“Boss, give me a hundred arcade coins.”
The arcade owner, who had been happily watching a five- or six-year-old little girl sobbingly trying to catch plush toys, stiffened when he heard the request. He raised his head to see a slightly slim but as handsome as a reader male student approaching the counter and said with a heartbroken expression, “No exchange!”
“Lin Su, you can’t just keep on fleecing the same sheep, can you maybe go to the arcade across the street?!”
“I’ll go there next time,” Lin Su said sincerely.
“Well, alright then…” Upon hearing this, Boss Li unwillingly took the money and handed over a plastic basket full of a hundred arcade coins, “Take it easy, will you? Show a little mercy!”
“I will.”
After a while, Boss Li, with a look of disbelief on his face, saw Lin Su “huffing and puffing” carrying back a small mountain of various plush toys. “Is this what you call showing mercy?!”
“A hundred coins, caught eighty-seven toys,” Lin Su said matter-of-factly. “I showed mercy thirteen times.”
Boss Li: “???”
Is this how you show mercy?
“Same old rules?” Lin Su caressed the plush toys in the large cardboard box.
“Yeah, three yuan apiece for the buy-back,” Boss Li rolled his eyes, “Eighty-seven toys are it, that’s two hundred and sixty-one yuan. I’ll round it down for you, two hundred and sixty!”
“No need.” Lin Su sorted through them and picked one, “I’ll keep this one. The remaining eighty-six sell to you, totaling two hundred and fifty-eight yuan. Let’s make it even, two hundred and sixty.”
Boss Li: “???”
So I have to give one away for free?
With an expression like he had lost a child, Boss Li counted out two hundred and sixty Alliance Yuan and handed it to Lin Su. Then, as if something occurred to him, his eyes narrowed. “I remember, you’re a senior this year?”
Lin Su glanced at Boss Li, “What about it?”
“Tomorrow is the day when the public high schools in Zone 32 distribute initial beast pets…” Boss Li’s expression became more solemn. “Do you have enough money, kid? Don’t end up with just a free Bright Light Group contract. If you’re short on cash, your uncle can lend you some?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Lin Su looked at the beast beside Boss Li, which resembled a rice ball, pillow-sized with a soft warm glow emanating from its fine fluff. “You should worry more about whether your Bright Light Group gets angry—I mean, after all, you said it’s free.”
Boss Li: “???”
I’m just trying to be kind, and you’re stirring up trouble between us and our pets?
Are you ever going to take responsibility for anything?!
“I’m not concerned about you!” Boss Li rolled his eyes. “I’m thinking about when you become an official Beast Tamer and make good of yourself to get out of this dump, so you stop plaguing my arcade every day!”
“Got it, I’m going.” Lin Su turned and walked out of the arcade, and when he passed the five- or six-year-old little girl, he handed her the remaining plush toy.
“Don’t cry anymore, here, it’s yours.”
The girl’s sobs stopped abruptly.
…
Lin Su carried a neatly wrapped paper bag, walking along the quiet street.
It wasn’t until no one was around that a smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Lin Su’s relationship with Boss Li was not at the level where he could comfortably accept help, which is why he had declined the generosity.
As for the money earned from selling the plush toys…
That was Lin Su, alias Lin·Amusement-Doomed·Su, earning it through skill.
Soon, Lin Su came to a stop; he had reached the end of the street.
The sign hanging from the rusty, vine-covered gate at the top read “Autumn Leaves Children’s Welfare Home.” Though it looked somewhat old, the lettering was still clear. freewёbnoνel.com
“Huh…” After standing outside the gate and staring at the sign for a moment, Lin Su gently pushed open the unlocked fence door and walked in.
Two hundred years ago, Blue Star suffered an unprecedented catastrophe.
At that time, human civilization had entered a new pinnacle, with rapid developments in technology and productivity leading to the concept of nations being abolished by the Human Alliance. Peace and unity replaced war and division, and everything was heading in a positive direction.
It was during that time that a special Crystal Stone known as Ghost Energy Stone was suddenly discovered in every corner of Blue Star.
The unique radiative energy emitted by Ghost Energy Stones caused various abnormal changes in flora and fauna, sometimes even granting life to previously inanimate objects. The special lives created by these mutations were smarter and possessed all sorts of supernatural powers. These new life forms born from the Ghost Energy Stone mutations were collectively called “beasts.”
With their heightened intelligence came higher demands for living conditions.
The beasts were no longer content to be enslaved by humans. They resented humans for occupying the majority of Blue Star’s habitable areas and consequently organized themselves into beast tides, furiously assaulting one human city after another.
As the only race unaffected by the mutations induced by the Ghost Energy Stone, humans were no match for the beasts. Technology was fragile in the face of supernatural powers. Many cities failed to resist and were overtaken by beasts. Human territories were eroded by the beast tides, countless people died in the catastrophe, and countless families were torn apart.
At the brink of extinction for their species, humans finally discovered a supernatural power of their own.
It was an extraneous space within the human brain. Humans could contract beasts using specific methods, bringing them into this extraneous space, commanding them in battle, and enhancing the extraneous space within their brains through cultivation and meditation, thereby increasing the number and strength of the beasts they could contract.