"

Damn it, what's with this illusion of being despised for babysitting in kindergarten?!

---

[Highlights]:

Regarding the setting of the small tentacles: the tentacles only express the desires of the body, but they do not have thoughts or independent personalities. It's similar to when you're hungry and can hear your stomach growling. When you stay up late, your hair might say that it's going to fall out. Also, during intimate contact, the consciousness of the tentacles is blocked by Ye Yunfan.

So there won't be any NP happening! Really! So please don't make wild guesses or mislead other readers in the comments!!

The relationship between Ye Yunfan and the small tentacles is equivalent to Huo Xianfeng* and his little tail. The only difference is that Ye Yunfan can hear the small tentacles speak. Apart from this, it's also a foreshadowing that involves an important plot in the later stage!!! I won't spoil it for you~~

*A character from the author's other book. Pheromone Recognition Disorder, it's also translated here on CG.

Translator's Corner

Hey guys! You've probably got the news already, CG had shutdown due to cease and desist notice from ridi. Although I am devastated with the news, it is what it is. I'm just disappointed that Meli didn't give us all a heads up and straight up deleted the staff and site discord server. Anyway, I'll be slowly re-uploading all my completed and ongoing novels on CG here so I'm hoping for your patience. Thank you~

☰