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.

The same applies to serving plates.

Even if the salary is several times higher than that of humans, restaurants prefer to hire extraordinary creatures for serving because it attracts more customers.

In a world so different from the old social norms, Qiao Sang, a middle school student about to take the entrance exam, was feeling the pressure!

In the past, knowledge changed destiny; now, beast taming changes lives.

Even though she had the original owner's memories, the original owner was a poor student!

Her grades had always been stable at the bottom third of the class. Last month's mock exam showed a slight improvement, placing her fourth from the bottom.

This was because the previous fourth-from-bottom student had been sick on the exam day and missed two subjects.

With the entrance exam just 21 days away, she didn't expect to get into a top high school. She would be grateful if she could get into any high school at all.

Qiao Sang listened carefully to the teacher's lecture, took notes, and kept studying her textbook even after class, showing the same determination she had during her own college entrance exams.

"Qiao Sang, the zero you got on the exam is what Mr. Yu was talking about, right?" Her deskmate, Fang Sisi, leaned over and whispered.

It wasn't really a question but a confirmation. Even though Mr. Yu didn't name anyone specifically, everyone knew that Qiao Sang, who had boldly displayed her zero-scored paper, was the one being talked about.

Qiao Sang nodded.

In Qiao Sang's memory, her deskmate had a good relationship with her. They would go out to eat and play together.

One key reason for their good relationship was that her deskmate was also a poor student.

Fang Sisi had replaced Qiao Sang as the fourth-from-bottom student in their class's ranking after falling ill during last month's mock exam.

"Wow, I see you filled in all the multiple-choice questions and still got a zero. That's as hard as getting a full score," Fang Sisi said, giving a thumbs-up in admiration.

Qiao Sang was at a loss for words. Could she really be blamed? If anything, blame that 'short option' for the three-long-one-short questions!

"How many points did you get?" Qiao Sang asked.

"263. I improved by 98 points from last time," Fang Sisi said with a bit of pride.

No wonder she's a poor student—she only gained 98 points despite answering two more questions.

But Qiao Sang kept her thoughts to herself. After all, they were both poor students, and there was no need to add insult to injury.

"Not bad," Qiao Sang said honestly. While her deskmate's score seemed a bit lacking to her, it was a significant improvement compared to her own previous 200-point level.

"That's true. My mom has been keeping an eye on me every day..."

Before Fang Sisi could finish, a student in front of her turned around and asked nervously, "Have you heard about Dai Shushu from Class 9? Is it true she's being admitted to Litan Beastmaster High School?"

Fang Sisi sighed, "If it's being talked about, it's probably true."

Qiao Sang continued flipping through her textbook.

Dai Shushu was the top student in this mock exam. To Qiao Sang, it wasn't much of a scandal that the top student was being admitted to a high school—what mattered most to her was studying the key points.

"I heard she was admitted because she awakened her own Beast Taming Codex," Another student added to the discussion.

Qiao Sang lifted her head at this.

Beastmaster high schools recruit future beastmasters, so the ability to awaken the codex is crucial.

Those who achieve self-awakening usually have higher future achievements compared to those who awaken through magnetic stimulation.

The first batch of beastmasters awakened 30 million years ago was all self-awakened, representing a rare 0.01% of the population.

It wasn't until 2,563 years ago that researcher Chen Leshen discovered that human brain regions could be awakened through magnetic stimulation, marking the true beginning of the Beast Taming Era.

Yet, those who succeed in self-awakening remain exceptional.

"Self-awakening?" Fang Sisi pondered, "Do you think it's too late for me to latch onto her now?"

The student in front shook their head, "Don't bother. Once someone's been admitted, they're not likely to stay at school. If you knew in advance you could get into high school, would you still come to school?"

Fang Sisi agreed.

"If I self-awakened, could I still be admitted if my academic scores are failing?" Qiao Sang asked seriously.

The question made all three turn their attention to her.

"Don't be silly. Even with a zero, a school would still want you," The student in front teased.

"Don't think about it. Self-awakened students are always top-notch; there's no place for poor students,"

Fang Sisi patted Qiao Sang's shoulder. "I had a similar dream a few days ago."

Qiao Sang kept her head down and didn't speak.

The three assumed she was disheartened and moved on from discussing self-awakening.

Little did they know, Qiao Sang was struggling to suppress her impulse to burst into laughter.

Self-awakening!

She had successfully self-awakened as soon as she arrived!

She didn't know what it was at first and thought it was some sort of lucky break. It wasn't until her memories merged that she realized it was the Beast Taming Codex, which awakens at 15.

Since most people awaken at 15, she didn't think much of it. She didn't expect the gap between self-awakening and magnetic stimulation to be so significant!

It's no wonder the original Qiao Sang was a poor student—she didn't even understand the difference between self-awakening and awakening through stimulation.

Without the pressure of the upcoming high school entrance exam, Qiao Sang felt much more relaxed while reading.

She no longer viewed some of the knowledge points as mere rote memorization.

[The Deep-Moss Turtle belongs to the Earth type, often found in desert and tropical regions. Its eye rings are black, and it's not good at swimming.]

A turtle that isn't good at swimming? If you can't swim, why are you a turtle?

And why is a turtle an Earth type instead of a Water type?

[The Steel-Yield Mouse should avoid the rain because its body rusts easily. It enjoys sunshine.]

Why would a supernatural creature rust?

If its attribute is Steel, just like real steel, it rusts when exposed to rain. So why does it like 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: "…"

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