7: Chapter 7 Freshman Competition

The night was deep.

A crack was left open in the bedroom window, and the late summer evening breeze seeped in quietly, fluttering the pages of "Basic Beast-Taming Theory" spread out on the desk.

[Writing to this point, I hope readers remember our domain name. Reading Taiwan novels is super smooth.]

The desk lamp was set to its dimmest setting, the faint yellow glow barely illuminating half of Lin Chen's face and the constantly flickering message notifications on the screen.

The phone buzzed on the wooden desktop, the screen lighting up and darkening, then lighting up again.

On the lock screen, message previews popped up one after another.

[Grade 12, Class 3 Group (99+)]

[Wang Hao: Hahahaha, I successfully formed a contract! A Flame-Fire Dog! See this coat color? Pure bloodline!]

[Zhao Qiang: @Wang Hao. Stone-Armored Turtle contracted. Little Fire-type pet, kneel before your grandpa!]

[Wang Hao: See you at the Battle Club tomorrow. The loser calls the winner 'Dad'.]

[Li Yue: [Image.jpg] My Water Spirit Sparrow, cute, right?]

[Chen Yuan: Apprentice Beastmaster goal achieved. Next, it's time to head toward becoming a Master-level Beast Tamer.]

[Li Yue: You've got your dream material for tonight.]

Lin Chen's thumb slid slowly across the screen, looking at the familiar or semi-familiar profile pictures and the text overflowing with excitement behind them.

These past few days were the unified initial pet contract period for Qinglan City. Students who had awakened as Beast Tamers would go to the Nurserys to select a pet and sign a contract.

The excited students chatted incessantly in the group chat. Lin Chen chose to lurk, continuing to study the book "Basic Beast-Taming Theory."

Just then, another new notification popped up at the top of the screen.

["Waning Moon in the Morning Breeze" requested to add you as a friend]

[Verification message: Hello, Lin Chen, I am Zhang Xiaoxiao]

Zhang Xiaoxiao?

Lin Chen hesitated for a moment and then clicked accept.

Almost the moment he accepted, a message came through.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Good evening, Lin Chen! I'm not bothering you, am I? (｡･ω･｡)"

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "It's like this: I've started a small group for all the students from Qinglan City who were admitted to Qiming Beast-Taming Academy this year."

"I thought since we'll be alumni and fellow townsfolk, we could look out for each other and exchange information. Do you want to join? [Cute Peeking.jpg]"

An invitation link to the group chat was attached below.

The group name was quite interesting: [Qinglan City Beast Tamer Talent Reserve Base]

Lin Chen clicked the link and glanced at the group member list.

Including Zhang Xiaoxiao, there were currently about twenty people.

He saw the name "Su Qingyuan"; her profile picture was a very elegant ink-wash orchid.

He didn't know the others very well, but as students with similar grades, he had heard of them more or less.

His fingertip hovered over the screen for a few seconds.

A hometown association?

In an unfamiliar city, banding together with people from the same place was indeed a common choice.

But to be safe, Lin Chen still asked: "Is there a fee to join the group?"

In his past life, a group entry fee would have been nonsense.

But in this world, many Beast Tamers would create various group chats to help each other and exchange beast-taming knowledge, leading to the rule of paying an entry fee.

Firstly, it was to prevent idle people and troublemakers from entering, establishing a small barrier through the entry fee.

Secondly, it was to make Beast Tamers understand a principle—in this world, knowledge has a price.

Lin Chen was extremely sensitive to anything involving money.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "...Don't worry, joining the group is free."

Lin Chen joined the group chat decisively.

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Welcome, Lin Chen! [Scattering Flowers]"

The other group members welcomed him one after another. After responding, Lin Chen chose to maintain his usual lurking style.

There was chatting in the group too, but the topics were different from the pure excitement and showing off in the class group.

They were mostly exchanging information about Qiming Academy, asking about dorm conditions and course schedules. Occasionally, someone would share the type and abilities of the pet they had contracted, and their tone was relatively restrained.

Lin Chen watched for a while, then placed his phone face down on the desk and continued reading his textbook.

But after just two lines, the phone vibrated under his palm again.

This time it was a new message from the hometown group, from a boy with the note "Zhou Ming."

Zhou Ming: "By the way, I have some important news I just heard about to share with everyone."

"I heard that right after we officially enroll, there will be a Freshman Grand Competition. This is a steadfast tradition at Qiming Academy."

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "I heard my cousin, who is a junior, mention it; she said it's held every year."

Zhou Ming: "Right. The goal is to test the results of the freshmen's training and breeding over the holidays and pick out the truly promising talents."

"The rewards for the Freshman Grand Competition are very rich. Not only are there precious breeding resources, but you can also earn school credits. I don't need to tell you how hard credits are to get and how useful they are, right?"

The group suddenly became active.

"Credits! We have to fight for those!"

"What's the specific format? Arena battles?"

Seeing this, Lin Chen also secretly guessed: "This kind of Freshman Grand Competition is definitely a cliché arena tournament."

The so-called arena tournament was actually a one-on-one battle between two Beast Tamers on a battlefield with fixed rules and formats.

The winner advances, the loser is eliminated, until the final champion is determined.

Zhou Ming: "That's the key! The insider info I heard says that the Freshman Grand Competition for our year might be reformed. They won't use the old arena tournament model anymore."

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "Huh? Then what will they use?"

Zhou Ming: "I heard from a senior that the school might go big this time—dropping all the freshmen into a secret realm for wilderness survival and actual combat competition."

The group was quiet for a few seconds, then was flooded with question marks and exclamation points.

"???"

"A secret realm?! Wilderness combat? Are you sure? That's too dangerous!"

Zhang Xiaoxiao: "How reliable is this news? If it's true, the preparations we need to make will be completely different."

Zhou Ming: "The senior said it's almost certain. The school's top brass has had this intention for a long time, feeling that arena matches are too soft and can't cultivate Beast Tamers who can truly handle wilderness risks. Our year just happens to be the pilot. However, the specific rules and which secret realm it is are still confidential."

Lin Chen watched the discussions scrolling rapidly across the screen, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the page.

A secret realm, wilderness combat.

His eyes flickered slightly; this was a bit unexpected.

He had previously guessed it would be a cliché arena tournament, fighting one-on-one in rounds. While simple and direct, it was indeed a bit dull.

If they were really thrown into a secret realm for wilderness survival, then the variables and danger levels would increase exponentially.

The wilderness of this world was never a harmonious and beautiful natural paradise.

Outside the cities lived countless uncontracted, wild, and untamable pets, many of which were fierce species with strong aggression and territorial instincts.

Mountains, forests, swamps, wastelands... every place could hide deadly dangers.

Not to mention that outside the Human Federation, there were pet civilizations where humans found it difficult to set foot.

There, it was a paradise for wild pets.

Even experienced official Beast Tamers had to travel in groups and be extremely cautious when venturing deep into the wild.

Throwing a group of freshmen, who had just contracted their pets and had almost zero combat experience, directly into a secret realm?

"I really do need to prepare early," Lin Chen thought.

The night grew deeper, and the sound of traffic outside the window gradually thinned.

The discussion in the group shifted from initial shock and excitement to what preparations to make and what supplies to bring, then the topic drifted before finally tapering off with Zhang Xiaoxiao's "Everyone get some rest early, let's talk tomorrow."

Lin Chen took one last look at the now-quiet group chat and put his phone on the bedside to charge.

He stood up, stretched his stiff neck, and his gaze fell toward the window.