"Today everyone get the stretchers ready; even if we have to carry him, we'll carry him back!"
Everyone wore a solemn expression.
If it were anyone else, daring to provoke the Black Whirlwind like that would definitely be seen as having some mental issue.
But Chen Shu? Occasionally being abnormal was perfectly normal for him.
"Tell me, what's going on?"
Li Yuan sat down at his office desk chair and lit a cigarette.
"Teacher Li, I think I might be having some mental problems lately."
"You've used that excuse twenty-three times already, try a new one."
Chen Shu: "I…"
Li Yuan took a slow drag of his cigarette, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Chen Shu.
...
...
"Did you really not understand today's question on the board?"
Though Li Yuan looked big and tough, he was very attentive and could tell Chen Shu was genuinely confused.
That question was the simplest of basics, anyone with hands could solve it, even elementary school students.
"Teacher, I really don't know. I don't even know what a Beast Spirit Master is."
He just took a nap during class, and the whole world changed.
The familiar Chinese, math, and English disappeared, replaced by all sorts of messy Beast Master knowledge, and even some weird system awakening.
"Today happens to be Saturday, tomorrow's the weekend. You should go home and rest for a day."
Unexpectedly, Li Yuan didn't make things difficult for Chen Shu.
He looked quick-tempered but had a soft heart beneath a tough exterior, and besides, he knew Chen Shu's father.
"Thank you, Teacher Li."
Chen Yuan picked up the leave slip from the desk and turned to leave.
He really needed some time to adjust.
After just a nap, he felt like his worldview had... completely collapsed.
...
"Today is a good day; whatever you wish for will come true."
Chen Shu whistled, looking at the empty school grounds.
It was class time, so naturally no students were around.
Though the world had changed, the familiar people had not.
Chen Shu naturally accepted things as they were, especially since he had awakened a system, which was obviously a good thing.
"Student! It's class time, why are you wandering around the school?" A teacher saw Chen Shu idling.
"I'm sick."
"..."
Looking at Chen Shu's confident back, the tone was full of pride.
Fang Ke whispered, "Looks like he's seriously sick."
Chen Shu rode a shared bike and soon returned home.
"Son, are you alright?"
As soon as he got home, Chen Shu's mother asked with concern.
Apparently, homeroom teacher Li Yuan had called home ahead of time.
"Mom, I'm fine, just a little confused."
Back at home, Chen Shu suddenly remembered something.
"By the way, Mom, is it 2021 now?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? It's the 980th year of the Revival Era."
"Looks like I haven't fully recovered yet."
Chen Shu rubbed his temples and went back to his room.
Though the world changed, technology did not, so to learn about the world, the internet was naturally the only choice.
Chen Shu skillfully turned on his computer and brewed himself a steaming cup of coffee.
"I want to see what the heck the world has become."
Chen Shu kept browsing the news online.
He thought he was prepared, but he still couldn't hold it together.
"Shocking! A certain celebrity Beast Master exposed in a huge scandal, now walking the path of the Pure Prison Wind."
"Beast Master Glory has started a new season, waiting for you to fight!"
"A new interdimensional gate appeared in Qingyuan Mountain in Beili City, with fierce beasts mainly of wind attribute. Beast Masters, come and conquer!"
"Hot news! CEO of Feixun Group breaks through to King-level Beast Master; new contract spirit is the SS-rank Extreme Ice Emperor Penguin!"
Chen Shu moved his mouse with his right hand while rubbing his temples with his left.
My damn head hurts!
After several hours, Chen Shu's worldview kept collapsing and rebuilding again and again.
Finally, he gained a basic understanding of the world.
The world had changed drastically. Dimensional gates appeared randomly in cities.
Within China alone, there were hundreds of these dimensional gates, filled with all kinds of fierce beasts, making them extremely dangerous.
But humans naturally had a way to deal with this: the Beast Masters.
Everyone could undergo an awakening ceremony at the age of fifteen.
If one could unlock the Beast Master talent and sign a contract with an otherworldly spirit, then there was hope to become a Beast Master.
Powerful Beast Masters could command their contracted spirits in battle, guarding the dimensional gates and protecting all humanity.
This naturally gave Beast Masters very high social status.
"Son, come out to eat."
Chen Shu held his coffee and wandered out lazily.
"What's wrong with this kid?"
His mother touched his forehead with concern.
At that moment, Chen Ping, his father, came home from work.
"Son, I heard you were sick? I bought you a big gift pack, just in time for the pharmacy's sale."
He tossed a big bag of all kinds of potions onto the sofa.
"Dad, can you be serious? You bought snacks, didn't you?"
Chen Shu twitched at the corner of his mouth. The bag contained medicine for everything, but none could cure his condition.
"By the way, Mom, Dad, are you Beast Masters?"
Suddenly, he remembered something.
After hours online, the term "Beast Master" left the deepest impression.
"Nonsense, Dad works at a Beast Master organization."
His father Chen Ping looked proud as he took out a red gift box.
"This is a reward from work, a low-grade Flame Potion."
Chen Shu looked at the exquisite bottle filled with red liquid, then glanced at his red coffee.
"Is this potion valuable?" he asked softly, swallowing.
"Of course. The Flame Potion permanently increases a contract spirit's fire attribute. This bottle probably costs thousands."
Chen Ping carefully stored the potion away.
"Of course, we can't use it at home, so we'll sell it later to help with expenses."
"Son, what are you drinking? Why is it so red?"
Chen Ping suddenly noticed the red coffee in Chen Shu's hand.
"Nothing, nothing."
Chen Shu quickly drank down the coffee.
He didn't expect the system's reward, the low-grade Flame Potion, to be so expensive.
Just for answering a multiple-choice question, he got a reward worth thousands.
Too bad the house ran out of hot water in the afternoon, so he used it to make the coffee...
No wonder Chen Shu felt warm all over.
"Dad, is it okay to drink this stuff?"
"Why would anyone drink that? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"
"..."
Chen Shu looked speechless, but since the only effect was feeling warm, he didn't care.
"Dad, since you're a Beast Master, you must have a contract spirit?"
"Of course, that's my contract spirit."
He pointed to the fish tank in the living room,
Inside, a little red fish was swimming around.
Chen Shu: "..."
They'd been keeping fish for years, and it turned out the fish was his father's contract spirit?!