Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

Hanggang City, Zhehai Province. Wencheng Middle School, Class 3-7. “This time, everyone’s progress in the mock exam is evident. Especially Qin Shou, who scored second in the entire grade, missing full marks by just 2 points. Everyone should learn from him.” “Most of the students performed well, but some didn’t strive for improvement and ended up with a zero, dragging down the class average.” “I won’t name names here, but I hope this student reflects on themselves. With only 21 days until the high school entrance exam, such results won’t get you into a beastmaster high school, let alone an ordinary vocational school.” The homeroom teacher, Mr. Yu, cast a glance at the third row from the back, by the window, where a girl with a ponytail sat upright and straight, looking like a model student. He couldn’t help but twitch his mouth. Stop pretending! He was talking about you! Qiao Sang knew very well that Mr. Yu was referring to her, but she couldn’t help it—she wasn’t the Qiao Sang of this world. She had just arrived here a couple of days ago and was thrust into a mock exam without even getting used to her new life. But it was just a middle school mock exam. She wasn’t afraid—after all, she had been a top student in a prestigious university in her previous life. However, when she got the test paper, she was stunned. [What is formed when the human brain region awakens?] [What extraordinary creatures are attracted to the Heart Scales, and what function do they serve?] [What is the final evolutionary form of the stinky loach?] [Which planets have humans already colonized?] What... are these questions?! In the end, she could only guess wildly: Choose the shorter option for multiple-choice questions when in doubt, and the longer option otherwise, fill in the blanks randomly, and leave the essay questions blank. In the past two days, Qiao Sang had adapted to her body, and the memories of the original owner had surfaced. She had a rough understanding of this world. This was a world centered around beast taming. From when humans first discovered their ability to tame beasts until now, 32.05 million years had passed, and a mature beast-taming societal system had developed. Even though it was called the Beast Taming Era, not everyone could tame beasts. By the age of 15, a human’s brain region could awaken the Beast Taming Codex through magnetic stimulation. This codex was a contract and a space that perfectly connected humans with extraordinary creatures. If a person’s brain region didn’t awaken the codex by the age of 15, they would likely have no connection with beast taming for the rest of their life. Although the Beast Taming Era had developed for tens of millions of years, humans still couldn’t guarantee 100% awakening of the Beast Taming Codex. Last year, only 73% of students nationwide awakened the codex in the unified high school entrance exam, leaving 27% without it. Even if some of them were academic prodigies, they were destined not to get into beast-taming high schools. Those who couldn’t tame beasts would be relegated to mediocrity and remain at the lower levels of society for their entire lives. This was a harsh reality—if you couldn’t tame beasts, you might not even be able to do manual labor. Who would use human labor to move bricks when there are extraordinary creatures that can move hundreds or even thousands of kilograms with ease? It’s time-consuming and labor-intensive. sunshine? Isn’t it afraid of oxidation and rusting? Seeing so many pieces of common knowledge made her want to complain. But because of this, Qiao Sang found it interesting rather than painful, and she remembered the information without needing to cram. Soon, school was over. As Qiao Sang was tidying up her things and hadn’t yet left her seat, a girl wearing black-rimmed glasses approached. “Qiao Sang, the teacher wants you to go to the office.” Qiao Sang was momentarily taken aback. “I understand.” The girl with glasses was Ma Xiao, the class monitor. She was accustomed to teachers calling Qiao Sang to the office. Being the perennial third-from-bottom student was routine for Qiao Sang. The original Qiao Sang was used to it; the current Qiao Sang was not. Especially when the teacher’s spittle was practically flying in her face. “What’s wrong with you! With the entrance exam so close, how can you perform like this! How can you explain this to yourself and your parents!” Qiao Sang silently took a step back. “Teacher, please calm down.” That was close. She almost called the teacher “Old Classmate.” “Calm down? How can I calm down? I’ve taught so many classes and never seen such poor performance!” The teacher’s verbal assault continued unabated. As a top student in her previous life, this was Qiao Sang’s first experience with such treatment. She silently took another step back. “There’s a reason for my performance.” The teacher eyed her coldly. “What reason?” “Actually, I’ve self-awakened, but my brain hasn’t adjusted yet.” At this moment, Qiao Sang felt somewhat impressed with her own cleverness. “Hmph.” The teacher sneered. “It seems I’ve been too lenient with you.” Qiao Sang was puzzled. What did that have to do with how the teacher treated her? The teacher took out a contact book from a drawer, opened it, and dialed a number. It wasn’t long before the call was connected. “Hello, is this Qiao Sang’s guardian? I’m Qiao Sang’s homeroom teacher. Could you come to the school?” Qiao Sang: “…”