Wencheng Junior High, Class 7 of Grade 3.
"This mock exam showed clear improvement from everyone," the teacher said. "Especially Qin Shou, who ranked second in the entire grade—only two points short of a perfect score. You should all learn from him."
"Most of you did well. But there are some students who refuse to make progress and actually scored a zero, dragging down the class average."
"I won't name names. I just hope this student reflects on themselves. There are only 21 days left until the High School Entrance Exam. With results like this, forget about Beast-Taming High School—you wouldn't even get into an ordinary vocational school."
The balding homeroom teacher's gaze swept toward the window seat, third from the back on the far right.
A ponytailed girl sat there upright, back straight, looking every bit like an exemplary student.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
Who are you fooling? I'm talking about you.
Of course Qiao Sang knew the teacher meant her. But she had no choice—she wasn't the Qiao Sang of this world.
She had transmigrated just two days ago. Before she could even adapt, she'd been hit with a mock exam.
It was only a middle school mock exam. She shouldn't have been afraid—after all, in her previous life she'd gotten into a 985 university.
But the moment the test paper landed in her hands, she froze.
[What is formed when the human brain domain awakens?]
[Which extraordinary creatures are attracted to Heart Scales, and what effect do they have?]
[What is the final evolutionary form of the Stinky Loach called?]
[Which planets have humans already migrated to?]
…What kind of questions were these?!
With no other choice, she resorted to exam superstition:
three long, one short—pick short; three short, one long—pick long.
She filled the fill-in-the-blanks randomly and handed in the essay section completely blank.
Over the past two days, Qiao Sang had adapted to her body, and the original owner's memories had surged in. She now had a rough understanding of this world.
This was a world centered on Beast Taming.
From the time humans discovered they could tame beasts until now, 32.05 million years had passed, forming a fully mature beast-taming social system.
Though it was called the Beast-Taming Era, not everyone could tame beasts. When humans reached fifteen, their brain domain could be awakened—through magnetic wave stimulation—into a Beast-Taming Codex.
This Beast-Taming Codex was both a contract and a space, perfectly linking humans with extraordinary creatures.
If one failed to awaken their brain domain at fifteen, then beast taming would likely have nothing to do with them for the rest of their life.
Even after tens of millions of years, humans still couldn't achieve a 100% awakening rate.
Just last year, only 73% of students nationwide awakened a Beast-Taming Codex during the unified entrance exam. The remaining 27% failed to awaken—and even if some were academic prodigies, they were destined never to enter Beast-Taming High School.
Those who couldn't tame beasts could only sink into mediocrity, spending their lives at the bottom of society.
This was a harsh reality. Without beast taming, you might not even be able to carry bricks for a living.
Why use humans when extraordinary creatures could carry hundreds or thousands of kilograms at once?
Even serving dishes was the same.
In a world so different from her old common sense, Qiao Sang, a middle schooler on the verge of the entrance exam, was panicking inside.
In the past, knowledge changed destiny.
Now, beast taming changed life.
Though she had inherited the original owner's memories, the original Qiao Sang was a hopeless underachiever.
Her grades were stably ranked third from the bottom of the class. Last month's mock exam showed "improvement"—she ranked fourth from last.
That was only because the previous fourth-from-last student had diarrhea and skipped two subjects.
With only 21 days left, she didn't dare hope for a key high school. Getting into any high school would already be a blessing.
"Qiao Sang, the zero the teacher mentioned… that was you, right?" her deskmate Fang Sisi whispered.
Qiao Sang nodded.
The biggest reason they got along so well was simple—Fang Sisi was also an underachiever.
Last month, Fang Sisi had replaced Qiao Sang as third from last, becoming fourth from last herself.
"Impressive," Fang Sisi said. "You answered the multiple-choice questions and still didn't get a single point."
"How many points did you get?" Qiao Sang asked.
"263. That's 98 points higher than last time."
"Do you think it's true that Dai Shushu from Class 9 got a guaranteed admission to Litan Beast-Taming High School?"
"I heard she awakened independently."
That made Qiao Sang look up.
Independent Awakening.
Beast-Taming High Schools recruited future Beast Tamers. Those who awakened independently always had higher potential than those awakened through magnetic stimulation.
Over 30 million years ago, the first Beast Tamers all awakened independently. Back then, they made up only 0.01% of the population.
It wasn't until 2,563 years ago, when researcher Chen Leshen discovered magnetic wave awakening, that humanity entered the Great Beast-Taming Era.
Even so, Independent Awakeners were still the cream of the crop.
"If I awakened independently," Qiao Sang asked seriously, "would I still get guaranteed admission even if my cultural subjects failed?"
"Even a zero would get you accepted," someone joked.
They thought she was discouraged.
But Qiao Sang was suppressing the urge to laugh out loud.
Independent Awakening.
She had already done it.
When she transmigrated.
She just hadn't realized how big the difference was.
[Deepwater Tortoise — Earth-element, desert habitat, poor at swimming]
[Steel-Resolute Mouse — avoids rain, body prone to rust, prefers sunlight]
The contradictions made studying interesting instead of painful.
After school, Ma Xiao, the study monitor, came over.
"Qiao Sang, the homeroom teacher wants to see you in the office."
"What is wrong with you? The Entrance Exam is almost here!"
"I awakened independently," Qiao Sang said calmly. "My brain hasn't fully recovered yet."
"Heh," the teacher sneered.
Then he picked up the contact book and made a call.
"Hello, is this Qiao Sang's parent? I'm her homeroom teacher. Could you come to the school?"
Qiao Sang: "..."