Not Her Fault

Hanggang City, Zhehai Province.

Wencheng Junior High School, Class 37.

"The progress of everyone in this mock exam is evident. Especially Qin Shou, who ranked second in the entire grade, falling only 2 points short of a perfect score. Everyone should learn from him."

"Most students have done well, but there are a few individuals who showed no improvement and ended up with a score of zero, dragging down the class average."

"I won't mention any names, but I hope that student will take responsibility for themselves. With only 21 days left until the high school entrance exam, such results won't even get them into a regular vocational school, let alone Beast Taming High School."

The homeroom teacher, Yu Guang, scanned the rightmost seat in the third-to-last row, near the window. He saw a girl with a ponytail sitting straight and proper, displaying the image of an exemplary student.

His lips twitched involuntarily. What's with the act? He was talking about her!

Of course, Qiao Sang knew that the homeroom teacher was referring to her, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't the Qiao Sang of this world.

She had just transmigrated here two days ago and hadn't even had time to adjust before encountering the mock exam.

However, it was just a mock exam in junior high school. She wasn't afraid at all. In her previous life, she was a high-achieving student who had been admitted to a prestigious 985 university.

But when she received the test paper, she was at a loss.

"What does the awakening of the human brain domain create?"

"What are the alluring characteristics of Heart Scales for extraordinary creatures, and what functions do they serve?"

"What is the ultimate evolutionary form of the Stinky Loach?"

"Which planets have humans already migrated to?"

These... What kind of questions were these?!

In the end, she had no choice but to guess the longer answer for the three long and one short questions, choose the shorter answer for the three short and one long questions, randomly fill in the blanks for the fill-in-the-blank questions, and leave the open-ended questions unanswered.

In the past two days, Qiao Sang had adjusted to her new body, and the memories of the original owner flooded back. She had gained some understanding of this world as well.

It was a world primarily centered around Beast Taming. Humans had discovered their ability to tame beasts, and the development had been ongoing for approximately 32.05 million years, resulting in a highly mature society with a well-established system.

Although it was called the Beast Taming era, not all humans were capable of taming beasts. When humans reached the age of 15, their brain domain could awaken the Beast Taming Code through magnetic wave stimulation.

This Beast Taming Code served as a contract and a space, perfectly connecting the relationship between humans and extraordinary creatures.

If one's brain domain failed to awaken by the age of 15, it was highly likely that their life would have nothing to do with Beast Taming.

Although the Beast Taming era has developed for millions of years, humans still cannot awaken the Beast Taming Code one hundred percent.

Looking at last year, only 73% of the candidates in the national secondary school entrance examination awakened the Beast Taming Code, while 27% failed to awaken. Even if some of them were top students, they were destined to not be able to enter Beast Taming High School.

Those who cannot tame beasts can only become mediocre individuals, spending their entire lives in the lower social strata.

This is a very real problem. If you can't tame beasts, you might not even be able to do manual labor like bricklaying.

When there are extraordinary creatures that can lift hundreds or even thousands of kilograms of bricks barehanded, who would rely on human strength, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive?

The same goes for carrying plates.

Even if the wages are several times higher than that of humans, restaurants would rather hire extraordinary creatures to carry dishes because it attracts more customers.

In this world, which is completely different from the previous societal norms, Qiao Sang, as a junior high school student nearing the entrance exam, felt extremely anxious.

In the past, knowledge changed one's destiny, but now, Beast Taming changes one's life.

Although Qiao Sang gained the memories of the original owner, the original owner was a poor student!

Her grades consistently ranked third from the bottom in the class, and in the mock exam last month, she made progress and ranked fourth from the bottom.

However, that was because she had diarrhea on the day of the previous fourth-from-the-bottom exam and had to forfeit two subjects.

In 21 days, the entrance exam would take place. She didn't even hope to get into a prestigious high school. Being able to attend any high school would be a blessing.

Qiao Sang attentively listened to the teacher's lectures, took notes, and even continued reading her textbooks after class, displaying the same intense studying attitude she had during the final sprint before the college entrance exam.

"Qiao Sang, the duck egg the teacher mentioned is you, right?" Her desk mate, Fang Sisi, leaned closer and whispered.

It wasn't a question but a confirmation. Although the teacher didn't specifically name anyone, who else but Qiao Sang would openly take notes on a zero score test paper without bothering to hide her score?

Qiao Sang nodded.

In her memories, she had a good relationship with her desk mate. They would eat together and hang out outside of school.

The main reason for their close relationship was that Fang Sisi was also a poor student.

Last month, Fang Sisi had taken Qiao Sang's place as the fourth-from-the-bottom student when Qiao Sang had diarrhea during the mock exam.

"Wow, you actually answered all the multiple-choice questions, yet you got zero points. The difficulty level must be on par with someone scoring a perfect score." Fang Sisi gave a thumbs-up in admiration.

Qiao Sang choked and couldn't say anything. Could she be blamed for this? If anyone should be blamed, it should be the three long and one short question for misleading her!

"What score did you get?" Qiao Sang asked.

"263. I improved by 98 points compared to last time," Fang Sisi said, feeling a bit proud.

Truly a poor student. She only gained an additional 98 points even after taking two more subjects.

However, Qiao Sang kept this comment to herself. After all, they were both poor students, and it was better not to hurt each other's feelings.

"Not bad on the exam."

Qiao Sang's statement wasn't entirely insincere. While she saw Fang Sisi's grades as somewhat lacking, it was clear that she had made progress compared to Qiao Sang's previous level of around 200 points.

"Well, my mom has been keeping a close eye on me lately..."

Before Fang Sisi could finish her sentence, the person sitting in front of her turned around nervously and said, "Is it true that Dai Shushu from Class 9 got admitted to Li Tan Beast Taming High School?"

"It's definitely true if it's been circulating like that," Fang Sisi sighed.

Meanwhile, Qiao Sang flipped through her textbook.

Dai Shushu, who they were talking about, was the top scorer in the mock exam. As the top scorer, being admitted to a high school through direct admission was nothing worth gossiping about in Qiao Sang's opinion. Her priority now was to study and memorize the key points.

"I heard she got admitted because she awakened independently," another classmate sitting in front of Qiao Sang joined the discussion.

This caught Qiao Sang's attention.

Beast Taming High School recruited future Beast Tamers, and the ability of the brain domain to awaken naturally took precedence. Those who successfully awakened independently often had greater achievements in the future compared to those who awakened through magnetic wave stimulation.

The first batch of Beast Tamers that awakened over 30 million years ago were all independent awakeners. At that time, the proportion of Beast Tamers in the population was only 0.01%, an extremely rare occurrence.

It was only 2,563 years ago that a researcher named Chen Le discovered that human brain domains could be awakened through magnetic wave stimulation, marking the true beginning of the era of Beast Taming.

However, those who could successfully awaken independently remained the cream of the crop.

"Independent awakening, huh?" Fang Sisi fell into contemplation. "Do you think it's not too late for me to try to befriend her?"

The classmate in front of Fang Sisi shook their head. "Don't even think about it. If someone has been admitted through direct admission, they definitely won't stay at school. If you knew in advance that you could go to high school, would you still come to school?"

Fang Sisi agreed deeply.

"If I were to awaken independently, would I be able to get admitted even if I fail the academic subjects?" Qiao Sang took a deep breath, her expression serious.

This question successfully drew the attention of the three individuals toward her.

"Don't even mention failing. Even if you score zero, there will still be schools wanting you," the classmate sitting in front of Qiao Sang joked.

"Forget about it. Those who can awaken independently are always top students. There's no chance for poor students like us," Fang Sisi patted Qiao Sang's shoulder. "I had a dream like that just a few days ago."

Qiao Sang kept her head down and remained silent.

The three of them thought she was discouraged, so they didn't continue discussing independent awakening.

Little did they know that Qiao Sang was restraining herself from bursting into laughter uncontrollably.

Independent awakening!

She had successfully awakened independently right after transmigrating!

At that time, she didn't know what it was and thought it was some kind of cheat or golden finger. It was only after her memories merged that she realized it was the Beast Taming Code that awakened at the age of 15.

Since everyone mostly awakened at the age of 15, she didn't think much of it. She didn't expect such a huge difference between the two methods!

No wonder the original Qiao Sang was a poor student. Even after the memories merged, she didn't know there was such a significant difference between independent awakening and awakening through magnetic wave stimulation.

...

...

With the pressure of the entrance exam gone, Qiao Sang felt more relaxed while studying. She didn't just mindlessly memorize the knowledge points like before.

"The Deep Fur Tortoise belongs to the Earth attribute and often inhabits desert and tropical areas. The area around its eyes is black, and it is not good at swimming."

You're a tortoise, and you're not good at swimming?

If you can't swim, why are you a tortoise?

Why are you an Earth attribute as a tortoise and not a Water attribute?

"The Steel Grit Rat should avoid rain as its body is prone to rusting. It enjoys sunlight."

Why would a supernatural creature rust?

If its attribute is steel and it rusts like steel, why does it still like sunlight?

Aren't you afraid of undergoing oxidation and rusting?

Seeing so much common sense made her want to make sarcastic comments.

But because of that, Qiao Sang didn't find studying these topics painful. On the contrary, she found it quite interesting and could remember them without needing to memorize.

Soon, school was over.

As Qiao Sang was packing up her things, she hadn't even left her seat when a girl with black-framed glasses walked over. "Qiao Sang, the homeroom teacher wants to see you in the office."

Qiao Sang was taken aback for a moment. "I understand."

The girl with glasses was Ma Xiao, the class monitor. She was used to the teacher calling Qiao Sang to the office.

Being the perennial third-to-last student in the class was a regular occurrence for Qiao Sang.

The original Qiao Sang was used to it, but the current Qiao Sang wasn't.

Especially when the teacher's spit landed on her face.

"What's wrong with you? It's almost time for the entrance exam, and you performed like this! How can you justify this to yourself? How can you justify this to your parents!" The teacher shouted, spraying spit as they spoke.

Qiao Sang silently took a step back. "T-Teacher, please calm down."

That was close. I almost called them "teacher"...

"Calm down? How can I calm down? I've taught so many students, but I've never seen someone as poor as you!" The teacher intensified their attack, continuing to spit.

As someone who was considered a top student in her previous life, Qiao Sang had never experienced such treatment before. She silently took another step back. "There's a reason why I performed like this."

The teacher coldly asked, "What reason?"

"Well, the thing is, I awakened independently, and my mind hasn't fully adjusted yet."

At that moment, Qiao Sang felt impressed by her own quick thinking.

"Heh," the teacher sneered. "It seems I've been too lenient with you."

Qiao Sang looked puzzled. What does this have to do with whether you were lenient with me or not?

The teacher took out an address book from the drawer and dialed a number.

Before long, the call connected.

"Hello, is this Qiao Sang's parent? I'm Qiao Sang's homeroom teacher. Is it possible for you to come to the school?" the teacher said.

Qiao Sang: ...

(End of this chapter)