Zhehai Province, Hanggang City.
Wencheng Middle School, Class 37.
"This time, everyone's progress in the simulation exam is evident, especially Qin Shou, who scored second in the entire grade. He missed full marks by just 2 points. Everyone should learn more from him."
"Most of the students did well, but there are a few who showed no ambition and scored zero, dragging down the class average."
"I won’t mention names here; I just hope this student can reflect on themselves. The High School Entrance Exam is only 21 days away. With such a score, not only can they not get into Beast Master High School, but they might even struggle to enter a normal vocational school."
The homeroom teacher gave a sweeping glance towards the window seat in the third row from the right, where a girl with a ponytail sat up straight, looking like a model student.
He couldn't help but twitch his lips. "Pretending over there! I’m talking about you!"
Of course, Qiao Sang knew the teacher was referring to her, but she couldn’t help it. She wasn’t the Qiao Sang of this world.
She had only crossed over a couple of days ago and hadn’t even adapted when the simulation exam hit her.
But it was just a middle school simulation exam; she wasn’t scared. After all, she had been a high-achieving student at a prestigious university in her previous life.
However, when the test paper landed in her hands, she was stunned.
"What is formed when the human brain domain awakens?"
"What kind of extraordinary creatures are attractive to mind scales, and what effect do they have?"
"What is the final evolution form of the stinky loach?"
"What planets have humans already colonized?"
What… what are these questions?!
In the end, she had no choice but to guess: in multiple-choice questions, she picked the shorter answers if there were three long and one short, and selected the long answer if there were three short and one long. For fill-in-the-blanks, she wrote random answers, and left the essay questions blank when she submitted her paper.
Over the past two days, Qiao Sang had adapted to her body and the memories of the original owner were flooding back. She had a basic understanding of this world.
This was a world dominated by Beast Masters. From the time humanity discovered they could bond with extraordinary beasts to now, it had evolved for 32.05 million years, forming an absolutely mature societal system based around Beast Masters.
Though it was called the Beast Master Era, not everyone could master beasts. When humans turn 15, their brain domain could awaken the Beastmaster Codex through magnetic wave stimulation.
This Codex was both a contract and a space, perfectly linking humans to extraordinary creatures.
If one could not awaken the Codex by the age of 15, they would most likely have nothing to do with beast mastery in their lifetime.
Even after millions of years of development, humans still couldn't guarantee 100% awakening of the Codex.
Last year, only 73% of the nationwide test-takers awakened their Codex, meaning 27% did not. Even if some of them were exceptionally gifted, they still couldn't get into Beast Master High School.
Those who couldn’t become Beast Masters often fell into mediocrity, spending their lives in the lower social classes.
This was a harsh reality; without beast mastery, even carrying bricks could become impossible.
Why would they hire humans to move bricks when extraordinary creatures could lift hundreds or even thousands of kilograms at once? It would be a waste of time and effort.
Even serving food followed the same logic.
Even if humans could earn several times more, restaurants would still prefer hiring extraordinary creatures since they attracted more customers.
In a world so different from the familiar, Qiao Sang, a middle school student prepping for her upcoming exams, felt immense pressure.
In the past, knowledge changed one's fate; now, it was beast mastery that could change a life.
Though she had the memories of the original owner, that owner had been a poor student!
Her grades had consistently placed her in the bottom third of the class, and last month, she had improved a bit by scoring fourth from the bottom because the student who usually held that spot had missed two tests due to an upset stomach.
With the entrance exam just 21 days away, she wasn’t expecting to get into a top high school; she would be grateful just to pass and get into any high school.
Qiao Sang listened attentively to the teacher, taking notes, and even kept her textbook open after class, truly embodying the spirit of a student cramming for an exam.
"Qiao Sang, the teacher's talking about you and that duck egg score," her deskmate, Fang Sisi, leaned in with a smirk.
This wasn’t a question but a confirmation. Although the homeroom teacher hadn’t named anyone directly, how could she not recognize Qiao Sang, who openly took notes on her zero-score paper without even trying to hide it?
Qiao Sang nodded.
In her memories, her deskmate, Fang Sisi, was someone she got along well with; they often ate and hung out together. One major reason they were so close was that Fang Sisi was also a less-than-stellar student.
Fang Sisi was the one who had taken the test for the class's fourth-from-bottom spot last month due to a similar situation.
"Impressive! I see you at least tried the multiple-choice questions, yet somehow got a solid zero; that’s tough!" Fang Sisi gave an exaggerated thumbs up.
Qiao Sang was momentarily speechless. How could she be blamed? If anything, it was the fault of that "three-long, one-short; pick the short" trick!
"What did you score?" Qiao Sang asked.
"263, an improvement of 98 points from last time." Fang Sisi beamed with pride.
It was truly commendable for a less-than-bright student. Scoring 98 points more after taking two additional tests really showed something, even if it didn’t mean much.
That being said, Qiao Sang kept those thoughts to herself; after all, they were both in the same boat.
"That's good."
She didn’t say this insincerely. Though she saw Fang Sisi's scores as underwhelming, it was still a significant improvement compared to her own previous scores of around 200 points.
"Of course! My mom has been watching me closely these days…"
Before she could finish, a nervous student sitting in front of Fang Sisi turned to them and said, "Have you heard the rumor that Dai Shushu from Class 9 was directly admitted to Litang Beast Master High School? Is it true?"
Fang Sisi sighed, "If it's spreading like this, it’s probably true."
Qiao Sang flipped through her textbook beside them.
According to them, Dai Shushu was the top scorer from this simulation exam. In her opinion, being admitted directly based on such a score wasn’t gossip-worthy; she just needed to focus on her studies.
"I heard she awakened her Codex by herself to get this privilege," someone in front of Qiao Sang chimed into the discussion.
At this, Qiao Sang raised her head.
Beast Master High School was looking for aspiring Beast Masters, and whether or not one’s brain domain could awaken was of utmost importance. Those who could self-awaken generally had brighter futures than those who were stimulated to awaken by magnetic waves.
The first batch of awakened Beast Masters over 30 million years ago all had self-awakening abilities—back then, the percentage of Beast Masters among the population was only 0.01%, an incredibly rare occurrence.
It wasn't until 2,563 years ago, when a researcher named Chen Leshen discovered that humans could awaken their Codex through magnetic wave stimulation, that the age of Beast Masters truly began.
However, even self-awakeners were still elite among the elite.
"Self-awakening?" Fang Sisi fell deep into thought. "Do you think it's too late for me to get close to her now?"
The student in front of Fang Sisi shook her head. "Don’t think about it. If she got that admission, she certainly won’t stay in school. If you knew for sure you could go to high school, would you still bother coming to school?"
Fang Sisi agreed wholeheartedly.
"What if I successfully self-awaken? Would I still be eligible for admission even if I fail the cultural subjects?" Qiao Sang asked, taking a deep breath, her expression serious.
Her question successfully drew the attention of all three students.
"Even if you fail, I bet a school would still want you." The student in front of Qiao Sang teased.
"Don’t dream! Those who can self-awaken are always top students; there’s no room for underachievers," Fang Sisi patted Qiao Sang on the shoulder. "Just the other day, I had a dream like that."
Qiao Sang kept her head down in silence.
The three thought she was feeling discouraged, so they didn’t continue discussing self-awakening.
Little did they know the effort it took Qiao Sang to restrain the urge to burst into laughter.
Self-awakening!
She had successfully self-awakened even when she first crossed over!
At the time, she had no idea what it was; she thought it was some kind of cheat, but after the memories merged, she realized it was the awakening of the Beastmaster Codex that occurred at age 15.
Since most people awaken by 15, she hadn’t thought much of it, not realizing the gap between self-awakening and awakening through stimulation was so huge!
No wonder the original Qiao Sang had been a poor student; even when her memories merged, she hadn’t understood the stark contrast between self-awakening and being awakened by magnetic stimulation.
……
With the pressure of the exams lifted, Qiao Sang found her studies considerably easier. When she came across knowledge points, they weren't merely subjects she had to rote-memorize anymore.
"Deep Fur Turtle is a ground-type creature, often inhabiting tropical desert areas, with black rings around its eyes and poor swimming abilities."
How can a turtle not swim well?
If you can’t swim, why are you a turtle?
Why is a turtle ground-type and not water-type?
"Steel Rash Mouse shouldn't be caught in the rain, as its body tends to rust; it prefers sunshine."
Why would an extraordinary creature rust?
Since it’s made of steel and would rust when exposed to rain, doesn’t it fear oxidation and rusting?
There were so many common sense questions she wanted to voice her concerns about.
Yet because of this, she found studying enjoyable rather than painful; she absorbed the information without needing to memorize it mechanically.
Before long, the school day ended.
Just as Qiao Sang finished packing her things and was about to leave her seat, a girl wearing black-framed glasses approached her. "Qiao Sang, the homeroom teacher wants to see you in the office."
Qiao Sang was taken aback. "I see."
The girl with glasses, Ma Xiao, was the class monitor. She was unfazed by such requests from the teacher.
As the permanent holder of the bottom third position, it was a common occurrence for Qiao Sang.
The original Qiao Sang had grown used to it; the current Qiao Sang, however, was not.
Especially when the teacher's verbal lashing was directed right at her.
"What’s wrong with you! With the entrance exam coming up, how can you perform like this? How do you explain yourself? What do your parents think?!"
Qiao Sang silently took a step back. "Teacher... calm down."
That was close; she almost called him 'Old Teacher'…
"Calm down? How can I calm down?! In all my years of teaching, I have never seen a student as poor as you!" The teacher’s verbal assault intensified.
Having once been labeled a top student in her previous life, this was the first time Qiao Sang faced such treatment. She silently retreated another step. "I did poorly for a reason."
The teacher scoffed, "What reason?"
"Actually, I did self-awaken, but my brain is still recovering."
At this moment, Qiao Sang felt somewhat impressed by her own cleverness.
"Ha." The teacher sneered. "It seems I’ve been too lenient with you."
Qiao Sang was puzzled by how that related to anything.
The teacher pulled out a contact book from his drawer, opened it, and dialed a number.
Before long, the call went through.
"Is this Qiao Sang's parent? I am Qiao Sang's homeroom teacher. Do you have time to come to the school?"
Qiao Sang: "..."
(End of Chapter)