Chapter Three

Wang Ningning watched the boy and his tiger with a sly smile. “Ayuan, how about a bet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Cheng Yuan, holding the little tiger, replied, “If I win, it’s no fun. If I lose, it’s disappointing.”
From memory, Wang Ningning always kicked off conversations with bets, and they inevitably followed the path of a passionate manga: “I won’t lose.” “I’ll win it back next time, don’t get cocky too soon.”
Wins were rare, losses common, and rewards nearly nonexistent. It was only the youthful pride of his predecessor that made him care about saving face and showing off, easy to fall into her traps. Yet, as the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger; Cheng Yuan’s predecessor ended up just one rank below Wang Ningning, always second or third in the school. As for first place, that belonged to Xu Hao, the class president of Grade One.
You could say his predecessor was a passionate top student. Throughout high school, the top three places in the grade were constantly rotated among the three of them.
Wang Ningning glanced at the languid Cheng Yuan. Something was wrong—almost completely wrong. He wasn’t taking the bait anymore. Had Cheng Yuan changed his approach? She would have to observe for a while longer.
The first lesson of the semester was a class meeting, usually to elect class officers. For academic stars like Cheng Yuan and Wang Ningning, they were always considered top candidates. Cheng Yuan, however, didn’t want class officer duties to eat into his time. From class president to PE monitor, he showed no enthusiasm, leaving Wang Ningning—who easily won the class president’s post—feeling out of sorts. Just a week ago, he hadn’t been like this.
Once the class officers were appointed, the homeroom teacher announced, “It seems most students already have their own monsters. If you don’t, or if you want to raise another one, you can go to the field at noon for a random selection. This afternoon, there will be a monster battle test in the auditorium. Make sure you’re prepared.”
The little tiger yawned and curled up in Cheng Yuan’s drawer. “So there is a battle test. Ayuan, want to see whose ranking is higher between us?”
Cheng Yuan looked at Wang Ningning, who was clenching her tiny fists, brimming with excitement. He saw a flash of recognition in his eyes; indeed, his predecessor and she shared similar traits. This time, Cheng Yuan admitted he was interested. He extended his fist. “Let’s give it a try.”
A snow-white fist bumped against Cheng Yuan’s. “Deal.”
There was no wager, just pure competition—an unspoken rule between childhood friends.
Neither of them mentioned winning first place, for the outcome of this battle wouldn’t be decided by them alone. Both had only recently acquired their monsters and didn’t have much confidence in claiming the top spot. After all, this was the final year of high school, and some repeaters aiming for elite universities had monsters close to king-level power. The first place was already reserved for one of them.
Then came some specialized classes. At noon, Cheng Yuan scooped up the little tiger, curled up like a ball of fluff in his drawer, planning to go to the cafeteria for a meal. Several classmates headed straight for the field—they either didn’t have monsters or weren’t satisfied with their family’s recommendation. Monsters with king-level potential like Cheng Yuan’s and Wang Ningning’s required at least some family backing. The national random contract system was akin to drawing cards: luck could grant a king-potential monster, and for the extraordinarily lucky, even a disaster-potential monster. Among millions of seniors, there were always a few.
Cheng Yuan had no intention of contracting a second monster—not with so much randomness. If he ended up drawing a street rat with iron teeth, he genuinely feared it would be eaten by his little tiger. Even among king-level monsters, a king-level one could easily snatch up another, leaving the weaker one flailing helplessly. This often happened among rodent-type, smaller monsters.
Contracting monsters depended on mental strength. Besides daily cultivation, the strength was tied to the feedback from the monster’s contract. In short, the stronger your monsters, the stronger you become, and the more monsters you can contract. Conversely, if you are too weak, the monster’s growth is capped by you. Living monsters provided extra cultivation bonuses and power feedback, but also consumed the contractor’s mental energy. Weaklings simply couldn’t contract monsters; forcing it would turn the owner into a pet, a human pet, belonging to the monsters.
In the cafeteria, Wang Ningning was feeding meat to her Explosive Dominator Turtle. Fire-type monsters were generally hot-tempered, but hers exhibited the steadiness typical of turtle monsters and was quite obedient. Wang Ningning fed it sausages by hand; the turtle’s hooked mouth always closed slowly, as if worried about biting her.
Cheng Yuan’s little tiger, in contrast, acted as though it was sleeping deeply. Cheng Yuan fetched a bottle of warm sheep’s milk and waved it in front of the tiger’s nose. Instantly, the tiger opened its eyes and latched onto the bottle, drinking eagerly.
After two bottles, its belly was so full it finally stopped.
At noon, he teased the little tiger with a branch he’d picked up.
In the afternoon, Cheng Yuan heard a hoarse monster roar, and the homeroom teacher at the podium announced, “Students, head to the auditorium for the test.”
A few students, carrying monster cubs that had barely opened their eyes, shook their heads—there was no hope for them.
Upon entering the auditorium, they saw several gigantic monsters. Most eye-catching was a dragon, its body covered in flame-red scales and leathery wings that spanned nearly five meters. Its head to tailtip stretched across almost half the class lineup.
Was there a dragon-type monster held back to repeat the year, aiming for the national top spot at Kyoto University? Cheng Yuan wondered. Dragon-types—especially sub-species like this—always possessed king-level potential, and some were even higher, touching disaster-level ranks. Judging by the look of it, its monster was not far from king status.
The dragon’s innate aura left some monsters ill at ease—it was the fear engraved in the DNA of weaker monsters, preyed upon by the top predator.
The little tiger, however, showed no particular reaction, remaining energetic and lively. Tiger sub-species were also top predators in their habitats; to the little tiger, the big lizard next door was far less interesting than Cheng Yuan’s hand.
The Explosive Dominator Turtle seemed a bit uncomfortable. Normally a land turtle walking with its head held high, now it lowered its head, eyes cautiously watching the dragon.
After a speech from the principal, a battle chart was projected on the screen. The entire auditorium was divided into eight arenas, each about the size of a basketball court.
Cheng Yuan quickly found his assigned arena on the chart. “You’re in Arena Eight, I’m in Four. Too bad,” Wang Ningning said. “I’ll go first—see you.”
Cheng Yuan walked toward Arena Eight. On the way, he noticed Arena One was reserved for repeaters—clearly, the school understood the gap between repeaters and regular students.