
What to Do When I Become a Koi and Fall into the Male God’s Bathtub
- Genre: Drama
- Author: Tian Huafang,甜画舫,
- Status: Completed
Rating(4 / 5.0, 29 votes)
5 stars
8(28%)
4 stars
12(41%)
3 stars
9(31%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)

Popular Reviews
Get some snacks and settle in for a long story. There is a lot more going on than the bathtub scene we all desperately want (and were promised by the title).
Summary: A young novelist from the 21st century receives a mysterious game he initially believes to be a cute cub-raising simulation. However, it turns out to be a sci-fi/horror adventure game. Even more surprisingly, the game depicts real events from the far future, and the "cub" he is raising is actually another player—a sci-fi era general who first experienced these events and is now reliving them as part of exposure therapy. The two slowly bond in the game as they work together to uncover the true mysteries behind the events that unfolded in those years.
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Ok, ok, ok. So I really need to write a review for this story because it is not what you think it is. If you want to read something fluffy... well, there is fluff and mofumofu. But that's not all it has.
This is the type of story that touches you because it doesn't hide the ugly gore and tragedy in the background but instead brings it to the fore together with the fluff. It is cute. It is gory. It is sad. It is beautiful.
The first few chapters might confuse you, so here's a bit of an explanation:
**Spoiler**
He Ruge (MC) and Xi Guican (ML) both live in different worlds. He Ruge seemingly lives in the normal modern world as a writer, while Xi Guican is a general/marshal from the interstellar era. On top of that, Xi Guican is a white tiger beast person with a tragic past.
Both of them end up finding a game and playing it, with differing genres. He Ruge is attracted by mofumofu and played the game thinking it was a romance game, Xi Guican is a face-con so he got suckered by He Ruge's face, but he was initially convinced that it was a kind of game therapy that explored his tragic past. (Cue injured marshal with volatile spiritual power)
The two meet through the game.
**[collapse]**
This story is amazing because it is so fantastical and yet it sucks you in and makes you empathize with the characters. You will go through the five stages of grief. You will even get **Spoiler**
backstabbed
**[collapse]**. You will amazingly also explore functions of game systems that would be unrealistic in reality yet in here are an indication of a hidden shadowy hand.
TLDR; The writing is amazing, it will make you cry. The plot is amazing, it makes your IQ hurt. The characters are amazing, they are not 2D. Not even side characters.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm so moved.
From the main character (MC) being a regular person from Earth and the male lead (ML) being a high-ranking soldier from the interstellar age who is literally sick and has a negative outlook on life, to the MC discovering a mysterious game and gradually transforming into his true form—a mermaid koi fish—while the ML slowly heals himself and tries to untangle the knots in his traumatic past, and then finally meeting each other in the interstellar age... This novel is just so good.
I appreciate how the author crafted this world, and even though it's not explicitly stated how the mysterious game was created (it’s only implied that it must have come from a much higher realm), I really enjoy how their paths intersect.
The ML deeply touches me. I didn’t feel that the novel was long or dragging; it was very straightforward.
What really left a lasting impression on me were the extra chapters.
This novel is an mpreg, by the way.
**Spoilers ahead:**
The ML and MC will be given an egg by the game, and they will raise their own cubs once it hatches. The egg is so cute, by the way. And if you’re curious, they’re going to have twins. The older one is a little mermaid (boy) with blue eyes and black hair, and the younger one is a white tiger with wings (boy) with blue eyes and white hair.
The extras are in diary form, written from the ML’s point of view.
A bit spoilerish, but I just had to get it out of my system. *cries*
If you’re going to read the novel, you’ll really feel for the ML because he was just a baby when he was taken in and used for human experiments. He was depressed, and while he didn’t hate the world, there was more of a distrust and an inability to feel anything at all.
He expresses his fears of not being a good father. He didn’t know how to react or raise the children well because he never had a proper childhood. His childhood was all about “be weak and get killed,” which cast a shadow over him.
He also never experienced puberty, as he was injected with growth hormones and forced to become an adult.
He’s full of conflicting emotions, but this doesn’t diminish how much he loves and treasures his cubs, especially his lover. The MC is the light of the ML’s life.
Sometimes the ML would think: "What if it was just a dream? What if the cubs didn’t exist? What if the MC didn’t exist? What if he’s still alone, lying on the bed, just waiting to die?" But after seeing the MC’s face and his children, all those thoughts disappear.
The ML vows to ensure that his children won’t have to worry about anything. He’ll make sure they live a normal life.
This novel is quite short, and I never felt it was nearing the end because the chapters are short and engaging. I’m soft about baby cubs.
I’m just so happy for them.
I want to thank the translators and editors for taking on this novel, and I especially want to thank the author for creating such a beautiful story.