Beast Taming: Starting From Zero

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Qiao Sang followed closely and sent a [ ? ] in response to the formation. The next second, the chat displayed: [ Shi Gaofeng has retracted a message. ]

Even though the high school battle team had six members, their usual training and activities for individual and group battles were mostly separate, leading to the creation of two separate group chats.

The Invincible Shengshui chat that Qiao Sang was in had five members, including herself. Usually, it was only the others chatting, with Zheng Guoping staying silent.

Now, Zheng Guoping’s sudden appearance startled Shi Gaofeng into quickly retracting his message, terrified of being singled out.

Wang Yao looked at the group, now suddenly bubbling with activity, and felt speechless.

So, you guys have all been here this whole time? Suppressing the urge to complain, she scrolled up to see Qiao Sang's message and felt a headache coming on.

From accepting the mission until now, it had only been a full day, and they’d already completed the seemingly limitless task of finding a Ghost-type pet beast?

She was just about to ask how they completed it, but after typing two words, the latest three messages in the chat made her heart skip a beat, and she quickly hit the delete key.

All three were from Zheng Guoping.

[ Zheng Guoping: Image ]

Opening it revealed the final rating and evaluation page for the task to find the Ghost Lamp.

[ Zheng Guoping: Voice Message ]

[ Zheng Guoping: Voice Message ]

Both were 60 seconds long.

Out of impulse, Wang Yao converted the first voice message to text.

[ Look at Qiao Sang, younger than all of you by a year. It's her first time completing a task, and she’s done so efficiently and excellently. Now, look at how many tasks you’ve completed, how many have been five-star rated? And now look at her... ]

She didn’t even need to listen to the second voice message to know it would be more scolding.

Wang Yao felt a chill run through her.

Growing up, she had always been the model child others admired.

Ever since contracting with the Flame Sparrow and being admitted to the best Shengshui High School in the city, who hadn’t spoken of her with admiration?

Even in Shengshui High School, full of geniuses, she’d been selected for the individual battle team. To say she wasn’t proud would be a lie.

Before Qiao Sang came along, she was also the least criticized member of the team.

Was she bad? No, she wasn’t! It’s just that Qiao Sang was too much of a freak.

Zheng Guoping was being ridiculous, comparing them to this anomaly. Furious, Wang Yao was about to type a rebuttal.

But then, Zheng Guoping sent another message.

[ Zheng Guoping: By the way, how’s your task going, you three? ]

Wang Yao looked up at her Flame Sparrow, who wore an impatient expression, and immediately backed down.

Forget it, I’ll wait until I finish the task to argue…

The moment Zheng Guoping appeared, the group chat fell silent again. Seeing no one talking, Qiao Sang exited and opened other message threads.

[ I’m a Rising Star: Qiao Sang, Qiao Sang, what do you think of the Fire Wing Butterfly? ]

The message was from half an hour ago.

Qiao Sang’s eyelid twitched.

I’m a Rising Star was Fang Sisi's ID, and over the summer, she’d already asked about the five different evolutions of her Cotton Bug .

[ I think it’s good. ]

Fang Sisi quickly replied.

[ Right? I think so too! So I’ve decided, I’m going to evolve my Cotton Bug into a Fire Wing Butterfly! ]

Qiao Sang wasn’t even surprised at this point. Casually, she typed a response.

[ How are you going to do that? ]

[ I’m a Rising Star: I asked a breeder. To evolve into an excellent Fire Wing Butterfly, the Cotton Bug must first become brave. Otherwise, even if it evolves with the Fire Stone, it won’t be as fierce as other Fire-type beasts, and its fire energy will be greatly diminished. ]

Qiao Sang suddenly had a bad feeling.

The last few times Fang Sisi wanted to evolve her Cotton Bug into an Snow Butterfly, she’d made it spend half an hour every day in the fridge to help it adapt to the cold.

Then, when she wanted it to evolve into a Venomous Butterfly, she’d scoured the internet for dark cuisine recipes and fed them to the poor thing.

After that, she changed her mind again and wanted it to evolve into a Water Wing Butterfly, so she took it swimming for an extended period, somehow managing to teach the non-swimming Cotton Bug how to swim.

Honestly, Qiao Sang admired the Cotton Bug for surviving all that.

Now, wondering what ordeal it would face this time, Qiao Sang felt a little sorry for it. She sent a message asking.

[ What are you planning to do this time? ]

[ I’m a Rising Star: I asked around, and the best way to build courage is to visit a haunted house. Coincidentally, a horror escape room recently opened on Qinshe Road, so I’m planning to take my Cotton Bug there to toughen it up. ]

Qiao Sang was stunned for a moment and typed: [ Is it the one at 231 Qinshe Road? ]

[ I’m a Rising Star: I didn’t notice. Hold on, let me check. ]

Three seconds later, Fang Sisi replied.

[ Yep, it is! How did you know? Have you been there? ]

It was indeed the one she’d seen on the mission list. Qiao Sang opened the chat, about to reply, when the window shook with a new message.

[ Did you play the Lost Town room? The third challenge there features a Cotton Bug falling from the ceiling with bloodstains, that’s actually my little Cotto ! ] She added a shy emoji at the end.

Qiao Sang: ...

[ So, you turned your Cotton Bug into an NPC? ]

[ I’m a Rising Star: I took it there once, but we didn’t clear the room. I want to go again, but it’s too expensive, 1000 Alliance Coins per try! So, I let my Cotton Bug work there to earn the money for another attempt. ]

Qiao Sang’s mouth twitched. The Cotton Bug’s fate was indeed tragic…

After thinking for a moment, Qiao Sang typed another message.

[ How much does the Cotton Bug earn per day? ]

[ I’m a Rising Star: 100 Alliance Coins. ]

Qiao Sang felt sympathy again, working hard for ten days, only to spend the money on scaring itself... what’s the point?

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8:22 PM.

231 Qinshe Road.

A number of passersby looked up at the newly opened escape room, intrigued yet too scared to enter.

The shop’s décor was mainly black, with flickering candle-like lights all around, making it clear this was a horror-themed escape room.

Inside, a girl in a purple dress was flipping through the menu of escape rooms.

“Hello, would you like to try a single-player or multi-player room?” Asked a handsome staff member nearby.

Qiao Sang looked at the menu and asked, “Do you have rooms just for pet beasts?”

After chatting with Fang Sisi, she recalled something Wang Yao had mentioned: To improve a pet beast’s mental strength, it should experience fear and then overcome it.

Her Yabao was fearless, except when it came to ghostly things, like Ghost-type pet beasts.

Whenever they watched horror movies, or encountered Ghost Eaters or Treasure-Seeking Ghosts, Yabao’s reactions were always intense.

So, Qiao Sang brought him here to give it a try.

To overcome fear, he had to do it himself for the best results.

“We do.” The staff member handed her a different menu.

“These rooms are designed for pet beasts. Would you like a single-pet or multi-pet room?”

Realizing she was a beast trainer, the staff member shifted their tone from casual to polite.

“Single-pet.” Qiao Sang replied.

“Then I recommend Ghost City, The Confined Space, and The Lost Town. They’re on pages 2, 8, and 9. Take a look.” The staff introduced.

The Lost Town?

Qiao Sang hesitated. Wasn’t that the escape room where Fang Sisi’s Cotton Bug was an NPC?

“I’ll take this one.” Qiao Sang pointed to The Lost Town on page 9.

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